Zoé paid 15 euros to cry alone in the cold

Every year students spend endless hours preparing for going abroad. The stress is never-ending in the search for fun-filled experiences and new friends for the new semester. The research and preparations are mostly done online and through social media.

Zoé Heyd is one of the many students who started preparations early. She went to Oslo in January to go on exchange. She was intrigued when she got an email from a company called The Student Life (TSL), promoting an unforgettable welcoming event at a local nightclub.

– I thought it was great. I thought I was going to meet other exchange students and just have a good time. They said if I booked an early ticket it would be cheaper, so I did, Heyd says.

When buying the 15 euro ticket, Heyd was also invited to a Whatsapp group chat for international students in Oslo.

– There were maybe 50 members or so. I’m not sure, some of them seemed to be administrators as well. There was not a lot of activity, but before the party there was a group call that I joined, Heyd continues.

The group chat, call and party are all parts of packages that The Student Life offers online for international students all over the world.

– We sell welcome packages to students arriving in a new city. They may contain information about the new city, virtual meetups, group chats and events or parties, according to Ernst Lighthart, spokesperson for The Student Life.

The Student Life is one of many entrepreneurship companies in a new digital global market for international students.

Lighthart says the goal is to prepare students for their new journey, and connect them before and after they arrive. Consisting of international students, The Student Life claims to know a thing or two about the nerves international students face before going abroad.

– Our online team, the ambassadors, are or have been exchange students themselves and prepare virtual meetups and manage online communities, Ligthart says.

– It was a weird group call 

The group call was Heyds first time talking to fellow international students going to Oslo at the same time.

– It was weird. In the meeting you only talked about yourself. There was a Romanian guy leading the meeting, he had never been to Oslo and knew nothing about the city. He just asked questions about what people were into and so on, says Heyd.

She felt confused that the meetup didn’t include any locals or any information about Oslo.

In a statement to Under Dusken regarding Heyd's situation, TSL suggests that the virtual meeting might have been a part of the package they offer customers.

– If it was a group chat related to one of our events, it is possible that the person messaging was a student helping to coordinate a pre-meetup before the party. It could have been one of our ambassadors or community managers, says TSL in the statement.

Neither the group chat nor the virtual meetup was a massive success for Heyd.

– I did not really participate in the group chat, but I talked to a few of the other participants privately and tried to arrange some meetups with some of them, Heyd says.

Never met any other international students 

Heyd remembers the first week in Oslo vividly.

– It was horrible. The first few days I was just really alone and depressed. Then there was the party, Heyd says.

The party was first located at the club KJ10, and then the venue was changed last minute to another venue, called Lawo.

– I thought it was a bit weird, but I still went. It was not too far away, and I wanted to meet other international students and maybe make some friends, Heyd says.

When Heyd went to the venue, she was surprised by what awaited her.

– I had seen the ads, they promised other international students and an opportunity to make new friends. I was so disappointed when I went up to one of the groups there and asked them if they also bought a TSL ticket. They said no, Heyd says.

Heyd can’t remember meeting anyone from TSL that night. She says she went way out of her comfort zone for this night.

– I don't really party a lot back home. I don’t drink or anything like that, but I wanted to meet new people here in Oslo. I thought that there would be a party and some introductions, Heyd says.

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– We let the venues run the parties 

The Student Life explains that they themselves don’t have much input on the party.

– We’re mostly using DJs and clubs to arrange the logistics of the party on the night itself. They know the cities and local rules the best. The clubs must feel safe and we try to do our utmost to stick with partners and clubs that have good reputations and behaviour, says Lighthart.

However, he acknowledges that there are issues with the way they operate organizing their events.

– Sometimes the clubs have unforeseen problems, which might lead to change of venues. That is obviously not ideal, but we will always make sure that we offer the students what was promised, says Lighthart.

With regards to Heyds case, TSL states that these situations may happen at events with low attendance.

– In order to ensure a good atmosphere for both students and the venue, the club may sometimes decide to allow additional guests in, says TSL in their statement to Under Dusken.

Left the club in tears 

For Heyd, the night ended in a feeling of complete disaster and loneliness.

– I remember leaving the club. I was really upset and crying, this was not what I expected at all. My friends laugh about it today, says Heyd.

After being in Oslo for a few months, Heyd has made a few friends, and even went to Ålesund with one of them for the Easter break. However, the memories of the party still stay with her.

