Archive for category Wabash Valley
Is Foursquare helping to pull us out of the recession?
Posted by Bryan Jackson in Businesses, Indianapolis, Wabash Valley on September 30, 2010
I recently had to take a business trip. As I scheduled my flight I tediously looked for the best times and flight options (seats, prices etc.) Then I came across a curious little 
symbol next to one of the flights. Without hesitation I reserved the flight (which was more expensive – $50 dollars) with only one thought in mind. The “Mile High” Badge . This badge is given to those Foursquare users that check
in via wireless internet access on airplanes. It isn’t a very common badge so it had the potential to stroke my Foursquare ego with something unique.
While on the flight I was able to login via the Gogo in-flight internet and obtain the badge. For a small fee ($9.99 for a 3 hr flight) I was able to connect my smart-phone and pc for a flawless wireless experience. The experience was very cool for a technology geek like me and it was definitely something to brag to all of my friends about that I was “tweeting from an airplane” and “checking in at 30K feet”.
The whole experience made me reflect on Foursquare and it’s part in stimulating people to spend money that they wouldn’t normally spend. In this example I took a more expensive 
flight ($50) and paid for internet access ($9.99) that I probably wouldn’t have considered had I not used the Foursquare service.
In my research, I have determined that on average users tweet the “Mile High” badge about 20 times per day. This said we should consider that not everybody tweets about this badge and also some people were probably going to purchase the service anyway. For the sake of this uneducated experiment we will say that these two factors cancel each other out.
20 users per day X $9.99 cost = $199.80 per day
$199.80 x 365 day = $72,927 per year
I know in the grand scheme of things $73,000 doesn’t amount to much, but consider this is only looking at the “Mile High” badge. There are plenty of other badges out there that people go out of their way to obtain. These unplanned purchases contribute to more money going to small business and thus further work to stimulate our economy.
Have you made purchases that you normally wouldn’t because of Foursquare? Tell us about it.
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Exclusive Foursquare discounts for Visit Indiana Leaf Cam Friends
Posted by CBanks in Bloomington, discounts, Fun, Indianapolis, Wabash Valley on September 24, 2010
Ah, Fall…changing leaves, fun festivals, apple picking and pumpkin carving. There’s nothing like Fall in Indiana. Annually, Visit Indiana showcases it’s changing fall scenery with Leaf Cam. Catch the color of Fall, now through November 13, at this year’s three locations:
- Nashville, Brown County
Foursquare venue - Indianapolis Museum of Art’s 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park
Foursquare venue - Spring Mill State Park
Foursquare venue
Then check out the leaves in person! Visit these leaf cam locations, check-in on Foursquare and receive an exclusive area discount via email. There are three exclusive discounts – one per location. These offers are exclusively for our Foursquare friends. So, spread the word.
In order to receive these exclusive email discounts be sure you are a friend of Visit Indiana Leaf Cam. Upon check-in at each Leaf Cam location you will receive the discount email, which you redeem by showing the discount via your phone at time of purchase.
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Unlock the Moonman Badge for a chance to win a trip to the MTV Video Music Awards
Posted by CBanks in Badge, Bloomington, Fun, I Want That Badge, Indianapolis, Wabash Valley on August 31, 2010
Want a chance to win a trip to the Video Music Awards? Just follow MTV on foursquare and check in to a music venue between now and September 5. You’ll unlock the 2010 VMA Moonman Badge and automatically be entered to win a trip to the 2010 VMAs in Los Angeles.
This contest is very similar to the VH1 Unlock it to Rock it Sweepstakes that offers a year of free concerts to one foursquare user who has unlocked the VH1 Fanatic badge. That’s not surprising given MTV and VH1 are corporate siblings. VH1’s deal included numerous on-air mentions of foursquare and their contest, so MTV will likely offer on-air exposure for foursquare as well. In fact, MTV has been teasing the contest on Twitter all weekend, alluding to an on-air announcement today.
Any venue in the rock club, music venue or concert hall categories is able to unlock the badge. The unlock text pokes fun at Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift at last year’s VMAs, saying:
We’re really happy for you, and we’re gonna let you finish, but that check-in just entered you to win a trip for two to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 12th! Good Luck and Rock Out!
The trip includes round-trip transportation and accommodations in LA for the VMAs on September 12. See the official rules for details.
In addition to the Moonman badge, MTV is offering the GYT badge. It’s associated with their Get Yourself Talking, Get Yourself Tested initiative to raise awareness of sexually transmitted diseases among young people. It’s unclear how you unlock this badge.
While these are MTV’s first badges, it’s not the first time they’ve worked with foursquare. MTV has been offering tips from the “celebrities” on their reality shows since March, and users can follow the Jersey Shore’s DJ Pauly D on foursquare. Their Jersey Shore City Guide iPhone app lets you check in to venues in the guide on foursquare by first-pumping with your phone.
The extremely limited nature of the Moonman badge should make it an exciting one to earn. The mainstream exposure from the unveiling of their digital billboard in Times Square, hitting three million users and the possibility of multiple on-air mentions from MTV should make this another great week for foursquare’s user growth.
What do you think of the new badges and sweepstakes?
Source: About Foursquare
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5 Reasons Foursquare is Superior to Places
Posted by Bryan Jackson in Businesses, Indianapolis, Wabash Valley on August 24, 2010
By now I am certain you have heard all of the hype and hoorah around Facebook’s new product called Places. The service allows users to share their location and discover new hot spots by following the stops of people in their network.
I continue to read and hear about how Facebook has 500 million users and as soon as they get a few more features and business engagement they will kill all other LBS (Location Based Software) services.
While the folks at Facebook haven’t confirmed how Facebook Places might eventually integrate with Facebook’s business pages, this is undoubtedly in the works and once it happens the implications are obvious — companies will have an easy opportunity to market and promote their services on the most popular and powerful social media platform. – PC World
Give me a freaking break, are you serious? Have we all forgotten all of the privacy and ethical crap Facebook has done over the past 6 months? Let me help refresh your memory.
- Amid Backlash Facebook tries to save face
- After an outcry over a news feed feature, the site is tightening privacy protections—and promises to do market testing next time
- Facebook CEO admits mistakes on privacy control
- Why You Can’t Block Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook
Below are 5 reasons that I believe Foursquare is a superior service to Facebook Places. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Foursquare Cupcake Effect
Posted by Bryan Jackson in 4Sq Info, Businesses, discounts, Indianapolis, Wabash Valley on August 16, 2010
Last week I was having lunch with a friend at the local Pizza Hut (@pizzahut). As luck would have it, I happen to be the mayor of this Pizza Hut and so thus am able to get a free order of breadsticks with my check-in by showing the server my “creds” as Mayor. I had used Foursquare discounts at retailers, but in terms of free food this was somewhat new territory for me. I wasn’t fully prepared to have the following conversation with the server.
Server: Welcome to Pizza Hut, what would you like to order?
Me: I saw that if I check-in on Foursquare and am the Mayor I can recieve free breadsticks.
Server: Foursquare? (into the Foursquare Cupcake on my forehead) 
Me: Yea, you know on your phone?
Server: I have never heard of Foursquare. I am not aware of an promotions we have right now with Foursquare.
Now at this point the conversation could have gone in two directions. I could have given the, “Oh, ok nevermind then” and just went ahead and ordered. I am however the rightful owner of those free breadsticks and as such was not going to give up without a little bit of a fight. During a recent #4SqCHAT hosted by @4SqINDY , somebody asked how to educate business about Foursquare. One of the best answers given was Engage, Educate and Collaborate.
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Why Foursquare is about to blow up social media
Posted by Bryan Jackson in Businesses, Wabash Valley on July 30, 2010
Heard of Foursquare? If not then you better get familiar. This company is about to totally change the way consumers and businesses think of marketing and brand recognition.
As a primer, you can educate yourself by clicking here …………
Ok, so why is this a game changer? Foursquare takes the white noise we see coming from advertisers today away and places credibility behind those that are giving the tips, advice and suggestions. People want to be given the “inside info” on places to eat, drink and socialize. Those that hear about great things to do and see feel like they are in the “know” and we all want to be in the “know”.
Ego also plays a big factor on sites like Foursquare. People want to share information with others. Knowlege is power and those with the power like to be recognized by sharing this knowledge with their circle of friends or social network. Social standing on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Foursquare and any other platform is important.
If you are a business owner, feel free to start taking notes at any time because I am going to get to the good part here.
Business owners…… your biggest ROI is no longer in newspapers, television, on line advertising or billboards (although I have heard that billboards are seeing the biggest increases in terms of advertising. Don’t believe me? Just look at the “shoe containers” the next time you go through security at O’Hare or Midway.) Your biggest ROI will be cracking the networks like Foursquare and having connectors like @4SqINDY, @4SqChicago, @4SqATL and even little networks like @4SqWabashValley tweet your deals to their trusted networks of followers.
Don’t believe me? Most of these networks have been in existence for less than 2 months and already have hundreds of followers. Ever heard of a bell curve? We are in the first quadrant. The second experiences extreme growth. Are you ready? I bet your competitors are.
Reposted via @4SqChicago
http://4sqchicago.east44.com/?p=26
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Beyond Foursquare: What Search Engines Could Do With Location Data
Posted by Bryan Jackson in Businesses, Wabash Valley on July 21, 2010
Reposted from NYT
Foursquare says it’s in talks with all the major search engines to index the startup’s location data. We’re hearing that Google in particular may be in talks with all the major players in the location-based social networking market. What would a big search engine do with a little startup’s check-ins and annotations about locations? Here are some ideas.
The paid partnerships between Google, Microsoft and Yahoo with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and more that were launched last Fall could provide a model, but location provides new opportunities, as well. Isn’t it amazing that on a Web so dependent on Google, there are emergent new kinds of websites so valuable they can charge giant search engines for their content? Here are some things Google might do with that content.
Real-time search
Last fall Google started including Tweets, fresh blog posts and more in a live scrolling box on the search results page for particularly hot search queries. Mobile location-based social networks, their comments and tips could help populate those kind of search results for certain keywords or venues.
Searching for the big basketball game? Why not include the notes and tips of people checking in at the game right now in the results? Check-ins in general have a lot of potential. Google-backed social TV app Miso or entertainment check-in app GetGlue could power media check-ins that would make search results much fresher.
Super Social Maps
Why not annotate map search with live and archival location check-in notes, annotations, tips, etc.? Imagine searching for directions to a venue and being told how many people and which friends were currently checked in there on Loopt, Whrrl and Foursquare. Seeing not just restaurant reviews from CitySearch and Trip Advisor but quick tips from location networks? Sounds like a great idea to me.
Mobile Search
No need to go into too much detail about this: Check-in app content would be a very logical addition to mobile search results. The growth of branded layers of content annotating locations means that a Google mobile search could become a search for nearby content published by the Independent Film Channel, the Huffington Post, etc. That makes mobile search and location networks more appealing for everyone.
Privacy, monetization, relevance, personalization, temporal strategies and other matters still need to be figured out. These networks are still very small. The largest among them, Foursquare, has a reported 2 million users. That’s less than 25% the size of StumbleUpon, for example, and just over one third the size of curation blogging platform Tumblr.
The potential for location-based social networks is huge, though. And the search engines know it. That’s why they are talking to the startups. For these little startups, this kind of monetization could be an important life-line to fund their continued innovation, too.
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What can Foursquare do for my business?
Posted by Bryan Jackson in Businesses, discounts, Wabash Valley on July 20, 2010
So you are hearing all of this buzz about Foursquare and wondering what is it and why should I care about it. Here are a few recent facts to keep in mind.
1. Foursquare recently hit 100,000,000 check-ins (yep that is one hundred million).
2. Foursquare just recently hit 2,000,000 users.
3. Foursquare hit 1,000,000 users just 3 months ago.
4. Foursquare is now in talks with search engines to display data in real-time.
5. More businesses are now offering deals to Foursquare users who “check-in” or have “mayor” status.
Foursquare is a mobile-based startup that lets people “check in” at bars, restaurants and other places through their smartphones. As more and more people begin to purchase and utilize smartphone technology, location-specific data is poised to become a really big space for advertisers and, by extension, search engines. Foursquare Co-founder Dennis Crowley said that the company is in talks with the major search players and that the data his service generates could be of big interest to the next evolution of search.
Why does this matter to you as a business owner? The amount of buzz or talk you can generate from the “shouts” and “check-in’s” can far outweigh any advertising you can do through internet outlets or newsprint(who really uses newsprint anymore?). Additionally more and more Foursquare users are beginning to group or congregate locally with twitter handles like @4SqINDY, @4SqWabashValley and @4SqChicago to look for the best deals and tips from other users. A far better use of your money would be to contact these groups and communicate your deals to the hundreds and in the very near future thousands of followers to get your advertising word out quickly, effectively and without large sums of money.
The new business model is here already. Are you ready to play this new game?
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4SqINDY New Feature: 4SqWabashValley
Posted by CBanks in Wabash Valley on July 20, 2010
If you have been following us from the start (6/1/2010) you know we are always adding new things. We do this to hopefully make this website the best place for not only local foursquare news, but news and fun snuff that make the game more interesting. We have partnered with Brian of 4SqWabashValley to continue this tradition. So if you live in or just like to visit the Terre Haute area be sure to follow them on Twitter! (note: If you’re following 4SqINDY you will not get posts from 4SqWabashValley knowing that some of you will not want to get event updates from Terre Haute)
We are looking for people in Bloomington and Lafayette to do the same thing contact me at 4sqindy@gmail.com for more info.
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Nonprofits: 4 Easy Steps To Implement Foursquare Today
Posted by Hust0058 in Businesses, Wabash Valley on July 17, 2010
On Friday, July 16th Mashable shared How Non-Profits Can Maximize a Foursquare Account. There is some great information on the site about how some nonprofit organizations are utilizing Foursquare’s API, creating a brand page, and offering special badges, discounts, or mayor specials.
These examples are pretty high end for most organizations. So here are 4 easy steps to integrate Foursquare into your Social Media Plan today: Read the rest of this entry »
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