CollegeMotion LLC was founded after www.thecampusview.com, a website created by two college students, Adam Cockell and Christopher Mudd, fostered a business relationship with US News and World Report in which CollegeMotion provided college overview videos for the news company’s online video content gallery.

CollegeMotion LLC shifted focus shortly after realizing that its goals were not compatible with those of US News and World Report. The company’s original site was designed to offer students a free, advertising-based, exclusive, in-depth look at colleges and universities, with students from schools submitting pictures, opinions, and video content. The focus of US News, on the other hand, was to grant viewers a brief look into every school, and the compression of content to meet the demands of US News was not financially feasible. Moreover, reliance on collaboration with college students for content generation proved to be temporally inefficient.

To reach its goals despite several setbacks that resulted from relying on college students to submit information, CollegeMotion LLC expanded its management team, comprised of all college students, and began to film schools along the northeast corridor of the United States, one-by-one, with high-definition equipment. The company expanded to include twelve popular colleges and universities on its website, www.collegemotion.com.

CollegeMotion’s novel approach included the presentation of both tours and interviews in high online streaming quality, enabling students to feel as though they were actually on campus right next to the camera. Interview topics included: academics, alcohol, athletics, dating, food, general, reslife, safety, and the social scene. Tours included: athletic center, dorms, town (if applicable), lecture halls, dining halls, campus center, and library. In addition to its in-depth college video tour gallery, the company’s web portal featured several useful tools and services. The Travel Optional Blog was a communication medium between the company and its users that featured a video opinion by Adam Cockell, with respect to each school, and a forum for questions and comments. cMotion (pronounced like commotion) was a practical tool that enabled users to view specific content from various colleges and universities side-by-side. The comedy section was a unique area in which students could relax and watch comedy clips which accentuated each school’s stereotype. Site users were able to rate, share, and save all video content at their discretion.

As a company founded and run by college students, CollegeMotion lacked seasoned management professionals. Each partner was expected to develop a new skill set that would improve the company. Adam Cockell, founder and CEO, built the web site as well as accompanying web applications. Stephanie King, founder and COO, managed all video production. Lauren LaRusso, General Manager, handled accounting and taxes. Peter Harrison, VP of Productions, was responsible for post-production content. Thomas Pierre Perkins III, VP of Marketing, developed novel marketing strategies, such as comedy video clips, to improve brand recognition. While the company lacked business experience, a high level of enthusiasm and motivation propelled the company to a place in which it was recognized and appreciated by college counselors across the country on professional blogs and forums.

While it was feasible to film schools one-by-one to maximize quality along the northeast corridor, acquisition of content from other areas of the country was problematic. A company with more resources and a more efficient, cheaper strategy formed: Unigo.com was released and featured in the New York Times. Unigo.com hired interns at schools across the country to obtain media content and opinions from a wide array of schools. In a time of economic crisis and well-marketed competition, the challenges of raising capital to finance an advertising-based dotcom startup hindered the company’s continuation. Furthermore, the educational obligations of each member reduced the student-run company’s appeal to investors. CollegeMotion discontinued its service-based web portal in late 2008.