Sync
Year 1 (2025-26)
by Lauren Brown
Sync is a networking app designed for the dance community, with a mission to help dancers connect, collaborate, and create art together.
About This Idea
The dance industry is saturated with talent; therefore, relationships are the most important thing in the dance industry and are key to booking jobs. Dancers entering the professional industry have limited experience, financial pressures, and the demands of balancing multiple jobs to afford living costs, so dancers struggle to find time and opportunities to network meaningfully. At the core, the problem is identifying when, where, and how dancers can build connections that foster professional opportunities and a sense of community within the dance industry.
My solution to help busy dancers efficiently collaborate with others in the community is through designing the networking app Sync. Sync is built on a mission to help dancers connect, collaborate, and create. Users build a customizable profile as a dancer, creator, or both, featuring a headshot, location, social media links, call to action, and video or picture content highlighting their work and experience. The Connect feature allows users to match with dancers, choreographers, agents, and other creators to expand their network. The Collaborate feature is where artists message each other to build professional relationships and coordinate projects. The Create feature includes a meet-up map where local classes, events, and performances are advertised, as well as The Stage, where users can post and feature work created through connections on the app. Sync serves dance industry professionals, filling a market gap, and providing artists with the tools needed to build community and create art!
Where Did This Idea Spark at WMU?
This idea sparked as I began my Capstone project and Honors Thesis at Western Michigan University. For this culminating project of my four years at Western, I wanted to combine my passions of marketing and dance. A quote from Steve Jobs inspired my approach: "Some people say, give the customers what they want. But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do." Therefore, I surrounded my project around the question, "What do dancers want?" Using the design thinking process, I began with the empathize phase, where I listened to my fellow dance majors express worries about launching professional careers and navigating the struggles of a dancer. Their pain points and aspirations inspired Sync.
Impact in Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo fosters a community that values and loves the arts. Sync would strengthen Kalamazoo’s arts community by connecting dancers, choreographers, musicians, and visual artists, leading to an increase in performances around the city. Dance and art spread love, joy, community, and beauty, something we can all benefit from.
The creator network spans broadly across Kalamazoo, including anyone seeking dancers for commercial or creative projects. This can extend to the Civic Theatre casting performers, videographers and photographers bringing creative visions to life, marketing agencies producing campaigns, and community events such as Pride celebrations and Sounds of the Zoo.
The Meet-Up Map also provides opportunities to support the economic growth of small businesses. For example, restaurants or cafés can host live performances to attract customers, while dance studios and creative spaces can rent out unused space for master classes, rehearsals, and content creation.
How Investment Helps
This investment would be transformative for Sync, turning this conceptual idea into reality. The initial investment would be used to hire developers to complete the mobile app, including core features of profile creation, messaging, The Meet-Up Map, and The Stage. It would also support essential safety and infrastructure components such as secure data storage, AI-powered content moderation, and technical maintenance. In addition to developers, lawyers would be hired to develop user terms of conditions and privacy policies, creating a safe and professional app for all.
What I'll Do With the Money
Mobile App Developer ($10,000)- Build iOS/Android features, front-end development (interactive displays), back-end development (APIs and databases), integration of map services (meet-up map), and testing/refinement.
Legal Fees ($4,000)- Legal consultation for terms of use, privacy policies, secure cloud storage, and cybersecurity protections.
Marketing ($1,000)- Social media advertising and outreach efforts to local organizations.
About the Founder
My name is Lauren Brown, and I am a senior at Western Michigan University studying dance and marketing. I designed Sync based on my lifelong passion for dance, supported by the business strategies, theories, and metrics I have learned at Western. Today, dancers are increasingly entrepreneurial, with freelance work on the rise. Sync provides a centralized platform that dancers need to adapt to the evolving industry and build their careers.