And the winner of our post-BlogHer10 contest is…
Jennifer Desrochers, better know as MommaD of MommaDandDaBoyz!
Jennifer created the “Kids Gone Country Society,” which is such a super cute idea – she gathered great places to take the kids in the country, instead of the city, in New York. Some of her recommendations include taking kids to Apple Pond Farm for hands-on activities like gathering eggs and milking cows, rafting and kayaking at Kittatinny Canoes, and ordering warm, homemade cinnamon rolls from Floyd & Bobos Bakery and Snack Palace.
Jennifer did a great job of recruiting members into her Society and encouraging them to add their own recommendations like this one:
Great job, Momma D! You have a Kindle on the way to you now!
You can follow Jennifer’s recommendations from your phone, using Whrrl, and add your own recommendations of things to do “in the country” where you’re from!
A big thank you to all who entered our contest!
Thanks to all who came to our #SEAGW barbecue this week!
This week, we hosted a barbecue and outdoor summer movie screening of the social media documentary Life in Perpetual Beta by Melissa Pierce. Our CEO, Jeff Holden, was nice enough to offer up his beautiful waterfront property as the location for the barbecue, and we invited the Seattle community (and out-of-towners here for Gnomedex) to join us.
We had an awesome crowd show up – and fêted Seattle Geek Week in style with fabulous catered food and wine from Lisa Dupar catering and kegs from Pyramid Alehouse. We also debuted the new Whrrl live feed showing everyone checking in, along with their comments and photos. In fact, everyone who checked in one a copy of Life in Perpetual Beta- how cool is that? :)
After dinner, everyone gathered to view Life In Perpetual Beta, a thought provoking movie about how technology is has shaped our past, present and future, with interviews from Brian Solis, Seth Godin and more. It’s a must see for the inner geek in you!
To top off the evening, we had a surprise special guest show up – Robert Scoble, @scobleizer, who interviewed Jeff Holden and John Kim on their thoughts about Facebook’s Places announcement. You can listen to the interview here, and read John Cook’s post about it on TechFlash too.
Thanks to all who came out and made the evening what it was!
See fabulous pics from Eric Berto, @geekgiant, here.
And the entire Whrrl story (with 40+ collaborators sharing pics and notes throughout the event!):
Vegas, baby! Whrrl takes over Sin City with free prizes when you check in!
… and now your business can participate in Society Rewards, too!
If you’re anything like me, then you know getting off that plane in Las Vegas means you’re already taking a gamble. Between the world-class hotels & resorts, entertainment, fine dining and nightlife, you know it’s going to be an adventure. I always struggle with where to go and what to do because it’s simply overwhelming!
What if I said you could check in on Whrrl and not only find the hottest recommendations things to do in Vegas delivered right to your phone – but also that you could win *before* you hit the casino floor?
It’s true! Whrrl expanded its Society Rewards Program and partnered with the top hotels, resorts, restaurant, entertainment and nightlife in Vegas to offer you super cool, free stuff when you check in. It’s that simple. What will I win, you ask?
- Cirque du Soleil: Free tickets to Mystère or tickets starting at $50 for six of their popular Las Vegas productions.
- The Mirage Hotel and Casino: Complimentary Red Bull and vodka cocktails at the Race and Sports Book Bar or Onda Wine Lounge for 250 lucky winners.
- Luxor: Complimentary appetizer with the purchase of an entrée at Tacos & Tequila (T&T), a flavorful Mexican restaurant.
- PURE Management Group: Free drinks, meals and bottle service at their popular Vegas restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
- N9NE Group: Free VIP tickets to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Palms Pool on August 14, 2010.
- Sierra Gold: Free cocktails including beer, wine and well drinks.
But that’s not all. Checking into each of these places will immediately grant you membership to their Society. Why does this matter? Because you’ll be able to view and swap recommendations about the hottest things to do in Vegas with other people that have similar interests to you.
For instance, if you recommend to other Cirque du Soleil Society members that Mystere is a show they should not miss, you’ll earn points for that rec. Additionally, you’ll earn points when someone both wants to do your rec, and then actually does it. The more points, the higher you level up in Societies. And the higher you level up in Societies, the better chance you have to WIN!
Does Society Rewards sound like the perfect program to reward your loyal customers? Now you can join the program online at: http://rewards.whrrl.com It’s free to sign up, and Whrrl Society Rewards offers:
- Measureable results: See who is checking into your business and what they have to say.
