With a vision to make events easier to create and organize, one Texas A&M  and one University of Texas student developed an app that is already helping organizations on campus.
The two creators, geosciences and geophysics Chibuike Imo and University of Texas graduate Carl Nnaji, came up with the idea to make an app focused on live events during the summer before their freshman year. 
Once they got to college, the duo started taking programming classes and raising funds to help make their dream a reality, and they soon began the creation of Tempo Live Events.
Since then, they have hired programmers and designers and are working with developers internationally. The app officially launched this fall and is available on the iOS Apple Store and Google Play Store.
Since Aug. 26, the Tempo team has already organized events for eight organizations on campus. Imo said the app has many user-friendly features to speed up the process of event planning.
“It’s a live e-ticketing app where you can create an event directly through the app,” Imo said. “You can create an RSVP event or a ticketed event. You can directly link your debit card or your bank account to the app, and you can get payments through there for your event.”
The life of a college student is very hectic, Imo said, and it can be hard for people to find something to do with the little free time they have.
“Our company and our app answers that question for people,” Imo said. “They can open the app, detect their current location and see what different types of events are going on.”
Imo said the app itself and the process of creating an event are both free of charge. The only fees involved are for ticket purchasers.
“We don’t take any fees from the event creators,” Imo said. “The only fee that we do have is a service fee. As people are purchasing tickets, there is a service fee of $1 plus four percent, which is the cheapest on any e-ticketing platform around.”
Nnaji said the team has received positive feedback since the launch of the app, and he credits this to the team’s dedication to each and every event.
“People are really appreciative,” Nnaji said. “Another thing that differentiates us from event providers is we see ourselves as part of the event. We’ll help promote, we’ll help organize giveaways and do whatever we can to increase ticket sales.”
Dean Andrew Morriss of A&M’s School of Innovation said managing this type of project is especially difficult, and he is impressed with the work that Imo and the other students have done.
“What’s special about what he’s done is he’s taken all these steps, including forming a corporation, getting legal advice, finding a software programmer in India, managing a transcontinental employment relationship, building his team up to develop the app and developing a market plan for it,” Morriss said. “Putting all of those pieces together is really quite hard.”
Morriss also said the app is a useful resource for students, and that Imo has done well in assisting the customers every step of the way.
“It’s answering a need for people in his age group to find events and to find a way to connect to events,” Morriss said. “He’s listened to his customers, which is what we always ask businesses to do.”
Developing this app involved some long hours, from talking to developers in India to staying on top of classwork along the way. However, Imo said the app has given him the determination that he needed to get through college.
“Doing it while a student has been hard,” Imo said. “It’s been difficult, but one thing I always tell myself is, ‘You shouldn’t limit yourself to one thing.’ Going into my senior year, working on this app has actually gotten me through school.”
Imo recognized the impact that Tempo has had on his life and said the project as a whole has been very fulfilling.
“This app has humbled me as well because when people tell me about their experiences, and I’m able to help people out, run their event, and have successful events, it makes me happy,” Imo said. “My goal is to one day have Tempo impact the world.”