For students on meal plan, table slips are ubiquitous at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The small paper flyers often advertise upcoming events or solicit student involvement for University projects. Now, thanks to an initiative from Jess Maddox '08 and Jonathan Rhone '08, those same table slips commonly found in the Sharpe Refectory and the Verney-Woolley Dining Hall are now available online.
The idea behind the new Web site, RattyTableSlips.com, is not to replace the conventional paper slips but to extend their reach, according to the site's creators.
"Lunch and dinner are not always the best time to go scrounging through table slips," Maddox said. "We're not trying to replace other advertising, but this fills a niche."
At RattyTableSlips.com, table slips are organized by date or by the type of event they advertise. Student groups can submit digital versions of table slips, which are posted for free. The site also offers the top of the page as an area for "featured table slips." These slots are available for $4 per day.
The original idea for the Web site came out of Maddox's experience in EN 90: "Managerial Decision Making" last year. Asked to create a business plan as a course assignment, Maddox teamed up with Katy Henderson '08, who is abroad this semester, and created the outline for the site.
"It started simple," Maddox said. "Table slips online are an easy idea, but it can be hard to implement."
The project started to come together when Rhone, a computer science concentrator who interned with Microsoft over the summer, came on board.
Rhone and Maddox spent long hours at the beginning of the semester to prepare for the site's launch earlier this month.
"We spent a couple of days marathoning," Maddox and Rhone said. "We sometimes worked 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. to get things going."
Now that the site is operational, the two spend about an hour and a half managing it each day.
Though the project stemmed in part from his coursework, Maddox also cited personal reasons for creating the site.
"I live off campus and (I'm) off meal plan, so I need a way to get this information," he said.
Maddox and Rhone believe the site will be an easy-to-use, constantly accessible source for students' affairs.
"It's user-friendly," Maddox said. "It's all on one page. People can scroll down and see all of the day's events."
Maddox and Rhone hope students will bookmark the site and check it "a couple of times a week."
"Especially on Friday and Saturday nights," Maddox said, "you might check it if you want to know what parties are going on."
The site's current record for hits in a day stands at 500.
"If we're reaching 500 people a day that would be great," Maddox said.
The Student Activities Office has also been working closely with the Web site. Though the site is not officially connected with the University, it offers free space for student organizations to post notices about coming events.
In addition to providing publicity for student groups, Maddox and Rhone also noted the site's potential to limit the amount of paper used for on-campus advertising.
RattyTableSlips.com may help cut back the use of thousands of pieces of paper for table slips, Maddox said.
Student response to the launch of RattyTableSlips.com has been mixed. For some, the Web site represents a new way of accessing information and keeping up with University events.
"We got a lot of positive response from students," Maddox said.
Several students interviewed by The Herald at the Ratty Saturday afternoon gave the site mixed reviews.
"I worry about non-Brown students seeing the Web site and coming to events," said Adam Lubitz '09.
"I don't know if that many people will go there because (table slips) are kind of designed to be looked at while eating," said Amy Chang '10.
Fernando Pizano '10 said he likes the Web site but thinks some improvements are necessary.
"It's good but they need to change the format of the table slips for the Internet," Pizano said.
