VESC Ep. 30: Never Miss an Online Class or Meeting Again!

When his middle school went virtual during the pandemic, student Seth Raphael created LinkJoin to help people manage meeting invites and arrive on time to class. Join us as we talk with Seth who went from student to entrepreneur when he designed and patented LinkJoin. Learn more about LinkJoin: https://youtu.be/36kdMjY--tU

Visit LinkJoin: https://linkjoin.xyz/

Transcript

00:53.92
Dr. Amy Lyn
Hello everyone this is Dr Amy Lynn the director of ask we have a very special guest today and I cannot wait for you to hear from this guest Seth Rafael Seth attends high school. He's in the ninth grade and he's here to tell us a little bit about his experience. Going virtual during covid but even more importantly, a very unique project that Seth has been a part of creating has created himself I'm I'm underestimating him Seth would you like to share a little about yourself.

01:27.87
Seth Raphael
I'd love to so first of all, thanks so much for having me on I'm a ninth grader at Lawso Miss high school in Walnut Creek and a really passionate programmer and entrepreneur I really enjoy programming and. I play piano I play sports I do a lot of stuff but programming is really my joy.

01:49.17
Dr. Amy Lyn
It shows in my meetings with Seth I was able to see a project that he's been working on called link join seth can you tell us about this project.

01:59.50
Seth Raphael
Sure so linkjoin is a website that organizes and automatically opens virtual classes and meetings how it works is you would take your virtual meeting link say a Zoom link and you would put it into linkk join along with the time the days and all of the meeting information. Then when the time comes linked join would automatically open your meeting without you having to do anything at all with conventional programs. There's always that last step no matter how many reminders you get you always have to take that last step of clicking the link to join the meeting win join eliminates that last. Step and makes it as easy as possible to be on time.

02:37.94
Dr. Amy Lyn
So what made you decide to create the set that is amazing that it's an amazing product. What made you decide to do it.

02:46.23
Seth Raphael
So when I was in virtual school I would always have the problem of being late to my classes and we all know that feeling where you're seated at the computer you're all ready to go and you're 5 minutes early but you don't want to join the meeting that early. So. You'll sit there either doing nothing or you'll get distracted doing something else on the computer and then before you know you're actually late for the class or meeting and this was a problem that I was having a lot I would always be late to my classes just because I get distracted often by coding so. I decided to try and find a program that would help me out here and would automatically open my classes and I couldn't find one I thought it was crazy that this didn't exist that someone hadn't created this so I decided to make it myself.

03:32.36
Dr. Amy Lyn
How did you know that someone hadn't created anything like this that you were you've ah conceived of a unique idea.

03:40.59
Seth Raphael
I really scoured the internet I looked everywhere that I could because I don't want to have to put in work if I don't need to so I was looking all across the internet trying to find everything I could with all the keywords you know auto join Zoom meeting and I couldn't find anything that would do what I wanted it to.

03:47.68
Dr. Amy Lyn
Right.

03:59.89
Seth Raphael
Because Zoom has features where it'll send you reminders and even sometimes automatically open your meeting if you're the host but there really wasn't a software that would organize the meetings and automatically open them if you were just a random attendee of the meeting.

04:13.54
Dr. Amy Lyn
Right? And you told me when we met. It's the automatic automatically opening them that you are particularly fond of tell me a little more about that I know you've talked with some of your friends about this. Why is that feature so important.

04:28.13
Seth Raphael
So I brought this up a little bit before because there's always a final step if you put it in google calendar in apple calendar or in any or in any other reminder app you always have that problem where even if you get a reminder It's so easy to ignore it. You can think oh I'll just. Clicking in a second or you just miss the reminder completely. But with the automatic opening. It doesn't give you a choice. It watches the meeting no matter what you're doing on the computer and it doesn't give you a choice of joining or not it just puts you in and that's that.

05:00.44
Dr. Amy Lyn
Right? right? and did you share this idea with your friends.

05:04.43
Seth Raphael
I Did yeah and several of them started using it and found it helpful and that was actually part of my reasoning for turning it into a website so it started as just a little program that I'd written on my computer and it worked really well for me I wasn't awake anymore. But I wanted to share it with my friends So I tried originally just copy and pasting all of the code sending it to them via text and having them run it which was obviously very inconvenient and I'd been taking a web design class at the time. So I Decided why not try and turn it into a website. So I. Worked hard and learned a lot of new things and eventually turned it into a website and that got it to where it is today.

