Student Events Don’t Need More Effort – They Need Better Systems
By Jimmy Lam, Founder of Prismo and Swift Food (UCL Alumni)
From UCL student to founder
When I graduated from UCL last year, I didn’t expect to start a company. But during my time as a student, I experienced first-hand how difficult it could be to feel genuinely connected beyond first year. At a university as large and fast-moving as UCL, it’s easy to be surrounded by people without really feeling part of a shared community.
After first year, that sense of connection became harder to maintain. I lived in private accommodation, and without the built-in social networks that come with halls, there was no obvious sense of cohort or shared rhythm. Staying socially engaged meant actively searching for events, coordinating plans across different courses and locations, and fitting it all in alongside academic life.
“Prismo didn’t start as a startup idea – it started as a frustration I experienced as a UCL student.”
Over time, I realised this wasn’t just my experience. Many students — especially those who commute, live outside halls, or join societies later in their degree — face the same challenge. Getting involved often depends on already knowing where to look.
When event information is scattered across group chats, spreadsheets, ticket links, and social media posts, participation can quietly become exclusionary. Not because events aren’t welcoming, but because the systems around them make it harder for students to discover and confidently show up.
Seeing the problem from both sides
That same issue became even clearer when I started working more closely with student societies to help run events. Committees were genuinely trying to create inclusive, well-run experiences, but were juggling multiple tools, uncertain attendance numbers, and last-minute changes.
Ticketing links lived in one place, venue coordination with the student union in another, catering decisions somewhere else entirely. Even before thinking about the experience on the day, organising an event often felt fragmented and unnecessarily stressful.
What became clear was that the problem wasn’t effort. Students care deeply about their societies and consistently put time and energy into making events work. The issue was structural. The systems around student events weren’t designed around how students actually plan, attend, and participate.
Why organising events feels harder than it should
That insight is what led me to start Prismo.
Prismo wasn’t created to add yet another platform into the mix. It was built to reduce friction — giving students and organisers one clear place to create simple, beautiful event pages, share key information, see who’s attending, and keep plans aligned as events evolve.
When events are easier to find and clearer to understand, they feel easier to attend. Being able to see what an event is about, who’s going, and how it fits into a wider student calendar can make a meaningful difference, especially for students who might otherwise hesitate to show up on their own.
Prismo is built by a recent UCL graduate, shaped directly by real student experiences, and designed with university life in mind.
What this means for UCL societies
For UCL society committees, Prismo replaces the patchwork of tools many organisers rely on today.
Instead of juggling spreadsheets, ticket links, Instagram posts, and last-minute WhatsApp messages, societies can manage their events in one place — from event pages and attendance tracking to catering coordination.
This means:
- Less admin and fewer last-minute decisions
- Clearer visibility on attendance
- Easier coordination with suppliers and venues
- More time to focus on building community
Prismo is designed to make organising events simpler, clearer, and less stressful — so committees can focus on what actually matters.
When catering becomes the breaking point
Catering often highlighted just how fragile the existing process was. Last-minute uncertainty around attendance forced organisers to make decisions with incomplete information. Coordinating food across multiple vendors added cost and complexity, while student union reimbursement limits made large orders harder to manage.
The result was less choice for students, higher costs for organisers, and unnecessary pressure in the days leading up to an event.
Through Swift Food, we’ve worked to simplify this part of the process — helping societies order more efficiently while supporting local suppliers and reducing unnecessary waste.
Thinking about people, the planet, and the local community
From the beginning, it was important that improving student events didn’t come at the expense of wider social or environmental considerations.
Most student event deliveries are completed using electric bikes or traditional bicycles, helping reduce emissions in dense urban areas. All new suppliers joining the platform are required to use compostable or recyclable packaging, and existing partners are supported in transitioning toward the same standards over time.
Taken together, this means less stress for societies, clearer oversight for student unions, and events that feel easier and more welcoming for students to attend.
A final thought
Student events should be about bringing people together, not navigating unnecessary barriers. At large, decentralised universities like UCL, belonging depends less on students trying harder and more on whether the systems around them are designed thoughtfully.
Prismo is proof that ideas rooted in student experience can grow into real solutions — and that UCL students and alumni don’t just participate in university life, they help shape it.
Try Prismo for your society
If you’re a UCL society organiser, you can use Prismo to better manage and host your events.
Visit www.prismo.live to get started.
For catering and event food, learn more at www.swiftfood.uk.
Get involved: Student ambassadors
We’re recruiting UCL student ambassadors to help grow Prismo across campus.
If you enjoy organising events, building communities, or want hands-on experience working with a growing startup, we’d love to hear from you.
As a recent UCL graduate, I know how valuable it is to gain real experience while studying. The ambassador programme offers:
- Direct experience working with a UCL-founded startup
- Opportunities to collaborate with societies and organisers
- Insight into building a product from the ground up
- Meaningful, CV-ready experience
Send a short introduction to [email protected], telling us what you’re involved in and why you’re interested.