当课外活动遇到社交网络

    有一家网站提供的是社交网络服务，却能够减少孩子们在Facebook和Twitter上逗留的时间，这看似自相矛盾，却别有一番新意。Afterschool.me是一家目录式搜索网站，它提供关于文化、艺术以及体育活动的各类信息。父母可以通过其社交网络元素为自己的孩子寻找课外活动。

    Afterschool.me是一家初创公司，总部设在洛杉矶（Los Angeles）。父母现在可以在这家网站上通过邮政编码搜寻符合需求的的社区活动。从今年秋天开始——正好赶上新学年——Afterschool.me将推出个人档案功能（profile feature）。父母可以通过这款工具列出孩子的个人兴趣，同时他们还可以标出费用、交通和语言等要求，以排除无效信息。Yelp曾经为地方企业推出点评服务，默契网（Match.com）曾经提供交友服务，而今Afterschool.me想为课外活动提供的服务与前二者可谓殊途同归。正如公司30岁的创始人兼首席执行官埃文•费尔德曼宣称的那样，这是一项前所未有的服务。此外，为了加强父母与活动组织机构之间的联系，公司还打算让Facebook和LinkedIn也参加进来。

    费尔德曼原来是一名律师，他曾经为哈佛大学肯尼迪政治学院（Harvard's Kennedy School of Government）工作，专门研究公共服务私营化的问题，此后他对被自己称为“课外危机”的问题产生了浓厚兴趣。他还在老大哥（Big Brother）节目中担任过6年培训师。2011年，他和软件工程师Alex Riabov一道创立了这家网站，并全身心投入网站的建设。他们从StartEngine获得了融资，后者也在洛杉矶，是一家创业加速基金（accelerator fund）。Afterschool.me虽然谈不上是最炫酷的事业，但是它的影响却不容小觑：在美国，从幼儿园到高中约有6000万学生，其中只有区区14%左右的学生参加了课外活动，而这些活动却往往能使他们远离是非、健康成长。（根据非盈利组织美国希望联盟的报告，全美范围内学生的辍学率高达24.5%）

    然而，崇高的目标并不意味着Afterschool.me是非盈利组织。“我们想证明即使没有外来捐助，我们也能解决社会问题，在保持盈利的同时获得可持续发展。”费尔德曼如是说。一旦用户量上升，公司就会推出高级排名服务（premium listings）并从某些活动中收取部分费用，以此来获得现金收入。公司还有一个目标，这就是建立足够的影响力，从而推出自己的课外活动项目。此外，费尔德曼还想让《财富》美国500强企业担负起相关责任。例如，Afterschool.me有意推动其它公司效法苹果（Apple）与微软（Microsoft）等巨头，这两家公司已经拥有了自己的青少年活动计划。

    这无疑是一个艰巨的任务。首先，这家网站规模还比较小。（例如，如果输入旧金山湾区周边的区号，在其方圆10英里内都不会有任何活动的信息反馈。）此外某些涉及儿童的服务项目容易引起争议——即使父母参与也无济于事。当然，要说服公司与学校董事会就儿童教育进行合作也不是一件容易事，众所周知，在这一领域校企合作历来迟缓。

    尽管如此，费尔德曼很善于和逆境作斗争。在约翰•克里议员参加总统竞选时，他曾经为其担当过现场指挥，当时他才22岁。2004年竞选当晚，他在俄亥俄州（Ohio）首府哥伦布市（Columbus）的一座教堂前坚守了一夜——俄亥俄属于关键的战场州——当时已是深夜11点，天降大雨，对于克里阵营不利的消息接踵而至，然而费尔德曼却呼吁己方选民要坚守到底。他说：“我们当时希望民众保持斗志。”如今情形并无不同。

    译者：王骏

    It's cleverly counterintuitive: a social networking service to help kids spend less time on Facebook and Twitter.Afterschool.me, an online directory of educational, artistic and athletic programs, uses social networking elements to help parents find extracurricular activities for their children.

    The Los Angeles-based startup currently allows parents to search for activities by zip code. Starting this fall -- in time for the upcoming school year -- Afterschool.me will launch a profile feature where parents can list their children's' specific interests and set other filters such as cost, transportation requirements, and language. What Yelp (YELP) has done for local businesses and Match.com (IACI) for relationships, Afterschool.me wants to do for after school programs. There was no such service, says founder and CEO Evan Fieldman, 30. The company is also planning Facebook (FB) and LinkedIn (LNKD) integrations to better connect parents and organizations.

    Fieldman, a lawyer, became interested with what he calls the "afterschool crisis" after working for Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, researching the privatization of public services. He's also been a Big Brother mentor for six years. In 2011, he founded the company as a full-time gig with software engineer Alex Riabov, and received funding from StartEngine, an accelerator fund in LA. It hasn't been the glitziest cause, but the stakes are high: Out of the 60 million students in the United States from kindergarten to high school seniors, only about 14% participate in after school activities that often keep students out of trouble. (By contrast, the national drop out rate is 24.5%, according to nonprofit America's Promise Alliance.)

    But lofty goals don't mean Afterschool.me is non-profit. "We wanted to prove it is possible to address a societal challenge, generate revenue and be sustainable without relying on donations," Fieldman says. Once usership grows, the company plans to monetize through premium listings and by taking a percentage of revenue from certain programs. The goal is also to become a major enough presence that Afterschool.me creates extracurricular activity opportunities as well. Fieldman wants to put the onus on Fortune 500 companies. For example, the company would like to goad companies to follow the leads of giants like Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), whoalready have youth programs of their own.

    That will almost certainly be a difficult task. For one, the site is still small. (For example, a search for a suburban Bay Area zip code didn't return any programs within 10 miles.) And there are sensitivities around services that involve children -- even if parents are involved. Of course, it may also take a lot of work to convince organizations and school boards to cooperate in a field where adoption is notoriously slow.

    Still, Fieldman is used to fighting through dire circumstances. At 22, he was a field operations manager for Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign. On election night 2004, he spent the evening in front of a church in Columbus, Ohio -- a key battleground state -- encouraging voters to stay in line at 11 p.m. despite the pouring rain, even when grim returns were coming in for Kerry's camp. "We wanted people to remain inspired," he says. Same as it ever was.