The face behind Bahamascollegezone.com
One of those flightless birds that hang out here is probably too modest to post this himself! Congrats!
The face behind Bahamascollegezone.com
By Thea Rutherford ~ Guardian National Correspondent ~ thea@nasguard.com:
Months after tweaking the website he had dreamed up to revolutionize the way used books were bought and sold between College of The Bahamas students, Garnel Leo stood back and waited.
He had done his work on the ground, handing out flyers to the hundreds of students who lined up on the final day of registration for the Spring semester back in 2006. But when he returned home to monitor how many visits the site had received later that day, the trickle dampened his high hopes.
"I thought it was a flop until the first day of school, and tons of persons came on the site," Leo remembered.
Leo's site, Bahamascollegezone.com, has only gained momentum since lurching onto the scene in 2006. From then to now, over 3,000 members have signed up for the site, over 1,000 offers have been made for books and over 5,000 books have been listed, according to Leo's statistics.
Last year the site logged 1,082 new members, and shows no signs of slowing with an additional 350 members signed since the beginning of 2010.
"I always said I wanted to do a site that persons would use," said Leo, 22, who first began experimenting with website building in high school.
He created Bahamascollegezone.com with a few goals in mind. But Leo, a programmer and business analyst, admits that even he had no idea the site would mushroom into what it is now. He has long surpassed his main goal of having 1,000 members on the site by the time he graduated from COB in 2008.
"I was proud because, imagine you start a business and you don't have any customers and you say I want to have 1,000 customers a month. You set something out there and you try and drag it in."
A student hunting for a book bargain when he started the site, Leo wanted to take the used book exchange online where most of his fellow students were already chatting and networking. His idea was no novel one. University students around the world buy and sell books online. But Leo tailored his approach to home, adding a local touch to the site's offerings.
Students can buy and sell their books online, but they can also scroll through scholarship listings or scout out jobs. The site even includes a well-used discussion forum.
"I feel it's an online community for college students," said Leo, who wants the site to be a "one stop shop for students when they want to do anything school-related."
Frequent user Coco Kenny said that the site has been very helpful to her over the years.
"I was able to save a few dollars by purchasing textbooks for classes second-hand over the internet," she wrote in an email. "Students are able to comment on the quality of textbooks to be sold which I found was not misleading. Most textbooks I purchased were generally in good condition."
Tecoyo Sturrup, a young graphic designer who helped out with the site, said that it has been fun watching the site grow.
"I remember a time when there were only 100 persons registered with the site," he wrote in an email. "There was definitely some worry in those early days if there would be enough members to keep the site growing. However with all the marketing with flyers Garnel does at orientation and other events for new students, there was nothing stopping the site's growth."
Leo has more plans for the growing site. Individuals and organizations have approached the young entrepreneur about marketing partnerships with Bahamascollegezone.com. He has also started preliminary talks with a career placement office to enhance the site's job section.
Leo's greatest joy comes from helping students on a budget find bargains.
"This might sound kind of cheesy but honestly when persons come and tell you thanks for developing the site, you know how much money you saved me . . ." said Leo of the kind of comments that make his day.
"If you stop, then you kind of let them down and let yourself down."
Tuesday 09, 2010,
http://www.nassauguardian.net/social...6797135083.php
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Congrats Busta .... in true "Knight" form!!! 
"See how the World marks the manner of your bearing! .... march on BAHAMALAND"
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