February 2012
1 post
Announcing: Columbia College Chicago
We love arts schools. The creative class is defining a generation, and will likely dictate America’s economy for the foreseeable future. Schools like Columbia College are a pipeline of this fuel for change. We especially love working with creative schools because they’re invariably excited about looking at everything with a fresh perspective. One look at Columbia’s site is a...
Feb 1st
January 2012
2 posts
The Dana Farber Cancer Institute Uses Localist
We’re working with a lot of schools (over 42 now!), so we never pass on an opportunity to remind folks that we work with non-profits as well, as ultimately, Localist is about connecting people to events. DFCI’s breakthroughs have led to a better understanding of treating, preventing and eliminating cancer, along with dramatic discoveries in the innerworkings of the AIDS virus. The...
Jan 31st
1 tag
Localist in List of Finalists for Best App Creator
We’re nominated in two categories Baltimore Business Journal’s Biz Buzz Awards: App Creator and Mobile Web! We’re very humbled by the recognition. Check out the full press release here.
Jan 10th
December 2011
3 posts
November Features, Functionality and Fixes
Every month, we announce the major Localist Platform features, functionality and fixes that have been deployed recently. Here’s what was launched in November: Added JSON output to our API in preparation for Localist API 2.0. Added ability to force event type/group/department assignment on incoming event feeds Added support for time zones to the iCal feed importer. Added support for...
Dec 7th
1 tag
Localist mimics social networking sites →
This is back from August; Towson University’s paper wrote a story about the launch of Localist at their institution. It gives a great sense of why Towson decided to go with Localist and what they prioritized as an organization. A select quote from Matt Sikorski, Towson’s SGA President: “I truly believe this could be a game changer in terms of advertising for student groups and...
Dec 6th
1 tag
University of the Pacific's Calendar Launches →
The University of the Pacific just launched a major site-wide redesign; Localist went along for the ride! Pacific is making excellent use of our widgets, including several custom widget layouts (check the “Calendar of Events” tab).
Dec 1st
November 2011
3 posts
1 tag
Localist Takes Off at the University of Rhode... →
The University of Rhode Island has officially launched their new calendar, powered by Localist, naturally. The school is making great use of our widget capabilities, putting Localist widgets at every major access point on their main website.
Nov 17th
October Features, Functionality and Fixes
Every month, we announce the major Localist Platform features, functionality and fixes that have been deployed recently. Here’s what was launched in October: Added event taxonomy filters to school homepage by default. Added SILK support for mobile layouts. Added movie listing feature on Localist for Media platform. Added additional field support in CSV template. Added ability to...
Nov 11th
1 tag
Localist Launches at the University of Delaware
The University of Delaware just announced the official launch of their new calendar, powered by Localist. They’re calling it @UD! Check out their formal announcement here. The team over at Delaware even made a great video outlining how their users should enter an event into Localist. It can’t get any easier.
Nov 3rd
October 2011
5 posts
1 tag
Localist Loves Clemson
We’re happy to announce a new partnership with Clemson University! We’ve also been granted sole source approval in South Carolina. If you’re an SC school and you want to know more about Localist, there are now officially zero reasons not to.
Oct 26th
Thoughts on EDUCAUSE 2011 - Wednesday
If I had to sum up the excitement at EDUCAUSE this year, I’d use one word: Cloud. Almost every vendor in the exhibit hall is featuring a product that operates partly, or wholly, in the cloud. I attended a session outlining how an institution could develop a business case for using cloud services over developing in-house. The pros were clear: Actually improve service levels, as SaaS is...
Oct 19th
Attending EDUCAUSE? We'll be there!
Come say hi! We’ll be roaming the halls chatting about software-as-a-service, cloud computing, social media and how it can all be leveraged at educational institutions. More information about EDUCAUSE.
Oct 13th
“You know what we want to use Localist for better than we do. We’ve seen...”
– Awesome quote from Weill Cornell Medical College, who we just partnered with!
Oct 13th
September Features, Functionality and Fixes
This is the first of many monthly blog posts where we announce any major Localist Platform features, functionality and fixes that have been deployed over the past month. Language localization on all buttons. For example, “I’m Going” can change to “Save” on your platform. Nearby Public Transportation. Dynamically highlight the bus/subway stops nearest to events or...
Oct 7th
September 2011
3 posts
1 tag
Does Google Know About Your Calendar?
A recent study compared the “crawlability” of Localist to other popular university calendaring systems, 25Live and Trumba — that is, how well search engines can index the pages being served. It consistently found that search caches of Localist content at institutions outnumbered those of other systems by thousands. Any calendars served by 25Live or Trumba were virtually...
Sep 29th
1 tag
Williams College Launches its Calendar →
Sep 27th
1 tag
The College of Notre Dame Renames and Rebrands →
The College of Notre Dame has a new name: Notre Dame of Maryland University. Along with this name change comes an excellent site redesign. The school’s version of Localist was rebranded to follow suit.
Sep 9th
August 2011
4 posts
1 tag
New Site
We just launched a long-overdue homepage refresh. Check it out! Our intention was to better explain the benefits of Localist while simplifying the overall presentation. Be sure to check out the demo video if you’d like to learn more about what Localist can do at your institution.
Aug 15th
1 tag
Localist Wins Sole Source Vendor Status in Four...
Public organizations in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Rhode Island have chosen Localist as their vendor for a social events calendar. What does this mean? Because no other company does what Localist can, we’re able to directly engage with state-run institutions without going through the RFP process. If you’re at a public institution in the states mentioned, you don’t need to...
Aug 9th
1 tag
Eight Universities Select Localist To Engage...
DePaul University - Chicago, Ill. Emmanuel College - Boston, Mass. Towson University - Towson, Md. University of Delaware - Newark, Del. University of Rhode Island - Kingston, RI.. Virginia Military Institute - Lexington, Va. Williams College - Williamstown, Mass. That means we’re now serving over 105,000 students! Read the full press release.
Aug 8th
Localist CEO Featured in SmartCEO Magazine →
Our own Mykel Nahorniak is featured in August 2011’s SmartCEO Magazine.
Aug 8th
May 2011
1 post
1 tag
May 11th
April 2011
4 posts
1 tag
Top 10 ways to use Localist to engage your...
We’ve learned a lot about what makes a student respond to a school’s adoption of a unified calendar. Below are some best practices to get your students more engaged around events on campus. Put a Localist widget on your school’s homepage Many schools tuck their calendar behind a single “Events Calendar” link on their homepage, requiring that the user click that...
Apr 20th
Higher Ed Live: "Of all the calendar solutions,...
Seth Odell at Higher Ed Live did a wonderful talk on the power of unified calendars at a university. He and Joseph Maddela go over the advantages a unified calendar can bring, and some of the challenges schools currently face when it comes to sharing information about on-campus events. Watch the video. If you’re on the fence about implementing a new calendar for your university’s...
Apr 18th
1 tag
5 reasons why schools adopt a unified calendar
When a partner crosses its 1-year anniversary with us, we ask them to give us some insight on what they find most useful in having a unified calendar, and why they continue to use it. Here are the top 5 reasons: Vastly improves school calendar functionality across all campuses. Drives student engagement more than any other events platform. Promotes students engaged on campus with college...
Apr 8th
Johns Hopkins No. 2 in "social media colleges"
Based on analysis by StudentAdvisor, Johns Hopkins was ranked #2 in the nation’s top social media colleges!
Apr 1st
March 2011
4 posts
Integrate with Facebook events
To help spread the word about an upcoming event, some events on a Localist platform are also manually created on Facebook by students. Many students would mark themselves as “Going” on Facebook, but their attendance wouldn’t be reflected on the Localist side. We’ve added a feature to fix that. When the URL of a Facebook event is assigned to an event on Localist, our...
Mar 31st
Why we don't sort events chronologically by...
One of our partners recently asked us why Localist doesn’t sort events chronologically when listing all events (example), instead sorting by our “trending” algorithm. It’s a great question that deserves an explanation, as it sounds almost unfathomable to present a listing of events any other way. Much of what makes Localist different is that we’ve rethought the...
Mar 4th
McDaniel Launches its New Calendar →
Powered by Localist, of course! Our work with McDaniel demonstrates that every school, no matter its size, can benefit from engaging their students proactively through a robust events calendar. The numbers don’t lie. Traffic on McDaniel’s calendar is up 2,000% month over month since switching to Localist.
Mar 3rd
Cornell's Events Calendar →
We’re really proud of this one. We worked closely with Cornell’s design team to deliver a highly customized look and feel that blends perfectly with the school’s brand.
Mar 1st
13 notes
February 2011
3 posts
1 tag
Inside Software Business Development
We’re looking for another person to help increase our sales! It’s been an amazing year at Localist; we’re really starting to hit our stride. Want to take advantage and grow as a person, as you help the company grow? Let us know if this sounds like you: You have at least 3+ years of inside sales experience. You’re a hunter. You aggressively seek out new customers and...
Feb 15th
2 notes
Facebook's effect on student retention
An interesting piece was recently published on NPR that discusses the power of social networking on student retention at universities. The article states that many schools, such as Coppin State, are losing as much as 60% of their freshman class each year. Some companies are attempting to address this problem by creating a stronger presence for the school on Facebook. Just before we partnered...
Feb 14th
Feb 7th
January 2011
3 posts
New Documentation Site
We’re transitioning away from Google Groups to host all Localist documentation at a more central location. You can find the latest information outlining Localist administration and API functionality at http://docs.localist.com
Jan 28th
New Feature: Enhanced Departments
Previously, school departments (English, Biology, Neuroscience, etc.) were an additional criterium that events could be filtered by on the calendar listings. Today, we’re announcing much more robust department functionality. In essence, departments in a school will function similar to student groups. Each department will get its own ‘profile’ on Localist, showcasing its upcoming...
