Foursquare’s popularity continues to snowball, be a part of something unique and come join in the fun.
Our new leaflets have been printed courtesy of Quorum Print Services in Cheltenham.
The leaflets have cunningly been designed as both a leaflet and a beer mat. Genius!
Only 2 more sleeps until Super Swarm, find out more here – www.foursquarestival.co.uk/super-swarm-uk
Oh noes! Another team is attempting to crack the Super Swarm badge!
On Thursday 7th October the @superswarm squad are hoping to be the first group in the UK to unlock the Super Swarm badge. Time and population are on their side – not only is their attempt 2 days before ours, they’re also hosting the event in London, where people are more active on social media than anywhere else in the country.
But, hey-ho. So it goes. There’s actually something really satisfying about seeing two groups in different locations making such a huge amount of effort to crack the badge and, much as we’d kind of like to be the first, we wish the London team loads of luck with their event.
The thing is, Foursquare was always designed to have this competitive element. As much as it is a tool, it’s also a game. The whole concept of mayorships is built around the idea that you can ‘beat’ other users to become the ultimate Foursquare user for a particular venue. There’s no reason at all why this same ethos shouldn’t be extended to badges, especially whilst Foursquare remains a relatively new concept and the chance to be the first at something still exists.
The bottom line is, whoever wins, Foursquare gets another massive boost in the UK and there are two awesome events happening in close proximity to each other. And this can only be a good thing.
Plans for Cheltenham’s attempt are well under way. With the full and exclusive backing of JD Wetherspoon and all hands to the pump to get the word out the whole team is stoked to see how it all pans out.
And if anyone can’t make it to London on the 7th (or even if you can and you fancy some more Foursquare-shaped socialising) you are more than welcome to come to #superswarm uk.
Cheltenham’s #superswarmuk is taking place on Saturday October 9th from 1-4pm at The Bank House on Clarence Street.
Here’s our crack team of Foursquare lovers attempting to create the first Super Swarm in the UK:
Adrian Malpass
Role: Project manager
Special skills: Problem solver extraordinaire
Adrian is an executive and business coach and mentor specialising in strategy, change and turnaround.
Website: www.adrianmalpass.com
Twitter: @AdrianEXG
Foursquare: foursquare.com/user/adrianexg
Andy Thorne
Role: Design and branding, webmaster
Special skills: Creative thinking and cake consumption
Andy is the creative director of web design and branding agency Jealous Design.
Website: www.jealousdesign.co.uk
Twitter: @jealousdesign
Foursquare: foursquare.com/user/jealousdesign
Andrew Burgess
Role: Strategy and implementation
Special skills: Unstoppability
Digital communications expert Andrew runs a website championing Gloucestershire businesses and engaging local consumers.
Website: www.iamgloucestershire365.com
Twitter: @Glos365
Foursquare: foursquare.com/user/glos365
Chris Roberts
Role: SEO and digital marketing
Special skills: Wry sense of humour and original thinking
Chris is a software developer and Internet software business owner. He is also one half of the team that runs the Cheltenham Social Media Café.
Website: www.firehoop.com
Twitter: @SolutionMania
Foursquare: foursquare.com/user/solutionmania
Holly Knowlman
Role: PR and promotion
Special skills: Selling hard with words, luck
Holly is a freelance PR specialising in creative and playful uses for social media and in event promotion.
Website: www.dirtyenid.co.uk
Twitter: @dirtyenid
Foursquare: foursquare.com/user/dirtyenid
Jonathan Pollinger
Role: Social media strategy and Foursquare liaison officer
Special skills: Networking like a pro
Social media marketing expert Jonathan runs his own business helping organisations to make the most out of social media.
Website: www.intranetfuture.com
Twitter: @jonnop
Foursquare: foursquare.com/user/jonnop
The UK’s number one pub chain, JD Wetherspoon, has agreed to provide the venue for our attempt to unlock the UK’s first ever Foursquare Super Swarm Badge in the same week they have announced 20% off food offers for all Wetherspoon mayors.
The attempt is now due to take place at the Bank House (that’s ‘new spoons’) in Cheltenham, between 1pm and 4pm on Saturday 9th October. A minimum of 250 must ‘check in’ using location-based social networking device Foursquare over the course of the afternoon in order for the badge to be unlocked.
“We’re really excited to be hosting this event,” said Bank House manager Serena Phillips. It’s a brilliant opportunity for us to take part in something unique happening in Cheltenham that will hopefully introduce our pub to some new customers too. “It really shows the power new technology can have for bringing customers to venues like ours.”
Staff at the Bank House will be helping prior to the event by giving their customers flyers and badges with information about the event to visitors along with their drinks.
“It’s brilliant to have the backing of such a well recognised commercial partner,” said Super Swarm project manager Adrian. “Particularly one which gives us a venue where we can celebrate the unlocking of the badge in style!”.
With the backing of the pub chain giant and Foursquare itself, it’s full steam ahead for the #superswarmuk team. The race is hotting up too as another team in London set their sights on the prize later this month. This coincidence illustrates perfectly Foursquare’s potential not only as a commerical networking application but also as a game as the groups battle to be the first UK Super Swarm. Game on!
The Foursquarestival Super Swarm attempt it taking place on Saturday 9th October between 1pm and 4pm at the Bank House (Clarence Street, Cheltenham)
For more information follow @4squarestival on Twitter or call Holly on 07535655549.
