Bounce Celebrates Successful First Year as Official Community Platform of the UT Austin Interfraternity Council ‘West Fest’

AUSTIN, TEXAS – June 11, 2024 – Bounce is excited to announce the successful completion of the first of a three-year partnership with the University of Texas at Austin’s Interfraternity Council (“Texas IFC”) as the official community management and events platform for West Fest.

During its first year as the official event logistics partner for West Fest—the largest philanthropic IFC-administered event in the country— the IFC leveraged Bounce’s innovative, all-in-one community building platform to help reach an even broader student audience, avoid exclusionary practices, and achieve its equity, safety and inclusion goals for the event.

"With Bounce as the official community and events platform partner for West Fest this year, the Texas IFC and its member fraternities were able to engage more of the UT student population while creating a seamless checkout and verification process for all guests." said Sean Monteiro, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bounce. “We’re honored to have been a part of the incredible success of West Fest 2024, and to have worked with the IFC executives to build a safe and connected social experience for the UT community. It was great to support such an iconic event and we look forward to partnering with the Texas IFC for years to come.”

“Bounce has been instrumental in helping build the Texas IFC’s community at UT,” said Nick Whelan, Vice President of Large Programming with the Texas IFC. “Bounce provided an unmatched level of service through their easy-to-use event and communications features, plus the on-the-ground support from their campus team. The Bounce team was extremely easy to work with, friendly, and accommodating to our every need. I’m excited to see how Bounce and the IFC will partner to help improve the UT student experience in the years to come.”

Beyond seamless coordination of ticketing logistics, Bounce’s all-in-one community building platform also helped the Texas IFC and member fraternities to:

• Attract a more diverse student audience than ever before and inspire a new level of engagement through Bounce’s innovative social photo sharing and in-app community building features.

• Better understand student audiences, inspire unengaged students to participate, and provide promotional support for overlooked events and activities with informed insights from Bounce’s Events Analytics Dashboard.

• Easily and quickly share important updates with attendees before, during and after events using Bounce’s advanced communication tools, like free SMS blasts and social push notifications.

• Raise money for philanthropic efforts supporting a multitude of local Austin organizations by enabling custom merch sales using Bounce’s new in-app ‘Merch Add On’ feature with ticket purchases.

By nature of the multi-year agreement, Bounce was able to collaborate more closely with individual Texas IFC member fraternities to help them reach more students, keep in touch, and stay organized.

“Using Bounce worked perfectly. It was super helpful to have all the event details in one place with an event page,” said Cory Kardesch, Rush Chair at UT Austin Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT). “The organization was the best part – I was able to see everyone who had a ticket and ensure they got the correct wristband, while also being able to ensure security and capacity planning. Plus, Bounce’s text blast and notifications allowed us to share updates with students who had RSVP’d.” 

Bounce’s positive impact during this year’s West Fest was felt by more than just the Texas IFC and member fraternities. Bounce was founded with the goal of changing the way students connect with each other by putting emphasis on building a strong community, and its commitment was felt by students at West Fest.

When asked about how Bounce impacted her experience at West Fest, Hailey Hirsch, a Junior at UT Austin, said: “I used Bounce for West Fest this year and it was truly the most seamless the event has ever been. Not only was I able to see what events were happening and when, but I was also able to see which events my friends were attending. It was so easy to use—especially because all of the events were on one platform. With Bounce, wristband pick-up was super easy and it took away a lot of the stress that normally comes with attending big parties like these. I am so excited to attend West Fest next year using Bounce!”

From spikeball tournaments at the beach to thousand person concerts, Bounce is connecting school administrations, organizations, and activity coordinators across North America with students, and fostering a community built on meaningful connections and fun. To learn more about Bounce’s innovative community building platform, visit www.bouncelife.com.

About Bounce:

Bounce is changing the way organizations manage and communicate with their audience, host local events, and expand their reach. Bounce delivers an all-in-one community building platform to university administrations, campus organizations and event planners across North America. Hundreds of thousands of users discover events, share moments with friends and participate in their local communities through the Bounce ecosystem each month.

About University of Texas at Austin’s Interfraternity Council:

The University of Texas Interfraternity Council (IFC) serves as the governing body for 22 men's social fraternities on campus. The IFC has nine executive board members that are elected representatives from the chapters every year. There are also thirty cabinet members as well as each fraternity's chapter presidents. The mission of the IFC is to be an entity designed to address the needs of the member fraternities, operate as a model organization whose sole purpose is to self-govern, to educate, and to promote a true sense of community. To learn more about the IFC, visit https://texasifc.com/what-is-the-ifc. 

About West Fest:

West Fest, hosted and coordinated by The Texas Interfraternity Council, is a weekend-long philanthropic music festival taking place at IFC chapter facilities throughout West and North Campus. Proceeds from West Fest 2024 benefit various non-profit organizations located in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit https://texasifc.com/west-fest.