The Tab interviews… ClubCo

Two ex HuStu lads hoping for success with their “whole package” for the perfect night out


From the masterminds of James Cruse and Max Mayhew comes the new ‘One Stop’ Social Networking site – ClubCo. Have an impulse to go out? Join ClubCo first.

So what is ClubCo?

ClubCo is an online social networking site exclusive to the University of Nottingham set up by frontmen Max Mayhew and James Cruse, designed as the place to be before, during and after any night out for Freshers, Refreshers and Returners alike.

Described as “the whole package” by Max, ClubCo offers students a new way to organise their nightlife, and act immediately on any ‘impulse’ they have. Different from Facebook. Different from Twitter. Exclusive to you.

By signing up to ClubCo, students can view all upcoming nights in one place – whether you like Crisis, Market Bar or Bodega, ClubCo can provide you with:

  • Times
  • Tickets
  • Taxis
  • Takeaways
  • Truths

Sitting in the Bag down Lenton Boulevard, we’re greeted by the two in snap-backs and tracksuit bottoms. “Sorry we’re late guys. We’ve actually just come from a lecture”.

Both old HuStuians, we know them personally, like many prospective ClubCo users. We detached our personal preconceptions with these minor BNOCs throughout the interview to ask the question we all want answered: should anyone bother with ClubCo? ‘Nests’, ‘tracks’, ‘linking to and from other members’ – what the hell does it all mean?

Firstly we should stop comparing it to Facebook. “Facebook is massive”, Cruse reassures us, ClubCo is not Facebook, “what we are offering is a completely different product”.

“I suppose we should start with the story,” Mayhew begins, “When I started Uni, I didn’t know where things were – only through word of mouth”. Studying Industrial Economics, Max tells us that the idea for this website came to him in a lecture. “My lecturer was telling us that in Business, a lot of people have ideas but they’re just too lazy to carry them out”. Max wanted to give students what he calls the “whole package” of a night out. ClubCo follows you right from your choice to go out: buying tickets, through to pre-drinks, then booking cabs and even the post-lash munchies.

We asked Cruse, who studies FAM, why he got involved; “I liked the idea. This way you can actually see if a night is going to be good; great for impulsive nights out”.

So, we get it. This “whole package” for a night out. Sorted. Done. But are these boys going to get lazy after they have reached this point – is there scope for expansion?

Well, yes there is. Mayhew talks of iPhone and Blackberry apps which they believe give ClubCo that edge. “One application, called ClubCo Find Me, helps you find your mates in the club”, the perfect solution to the usual mare of losing everyone on a night out. Similar to a tracking device, it can find your friends if you’re too drunk or lost to find them yourself. We asked them what else they had to offer, to which another app proved impressive: “PhotoStory lets you see how your friends’ nights are progressing through instant photo uploads onto your ClubCo nest”.

ClubCo is exciting from every angle. These lads believe so. Mayhew mentioned expansion to Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds. “We’ve even been invited to the Saïd Business School at Oxford Uni to give a talk, where we also plan to launch ClubCo.”

So, look out for ‘The Tab Tries… ClubCo’ where you can learn how to set up your account, edit your Nest and start your first Track now – which we believe will be the first of many.

See you at the launch, next Monday at Pandora’s Box. Even Spencer Matthews will be there. Why not you?