The Online Reflector

By Adrian Kendrick
Feature Editor

A new online social community hopes to get people off their computers and active in Indianapolis.

IndyMojo.com was launched four months ago, and 2002 University of Indianapolis graduate and former Greyhound basketball player Ryan Hupfer was chosen to represent the site.

According to Hupfer, the site is similiar to MySpace.com, but with the ability to locate the person on the other side of an online conversation.

Hupfer said you know if the person you’re talking to on the computer is working three buildings away, and you can arrange to go have lunch or dinner together.

According to Chantal Brenton, media relations specialist for the Web site, IndyMojo.com has a community feel because it targets only the Indianapolis area.

The site is rapidly approaching 5,000 registered members, she said.

“It’s a site where you can meet people, search for an apartment and check out different events happening around town,” Brenton said.

Hupfer said members must be 18, but the average age is 25—with 85 percent of its demographic between 21 and 32 years old.

According to Hupfer, the Web site seems to be more popular among college graduates.

“When you graduate, your time is more valuable, and anytime you spend on a social network you want it to be relevant,” Hupfer said. “IndyMojo offers that value to your everyday life because it is events happening in Indianapolis.”

Hupfer said the site is filled entirely with content from the users.

“The fact [that] the users put in all the content makes it like a word- of-mouth, media channel,” he said. “People really value word of mouth, and I think this site expands on that.”

IndyMojo originated in Louisville, Ky. Two web programmers started the network by accident, but the network grew to the point that LouisvilleMojo is now the No. 1 trafficking site in Louisville, Hupfer said.

Because the network was a success in Kentucky, it was decided to replicate the network in Indianapolis, and Hupfer was chosen to represent the site.

“This Web site is like a big snowball effect. I got the snowball rolling,” Hupfer said. “Now more people are getting on it. And as long as I keep helping facilitate an experience that people feel they are getting value out of, it will keep on growing.”

According to Hupfer, one of the reasons he is successful at what he does is because he is a computer nerd.

“I’m a techno dork! I love all that stuff. I’m also a super social computer nerd, which is a weird mix,” he said.

Hupfer is no stranger to social networking. He is an author of “MySpace for Dummies,” and he also created his own online
network when he graduated from UIndy. Everyone calls him “Hup” because of his last name, so he created a network called
HupsHoopty.

The network involved Hupfer, his friends and a brown van that they took on road trips around the country.

Before HupsHoopty, Hupfer made some history at UIndy when he developed Cheapskate, a Web site that allowed students to swap books or buy books from each other online. According to Hupfer, that didn’t last very long.

Hupfer credits his success to Cary Woods, a former professor at UIndy who taught Introduction to HTML.

Hupfer interned with Woods throughout the summers, and he said Woods helped him develop a real passion for Web programming.

“If I [had] never met Cary, I would not be doing what I’m doing now; he taught me everything I know. He changed my life significantly,” Hupfer said.

Hupfer said another professor at UIndy who left a lasting impression on him is Stephen Maple, associate professor of business.
Hupfer said Maple used to give funny examples.

Hupfer still remembers a day when he was in the back of the class talking, and professor Maple called him to the front of the room.

“He said, ‘Ryan, do you want to teach the class’ and I said ‘Okay,’” Hupfer said.

“So I get up and begin to mimic his voice while I start telling one of his examples, and he lets me get halfway through it, and the class was dying laughing and then he said, ‘Ryan go sit down,’” Hupfer said.

Maple said Hupfer has not changed much over the years, and he is confident that Hupfer will be successful.

“He has always been outgoing and friendly,” Maple said. “He is definitely the right person for IndyMojo. He has found his niche.”
Hupfer said he is happy and excited to be working for IndyMojo._

“I’m amazed at the possibility of the Web,” Hupfer said. “I love what I do.”