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Kansas City Startup Weekend Spawns Zoo App

Kansas City hosted its sixth Startup Weekend event, leading to the creation of several new ideas, including an mobile app that helps people navigate a large area, such as a zoo.

A bad day at the zoo turned into a new app for Kansas City. Startup Weekend hosted its sixth event in Kansas City starting Nov. 16, leading to the creation of a mobile app called Wazoo. The app, which won the weekend-long contest, was developed by local designer Kelly Tomlinson and her team. According to Silicon Prairie, the app was inspired by a roommate's bad trip to the zoo.

Wazoo uses a phone's GPS capability to help users navigate through the zoo and view a real-time feed of current activities, including updates posted by other visitors. Users can also view and post photos, play games and access coupons and special offers. Tomlinson said the app's concept could be duplicated for use in other places like theme parks, fairs, music festivals, aquariums, conventions or conferences.

The weekend-long event also spawned dating advice app BroVille, and Shop Startup, which promotes new retailers. "I am continually amazed at how swiftly we sell out these events year after year with mostly new people," organizer Nate Allen told Silicon Prairie. "The people that we attract continue to be interesting people from all walks of life bringing really interesting ideas."