A group of nine recent college graduates are rewriting the way people travel.
Wherenext.com, the brainchild of five of the six University graduates on staff, was launched just more than a month ago and is one of the newest ways for young travelers to look at the world. An on-line travel guide that rivals traditional printed resources, it provides up-to-date information targeted at college students and young professionals.
“It’s a resource that I think a lot of people have been looking for for a while,” said Wherenext.com’s editor in chief and University graduate Kaarin Knudson.
One of the Web site’s nine full-time staff members is University alumnus Gregg Bleakney, now the company’s president. To make the organization run, representatives have been placed in selected cities in Europe, and hundreds of freelancers are utilized to contribute to the site. “It’s a total planning network,” said Jeremy French, an account coordinator with Wave Rock Communications, the group that is overseeing the management of Wherenext.com.
In other words, the site offers everything from feature articles on intriguing locations to offering discounts at various businesses abroad.
“What we’re really trying to do is create something that is totally unique,” Bleakney said.
After traveling throughout Europe, Bleakney became frustrated with the outdated information in his guidebooks. As an avid Web surfer, he made a connection between his need for current information and the ability of the Internet to do just that.
A year and a half later and a lot of hard work have found Bleakney and the other eight full-time staff members at Wherenext.com watching their project take off.
“I think it’s pretty cool that we’re jumping right in and trying to do something,” Knudson said. “It’s a great opportunity to do something like this right now. We’re full of enthusiasm … [about] adding a new category to the possibilities that are out there.”
Wherenext.com’s primary goal is to simplify the traveling process for young travelers.
“We’re trying to be different with our content,” Bleakney said. “It’s fun to read. It’s funner to read than just the standard guidebook.”
All this is in “real time,” which means that the information is updated continually. Cyber cafés — restaurants that provide Internet access — are more popular in Europe than in the United States. These make the method of seeking travel information on-line even more convenient for travelers, Bleakney said.
Also, the information comes directly from city representatives who are living abroad and know the hot spots young travelers would want to see. They act both as guides and marketing representatives with local businesses.
“The real advantage is just getting the inside … [on] the other side of the street,” French said.
Six cities are currently being covered, including Paris; Florence, Italy; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Prague, Czechoslovakia; Dublin, Ireland; and Berner Oberland, Switzerland. Every two weeks, Wherenext.com will launch a new one, with Vienna, Austria, the next to arrive. Eventually the number of cities will grow to 50.
The city representatives are not the only ones checking out the world; Wherenext.com has hundreds of intern contributors around the globe who offer their perspectives as well. Traveling students who choose to participate in Wherenext.com in this respect have the opportunity to earn intern credit through their universities, Bleakney said.
In addition, people may become members of Wherenext.com and receive special benefits such as a discount card that provides deals at businesses in the represented cities. The card offers discounts for things such as car rentals and skiing.
The Web site is also trying to build a network of communication through which travelers may connect with each other abroad. What this means for college students destined abroad is that they now have a wealth of information at their fingertips. They can pick and choose which information is relevant to their trips, place it in a “shopping cart,” and print out their own personalized guidebooks, Bleakney said.
“I think what the Internet allows people to do is really build a community,” Bleakney said. It will “allow someone to meet other people while they’re traveling … Experience individually but travel communally.”