– It was such a bad night. Now I’m fine with it, I only paid around 15 euros, which I did try to get refunded because I was really angry. However, I could never get a hold of TSL, so it never happened, says Heyd.

She went less digital after that night, and became friends with one of the girls she met through the group chat, whom she originally planned on going to a second TSL party with, though they never went.

– Which is fine. It is not that much money, says Heyd.

Heyd believed that TSL was the ones organizing and had responsibility for the events. She believes that the information about their role was not clear before she bought the tickets.

– Of course this should have been clearer. It seemed obvious to me that they were the organizers, not just promoters of the events, Heyd says.

The Student Life says they are not able to comment further upon Heyd’s situation.

Operating in 60 cities from their home office 

Networking through social media and selling tickets for parties digitally on a global scale is a relatively new concept, but it is becoming increasingly common. TSL says they build trust and collaborate with venues to ensure quality.

– We have been doing this for years. We usually try to maintain relationships with these places for years. We try to be at the clubs, maybe one of our DJs are  there, or one of our people are there. People we trust, says Lighthart. 

TSL has a team who contacts the different clubs in 60 different cities, after recommendations through their network.

– We have three event planners and two event managers. They are the ones checking in with the clubs and sending emails saying “hey”, says Lighthart. 

According to The Student Life, how the party is and what it includes differs from club to club, so their packages will differ.

– Whether a wardrobe or coat check is included depends on the venue, says TSL in a statement.

– They do not feel real to us 

In Trondheim, there are currently no events by companies like TSL, but similar companies have contacted local clubs, to which Studio 26 are skeptical.

– The companies start with flattery: “We have looked at your club, it looks great, you are doing a great job.” It's all fluff, says Joachim Bøe Mortensensen, daily manager of Studio 26, a local club in Trondheim.

At one point Studio 26 received partnership offers almost every week, the partners would get the ticket income, and Studio 26 would get the bar sales.

– They send all these promo videos displaying what an event could be like. Parties in Paris, Dubai, Berlin and so on. It does not feel real to us, Mortensen says.

Tickets to TSL events cost around 15 euros each, covering around 60 cities. Selling 100 tickets for 3 events in each city, would make roughly 270 000 euros each semester, excluding costs. This is Under Dusken’s estimate, TSL does not wish to comment on their income. However, these companies are completely dependent on clubs to have the events and the free use of social media to gather the students.

– We feel that those who are doing it have found a loophole. The opportunity is there to make money. So it is up to the consumers, and we who rent out our premises, to be critical, marketing chief at Studio 26, Susann Vågen, explains.

Venues get several emails per week 

Studio 26 are not planning on promoting themselves digitally or cooperating with digital promoters in order to sell tickets in the near future.

– Maybe it is a bit old school, but we want to meet who we’re making deals with in person and explain to them. Also, students aren't supposed to find out about us online, that becomes so impersonal, says Vågen.

Mortensen agrees with her.

– It’s Trondheim, we are a small town. We are not Miami or anything like that. It's very simple. When we are at work, we talk to the international students. It is about being available, Mortensen says.

For them it is not only about meeting the students physically.

– It is difficult to know who you can trust over a computer screen, Mortensen fills in.

Sometimes the demands from these global companies have been overwhelming. 

– We have previously gotten several emails per week, and it’s like they change their names: “Hi, I'm Linda.” “Hi, I’m Scott.” Then sometimes they've already created groups or events on Facebook, before we have even said yes to a collaboration, Mortensen explains.

Things move fast, there are unclear messages and it is uncertain who you communicate with. The owners feel like they lose control of their venue.

– Trust is something you can’t download 

They prefer working with student organizations locally, whom they can meet and trust.

– There you don’t get any red flags, because you talk to them all the time throughout a year, so you know who you have to deal with. It’s roughly the same person who books the events every time, Vågan adds.

They have a contract describing how the collaboration is going to happen. This helps build trust between the parties involved, as well as securing the control of the venue.

– We have built our collaborations with local student networks. And trust? That's not something you can download, Mortensen states.

Studio 26 knows that even though other clubs might be going online in promoting, they feel as though being your friendly neighbourhood club might be the best solution.

– Why change a winning recipe? Of course there are good solutions digitally, but it creates new problems, Vågen concludes.

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