April Geek dinner to feature EdTrips

PROVIDENCE – For their April meetup, the Providence Geeks will host EdTrips, an alumnus of the Betaspring startup accelerator program that developed a Web platform to help teachers find and coordinate curriculum-based class trips.
The platform officially launched in September 2013, about a year after the startup (formerly known as WorldBrain Inc.) graduated from the fall 2012 Betaspring session. In an interview with Providence Business News, EdTrips Chief Operating Officer Laura Wallendal called the application “part Kickstarter, part Kayak.”
In addition to helping educators plan trips, the platform also facilitates communication between teachers and parents and lets teachers collect payments and upload permission slips digitally.
“We created EdTrips because we saw how challenging organizing a trip can be,” said Wallendal in a press release announcing the EdTrips launch. “It’s still very much a paper-based process for most schools, and there’s a real need for something that makes it simple, keeps payments in one place, and allows educators to focus on learning, not logistics.”
On Wednesday, April 16, Wallendal and EdTrips CEO Jakob Garrow will join the Providence Geeks to tell the EdTrips story, demonstrate the EdTrips service and talk about where they are headed next.
The April meetup will take place on April 16 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the AS220 in Providence. The event is free, but attendees buy their own food and drink.

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