Meet Luka, the U3 Political Science student who introduced Tilt to the McGill community. Read on to learn more about the app itself, and the ambassador program at McGill. Being a Tilt ambassador myself, I can tell you this right now: Tilt is lit!
Kapinga Kalombo for Her Campus McGill (HC McGill): Thank you Luka for taking the time to chat with me today. Could you begin by telling us a bit about yourself?
Luka Ryder-Bunting (LR): My name’s Luka Ryder-Bunting, and I’m a third year Political Science student here at McGill. I’m originally from Toronto, but have been loving calling Montreal my home for the last couple of years! I’ve tried to be as involved as possible at McGill lately since I’ve become increasingly aware of how much is going on here. I was a Coordinator for Arts Frosh this year, and have been working with McMUN for the event this January. I’ve also taken up being a team lead for the McGill Tilt Ambassador group for this year.
HC McGill: What is Tilt?
LR: Tilt is an application available on mobile and at Tilt.com that allows users to crowdfund money online, whether it be in large groups or individual exchanges. Tilt, a start-up founded by James Beshara and Khaled Hussein in 2012, has come a long way since its inception. The app has recently expanded to include the request money and sell something functions, on top of the classic organize and collect money function, which is popular amongst students. The request money feature essentially operates as a far more convenient mode of e-transfers, only a click away on one’s phone. The sell something addition allows Tilt to be used to run campaigns selling a variety of items, appealing to businesses or institutionalized organizations.
HC McGill: What do you personally use the app for?
LR: The thing that I love about Tilt is that you can use it for any facet of your life that involves the exchange of money. I use it to collect rent and utilities from my roommates, to request money when I pay for a friends coffee, or to collect for large social events I may be involved with in any way. It can really be integrated into any part of your life. It’s really convenient for me!
HC McGill: What does being a Tilt ambassador entail?
LR: Being an ambassador boils down to promoting the app by, as I mentioned before, integrating it into your daily life and getting your friends on board! It’s super easy to start using Tilt day-to-day, and ambassadors take on the rather easy challenge of using Tilt for what they would already be doing – exchanging money between their friends. The most successful ambassadors also succeed in using Tilt for larger events, for example tilting a group dinner or a night out. The amazing thing is that people are already planning these sort of activities, and are able to use Tilt to make them even simpler – I think it’s for that reason that so many people love the ambassador program. The other aspect of being an ambassador is the community. We don’t want a team that just promotes Tilt and that’s the end of it. We want to engage with the people we’re working with to empower them to take on challenges themselves and be a part of a more casual side of the Tilt community. The Tilt community is more like a collection of friends than a work environment.
HC McGill: What made you decide to reach out for a Tilt ambassador program at McGill?
LR: I’ve touched on the largest reasons why, but if I was to state it in one sentence it would be: I reached out to the Tilt ambassador program because of how convenient it was for my life and how positive the community appeared. Both of these ideas proved true as I become more engaged. I was able to meet a ton of awesome people while integrating the app into activities I was already participating in.
HC McGill: How responsive is McGill to this program?
LR: McGill loves Tilt these days! The app has been absolutely blowing up on campus. When I walk around handing out Tilt swag, people are always super amped on it. Tons of students have been using it; and as it becomes more and more popular, campus groups and fraternities/sororities have begun using it as a primary means of money collection for large events. These groups see it as the most convenient way to plan an event, as the social media aspect of the app – it works by connecting with Facebook – lets friends see everyone who has contributed to individual Tilts. The result of this is a ‘snowball effect’ of sorts, where large events can sell out in mere hours once they’ve gained traction. The benefits to socially-oriented groups is fairly evident. As well, with the addition of the sell something function, tons of groups on campus have begun using the app as a means to sell merchandise.
HC McGill: What do you and your team have in store this year?
LR: We want Tilt to become a common-place app for all social-related events. This trend has already begun! Nearly all Greek-life events have been integrating Tilt into their collections, as well as a ton of other enterprises of a similar variety. By this time next year, we want all similar events to be using Tilt. But most of all, we want every student to love the app. The community is so, so important. For that reason, a huge component of what I’m doing on campus is making sure that everyone is satisfied with the function of the app! At the end of that day, what matters most is that the users of Tilt are turning to the app because it benefits them and they truly like it. To this end, we’ve run events such as a bus ride to Queen’s Homecoming, organized and funded through Tilt, giving students a far cheaper alternative than the Greyhounds or trains. We’re going to be ramping up the frequency of community events such as that in the coming year!
It’s amazing, isn’t it? If you think so, join the Tilt train by downloading the app, available on the Apple Store and Google Play Store. Wanna know more about the Tilt? Check out the website!
Images provided by interviewee.