As Foursquare’s popularity continues to snowball, a crack team of creatives, promoters and social media marketers are plotting an attempt to unlock the UK’s first Super Swarm badge. The attempt is to take place at the same time as the Times Literature Festival in Cheltenham on Saturday 9th October.
(Need to know more about Foursquare? Go here for a complete explanation)
Part of Foursquare’s charm is the badges you can unlock by experiencing different social situations. Personal favourites include the ‘bender’ badge (four nights out on the trot) and the ‘player please’ badge (check-in with 3 members of the opposite sex).
(There’s a complete list of Foursquare badges here)
The Superswarm badge, which requires 250 users to all be checked in at the same place, at the same time, is yet to be unlocked by anyone in the United Kingdom. But that could be about to change soon as the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival agree to host the first organised attempt on the badge.
The team behind the attempt are the same group that were responsible for the UK’s first Foursquarestival, which was held in Cheltenham in August. For this event they organised a ‘foxhunt’ style game, where participants had to solve clues before checking in at a series of locations.
They are hoping to build on the success of this event, which saw many local businesses agree to participate as venues and received attention in blogs such as The Next Web.
Final preparations are still being made but promotional work has begun in earnest. For more information about the UK’s first Super Swarm attempt you can:
Visit the website: http://www.foursquarestival.co.uk
Follow the team on Twitter: @4squarestival
Follow the hashtag: #superswarmUK
Or join the Facebook group: www.facebook.com/superswarm
On Saturday 21th August the world’s first Foursquarestival took place in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Despite the unpredictable weather, a heady mix of torrential rain, gusty winds and sweat-inducing humidity, a band of brave competitors gathered in Cheltenham this weekend to take part in the world’s first Foursquarestival.
Fabulously decorated in hound ears, the competitors put their tracking skills to the test as they attempted to solve a series of clues that
led them around Cheltenham Town Centre. Destinations included Cheltenham Racecourse, The Daffodil and Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum as well as a range of independent retailers and points of interest. Checking in at each destination using Foursquare, the winners were the ones who managed to find the most locations.
After three hours of intrepid exploration, the rain-soaked hounds were sent their final location by event organisers Andy Thorne and Holly
Knowlman. The winning team were presented with a fantastic (imitation) gold trophy mounted with a fox and hound. They also won dinner for two at The Daffodil.
“It was an amazing day despite the rain, said winning team member James Pain. We got to see some places in Cheltenham we’ve never seen before and it was great to see Foursquare being used in such a creative way.”
The hounds (which one confused retailer mistook for donkeys) also contributed to a live photoblog, hosted at www.foursquarestival.tumblr.com.
The team are hoping that Foursquarestival has introduced a significant number of new businesses in the town to the promotional powers of Foursquare. They are already looking at planning more Foursquarestival events in Cheltenham and beyond with the aim of involving larger organisations and developing the event’s commercial potential.
A video of the event, filmed and produced by Expertise on Tap is available to view here.
For more details please visit www.foursquarestival.co.uk
Foursquarestival began from a conversation started on Twitter between Holly Knowlman from @DirtyEnid and Andy Thorne from @jealousdesign, it went something like this;
@DirtyEnid “Anyone think of a game we can play with new social media network – Foursquare?”
@Jealousdesign “How about a treasure hunt around Cheltenham, we could call it Foursqaurestival!”
@DirtyEnid “Awesome idea, let’s meet and chat about it…”
The idea spiralled from our twitter conversation and various people got involved to help out, such as Jon Pollinger – @jonnop, Chris Roberts – @soultionmania and Rich Mehta – @jkale, to mention but a few.
Using social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter we plugged Foursquarestival all over the place and it’s been featured on some pretty huge websites, such as The Next Web – www.thenextweb.com/uk/
And now we’re here, the day has come (Saturday 21st August). We’re going to hold the world’s first Foursqaurestival! Beginning at Pitville Park in Cheltenham, players will follow a set of clues which will lead them around the town and take them to various locations. Then, using Foursquare, players will use Foursquare to checkin to the locations. The player/s who checkin to the most locations win the game and prizes will be given out at the after party!
We’ll post a full review on this website after the game’s been played!
In the initial planning stages of Foursquarestival (a couple of months ago) we had a working logo, you might’ve seen it? It was green, blue and yellow. Whilst the working logo was okay, we decided that Foursquarestival needed a more substantial uber cool, dynamic logo. So, Andy Thorne (co-founder of Foursquarestival) and his team of creatives at Jealous Design have come up with the new Foursquarestival brand identity – look to the right.
The idea behind the Foursquarestival logo:
“We wanted something which encompassed both social media and a reference to cities or towns. So, we modified the ever so common speech bubble and merged it with a place marker – 2 symbols which are synonymous with Foursquare. Further to this we duplicated the Foursquarestival symbol (we created) and placed it around the main symbol to form a city/town grid pattern, which gives reference to towns and cities.”
Andy Thorne – Creative Director, Jealous Design
Our unique event has just been featured on Popular technology site TNW – The Next Web UK, the British arm of an international network of technology blogs that spans the globe.
Foxes & Hounds, getting local companies involved with Foursquare and putting Cheltenham on the creative map!
“Foursquare is a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a game that rewards you for doing interesting things. The aim is to build things to not only help you keep up with the places your friends go, but encourage you to discover new places and challenge you to explore your town, city or village in new ways.” – Foursquare
A team of creatives in Cheltenham is harnessing the power of Foursquare to create a unique participatory event – Foursquarestival. Players will compete in a foxhunt that will lead them around points of artistic and cultural significance in the town, visiting independent traders along the way and finally finishing at a secret party location.