First there was “HopStop”, an online city transit guide offering door-to-door subway and bus directions and maps for more than 140 cities around the world using its website, or apps for iPhone, iPad and formerly Android. Now, in beta testing comes, “Hop, Stop & Pop”, a brand new phone app designed by Sooyong Oum, a general manager at a solar company in Torrance, CA.
“Hop, Stop, Pop is about changing the way people travel,” said Sooyong Oum, who was attending the Silicon Beach Young Professionals (SBYP) event, Thursday (April 23, 2015), at the Viceroy Hotel, Santa Monica. “For example when someone plans to travel to San Francisco from LA, you might discover more exciting places you can stop and explore along the way,” he said. “It’s different from Trip Advisor, Inc., in that it personalizes your trip experiences that are shared on your smartphone.”
Oum says the app will allow you to download other people’s itinerary and you can do the same things other people did on the same trip.
“If you compare this concept with Trip Advisor or similar types of apps, the nice thing here with Hop, Stop, Pop, here you’re sharing a personal experience about your trip, your journey is like having a journal about your trip,” said Aida Mayo, president, MAYO Communications, LA, who was at the SBYP mixer. “Other people might want to know what to experience going from point A to point B for a 20-year-old, which would be different than for a 60-year old traveler.”
Oum said, Hop, Stop, Pop is a prototype based on a GPS system. “If you and I are friends on the app and I want go to San Francisco. You first post your subject interest, then I download it. I will follow you and learn what you ate, where you ate, where you stopped and what interest you along the way to San Francisco from LA,” he said. “When you travel to San Francisco, it is different than how I travel there and maybe I want to do what you do.”
Oum noted that people are trying to get to places very fast and America has lost that true road trip. “We want to bring the fun back, get to the local deli, museum or whatever in between here and San Francisco,” said Oum. “So if say ‘George’ finds a great place to ‘Stop’, shares it or ‘Pop’ and it if it’s much more interesting than how I travel, I might just ‘Hop’ over to those places next time I go there.”
Oum said he got the idea traveling back to LA from San Francisco on Highway One with beautiful scenery along the coast. He noticed that there were a lot of places to stop and see, and he couldn’t figure out why everyone want to get to Interstate Five to go straight home.
“When I analyzed how people only do travel destination based to Las Vegas or elsewhere they only plan to do stuff over there,” explain Oum. “They never plan things in between.” The travel app will be available to download in a few months for free and there might be some advertising opportunities later to be announced.
Oum said he comes to the SBYP events to find out what other people like to do and their reaction to his phone app idea and he said it has been all positive so far. The SBYP, which is sponsored by Google, is one of the fastest growing young professionals group in Southern California with mostly 20 somethings and young CEO’s of startup companies, lawyers, and other young professionals. The next event is set for Thursday, May 14th, at 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the Le Meridien Delfina, Santa Monica, CA.
