A new smartphone app made for ASU clubs to promote their events might help clubs gain more members and event participants.
The application, called SunDevils Count, can be downloaded online and allows ASU students to check in at events that have been uploaded to the application’s calendar. For every check-in, students receive points that can be spent on ASU apparel, tickets for ASU sports and ASU parking permits.
Any club on campus can register the date and time of the event through the application and it then immediately allows anyone in attendance to check in.
The app is meant to make it easier to find out about events and clubs on campus, yet few Downtown campus clubs have used the application.
Downtown Well Devils, the only Downtown campus club that has used the app so far, registered its “Late Night Finals Breakfast: Stress Free Zones” on the app where students can earn 250 points for attending.
However, USGD Vice President of Services Leighana Moldrem said she sent out emails letting all Downtown campus clubs know the benefits of using the application to promote their events.
“The goal is for students to attend all ASU events, not just athletics. We hope it will encourage students to also venture out to other campuses and experience ASU as one university,” Moldrem said.
Tempe USG President Mark Naufel came up with the idea after working as the director of outreach for USG and meeting presidents of many clubs and organizations on ASU’s campus.
Naufel and ASU’s University Technology Office worked together this past summer to create the application, which has only been available to ASU students for about a month and is still in its trial period.
On the website there is a tab titled “Leaderboard” that shows which students have accumulated the most points so far. Physics freshman Peter Reniewicki currently holds the top position with 5,050 points accumulated so far.
“Like any college student, I like to seize any opportunity to get free stuff. If all I have to do to earn ASU gear is swing by on-campus events and push a button on my phone, you bet I’ll do that,” Reniewicki said.
Reniewicki was surprised to see all the different clubs that are on campus and it has helped expose him to the ASU culture and give him fun things to do outside of schoolwork.
USG Student Engagement Coordinator Kirsten Adams said more than 100 events have been uploaded to the application within the first month, which has really helped push the program forward.
The plan is for the application to always be a free service to students to give them incentives to get involved and be in the know about what is going on at their school.
“The application will stay embedded with the university forever and I think throughout the years people will see a lot of new changes to the application,” Naufel said.
Phases two and three of the application are already in the works with changes that will help students personalize the application to fit their interests. They hope to include a calendar where you choose what events are on it with reminders the day of the actual event, as well as alerts when events are happening nearby.
Contact the reporter at kusie@asu.edu