- Virality: Recommendations are shared to networks including Facebook and Twitter.
- Community: Extend your brand into mobile and build a strong community of loyal customers helping each other.
So, I know don’t know about you, but these odds sound pretty darn good! :)
We have more news in the coming days and weeks about Society Rewards, including a special VIP event at Eva Longoria Parker’s Eve Nightclub. Stay tuned!
Read the official press release on the Vegas Society Rewards here.
… and now your business can participate in Society Rewards, too!
To Attend BlogHer ‘10 is Human, to Whrrl it is Divine
Last Thursday, I flew to The Big Apple for the BlogHer ’10 conference – my first time attending the ever-growing, widely popular yearly affair. I was excited to meet bloggers in real life (finally) who I’ve followed on Whrrl, Twitter, Facebook, etc. And of course, new bloggers so I can introduce them to Whrrl!
While it’s impossible to capture all of my experiences in one post, I wanted to share some of my favorite highlights from this year’s conference:
Sex and the City Walking Tour
Saturday, Whrrl hosted a Sex and the City walking tour in Greenwich Village. We stopped off at the most famous places from the series- Carrie’s doorstep, Magnolia Bakery (where Miranda & Carrie bought cupcakes), Jefferson Market Garden (where Miranda and Steve got married) and more. It was so fun to meet everyone in a smaller, more intimate environment and get to know some fabulous bloggers one-on-one while teaching all of Whrrl’s features.
You can read two awesome blog posts with more details about our walking tour on Tonya’s blog here and Jennifer’s blog here.
Thank you so much @tjstaab, @mommadanddaboyz, @aliciamarie112, @pacifierpocket, @boredmommy, @sandyel, @doniree & @lastminutemandy. Your attendance meant everything!
Cheeseburger Party:
Holy cow. I heard about the famous Cheeseburger party tradition – but I had no idea how fun and silly it would be. Imagine hundreds of people with decorated, glittery and flowery McDonald’s bags on their head, dancing their booty off in between eating Mickey D’s cheeseburgers. If that isn’t the makings of a great party, I don’t know what it! Thanks to all the people who made the evening even more fabulous – @scrappinmichele, @carissarogers, @misslori, @jamielovely, @nomadicmatt, @katelin, @doniree @wishfulnals and more! The nomination for the best decorated cheeseburger hat EVER goes to @sweetlifeinthe. Pinwheels and everything on there! It was amazing, I tell yah!
Other Parties & Events:
The BlogHer conference during the day was awesome – but the parties and nighttime events were where it was at. Thanks to Nikon for gifting us with Staten Island firemen as eye candy all night, Nintendo for escorting me through the streets of NYC in a pedicab driven by Mario, and the talented Alison Sands for sneaking me in last minute to the Glamour and Games party with e.l.f. and Xbox. And how cute is that pic of Kim Tracy Prince Xbox dancing above! By the way Kim, hanging out and chatting with you was some of my favorite times at BlogHer this year.
But, even better than all the parties, all the food, all the sightseeing – the people I met!
I loved meeting April, Joanie, Stephanie and Tauni and the well-attended CraziBeautiful Event that Whrrl helped sponsor. Congrats to those who won for checking in to sightseeing places around NYC with Whrrl! After so many planning emails with the ladies over the months, it was great to bring our online relationships offline and relax with each other over fruit, cheese and girly things in their suite at The Warwick!
I wiggled into MiracleBody’s fabulous “look 10 pounds lighter” jeans with Julie, @Stage_Mama, and Yolanda from @cuponeandoLive at Audrey McClelland’s super fabulous Getting Gorgeous party! (Not to mention, finally being able to meet Audrey for the first time, who is everything I thought she’d be in person – so stinking cute and nice! What a powerhouse).
I ran into Janice Croze, @5minutesformom, steering her toward the Pepsi booth in the Expo hall for her interview and loving her fabulous K-Mart bag. It might have been only a 10-minute meeting and conversation, but I liked her instantly.
I met Jessica from the hilarious blog, BernThis.com and Alma from OlliBird.com (who has seriously the best story on how she met her husband – ask her!) while waiting in line for a poem from Jenny, The Bloggess, who wrote me the following poem and signed it (hello, awesome!): “Marilyn Monroe would like to be you. And not just because youre alive and shes not” [SIC].
