CollegeWeekends

Founded in a college town, CollegeWeekends.com is now in 23 markets and connects alumni, fans, parents of students, and other travelers with short-term lodging options in or near college and university towns.

CollegeWeekends.com is an online platform for connecting visitors of college towns with owners of short term and vacation rental properties. From a simple studio room to luxury homes, we connect renters and owners through a platform that enhances the rental experience. CW offers easier searching, a two-way rating system, secure and easy payment, instant booking, and local recommendations to make an unforgettable rental experience. 

Unique and easy to use features – enhanced filtering, restaurant guides/directories, interactive mapping, unique content/blogs, extended stay options

Easy to understand/transparent pricing – 10% transaction fee for Renters and 3% transaction fee for Owners on all Bookings

Integrations – CollegeWeekends is fully integrated with Streamline VRS, and with Affirm (which provides flexible payment options for renters)

Coming soon - Integration with StubHub, the leading provider of online tickets

Search for short-term rentals in college towns and explore “College Town Favorites” for recommendations on where to eat and things to do to maximize your visit! College towns are great year-round destinations: high energy, unique environments, large sporting events, parent weekends, reunions, tourists, history, cottage industries (e.g., breweries/wineries)

• Transparent Pricing

• Add-Ons & Package Deals

• Easier Searching

• College Town Favorites

Property Owners can list your property for free on CollegeWeekends.com and gain access to an advanced rental property platform dedicated to college towns and universities. We remove the headache from managing rental property. We prioritize transparent pricing, easy communication, and superior customer service for all of our property owners.

• Transparent Pricing

• Two-Way Rating System

• College Town Experience

• Add-Ons & Package Deals

• Sizeable market niche: Any person searching for short-term accommodations in a college town is a potential customer, including alumni, parents of students and college sports fans or other visitors/tourists/business travelers

• Hotel shortages during peak times: Typically there is a shortage of hotel accommodations during peak weekends in college towns which can drive customers to the Company out of necessity

• Preference for more comfortable lodging: Over the past decade, behavioral demographics have shifted greatly as many travelers are now preferring to stay in a private home as opposed to a hotel as it provides more room, comfort and extra amenities

• Accommodate larger groups: Families and groups often prefer to have one property that can accommodate their entire group as opposed to multiple hotel rooms, especially when attending college town events

• Additional attractions in college towns: College towns are often located in unique settings (e.g. mountains, historic) which can attract seasonal tourists, and will be another sub-marketing focus

Strategy

1. CollegeWeekends.com plans to leverage its existing foundation/brand name and grow its customer base in college town markets where it currently has listings

2. CollegeWeekends.com plans to expand nationally, but will utilize a phased and multi-faceted roll-out strategy which will include targeted marketing campaigns in 15 college town markets in Year 1

3. In Years 2 through 5, CollegeWeekends.com will add 15 new target college town markets each year to maximize its overall national penetration by Year 5

Marketing Approach:

Digital marketing – SEO, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), pay-per-click campaigns (Google AdWords), targeted alumni websites

Print advertising – advertise in alumni magazines, college town publications

Influencers/brand ambassadors – work with relevant social media and brand ambassadors to promote CollegeWeekends

Direct e-mail marketing – leverage existing database of over 4,000 current and previous customers to send seasonal marketing e-mails

College Ambassador program – utilize college students to drive grassroots campaigns, including events, booths at high-traffic events

PR/media – concentrate PR campaigns nationally and at initial target school markets in Year 1, and as the Company expands its list of target markets

Hailey Brooke Weiss

Founder & CEO, Power Move Marketing

Hailey Brooke is the Founder & CEO of Power Move Marketing, a national digital marketing agency located in North Carolina but services companies worldwide. She attended Wake Forest University and was a starter on the Women’s volleyball team for four years. She also has a MS in Management from Wake Forest University.

Lori Carcich

Founder & CEO, Country Smooth Spirits

Lori is the Founder & CEO of Country Smooth Spirts, a national premium spirits’ brand (including Country Smooth Whiskey) that she launched in 2015 and his built in to a multi-million-dollar business. She has a BBA in Accounting from California State University, Fullerton.

Rick Cunningham

Senior Vice President, Bread Financial

Rick is a seasoned financial services executive with expertise in sales leadership, business development, enterprise selling, M&A, and commercial lending in a variety of industry verticals. He received a BS from DePaul University and his MBA from Loyola Marymount University.

Terry Kirby

Co-founder, Ultimatesportsinstitute

Terry is the Co-founder of Ultimatesportsinstitute, a performance training center in South Florida. He played running back for the University of Virginia, finishing as the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards. Drafted in the 3rd round by the Miami Dolphins, he went on to play 9 seasons in the NFL.

Maureen McDonnell

Founder & Partner, Tusk Consulting

Maureen is a seasoned executive with extensive marketing and leadership experience. She has expertise in fundraising, communications, government relations, and business development in healthcare, higher education and technology sectors. She attended the University of Notre Dame where she was also a cheerleader for the Irish.

Stuart Van Houten

Senior Vice President & GM, SAP

Stuart brings broad based executive leaderships skills and significant enterprise SaaS software experience. He has demonstrated sales leadership skills with a broad-based understanding of how to build and drive organizations for top and bottom-line productivity. He also built a start-up company to over $5MM in sales, and received a BA from the University of Oregon, after playing college basketball at Pacific University.