Community

2 Event-Friendly Location-Based Apps that Go Beyond “Checking In”

July 14, 2010 by Kari Rippetoe

Location-based services are the newest trend in social networking, and as such the big players in the space (Foursquare and Gowalla) are getting all sorts of attention and scrutiny. While many users of such services love broadcasting their whereabouts to their online friends and earning badges and titles of distinction in the process (Player Please badge, anyone?), others are a bit wary of them and their usefulness – and are especially concerned with potential privacy issues.
Businesses, on the other hand, are starting to find value of their own in using location-based services as a marketing tool. Even event marketers are starting to experiment with location-based social networking to promote a conference, specific exhibitor, or special sessions – something we did for this year’s NAB Show.
The only problem is when it comes to events and conferences, services like Foursquare and Gowalla aren’t quite ready for prime time. While the concept of checking in to an event or exhibitor booth in order to drive traffic and generate interest is definitely cool, the functionality is not conducive to a conference setting due to two big issues:

A venue page is built based on a single address – where several different events may take place over time.
Lack of interactivity and ability for attendees to do what they would be naturally inclined to do at a conference – network with each other.

Recently, I had conversations with folks from two different location-based apps that have set out to change all of that.

What We’re Reading, July 1st

July 2, 2010 by Kari Rippetoe

Happy 4th of July weekend! If you live in the USA (or even if you’re an American living abroad), you’re more than likely gearing up for some serious food, festivities, and of course, fireworks, and we here at Tuvel Communications hope you have a spectacular – and, most importantly, safe – Independence Day!
To help you wind down your week, here are a few selections from our weekly reading list. Enjoy!

9 Steps to Finding Your Rock Stars for a Community Outreach Program

June 8, 2010 by Kari Rippetoe

In my previous post, I talked about the importance of a community outreach program to find your rock stars. To reiterate what community outreach is, it’s engaging and building relationships with your influential customers (your “rock stars”) in order to generate positive word-of-mouth for your company, organization, and/or products. I highly recommend reading the previous post to get a better idea of the importance of and principles behind community outreach, but today I’m going to talk about how to find your rock stars through community outreach.
Community outreach is more of an art than a science – it is, after all, about relationship-building. There are certainly different methodologies depending on the audience and marketing channel (blogs, forums, groups, social networks, etc.); however, there is a set of best practices that form the foundation of any community outreach program.
Today, I’d like to share with you Tuvel’s outreach methodology in the hopes it gives you a better understanding of these best practices.