Sara Lancaster, @saucydipper, and I chatted about books (and food blogging) at the BlogHer book store & Angela, @hangingwitmrsc, and I shared an inside joke about McDonald’s oatmeal booth while cruising the Expo Hall. I’ve laughed for hours about that, Angela! Thanks for making my day!
I met so many women during lunch every day! Namely, Karen from VolunteerSpot.com, Dawn from BecauseISaidSo.com, and the beautiful Stephanie Bryant from S Bryant Social Marketing, who won our $250 black leather Hobo bag giveaway for checking in at The Museum of Modern Art.
Thank you Carissa Rogers, @carissarogers, Rachel Ferrucci, @rachelferrucci, Lori, @misslori, and Michele, @scrappinmichele, for dancing the night away with me – you ladies are so much fun and put a huge smile on my face.
And finally, thank you to all the 20-something bloggers I was finally able to meet in person, and a big shout out to @Doniree from Doniree.com for introducing me to the group and being the best midnight in Time Square partner ever. Allison, @amblass, all the best in your job hunt; Rachel, @livitluvit you can rock a cape like no one else; Jamie, @jamielovely and Jess, @bayjb, you girls both crack me up and are so much fun; Katelin, @katelin – I wish you all the happiness in the world in your up-coming wedding; and Matt, @nomadicmatt, – you are THE Dooce of travel blogging. ;)
You can see all of the Whrrl check ins and stories during BlogHer ‘10 here.
Till next year’s BlogHer ’11 in San Diego!
Post-BlogHer Contest – Create Your Own Whrrl Society; Win A Kindle!
This past weekend was BlogHer ‘10 in New York City – and l was there on behalf of Whrrl to meet and hang out with all the fabulous bloggers who attended. The weekend literally flew by, filled with super fun parties, conversations, new friendships and sightseeing in The Big Apple. I’ll have the post recap up tomorrow with pics and details, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, we’re holding a Post-BlogHer Contest for the bloggers who attended our Sex and the City Walking Tour and BlogHer ‘10! You can win a Kindle from Amazon.com with free 3G! I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted one of the wireless reading devices for beaching, flying, bussing and more. The Kindle is Amazon.com’s #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon! And it can be yours…
How can you win? Simple: just create your own Whrrl Society!
What are you passionate about? You can create a Whrrl Society around that passion, whether it’s shopping, sushi, yoga, wine, your favorite band – whatever! Societies enable you to bring your online community offline, creating your own location-based network and rallying together to share recommendations around a common passion. Everyone can add their own recs of fun, cool things to do and share them with each other. Now, you and your Society members will have relevant real-world places to go and activities to do in the palm of your hand, from a community of like-minded people. Pretty neat, huh!
You’ll find a tutorial on how to create Whrrl Societies on Whrrl.com here, and on the iPhone here. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send an email to jeanna [at] pelago [dot] com!
We’ll choose our favorite Society based on the following:
- Quality of your Society, ie: your idea, Society image and description, and the recommendations you fill your Society with.
- How many members you’re able to recruit to add their own recommendations, plus bonus points if you have members of your community use Whrrl to check in to these real-world places.
- A blog post and Tweet about your Society (minimum needed to qualify for entry).
You can even create your own contest on your blog to inspire your blog community to add their own recommendations and check in to real-world places with Whrrl. We’ll give you two weeks, Friday, August 13th through Friday, August 27th to create and promote your Society. I’ll select the winner and announce who won on Tuesday, August 31st on the blog! You can read full contest details here.
For inspiration, check out some cool Societies the community has already created:
Sex and the City Society
Cupcakery Society
Professional Day Drinkers Society
Rooftop Pools Society
San Francisco Sights Society
HelpAMotherOut (HAMO) Society
The Local Tourist Society
Gluten-Free Austin Society
Life in Temecula Society
Houston Steak Lovers Society
Good luck!
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Void in Rhode Island. Open to residents of the United States age 18+ who are registered members of Whrrl. Contest begins August 13, 2010 and ends August 21, 2010 Enter by checking in to a participating location on Whrrl or by mailing a legible handwritten request to Post BlogHer Contest, c/o Pelago, Inc., 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 800, Seattle, WA 98101. Entry by check-in requires your actual presence at the location. Prize is Kindle from Amazon.com, approximately worth $189 Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received. Sponsored by Pelago, Inc., 1201 Third Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. Promotion is subject to Official Rules. See Official Rules at [link].
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