Cruise ships carry nearly one million tourists a year to Alaska. For Juneau-based entrepreneur Eric Oravsky, those visitors are potential customers. The former University of Montana journalism student wants to tell them stories through their phones, and charge them for it.
The app Adventure Flow was born out of an outdoor guide company Oravsky started with his high school friend Patrick Courtnage. Using Courtnage’s experience with programming and Oravsky’s photography and storytelling skills, they are taking their physical tours into the digital world. The app is joining fewer than 10 guide applications for smart phones in Juneau. Marketed to summer tourists, Adventure Flow hopes to both enhance the users’ experience in Alaska and help them remember it.
Last year’s featured entrepreneur Austin Green has been covering basketball games across Spain on weekends while working as an assistant English teacher during the week to pay rent. He is starting to be recognized as an authority on Spanish prospects for U.S. basketball leagues. Green will be collaborating with recently relocated UM alum and photojournalist Gracie Ryan, who will bring her camera to the court.
Ruth Eddy lives in Ketchikan, Alaska. She currently works in radio and rain. www.therutheddy.com
