RedCurrent app aims to streamline calendars

As a parent of young children, Peter Goddard noticed a recurring topic in his conversations with friends.

Too often, he said, fellow parents would commiserate over their hectic and hard-to-manage schedules. So he set out to make that easier. The result is a new digital media company in downtown Minneapolis called RedCurrent.

The company's iOS app, which became available earlier this month, features lists of Twin Cities area events in different topic sets like "Fitness Classes" and "Live Music Venues." Users can place these events into private or public bins called "currents" that can sync with the calendars they use on smartphones and tablets.

"We think we can help save people time, help save people frustration, and we can really change the discovery and engagement profile of the community," said Goddard, who co-founded the company in January 2014 and is its chief executive. "We help you know what's going on."

Many venues or sports leagues already have their own apps or online calendars for people to access, Goddard said. But since there are so many, he said, these can be more harmful than helpful.

"We think they actually contribute to the confusion, frankly," he said, describing them as "a self-induced swirly of inputs."

RedCurrent is meant to put the events from all those sources in one place.

RedCurrent released the app in time for this month's MinneDemo, a showcase of new work by local tech companies that happens every two or three months. At the most recent event on Feb. 5, RedCurrent employees gave a short presentation and touted the app as a way for people to consolidate their digital calendars.

"We want people to be in control," Goddard said. "To feel more in control and to be more in the know."

The service is free and Goddard said revenue is still an open question for the company. As the company seeks to pull in revenue down the road, landing a sizable user base will be paramount. The firm is going up against established providers of entertainment information, such as City Pages and the Star Tribune, which also use digital apps to reach audiences.

College students make up one demographic RedCurrent will likely appeal to, Goddard said, and as more events and features are added, busy parents.

The RedCurrent blog went live long before the app did.

The blog features posts about local events, she said, but the bloggers try to make their work go deeper than that. Rather than focus on the events themselves, the writers try to capture the stories of people who attend or host the events.

"If you write about the person that is involved in this event and has been doing this for the last 35 years, now you have human interest," Postuma said.

For example, editor Jay Corn pointed to a blog post published in September about NamiWalks, a 5K walk hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness to raise awareness of mental health issues. The story went far beyond the event itself and explored the writer's personal struggles with anxiety. Feedback came pouring in, he said, and NAMI took notice, as well.

For him, that was a success. "As a journalist, you always want to do good," he said.