Bring Swanova to Life — The Smart Event App for Wedding & Event Pros

Hi everyone,

My name is DuWayne Sterling, and I’ve spent the last decade working in live events — from filming weddings through my company Sterling Motion Pictures, to operating cameras for large-scale broadcasts like the Nashville Sounds, and leading video production at First Baptist Church. Through all of it, I’ve seen one truth: even the most beautiful events can fall apart when communication fails.

That’s why I’m building Swanova — an all-in-one app designed to help planners, coordinators, and vendors run weddings and corporate events more smoothly than ever before. And today, I’m asking my family and friends to not just donate, but invest in the launch of something I deeply believe in.

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What is Swanova?

Swanova is a smart event coordination platform designed for one purpose: to eliminate chaos from live events.

Our MVP (minimum viable product) will focus on solving the biggest pain points we’ve experienced firsthand:

The Problem:

Our Solution:

With Swanova, planners and vendors will finally have a shared, smart platform that keeps everyone aligned in real time:

We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel — we’re just making the one that already exists actually work in real-time.

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Who’s Behind Swanova?

Swanova is being built by me, DuWayne, and my incredible partner, Melissa Tanner.

Melissa's 7+ years in events have given her a comprehensive understanding of the industry, starting as a bartender and server and progressing to Event Manager and Coordinator. Having personally overseen over 100 weddings and corporate functions at Walhill Farm, she intimately knows the pain points of event planning and execution, and how to bridge communication gaps.

She puts it best:

“Timelines shift. Deliveries run late. Someone forgets the boutonnieres. That’s the nature of events. But with the right tools, we don’t have to panic every time something changes.”

Together, we’re building Swanova to become that tool — the quiet assistant that works behind the scenes to keep the show running smoothly.

We’re also incredibly grateful for the talented partners and advisors helping us bring Swanova to life.

Our development is powered by Boro Dev Agency, a trusted software firm based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. With deep roots in local entrepreneurship and a reputation for clean, scalable development, they’ve been instrumental in shaping our prototype with care, transparency, and precision.

Our financial oversight is led by Kayleigh Stanley, an experienced accounting professional who has worked across manufacturing, small business, and multi-entity management. Her insight ensures we stay organized, compliant, and intentional with every dollar — especially in these early, high-impact stages.

We’re also proud to be mentored by the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC). Their expert advisors have supported us through business planning, market positioning, financial modeling, and long-term strategy. With their guidance, we’re building Swanova on a foundation that’s not only visionary, but sustainable.

Together, this team represents a blend of technical skill, financial wisdom, and business mentorship — and we couldn’t ask for a better foundation to grow from.

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Where the $$$$ Will Go

We want to be fully transparent with how your support will be used. Our top goal is $50,000, however, we're going to try to achieve smaller goals that lead up to the target goal. Here’s how we plan to invest the $50,000 we’re raising to bring Swanova to life:

️ $5,000 — MVP Prototype

This covers the first working version of Swanova, developed in partnership with a local agency. It’s the core foundation of the platform — where timelines, AI tools, and real-time chat all come together for the first time.

‍ $10,000 — Development & Support

This helps us pay freelance developers and technical advisors during the build process, including system integration, testing, and performance improvements.

$5,000 — Legal, Compliance & Privacy

We’re taking security and user data seriously. This budget will go toward establishing business compliance, platform terms of use, privacy policies, and consulting legal professionals to make sure everything is airtight.

$7,500 — Marketing, Videos & Branding

To attract planners, vendors, and future investors, we’ll need compelling video content, social ads, branding, and media assets. This budget supports trailers, photography, editing, and our outreach campaigns.

$3,000 — Websites & Tools

This includes building and maintaining our official Swanova website, landing pages, analytics tools, and email systems for communicating with supporters and users.

$4,000 — Operations & Admin

From business software and payment processing to digital tools like Zoom, Notion, or Stripe, this covers our behind-the-scenes systems and daily operations.

$6,000 — Project Management & Officer Pay

Melissa and DuWayne are working full-time to launch Swanova. This portion provides modest stipends to cover basic living expenses while we get through development.

$4,000 — Emergency & Contingency Fund

Startups are unpredictable. This buffer will cover unexpected costs, equipment repairs, or rushed timelines so we don’t hit a wall during critical phases.

$5,500 — Workspaces & Productivity

Some of this will go toward coworking space access, secure file storage, collaborative design tools, and audio/visual hardware to keep things running smoothly as we build.

Please note that these are budgetary numbers and things may change as time goes on. We will do our very best to keep you all updated with major milestones like securing office space, earning our first pre-sale, or our first prototype build, but please understand that these numbers may change as we conduct business.

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How We’ll Say Thank You

To everyone who supports us, we want you to know just how much you mean to us. We’re not offering financial returns, but we are offering:

All donors will receive the above thank-you gifts, and those who give at higher levels may receive a limited-edition Swanova T-Shirt and a "Swag Pack" as a token of our appreciation! A Swag Pack may contain any variation of stickers, window decals, keychains, lanyards, water bottles, or enameled pin, all Swanova branded of course!

We’ll follow up with every donor to collect mailing info and preferences.

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How to Support

You can donate directly on GoFundMe, or if you have a different preference, please message us.

We’ll keep all supporters updated on our development, launch milestones, and progress toward delivering gifts. Our goal is to have the first version of Swanova live and usable by early next year, with early access for supporters even sooner.

Whether you give $20 or $2,000, you’re helping us build a future where planning events doesn’t have to feel like holding a dozen walkie-talkies and praying everything goes right.

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Let’s Build Something Beautiful

We’re building Swanova because we believe event professionals deserve tools that respect their time and elevate their work. This campaign is personal. It’s community-powered. It’s about asking the people who know us best to help us bring something new into the world.

I want you all to know that I have not only put my own heart and soul into this project but I've invested a lot of my own hard earned money into this too. I'm not asking you all to do something that I wasn't willing to do myself and it cost a surprising amount just to get to this point of asking. Nothing that's worth doing is easy and taking these initial steps is part of that journey that can lead to success.

If you have more questions or want to learn just a little bit more, head over to our website swanova.framer.website and visit our FAQs section there!

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for believing in us — and for being part of Swanova’s first chapter.

We’re building this with love, precision, and purpose. And we can’t wait to show you what’s next.

With gratitude,

– DuWayne & Melissa