Inspiration I'm a campus employee for the Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs at NCSU. I'm lucky to meet so many entrepreneurial students on campus who are just starting to get their business off the ground, or don't know where to start. As an NCSU organization, we can't "endorse" their businesses, so I wanted to come up with an alternative.

What it does PackMart is an virtual marketplace exclusive to students at NCSU (though it could be any university really). By requiring an NCSU email address it ensures extra accountability for both the consumer and entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs can test out their idea, dabble in market analysis, and not get abducted. Consumers can shop sustainably, support their peers, and potentially get better products and services for better prices. Also, not get abducted.

How we built it A lot of time at a coffee shop until it closed, then a lot of time at my desk. Django/Python! Heavy dependence on Bootstrap for the front end.

Challenges we ran into Spent way too much time with URL / navigation issues at the beginning. Roadblocks with time were probably the biggest set backs since building the app required a lot of relearning.

Accomplishments that we're proud of App with users, shops, and products created! Required a university login and runs (kind of!) Ultimately proud to get back into coding, it's been a minute.

What we learned I learned how important it is to stay consistent with coding or you'll forget all of the basics. I also learned about using Django's built in user authentication system which I hadn't used before. Building something from the ground up was also fun. Although I've had to use Django for work, the foundation of the app was done for me.

What's next for PackMart There's a lot of dots that I left unconnected. Fixing / better implementing things including the search feature, pages for product galleries instead of just shop galleries, better listing shop contact information and a possible online payment feature could come in the future. Additionally, this doesn't have to be limited to State. I can see the platform being used for different college campuses to have their own mini virtual marketplaces. Oh, and pushing it live of course