This is a discussion I did several years back on Geosocial Applications.

1. Presented by Cotton Rohrscheib, this presentation
explains GeoSocial Networking and highlights two of
the most popular location based applications on the
market today; Gowalla and Foursquare, and how they
are being used by many of today's leading consumer
brands as an integral part of their interactive
marketing campaigns.

2. Presenter: Cotton Rohrscheib
 Partner / Co-Founder - Pleth, LLC (Design, Development, Managed Hosting)
 Partner / Co-Founder - Plethware (Email / Groupware / Archival Solution)
 Founder - Powersite (Non-profit / Ministry Web Solutions)
 Founder - The Cotton Club Blog & Podcast
 Community Co-Founder - Central Arkansas Refresh Group
 Community Co-Founder - Conway Co-Working

3. What is GeoSocial?
 GeoSocial allows users to interact relative to their location using wireless devices
such as smartphones, ipads, etc.
 GeoSocial uses established or crowdsourced coordinates for locations, buildings,
and landmarks that users can check in at. In addition, users can also share
location specific reviews and tips for future visitors or friends.
 GeoSocial Networks like Gowalla & Foursquare have social networks within
themselves but also interact with external networks like Twitter & Facebook.

4. Sample GeoSocial User Profile
 Taken from Gowalla
 Showcases Recent Activity, Friends, Stamps, Pins, Photos, etc.
 Currently Basic Interaction w/ Photos & Comments

5. Sample GeoSocial Business Listing Example
 Taken from Gowalla
 92 People have checked into this location 224 Times
 Notice their 10% off promotion

6. Current GeoSocial Applications
 New GeoSocial Apps Are Being Launched Frequently
 Several Apps Pioneered GeoSocial (brightkite, loopt, etc.)
 The Two Most Popular Are Foursquare & Gowalla, others include:
 Brightkite
 Fire Eagle
 Gbanga
 Latitude*
 Loopt
 MyTown(?)
 Hotlist
 Scvngr
 Socialight
 Waze*
 Yelp

7.  Located in New York
 Founded by: Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai
 Users connect with friends and check in at locations
 Users awarded points, badges
 Loyal visitors to an establishment might be crowned as mayor
 Users can create private to-do lists for a venue for themselves or they can create
a public tip that is shared with everyone who checks in at that venue.
 Presently have over 500k users. (march 2010)
 Has apps for iPhone, Android, webOS, Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry
 Recently partnered with Zagat, New York Times, and Conde Nast
 Currently has three levels of superuser status, each with varying levels of control
to edit locations.

8.  Located in Austin, Texas
 Founded by: Josh Williams
 Users connect with friends and check in at locations
 As a reward users will sometimes receive items for checking in
 Featured spots have custom icons or stamps
 Users can drop items at a location and become a founder
 Trips can be added by users by grouping locations together
 Presently has over 150k users. (march 2010)
 Has apps for iPhone, Android, webOS, Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry
 Recently partnered with CNN, National Geographic, Tom’s Shoes, Eye-Fi, etc.
 Gowalla has an elevated user level called Street Team Elite that can modify
location data and add additional content about a venue.
 In December 2009, Gowalla had raised $8.4m in venture capital…

9. Foursquare –vs- Gowalla… NO CONTEST!
 Foursquare Presently Leads Gowalla in Market Share
 The Industry is VERY YOUNG! Remember MySpace??
 IN MY OPINION, the Gowalla Product is better than the Foursquare Product.
 Many Users Still Use Both.

10. Market Share…
 Foursquare has more users, therefore more checkins / traffic…
 Gowalla has added apps for Blackberry & Android (leveling playing field)
 Look for Gowalla to close in on Foursquare…

11. Source: Erin Wiles

12. What’s Fueling GeoSocial’s Growth?
 Smartphones Increase in Usage (iphone, blackberry, android, etc.)
 New Emerging Device Markets (iPad)
 The Gaming Aspect (mayorships, swag, real prizes, discounts, etc.)
 Functional Applications (waze)
 Tangible Prizes & Incentives (discounts, prizes, etc.)

13. Users Can Win Real Prizes!
 Corporations are learning the value of GeoSocial for putting their products in the
hands of potential customers. Examples include: Incase, Eye-fi, Element, etc.

14. So Many Promotions to Keep Up With…
 Foursquare & Gowalla both do promotions w/ businesses and organizations and
often very little effort is required to enter.
 There are so many promotions, the best way to keep up is to subscribe to their
blogs.

15. It’s all about bragging rights…
 Dedicated Foursquare Users Take Their Mayorships Seriously…
 Mayorships are awarded based on number of checkins to a location.
 Foursquare also offers badges for various levels of participation.

16. Gowalla Rewards Users w/ Pins & Custom Stamps
 Users receive a pin for each
state they visit as well as for
participating in various other
activities.
 Businesses may also have
their own “custom icon”
created for use in Gowalla’s
network.
 We recently had a custom
event stamp created for Toad
Suck Daze in Conway!

17. The Social Component
 Gowalla & Foursquare both have evolving social networks for their users.
 These networks are basic now but expect them to mature…
 Gowalla & Foursquare also integrate w/ Facebook & Twitter…

18. How Can Businesses Leverage GeoSocial
 Discounts for Checkins, Mayorships, etc.
 Custom Icons for Branding
 Track, Follow, and Stalk their Customers
 Promotional Campaigns for Product Launches
 Custom Event Stamps for Special Events
 Loyalty / Reward Campaigns

19. Example of a Foursquare Campaign (Starbucks)
 The Loyalty / Rewards deal offers customers a $1 discount on a Frappucino. The
special greets mayors with this message: “As mayor of this store, enjoy $1 off a
NEW however-you-want-it Frappuccino blended beverage. Any size, any flavor.
Offer valid until 6/28.”

20. What’s Next for GeoSocial?
 The number of active users will continue will grow.
 More and more corporate involvement, promotions, etc.
 The key players (foursquare & gowalla) will continue to mature as companies.
 There will be even more providers entering the industry but success will continue
to rely heavily on # of active users.
 Facebook entering the GeoSocial arena.

21. Questions / Comments??

22. Thanks for attending…
 Email: cotton.rohrscheib@pleth.com
 Twitter: http://twitter.com/cottonr
 Facebook: http://facebook.com/cottonr
 Gowalla: http://gowalla.com/users/cotton
 Foursquare: http://foursquare.com/user/cottonr
 Blog & Podcast: http://thecottonclub.cc