#TECHTUESDAY: SKIDDLE- Weekend’s Matter

#TechTuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming technologies for their innovative ideas and impact on the event world!

“A small fish in a big pond” is how any person can feel living in a large city, especially San Francisco! The “Things to do” lists extends for miles, but still some remain unaware of the events and excitement occurring a few steps from their door. Skiddle recognized this detachment and brought a resolution with their Weekends Matter app! Before we even go into the deets, this event library includes more than 100,000 events at any given time! Combining that stealthy number with the additional features, it’s no question why this app is featured on this week’s #TechTuesday!

It’s a Friday night and there’s nothing to do- until you open up your Skiddle app and find all of the events occurring within your location! Events range from anything as large as a music festival to something as simple as an art exhibit. The beauty of this app is that it identifies with all interests, which is why it has such an extensive gallery. Don’t feel like scrolling through an entire archive? That’s okay! You can search events by date, location, category, what’s trending, and even Skiddle’s recommendations!

Every once in awhile there’s an event that’s so good it requires you to pack your things for a few days and explore a new territory! However, planning the housing and transportation can be a little strenuous especially when it’s a group. If you’re looking for simplicity, Skiddle has a search feature to scope out the nearest hotels to your event venue. Still confused on how you’ll get to the actual event? If you’re looking for a lift, Skiddle is integrated with the Uber app (first ride is free for the newbies!) or if you’re within walking distance and choose to sightsee it offers directions to your event location!

Looking for some new music to listen to? This app has access to music clips via Spotify to give you a taste of an artist before purchasing any tickets! Once you find your new favorite artist, you can track them and receive alerts when new events are announced. When your event is finally available and you’re ready to purchase tickets, don’t worry! There are no booking fees with this app and ticket delivery is instantaneous!

Why we love Skiddle Weekend’s Matter: Learning new things is what keeps us young! This progressive app introduces users to a range of events that extends beyond their regular “going out” vocabulary. Discovering new music is as easy as a click, which can inevitably lead to a random night on the town to experience something different! It’s exciting to see how many avenues and options are literally at the tip of our fingers, and how simplistic it’s been made for our convenience. This database was made for enjoyment and that statement is clear with the ease of it’s accessibility!

So, where are you headed next? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

Top 5 Pop-up Hotels

At ABCey, we’ve heard of everything from Pop-up stores to Pop-up cafes. Now, the latest trend to come upon us is the Pop-up hotel! This new idea utilizes freight containers as convenient portable hotel units. This means you can “build” your hotel in any cool location to cater to your specific clientele. Imagine the events you could host in these container hotels! We’ve compiled a list of the Top 5 leaders in this trend.

1. Sleeping Around: Sleeping Around is a “hotel” composed of 20-foot-long recycled shipping containers. Some containers are bedrooms, complete with high-end bedding, a rain shower, an iPod docking station, and air conditioning. Others are designed for eating meals or enjoying a sauna. Sleeping Around is currently located in Antwerp, but they are considering future locations.

2. Sleepbox Hotel: Earlier in 2013, the first Sleepbox Hotel opened in an old building in Moscow with more than 50 pods that guests can book for overnight stays or just a few hours. Accommodations are admittedly barebones but, unlike at most hostels, travelers are ensured privacy with single and double capsule options.

3. Snoozebox Hotel: Snoozebox, a British company offers a hotel system that can be set up anywhere. Known as the Snoozebox Hotel, the portable lodge hosts 40-400 rooms which can provide supplementary housing during an event, a busy travel season, or a natural disaster. Similar to Sleeping Around, the Snoozebox Hotel can be built in atypical locations for nature-loving travelers who do not want to sleep outdoors. Each Snoozebox room is climate-controlled and offers typical hotel amenities such as flat screen TVs and WiFi.

4. The Deûle Insolite: A French hotel near the Belgian border north of will start taking reservations for a converted shipping container this September. The new shipping container room was designed in partnership with HouseUP, a French company that specializes in transforming the 20-foot-long steel boxes into vacation homes. Some units will even have balconies and kitchenettes.

5. X iang Xiang Xiang Pray House: China exported 3.2 million shipping containers last year — more than any other country in the world. It is only fitting that its newest hotel covers is made up of 35 new shipping containers. The hotel covers 5,000 square meters and has 21 guestrooms in total. The rooms come in two sizes: 15 square meters or 30 square meters and windows are installed on one side of the containers as well as in the roof.

Do you think the freight container hotel concept could take-off in the United States? Do I sense a future Kickstarter campaign? Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter.