Laura Raines

Connection focused founder of @connect_avec | World Traveler, Faux Backpacker | exGoogler

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

The world is full of tools for meeting new people. Almost none for making the most of the people you already know.

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

IRL is exploding. Spending the week in Cannes Lions, you can feel it as much as you saw it. The obvious money spent on brand activations. Creator–brand speed dating. Private dinners and partner meetings. Connections made on the Croisette.

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

You go to a conference to make the connections. To have the meetings. You're already spending the money & the time. Now make the most of it.

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

@nickgraynews Check out avec - it's a geo aware social layer that helps you keep track of who you know in a given city but also who might be traveling to the same place at the same time as you!

https://t.co/xxfmFbpxlr

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

Seeing people IRL is complicated.
@connect_avec is working to ease the mental load so you can actually get together.
At an event, in your home city, or while you're traveling... just knowing where the people you care about will be makes connecting that much easier.

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

I'm a huge fan of the IRL trend.
It's been an amazing way to get outside, meet new people, and build more community. Happy hours and networking events galore.
But it's missing one big piece.

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

They matter just as much as the people you're meeting for the first time.
There's just no way to hold all of them in your head at once.
And even the people you ARE close with - coordinating everyone's schedules is its own kind of complexity.

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

@landon20s & avec turns coincidence into connection, surfacing when friends are in the same city.

Chicago is building for community & connection.

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

avec helps you know who will be in town when you're traveling & who's coming to town when you're home. Remember who lives where & who might have moved since the last time you visited.

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

Effort isn’t a flaw in friendship; it’s a feature.

[Laura Raines @itsraininglaura]

The world doesn’t need another app to scroll through people. It needs one that helps us see them. In person. Connection > content.