Geoffrey H Wood

My wife and I randomly decided to stop in to Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery on Saturday night for some food and drinks. We’d enjoyed lunch there earlier in the week and so it was top of mind in the typical “where do we want to go” debate.

As an avid Foursquare player, I checked in earlier in the week and when I went to check in this time I noticed a “Special Offer” tag that I didn’t remember from checking in before. It turns out that the good folks at Rock Bottom had decided to offer happy hour pricing all day long to whoever holds the title of Mayor at their location within the Foursquare platform. Upon checking in, this image popped up on my phone:

Sweet! Not my first Mayorship but my first one that actually provided a tangible reward. We stayed for a few drinks and an appetizer and walked out with a bill of less than $15!

I know that a lot of non-user folks don’t see the point of Foursquare but I’ve always found it fun. Now that it’s paying off, I’m all in.

Also, I was quoted in the Des Moines Register about Des Moines businesses using Foursquare. Check it out here.

Local leaderboardWe’re now into our second week of having access to Foursquare in Des Moines(1) and I’ve seen enough to form some opinions on the service:

For more thoughts on how Foursquare is being implemented in Des Moines, see Nathan T Wright's post on the LavaRow blog: How and why I’m using Foursquare

And, for general Foursquare etiquette check out A guide to Foursquare etiquette on OldMediaNewTricks.com.

1. And everywhere else.

In October, Dennis Crowley, Naveen Selvadurai and the other folks at NYC-based Foursquare launched their game/network/application in Omaha and Kansas City. For those that don’t know, Foursquare is an online location-based information system that applies a game-like atmosphere to exploring various locations in a specific city. Utilizing your phone, you check-in at the locations, see who else has checked in, earn points and unlock rewards for multiple trips to the location.

We’re happy for our friends in those cities but were surprised that they didn’t include Des Moines. As most people are aware, the three cities of Des Moines, Omaha and Kansas City form a powerful triangle of Midwestern innovation. Coincidently, Highlight Midwest – a conference that features innovators in this triumvirate – was held just a few days later in Des Moines but the Kansas Citians and Omahans couldn’t use the app to check in at Impromptu Studio, the Des Moines Social Club, the Pappajohn Sculpture Park or any of the locations frequented at the event. Color us all disappointed.

Another round of cities was released on the platform in November, yet DeMo was still conspicuously absent. 

Since it’s now December, something needed to be done. Nathan T. Wright and I chatted about it and decided it was time for his organization, Lava Row, to join with mine, Silicon Prairie News, to specifically highlight our community. As Midwesterners, we sometimes have trouble calling attention to ourselves and the great things we have here. We didn’t want the Foursquare crew to go another round missing out on the locales and people that make our community unique. After all, Des Moines is the Greatest City in the World.

The decison was to put together a cultural gift box with just a few of the things that make Des Moines unique.

We started by purchasing a couple t-shirts from RAYGUN, our local purveyor of screen printed goods and abject declarations of city pride. I picked out the blue one while Nathan and his colleague Hillary Brown grabbed the “Periodic Table of Des Moines” one, which could just as easily be called the “Foursquare” t-shirt since it features many of the local shops, bars, and cafes that will become the locations where our community will check in once Foursquare hears our call.

Next, I stopped over to Baby Boomers, the local diner that gained fame as a popular hangout for President Obama’s campaign staff during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses, and picked up a half dozen of their Chocolate Chunk Cookies. This cookie, a favorite of the President, himself, has been named the official cookie of both the White House and the City of Des Moines.

Finally, Hillary gave a call to Jason Walsmith of The Nadas and Authentic Records. The former is the Des Moines-based roots rock band and the latter is their Des Moines-based record label. Jason, ever the proponent of our city and our state, was excited to have Foursquare in Des Moines and contributed a couple Authentic Records t-shirts and The Nadas' most recent release: The Ghosts Inside These Halls.

I packaged up the goods and dropped them into a USPS box and sent it off on December 2nd to Foursquare’s New York City HQ adorned on top with this note: (eloquently penned by Nathan)

Hello Foursquare!

We noticed that Des Moines hasn’t been added as a city yet. We’re sure you just overlooked us. So we thought we’d bribe you with a sampling of DeMo culture. Enjoy, and happy holidays!

-Your friends @ Lava Row and Silicon Prairie News

So Foursquare, you now have our food, our music and our merch(1). When can we have your app? Next time you’re considering which cities to include in a rollout, we’d appreciate it you said, “Des Moines: Hell Yes”.

(1) We considered our beer and our whiskey, too, but didn't want to risk shipping them through the mail. Give us a shout next time you're in town and will buy you a drink directly.

Also, tip of the hat to Scott Kubie for his input early on in the project.

Update on Monday, January 11, 2010 at 12:51PM by Geoff Wood

Follow Up:

On January 5th, word started to spread that Foursquare had officially opened up to everyone (dropping the "City Buckets" and letting anyone check in, anywhere. It accomplished our goal of bringing Foursquare to Des Moines although not the way we thought.

DSM-folks jumped on quick and it's been fun to watch how venues are being added, people are friending and, in general, jumping on the location-based app idea.