Back in the Bay Area, California, there has been a trending document being shared all around. This trending document is a boba directory listing all the boba shops that is available in certain areas marked on the map. The creator and founder of this boba trend is Allen Geronimo who resides in the East Bay Area and is very fond of different types and flavors of the famous boba drink. From the very beginning, Allen started thinking of organizing a directory including all the shops in the Bay Area with the purpose of using the directory for himself to travel around the Bay and reviewing every single shop. He posted the directory on his personal Facebook page thinking that it wouldn't be of much info for anyone else. Little did he know, this posting that he did late in December would spark the beginning of a boba sensation. Soon after Allen posted the Bay Area Boba Directory on Facebook, friends began to share it, and the following day, at least 1000 people learned of this boba directory which helped the post take off!

The day following the posting of this boba directory, I, Ben Her, came along and saw that the directory only covered the Bay Area and the creator had intent to create the SoCal directory. I decided then and there that I could help fill create the SoCal boba directory. So I made the directory, shared it among my friends through the same social media platform, Facebook, and Geronimo himself shared the directory as well. This marked the beginning of the entire boba directory expansion...

How Boba Crave launched:

When I got in contact with Allen, it all started with just adding on the directory to the collection of ever-growing directories. But things started to take off when I suggested to create a site to organize and compile the list. When the discussion of creating the site began to take shape into a site, I spent numerous hours trying to find the best fit for the site and a simple logo that would be appealing to the eye. Then I spent several hours creating a map for the SoCal directory and applied to the site. Formatting the site and getting the site to become mobile-friendly took a while, but in the end, it all worked out. After the site became live, Allen and I realized that the growing popularity of the directory attracted more and more people because of the growing support from the boba-community, so the addition of a Facebook page AND Instagram profile was created. Our name was formed into a single name, "Boba Crave", and ever since then, that has become our signature logo! Since the launch of Boba Crave on 1/1/17, the page has been viewed over 600 times and at least 10 people have subscribed to the mailing list! These numbers wowed both Allen and I as we thought something so little as a directory with map visuals could attract people by the hundreds! We also had the opportunity to be interviewed by Clarissa Wei, a freelance journalist based in LA! Through the interview, we hope to attract attention from boba shops and people alike. Maybe a sponsorship for the planned boba-tour hosted by both Allen and Ben!

How we got our supporters and their input began with Allen's personal Instagram account, and then eventually grew to the point where we redirected all requests to our email. The supporters who have contributed to the page are presented on a sub-page created to give a shoutout to those who have submitted requests. So far, there has been at least 20 people who have given us locations of boba shops within the SoCal region and Bay Area.

Currently, aside from the Bay Area boba directory created by Allen, and the SoCal boba directory created by Ben, the community has included input for the Northern Central Valley boba directory as well as the newly added East Illinois and Honolulu boba directories! The support and requests of the community has led us to believe that the directory can attract more and more people, including those not in the US. Our goal for now is expand the directory across the nation. We filled in most of the boba shops within California, and now we are reaching out to states across the nation such as the included Illinois, and Hawaii. We hope to reach all the way across to New York where surprisingly, people have been requesting for a directory! Based on the current analytics of the site we have been using to post directories and reach out to our supporters, we have faith that the boba directory can go somewhere with the number of hours spent into forming this site and testing it to see if it's user-friendly!

The Predicted Future:

Both Allen and I hope that with the continued support of boba enthusiasts alike, we can get the attention of people traveling to the US from foreign countries and using our user-friendly site, we will be able to guide them to the best places for boba wherever they may be! Check out the site below as that will lead you to our boba page and where people can subscribe to our mailing list to be informed of the many additions we will be adding to the site! We hope that the site will remain active all throughout 2017 and attract more and more people!

We encourage people to give us suggestions to how we can improve and directories we may add! On 1/3/17, Allen and Ben met up to discuss plans about the site, open boba tour inviting anyone to tag along through reviewing the boba places across the nation, and marking the beginning of the open boba tour starting in Union City, CA, with Mr. Green Bubble and Sharetea!

Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Boba-Crave-18310949071135...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobacrave/

Site Link: http://bobaenthusiasts.wixsite.com/boba-crave

Funny story, there was this one time when one my friends asked me how did the whole boba database happen because that night, her mom asked her if she had heard of the recent trending boba directory. This made me realize how far the directory had traveled. The directory all started in the East Bay Area, mainly targeted at young adults, but somehow made its way to SF to parents who are social media savvy.