‘Lunch Roulette’ app is a co-worker matchmaker
Sociable employees of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (BIPI) never have to eat lunch alone, thanks to a new mobile app that connects co-workers who might otherwise never meet.
After a BIPI social media strategist found himself without anyone to sit with in the company cafeteria in Connecticut, he and a colleague created Lunch Roulette, an app that matches solo lunch-goers with colleagues looking for someone to spend the lunch hour with.
Participants select which days they want company, what time they want to eat and the cafeteria where they’d like to meet. The app matches them with others—they may request one lunch companion or a group—who have signed up and then emails all parties a calendar reminder.
Most of the time, lunch “dates” are between colleagues who have never met.
Within weeks of the app’s launch, more than 350 partners had been matched for lunch. BIPI’s CEO dined with a young employee from marketing, and the app’s creator ate with a database administrator who had some ideas for improving it. Some employees are using the tool to network, so the developers are tweaking the app to allow users to request matches with colleagues from specific departments.
Download it for your own use: BIPI is offering the app free to other organizations. Email info@lunchroulette.us.
