Naperville woman's app keeps track of life

As a working mother, Naperville resident Deepa Salem thought there had to be a better way to keep track of schedules and events for herself and her three children. Balancing emails and texts from the many school, park district and other organizations led to missed events and schedule conflicts.

It was that frustration that led Salem to develop WotNow, a mobile app designed to collect information from numerous sources and organize it into a single, customizable calendar format.

The startup company, led by CEO Salem and Chief Technology Officer Anand Sivaraman, did a soft launch about a year ago focused primarily in Naperville. Since then, Salem said, the app has grown to contain more than 400,000 events compiled from more than 40,000 organizations throughout the region.

The app aggregates data supplied by local organizations and provides users with a customized calendar of events and information in a customizable, interactive format. Salem said organizations that send their information to WotNow can update and push that information to users. For example, a park district that sets an event on the app can update that event if tickets are sold out, if the time changes, or if it's canceled, and that update gets pushed to the users' calendar.

A WotNow user can set the app to follow a particular organization - much like liking a Facebook page, Salem notes - or can search for a particular interest, like baseball. The app then uses geofencing technology to bring the information near the user into the app's calendar interface, with each event linking back to that group's website.

"You get it all in a calendar, where you can review, RSVP, set up reminders or share with friends," she said.

In addition to data supplied to WotNow, the app can also integrate data from Facebook Calendar, Google Calendar, a cellphone calendar and Microsoft Outlook.

She credits the vibrant, family-friendly community Naperville offers as the impetus of WotNow. She found her own frustration of having to wade through numerous emails, texts and websites to find information about events and activities for herself and her children was shared by others.

"My challenge was being a mom of three children who also traveled and is busy at work," she said. "When I talked to other parents, they had similar problems. They all said 'Yes, it's crazy; it's a nightmare.'"

Salem also credits Naperville School District 204, the Naperville Park District and library for the early success of the app. The agencies were very enthusiastic about supplying information for the app, she said.

"All of them extremely supportive of our work. They gave us a lot of time and support when we were nothing," she said. And while about one-third of WotNow's 5,000 users are located in the Naperville area, Salem notes the number of users and organizations on the network are spreading throughout the Chicago region. Those users are also providing the company with feedback that is helping them improve the overall experience.

"We have a pretty active set of users who are very vocal ... and I like that, it's very wonderful," Salem said.

The company already has its eyes on growing, with a goal of having 1 million users in the next year.

"We have a very ambitious plan and I think Chicago still has a lot go offer," she said. "By the end of this year. we hope to have a huge penetration in Chicago, and expand into other metropolitan areas in the next year."

But while growth is good, Salem said she never set out to become an entrepreneur.

"I did this with a large passion because I think it's something in dire need for most people."