Mobcoder Transforms Scheduling for Parents, ERP Systems for Camp Operators
It’s not easy to be a parent, and it’s not easy to run camps for kids either. Enter CampsEZ. Its service allows parents to easily search and sign up for camps and after-school programs. The website and app, available in both iOS and Android, use machine learning to help parents make smart searches and create activity schedules.
Todd Williams, who worked in tech at Nike and is based in Portland, Oregon, founded CampsEZ in 2019. He chose Mobcoder as the design and development team for the CampsEZ website and apps.I talked to Todd about why he started CampsEZ, some of the innovative ways it helps parents and camp operators, and Mobcoder’s role in developing the CampsEZ website and apps. Our conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Marc Rothmeyer: Tell me about CampsEZ.
Todd Williams: Our focus is to make finding, learning about, and signing up for camps easy for parents. There are so many types of camps—sports camps, outdoor programs, overnight camps, academic camps, after school programs. Before CampsEZ finding and signing up for camps was a challenge. Our goal is to make it simple for busy parents to find the activities they want for their kids. With CampsEZ they not only can find the activities, they’re able to sign up for them and have a calendar generated. We use machine learning so our systems can anticipate what parents are looking for and help them with the sign-up process. Plus, our users get access to updated communications from camp operators year-round so that they don’t have to fret about when sign-up opens next year. With the website and apps Mobcoder built, our camp operators get access to many more potential customers, and they’re able to communicate more effectively. Additionally, CampsEZ is essentially a full-suite ERP system for the operators. In fact, 90% of operators replace their existing ERP system with ours because we can deliver all the reports they need. So our system is a win for both parents and camp providers.
MR: Why did you start CampsEZ?
TW: I was spurred on by coworkers. While I was working at Nike, I saw so many parents who were frustrated with the hassle of organizing summer camp schedules for their kids. When I was growing up, I went to a bunch of camps, including lots of sports camps. It was fun and taught me many essential life lessons and skills. I want other kids to have the same sort of fun camp experiences I had. That’s where the idea originated. With my engineering background, I was confident I could create a system to make it easier to find and sign up for camps.
MR: What’s your target audience for CampsEZ?
TW: Generally, moms and dads of kids between 2 and 18 years old. We have the most activity during the summer camp season, but we have camp listings all year round. At the same time, our platform isn’t only for kids. We have listings for marriage retreats, dad and husband retreats, and women's retreats as well.
MR: How did you connect with Mobcoder?
TW: Given my experience working with engineering teams, I wrote a set of detailed specs and asked a number of development companies to respond. We went through a very thorough vetting process. We walked every dev team through the designs, timelines, what we were looking to achieve. I was impressed with the thought Mobcoder put into their initial response. They were asking all the right questions. I could tell that they’d done their research and had already thought a lot about what I needed. It was obvious Mobcoder knew what they were doing. During the vetting process they gave me a lot of confidence that they could handle both the basics and unique development challenges of building the website, mobile apps, and well-structured backend that was needed to launch our business.
MR: Tell me about the development project Mobcoder did for you.
TW: Mobcoder was an end-to-end development team. They built the consumer-facing side of our website. It looks and functions as designed. They did all of the back-end development for the website. And at the same time, Mobcoder built the iOS and Android apps for CampsEZ, because most parents want to use a mobile app. They created the code from scratch, QA tested the website and apps—front end and back end—and they do ongoing maintenance, so keeping the code up to date as Apple and Google roll out updates and change requirements.
MR: What specific challenge did Mobcoder solve?
TW: They implemented the basic designs and ideas. They had to write particular code for the bespoke items on our website. There’s definitely unique IP in that development effort. There were two other big challenges they solved. One was for the back end. They organized it to help camp operators add camps and all the details for each camp. The back end development was so successful that 90% of our camp operators replaced their existing ERP system with ours because we can deliver all the reports they need. The second big challenge they solved was a system for parents that enabled long-term calendar scheduling. The system uses machine learning to create essentially an auto-scheduler for parents, because it’s rarely just one camp or one kid.
MR: Was there something Mobcoder did that surprised you?
TW: They took the time to really make sure they understood everything before they started coding. So it didn’t feel like any time or effort was wasted. They made specific suggestions and recommendations that helped. And they always met or exceeded expectations.
MR: Overall, how was it working with Mobcoder?
TW: It was a pleasure working with them. I appreciated everything Marc, Girijesh, and team did. Everyone was great. They worked quickly and were always clear on timing and updates.
MR: Would you recommend Mobcoder to others or have them work on another project?
TW: Yes, absolutely. Often the hardest thing with any development project can be the working relationship you have with the team. The working relationship with Mobcoder was excellent. They were very attentive and consistently delivered on time.
MR: I’ve enjoyed learning more about CampsEZ and talking with you about your work with Mobcoder. Thanks for your time.
TW: Sure, it’s been a pleasure.
TECH STACK AND PLATFORMS UTILIZED FOR CampsEZ APP
Backend Development: Node.js MongoDB
Frontend Development: React.js
Platforms: iOS, Android,Web
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