TECH Cocktail tag

The ADHD Guide to CES [Video]

I’m always seeking reasons to make the quick 5 hour drive over to Las Vegas.

“What?! It’s the 4th Annual Rare Ceramics Conference?!  PACK YOUR BAGS BITCH WE’RE GOING!”

However when the year’s top new technology conference is being hosted in your almost backyard [assuming your backyard is full of glitter and sin (see: Charlie Sheen)], the decision to take part was a no-brainer.

I put together a short video for Tech Cocktail on my take of the event.  If you get a few free seconds, I’d love to see your feedback on the original post.

Post Script: Look for an anxiety ridden Appalachian Trail prep post later this week.

The Future of Foursquare: Value or Novelty?

The Future of Foursquare

The Future of Foursquare: Value or Novelty?

Is it a revolution in location based social media, or the latest fad destined to fizzle out?

Any seasoned Foursquare user is familiar with the ebb and flow in interest with the application’s use. After initially registering for an account, the excitement that comes along with each additional check-in can only fully be understood by a fellow Foursquare user. Before you know it, you’re planning your lunch break based upon the likelihood of obtaining a new (or securing an existing) mayorship. Your nights out are swayed in the direction of adding to your collection of badges. You won’t even commit to where you grab a cup of coffee before scouting the other Foursquare users in attendence.

And then…

The check-ins keep coming, but the badges and mayorships don’t . “[Insert mayor’s name here] cheats. There’s no way he/she is here more often than me. I live here.” The push notification to your smart phone alerting you that a quasi-acquaintance is at the grocery store across town is more irritating than informative. Your co-worker is the mayor of the cubicle next to you, bathroom stall number 4, his parents’ garage, his favorite park bench, and won’t stop bragging how much better at Foursquare he is than you.

The novelty has worn thin.

I now present to you, two possible paths for Foursquare. Path number one leads to an impending lull in curiosity and eventual demise. Path number two makes Foursquare the most important location based application your smart phone will ever need. The outcome lies squarely in Foursquare’s hands.

Read the rest of this post at TECH Cocktail.

How to Use Foursquare to Draw Business

For those who’ve been following Twitter closely this last week, you may have noticed an unusual number of your Twitter users bragging that they’ve:

“Just unlocked the ‘Swarm’ badge on @foursquare!”

Foursquare users can unlock this rare Swarm badge, by being one of 50 or more users to check into the same establishment at the same time.  It should come as no surprise that a conference such as South by Southwest would be the perfect storm for such an occasion.  Accomplishing this task outside of Austin’s SXSW conference, however, is far less likely. Steffan Antonas found one social media savvy business owner who took advantage of Foursquare’s appeal to drive swarms of people into his establishment.

Read the rest of the story at TECH Cocktail. 

(My first story with TECH Cocktail.  More to come.)