People coming together for an app? Foursquare parties rule 4/16

Credit: Fast Company

Last year only “tweetups” could do this.  A social network that would bring people together to meet each other in person.  I did meet people via twitter, but one on one, not an actual party.  Yesterday morning, I was reminded that it was four square day, as some kids in Tampa last month saw the opportunity of creating a buzz around the math of the calendar, foursquare = 4/16.

I was working yesterday, but did learn of a meetup that was happening a few blocks away at a prominent digital agency, 360i.  The purpose of that get together was to earn a “swarm badge”, earned when at least 50 people check via foursquare at the same location.  So since it was so close, a chance to meet David Berkowitz, and just experience one of these meetups, I made the two block trek.  My colleague Michael Stearne joined me.  Turns out that we were the only outsiders as we kind of “crashed” the get together.  I did alert them that their foursquare meetup was on the foursquare blog.  They were polite and hosted us as we lounged in their “tweetie bar” sipping on some beer.  Thanks 360i for hosting us, even if it was unexpected. 

I contemplated about going to the official foursquare party later that night, which happened to be where I grew up in the Lower East Side, the Rivington Hotel to be exact.  I ended up not going, and after reading the blow below, Im glad I didnt as people were being turned away.  Even Digg founder Kevin Rose had trouble getting in!  No wonder Dennis is not able to return my request for an interview.

The excerpt below says it all when it comes to the mainstream understanding of these online social driven meetups.

“The only people dancing are two girls near the wall. And they’re going at it with reckless abandon. It turns out they’re crashers who have no clue what Foursquare is. “Hang on,” one says after hearing an explanation of the smartphone app that uses GPS to reward people for reporting their locations — checking in — with freebies, boy scout-style virtual badges, or titles such as “mayor.” “So no one here knows each other, but they came here because they all have an iPhone app?” She asks. Exactly.”

Oh, only 116 of the 500 or so people actually checked in, a few were checkins at Gowalla. 

Read the full blog post here, from Fast Company

One Responseto “People coming together for an app? Foursquare parties rule 4/16”

1. David Berkowitz says:

   April 18, 2010 at 1:01 pm

   Thanks for coming by. I had a conflict so couldn’t join myself (just checked in in spirit), but hope to see you on Gowalla day or any other occasion we open up the bar.
   .-= David Berkowitz´s last blog ..Links for 2010-04-15 [del.icio.us] =-.

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