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Josh Martin's Blog on Social & Emerging Media

Apr 26

How will Foursquare win the check-in battle? SPECIALS

By Josh Martin Check-in, Social Media, sxsw View Comments

In case you’ve missed it, there is an all-out geolocation battle going on between Foursquare and Gowalla. Both mobile apps were represented well at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) conference. Personally, I thought both apps did a great job at SXSW, but if you’re looking for a winner from SXSW- check out this Mashable blog post, which has some very interesting results.

I’ve blogged about the reasons why I like Foursquare and have debated with others on whether or not apps like Foursquare and Gowalla will survive when the likes of Twitter and Facebook roll out their own check-in platforms. The competitive advantage that I think Foursquare has on other location-based apps – -> SPECIALS. Recently, I’ve noticed that my checking-in behavior has decreased, but what’s brought me back to using Foursquare are the promotions and specials.

Last week, on April 16, was the very first ‘Foursquare Day’ and was touted as the “first global social media holiday.” Foursquare Day was celebrated across the world in more than a 100 major cities. Here in Atlanta, we had our own website to keep track of all the specials that were going on throughout the day, Foursquare Atlanta. The Enguage DIG team decided to have a team outing and celebrate Foursquare Day by taking advantage of one of the lunch specials at Spice Market. We had the opportunity to interview the general manager at Spice Market Atlanta on Foursquare and the promotion:

Following Foursquare Day, Foursquare launched a do-it-yourself tool for businesses to claim their venue and start offering promotions and specials. Venue pages now include the message, “Are you the manger of this business?” and a link to begin the process of claiming the venue. From there, business owners can confirm ownership, create a special, and submit for verification. Foursquare business owners can even request to have official Foursquare window clings and stickers to advertise their specials.

What are your thoughts on the geolocation battle? Who will win? Foursquare? Gowalla? Facebook? Twitter? None of the above? Let me know what you think.

Tagged with: Foursquare • Foursquare Day • geolocation

Mar 21

SXSW 2010 – My top 5 t-shirts

By Josh Martin Social Media, sxsw View Comments

I had a blast in Austin, TX at my first SXSW. I attended some great panels and keynotes, and had the opportunity to meet some talented people in the interactive industry. One of the perks of SXSW is that you can really increase your t-shirt wardrobe. I came home with a total of 12 t-shirts. (Needless to say, my suitcase was much heavier on the way back.) I decided to showcase my top 5 t-shirts in this blog post. Enjoy!

1. Foursquare

I’ve been a foursquare fan for the past few months. Recently, I blogged about the reasons why I was digging foursquare. To get this foursquare t-shirt I actually had to play the four square game. Yup, four square is actually a real game!

2. Facebook / Gowalla

The DIG team attended the Facebook Developer Garage at The Phoenix in downtown Austin. Speakers at the event included members from Facebook, Gowalla, Seesmic, Playfish / EA Interactive, and PopCap Games. Andrew Mager has a good recap of this event on his blog.

3. Whrrl

Whrrl is another check-in application that I’ve been using. However, whrrl is more than just a check-in app, as it lets you add photos and notes to your locations, unlock societies based on places you go, and you can easily check-in with your friends.

4. Tungle

Tungle is a calendar accelerator that syncs with your existing e-calendar so that you can easily schedule, share and connect with others. Tungle syncs with Outlook (with or without Exchange), Google Calendar, Apple iCal and Entourage for Mac. Tungle tries to make scheduling easier by handling double bookings, time zones, invitee replies and even updating your calendar. I can attest to the time zone problem with my calendar on my trip to SXSW – it almost made us miss our flight back to Atlanta!

5. Huddle Hub

Huddle Hub is an application that allows you to manage your fantasy sports teams. If you’re like me, you play fantasy sports on several different websites (e.g., ESPN, Yahoo, CBS, etc.). Huddle Hub brings all of your fantasy teams into one convenient place. Check out this interview Jeff Hilimire did with them here. Huddle Hub is scheduled for release on March 23rd, just in time for Fantasy Baseball season.