Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Seattle 2.0, and imported to GeekWire as part of our acquisition of Seattle 2.0 and its archival content. For more background, see this post.
By Kevin Leneway
“Our goal is to get people out of their basement, away from the glow of their computer monitor, and out into the real world, meeting people.” Pathable CEO Jordan Schwartz told me from his basement office in Wallingford, framed by the glow of several gorgeous Apple monitors.
“And yes, I do realize the irony.” Schwartz said with a laugh.
Pathable is, at it’s core, a social network for conferences. Conference organizers can insert Pathable’s hosted service seamlessly into their website and give their attendees an online space to network before, during, and after the event. At first glance it might be easy to lump Pathable in with the multitudes of other “It’s like Facebook for <insert niche here>” sites across the Web 2.0 landscape, but there’s something very unique and compelling about the solution that Schwartz and the Pathable team have built out over the past year.
If you’ve ever been to a flashy industry conference, you probably know the drill. You stand in line to get your oversized name badge, grab the branded tote bag that will end up in your hotel trash can, and take your drink ticket over to the evening reception. But from there, you’re on your own. And that’s where Pathable takes over.
Along with the mobile app, Pathable has a cool feature that allows event organizers to print out customized name badges that list the people who are most similar to you along with a list of your tags. It’s a great conversation starter, and serves as a non-intrusive social cue to drive deeper conversations. In addition, the team offers a option to provide a list of the users who are most *unlike* you, which is a fun way to pick your potential arch nemesis out of a crowd of complete strangers.
From a business perspective, Pathable generates revenue by charging conference organizers a fee for using their hosted platform. Over the past year the service has been included in local events like Gnomedex and Bar Camp Seattle, and international events such as FOWA and New Media Expo. While Pathable has traditionally worked directly with conference organizers, they are working towards a more scalable model of teaming up with companies who specialize in organizing large-scale events to include the Pathable service as one of their primary service offerings.
