Sbisa Dining Hall on A&M Campus is welcoming for students to eat, study, hang out and now meet new people in a brand-new way.
Within a day and a half Allison Kornher, management information systems senior became a successful website owner. Tavata, which means “meet” in Finnish, is the name of Kornher’s website that gained over 1,000 views within 36 hours.
Tavata is a website strictly for A&M students that allows one to pick a table in Sbisa, reserve a time for that table, and allow for someone else on the website going to Sbisa to join the table.
“When you open the website the first page has information about the process and two buttons. The Pick A Table button and the Join button,” said Kornher. “The Join button will send you to a page where you can email me and you have to give me your TAMU email address, which allows me to add the student into the google calendar which is shared with all the students on the website to write what table they will be at.”
For the people who are not A&M students and want to see what the website is about, Kornher said they can select the Pick A Table button on the home page which will show a blank google calendar. The google calendar is where students put what day, time, and table they are sitting at in Sbisa. A request will pop up to send your TAMU email on the google calendar, but these people can understand what the website is like if they can’t join.
“There is also an option to subscribe to Tavata which will give you updates with what is going on with the website,” said Kornher.
Kornher became inspired to create Tavata after having a similar experience herself at Sbisa.
“I walked into Sbisa at 11:30 a.m. and I was looking for a table and a girl had a sign at the end of her table saying if you want to sit with me you can,” said Kornher. “When I sat down at her table, Taffeta Burleson environmentalist geosciences junior said she had been doing this for a while and I was the first one to join her. I thought that was sad because there are so many people that come and go at Sbisa and some people may not want to sit alone.
Kornher said she thought of making a website similar to this idea but pushed it aside because she felt like she may be the only person who would be interested in sitting with a random student until she saw Taffy and her sign.
“Once Burleson left the table I pulled out my laptop and started to create the website. Tavata was launched at 3 p.m. the same day,” said Kornher.
Burleson said she believes the website is a great platform for students to meet.
“People are already on their phones so if Tavata is shared on social media people may be more inclined to use it,” Burleson said. “People should talk with each other so that we can understand each other and have a more positive environment”
Kornher said she never expected the website to become so popular and has already run into issues with the website crashing due to the high amount of views. She has been working with her professors and the engineering innovation center for help to resolve these issues.
Burleson said she likes that Kornher is strict on the safety of the website.
“I think Tavata is a safe way for students to meet and this is important for students to know because people are very skeptical of something bad happening or not as open to giving new people a chance which causes an unintentional divide between everybody,” said Burleson.
Kornher said she has already begun to plan out ways to expand her website.
“I have had many requests from students to include the Commons on-campus, I plan to expand to that location within a week,” said Kornher. “Another request I have gotten is for the website to be made into an app, I want to make sure the website is going to last not just be a hot commodity before I put my own money in.”
Niessa Samiya, kinesiology sophomore said that if Tavata was made into an app she would use this more because she is always on-the-go.
“I am not the most social person so I would feel a little awkward but I would love to pick a table on Tavata and go with a friend and meet a group of people instead of just a one-on-one meet up,” said Samiya.
Samiya said that Tavata is just another way that A&M continues to be a unique and people -oriented campus.