Jan 27th
1 tag
Localist Partners with Liberty University
Liberty has allocated Localist as one of the top five initiatives in 2011! Our partnerships with larger schools continue to increase; further proof that Localist works on campuses of all sizes. Stay tuned for a link to the calendar when it’s launched for Liberty’s spring semester.
Jan 26th
1 note
December 2010
1 post
1 tag
Localist + Cornell University = Awesome
Yet another milestone for Localist: its first Ivy League customer! We’re very honored and excited to bring Localist to Cornell. It’s going to look hot.
Dec 3rd
November 2010
2 posts
1 tag
We're Coming to Malaysia!
Yes, your eyes are working correctly. Malaysia!  Today, we’re announcing a partnership with YTL Communications to power their local guide on the company’s new 4G nationwide network. We’ll be connecting communities around events and places in a nation that is preparing to go from 30% Internet coverage to over 65% in less than a year. That, my friends, is an amazing thing. More...
Nov 23rd
1 tag
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Launched
We’ve been working closely with the team at JDRF Bay Area, to create a great online calendar experience for their constituents. Today marks the launch of JDRF’s new calendar, powered by Localist: http://events.jdrfbayarea.org.
Nov 8th
October 2010
3 posts
iPhone App Development Begins
Our customers have been requesting a native iPhone/Android complement to the Web version of Localist, so the wheels have started turning to get this accomplished! Below are some tidbits about how we’re handling development. Warning, the following is a bit technical: With Android devices quickly gaining popularity, we don’t want to split your user-base by going pure native for iPhone....
Oct 15th
Our Elevator Pitch
Localist is simple to use, but very powerful and far-reaching as far as its capabilities are concerned. This can make it difficult to convey exactly what Localist is from a big picture perspective. When we find ourselves explaining Localist Platform to someone, this is what we typically say: Put yourself in the shoes of an incoming freshman. How do I find out what’s happening on campus?...
Oct 8th
1 tag
Localist Gains Several Key Customers in Higher...
Localist, provider of the most powerful online platform for university calendar management, today announced partnerships with five higher education institutions in the Washington, DC region: Hampton University, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), the University of Maryland Biopark, Goucher College and Washington & Lee University. The Localist Platform is delivering social event and...
Oct 7th
August 2010
1 post
1 tag
TBD.com Chooses Localist to Power its...
Baltimore, Maryland — August 11, 2010 — Localist, provider of the most powerful online platform for local entertainment listings, today announced a partnership with TBD.com, a new Washington-area web site that launched Monday. The Localist Platform delivers social event and venue curation to TBD’s web presence. With an integrated TV and web newsroom, TBD – which is owned by Allbritton...
Aug 11th
July 2010
1 post
Four New Partners, One Non-Profit
We’re super excited about our new partners, including our first non-profit! Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation As the worldwide leader in finding the cure for type 1 diabetes, the JDRF was looking for an innovative way to share information about upcoming events. That’s where Localist comes in. We have another big partnership in the media space we’re almost ready to...
Jul 23rd
June 2010
2 posts
Ch-ch-changes
It’s been an exciting year! When we initially created Localist, it was built because no good place existed to see where people were going and what they were doing at that moment. As time went on, we received lots of interest from universities, media companies and other organizations that wanted the Localist technology incorporated into their sites. This was our “ah ha!”...
Jun 21st
1 tag
College of Notre Dame selects Localist
As Notre Dame says, “We recently launched an exciting new events calendar concept at events.ndm.edu. You can browse events or, if you sign up and log in, you can save events to your Facebook account, Google Calendar or Apple iCal. In addition to events on campus, you can also see concerts, art exhibits, festivals, and other social events happening around Baltimore!” We’re...
Jun 10th
April 2010
3 posts
Newsletters Ahoy!
Based on some wonderful partner feedback, we’ve added some new newsletter functionality: Added ability to manually attach featured events, regular events, and places to specific newsletters. Added a “daily” option. Ability to override titles and subtitles of each section of the newsletter. Added a ‘group’ category for event results. Added photos on events. ...
Apr 23rd
Geo-Localist
We’ve changed how all content is handled on the Localist Platform. NOTE: This is a slightly technical post, so put your earmuffs on! After creating a new city and defining its central geocode, events and places are now dynamically displayed based on their proximity. This allows you to slice and dice your content as you wish, delivering a more local feel to your users. Geocodes have...
Apr 7th
Extra! Extra!
We’ve added useful newsletter capabilities to Localist. As a user You’ll receive occasional e-mails filling you in on the latest happenings based on user participation. You’ll also receive useful reminders if you have plans the following day, or We take privacy very seriously. Thus, opting-out is available for all newsletter types. As a licensee Engage your audience by...
Apr 6th
January 2010
2 posts
We're Hiring!
At Localist, we’re looking for an eager self-starter with a strong desire to win to join our awesome business team. UPDATE: We found our man. His name is Kelsey Tracey and he is great. If you’d like to talk to him about using Localist at your school, e-mail us at info@localist.com
Jan 22nd