Gatherball: Trip Planning for a Group, without the Tedious Email Chains

Kira M. Newman May 26, 2012 Tweet

You’d think Paul Watts could rest on his laurels by now. Along with Meevine cofounders Jonathan Nelson and Ben Demboski, Watts helped grow Wildseed, which sold to AOL in 2005. He also built OneBusAway for Android, which helps tens of thousands of Seattle transit riders daily, and has worked at HTC and Microsoft.

But Watts is still chugging away: Meevine graduated from the Founder Institute last year with its group travel planning website, Gatherball. Gatherball is very open-ended: you can add sections to a longer trip (1. fly to Florida, 2. arrive at hotel, 3. dinner at Denny’s) and let your traveling companions comment (ew, Denny’s?!). If you’re planning a roadtrip or a surprise party, list a range of dates so you can settle on a time that’s best for everyone.

So where does Watts get the energy to funnel into a new project?

“We’re driven to make products that people love to use. I love when our elevator pitch gets reactions like, ‘I totally need that!’ Talking directly with people using what you’ve built, and getting excited by their excitement…there isn’t anything more satisfying,” he says.

Gatherball is still in beta, and was showcased at our Tech Cocktail Seattle mixer this week.