05:48.50
Dr. Amy Lyn
That's pretty incredible. Did you use a certain platform for your website or did you just create that yourself with html. How did you do that I'm not a website designer.

05:55.77
Seth Raphael
Yeah I really just made it myself I just I used the html Css javascript all that for the front end of making the website look the way it does and I used python which is my favorite language on the backend to manage all of the interactions and creating accounts. And everything that it does.

06:15.10
Dr. Amy Lyn
That is fantastic and really impressive I know that I can go on weebly I can go on Squarespace and make websites like that but knowing Html how did you learn all of that.

06:27.53
Seth Raphael
So a while back I'd taken an introduction to web design class and I really really hated it. It was very boring. It was very dry and I didn't see ways that I could apply it to what I wanted to do so I eventually dropped to the class. And I just had some rudimentary knowledge that I was left with but then a while later I decided to take an introduction to python class which ended up being very different because it had this appeal to it. It was interesting I could make things with it that were cool. As opposed to just the dry basic web pages that come from only knowing Html and Css so I was armed with this knowledge of basic python and basic html and now all I had to do was combine them. So I did a lot of self teachingaching a lot of go going and a lot of trial and error and that was really how I learned and how I got a working product from it.

07:30.89
Dr. Amy Lyn
That's amazing I just want to remind everyone that you are in ninth grade that means in March of 2020 you are a seventh grader and I hear you talking about I took a class I dropped a class where. Were you taking these classes. Do you have a special school.

07:47.30
Seth Raphael
So I'm actually enrolled in a program I called Cty through Johns Hopkins it's the center for talented youth which is an interesting name but it offers extracurricular classes that you can take outside of school and that's where I was taking these. Because there was the long boring summer of 2020 when no one could go anywhere or do anything because of covid and I was really just stuck indoors. So I enrolled in that python class and I learned a lot I finished it in like I think a month this entire class and.

08:07.87
Dr. Amy Lyn
Me.

08:23.49
Seth Raphael
That program really got me going on my coding journey.

08:25.21
Dr. Amy Lyn
So I heard you say you finished it in a month with a little bit of surprise are you telling this? Ah, this was an asynchronous class and it was self-directed learning.

08:34.92
Seth Raphael
Yes, that's exactly what it was so it was just I was motivating myself to do it I was just moving through the assignments had occasional meetings with my teacher only when I had questions and I was just moving through it pretty fast because I had nothing better to do.

08:51.40
Dr. Amy Lyn
That is amazing to me do other friends of yours or kids you know your age are they doing the same thing are they looking for sources online like that to expand their knowledge and learn new skills.

09:07.60
Seth Raphael
Unfortunately, no none of my friends really like coding or do that kind of extracurricular things try as I might to convince them about trying to learn to code or doing anything like that I cannot none of them want to learn to code So I'm. A little on my own right now with that.

09:25.87
Dr. Amy Lyn
That's interesting I know my own daughter a few years ago she's 17 now also tried coding and did a few little things but it was a challenge and it's certainly a challenge to learn it in a self-directed online format. That's pretty amazing. I think that's pretty special I'm sure you realize you have a very unique gift.

09:44.20
Seth Raphael
Yeah I Just really found a passion for this I've tried a lot of things. My parents enroll me in a lot of things to get me going on different opportunities. But this was one that I just really took a liking to and have continued with.

10:00.50
Dr. Amy Lyn
That's great. So tell me a little bit about how covid was for you at your school because I can't help but wonder Seth would this have happened would you have created this if this if if covid had not happened.

