Few cities in the world offer more things to do than New York. And whether you’re a theater buff, a sports fanatic, or you simply like long walks in the park, unless you’re signed up for every single newsletter, pamphlet, and news blast, trying to keep track of what is happening on any given day can be very overwhelming.
Two years ago, New York couple Ari Edelson and Julia Levy attempted to fix this problem by creating the Culture Craver app. Edelson, an award-winning theater director and producer, and Levy, a journalist and former Director of Communications for the NYC Department of Education, wanted to provide users with an app that would allow them to see a curated list of what was going on in the city. The lists were tailored to users’ interests, and recommendations were influenced by their social network connections. The app allows a group of museum-goers to always know the latest ticket deal, for instance, or a budding stand-up comic to be alerted when his idol is doing a set in his neighborhood.
Now, Edelson and Levy have created a family-specific version of Culture Craver: Culture Craver Kids. Inspired by feedback from parents asking for family-friendly events on Culture Craver, Culture Craver Kids allows parents and caregivers to find cool events for kids of all ages.
The way Culture Craver Kids works is simple. Interests and possible events appear in your feed, based on your connections to friends and family within the app. If you’re part of a group of young parents that all love theater, when one family raves about a new children’s theater, it will pop up on their friends’ feeds. Families can create lists of events for different groups within the family, so mom and dad can plan for date nights while grandma can compile places to bring the grandkids on the weekend. Levy says the she and her husband “kept seeing so many amazing things happening in the city, and often we’d mention them to people and they had no idea that they were happening.”
Anyone can “schedule” an event, so if a user sees a special sale at a store, or a public art exhibit, they can announce it to their friends. At the same time, Edelson and Levy have made an effort to connect with venues and organizations so the two sides can reach out to each other. Culture Craver has a special relationship with the New Victory Theater, one of the city’s leading children’s theaters on West 42nd Street, which provided consultation on the development of the app. “We’ve been collectively working on how to create an experience for families and institutions like them to communicate about really exciting culture,” says Edelson.
Participating cultural organizations like the New Victory Theater have their own pages on the app, where they can show off any events, giveaways, or promotions they have, by creating events of their own. This back-end access allows both users and venues to reach across to each other, helping create more access to culture for kids. Other organizations that they have connected with include Flushing Town Hall, Big Apple Circus, and Lincoln Center Kids. Each of those organizations can create their own event listings to promote themselves directly to parents.
Levy believes that Culture Craver Kids’ social component makes the app stand out from its competitors. “None of [the other apps like this] are social in the way that most of us live our lives today.” Levy says. “So we wanted to create something that wasn’t just a list of stuff to do… but where you could be social and interact with friends.” This dedication to social connections naturally works with social media. You can sign up with your Facebook account (as opposed to just an email) and this allows you to use your Facebook connections and friends to find things to do, based on what you’re interested in.
One of the other features that makes Culture Craver Kids special is the personal curation. “Unlike other listings websites for kids, it’s not just a list of stuff happening, or even editor’s picks, You can open up Culture Craver Kids and it will tell you: This is the closest thing to you to do with your child,’ or ‘These are the ten things that are recommended for my family.’ Those will be ten different things for your [family] than they will be for me, Julia and our 2-year-old.”You can filter these lists based on the interests of your family, pricing, location, age of child and more.
The app is best used in conjunction with your friends, family and colleagues, but it can provide plenty of options for parents who are just starting out. There are reviews from both users and professionals like the New York Times or the New Yorker, and special editor’s picks of events that stand out from the crowd. As Levy explains, “It’s a way of getting your feet wet and starting to explore things that are happening.”
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However, Levy believes that the app is, at its essence, a social recommendation engine. “The experience definitely gets better if you get all your friends to use it and are sharing ideas with each other,” she says. “That’s what all of this is about, the idea is friends and families experience culture together. So to the extent that you can do Culture Craver with people you love and care about, it’s more fun.”
To learn more about Culture Craver or Culture Craver Kids, check out culturecraver.com. To download the app, get it from the Apple Store here.
