A new University of St. Thomas-specific app will help students find events and parties on and off campus, as the going-out scene changes for Tommies.
Chloe Cochrane, a senior at Cretin-Durham Hall in St. Paul, created the app Blast after touring Southern Methodist University and asking where to find on-campus events.
“There were signs everywhere for clubs and different organizations, and I was like, ‘There has to be a better way,’” Cochrane said.
The app was released on April 22. Cochrane said Blast was conceived after she sent a Google Form survey to University of Wisconsin–-Madison students about how they find parties and no one had “a good answer.” The survey then found its way to the Twin Cities.
“It got to St. Thomas eventually. People started sending it from UST. I thought I would be perfect if I could start it here,” Cochrane said.
Cochrane describes the app as “an event Tinder.” Students are able to swipe through events and parties and can pass, save them for later or confirm their RSVP with a single swipe.
“You will see different clubs, organizations, games, parties, and I’m also doing sponsorships from local bars,” Cochrane said.
Some college bars in the Twin Cities, like Sally’s Saloon and Plums Neighborhood Grill & Bar, have partnered with Cochrane and her app to promote deals and events directly to St. Thomas students.
St. Thomas senior Mary Foley said she has seen a “vibe shift” over the years in where and how students go out on the weekends.
“You have to communicate through other people. I wouldn’t say that there is an across-the-board place where everyone is going to be,” Foley said.
Foley has also worked at Tiffany Sports Lounge near campus for about a year and a half and said she is seeing fewer St. Thomas students at what the restaurant’s website dubs the “official sports bar of St. Thomas.”
“People who come to Tiff’s on the weekends don’t drink as much or as often anymore,” Foley said.
Thursdays at Tiff’s are college nights, with the bar offering drink deals, a DJ and a bus that takes students from the St. Thomas campus to the bar starting at 9:30 p.m.
According to Foley, however, there is only really a line when the first bus arrives, whereas a few years ago, there was a line all night. On Thursday, March 19, she said the bar was cleared out by 12:30 a.m., “which is unheard of.”
While researching for Blast, Cochrane said she noticed that students “never know when events are happening, or deals.”
The app allows groups and students to create public or private circles, comparable to Facebook groups. Clubs and organizations can send out events and have a group chat with all their members.
Blast also has a feature to find people who are going to the same event as you. Users can see a list of attendees and can link other social media accounts, like Snapchat and Instagram, to easily find other students.
“I didn’t want followers because I feel like there are so many platforms already that have followers, and I just don’t think it’s worth it,” Cochrane said.
One of the main sources of pushback Cochrane said she got while creating the app was that a similar application, TommieLink, is already accessible to St. Thomas students.
But unlike TommieLink, Blast has non-university related events, tracks which events you RSVP to and recommends events that match your interests.
“It will be so personable to every campus. It will be everything students can benefit from,” Cochrane said.
Cochrane and her team, made up of a few friends and a mentor from her summer job, are “doing a campus-by-campus launch,” with St. Thomas being the first school they will serve before moving to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Creighton University.
“There is so much potential at the University of St. Thomas for it to be a fun atmosphere. I’m really excited,” Cochrane said.
Abby Madsen can be reached at mads3817@stthomas.edu.