10:13.57
Seth Raphael
So it. It really hurts to say but the pandemic I actually kind of benefited from there was of course all of the horrors and terrible things that came out of the pandemic. But I really I don't know if I would have learned to code. Or gotten this far with it without the pandemic. It gave me the time that I needed to really foster my knowledge and my learning of this skill whereas if it had just been a normal summer where I was doing a bunch of summer camps and things like that. I'm not sure that I would have actually really gotten into it I'd started learning to code a while ago where I'd been enrolled in a bunch of summer camps just 1 or two week programs that I didn't really catch on to but what actually got me into coding in the first place later on. Was that I broke my finger which may sound really weird and unrelated. But what it gave me access to was a computer in school because I broke my pinky on my right hand and I couldn't write it all. So I now had access to a computer and some access to boredom. So. But I would do is I would go online and test out my python skills I tried to remember how to do certain things and then after realizing hey this is kind of fun I then asked my parents to enroll me in the course and then that got the ball rolling and covered really accelerated things.

11:43.92
Dr. Amy Lyn
That's pretty amazing story I I want to just point out 2 other things I hope I'm not going to embarrass you too much. Maybe it's the mother in me but I don't think so I think that your story is remarkable Seth but what stands out to me is your compassion. You know you noticed that maybe this wasn't a great time for everyone right? and you made a point of mentioning that and you're right? It's been a terrible time for a lot of people. Um and your gratitude also just really resonates with me. Um, as. As impressive. You know you're obviously you know doing amazing things and quite intelligent and capable. But you're also emotionally aware and very mature for your age It's just really amazing. Do you hear that a lot. It's true.

12:30.88
Seth Raphael
My mom says that a lot. Yes.

12:36.99
Dr. Amy Lyn
It's true. Is there anything else. You think the audience should know about linkjoin.

12:40.96
Seth Raphael
Um, well don't get it confused with http://winkjoin.com that is a chinese website. It's linkjoin dot x y z so make sure you get to the right one.

12:52.25
Dr. Amy Lyn
That's great I'm glad you mentioned it and we will put the link to link Join X Y Z in the description for this podcast should anyone sometimes I hear people might be a little concerned when the ending isn't dot com or dot Org. What are your thoughts about that should anyone be concerned.

13:09.60
Seth Raphael
So that's interesting because the reason that some endings have a reputation for not being super reliable is just because they're cheap because they're easy for scammers to get hold of and set up a website in 10 minutes and steal your information from so that's why they've acquired a bad rap but not all endings like that are bad. There are plenty of endings that just aren't super common that are used for completely legitimate websites. So yes, be careful when you're going to websites that don't have http://dotcom.org.net Those kinds of endings but generally they will be safe.

13:49.52
Dr. Amy Lyn
Thanks! Yes I've heard the same and I figured you would have an answer to that now you're being a little bit modest because before we close I I want you to share what is in the future for link join if you don't. If you're comfortable with sharing some of the information that you've shared with me.

14:08.34
Seth Raphael
So in the future I'm really hoping well small steps first I'm hoping to get it integrated with a lot of other software. So with maybe google calendar or Zoom to just add that extra level of convenience so that you don't have any steps that you need to. Make life more inconvenient and then farther down the road I'm hoping that it will become a sort of gold standard for online meetings where if you are making a meeting you would just have a linkk join link and link Joinin would automatically open your meetings or the software would be used in other software. To open meetings automatically and it would just make everyone's life easier.

14:49.00
Dr. Amy Lyn
Right? And we talked about protecting you right? You've also done what you've done some um um, Doug so cut that out Doug having an old person moment. What's the word.

14:58.52
Seth Raphael
Yes I well I found a provisional patent.

15:07.41
Dr. Amy Lyn
Ah, okay, thank you all right? Let me ask that question again. Ah sorry about that Seth and you've done some work to protect yourself. Seth can you say a little bit about that.

15:14.63
Seth Raphael
Ah, again.

15:21.69
Seth Raphael
Yeah, So I found a provisional patent for linkjoin which gives me a certain level of I I P which protects my information and then I've also I I'm in the process of filing for a trademark and I. Things like that are all in the works to make sure that I have the appropriate amount of protection.

15:43.31
Dr. Amy Lyn
That's great. That's really great. Okay, last call anything else that we should know.

15:48.14
Seth Raphael
I Think we're good. We've covered link join. We've covered me I think we're good.

15:54.40
Dr. Amy Lyn
Okay, well thank you so much for spending some time with us at vesk and sharing about your experience I really hope that we'll have an opportunity to hear more from you in our upcoming conference some plans for that are in the works. And thank you so much for joining us Seth.

16:11.18
Seth Raphael
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.