Pelago, Inc.

Whrrl and Travel Channel let you decide “Who Wins the Food War” in your town

Jeanna Barrett — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:29:46 +0000

Heated debates are taking place across the country, with loyal fans passionately defending the local eateries and iconic dishes that make their towns famous. Where’s the best pastrami sandwich in New York? Who serves the top Italian Beef Sandwich in Chicago? What’s the #1 hot dog in Detroit?

Today, Travel Channel is premiering a new show called Food Wars, which aims to answer these questions. Food Wars will pit the nation’s most famous culinary rivals against one another for a final showdown, where a blind taste test will settle the score on these long-standing rivalries. And you can choose your side too, with Whrrl.

Starting now, you’ll be able to join Travel Channel’s “Food Wars Society” on Whrrl. It’s simple: just check in to one of the official Food Wars locations around the country and you’ll be accepted into the Society. As a member, you’ll be able to share stories about your own taste tests at these rival spots and declare which you think is the winner. Inspire others to compare these spots too – and help settle these legendary food wars.

But that’s not all. Later this week, we’ll be launching the all-new version of Whrrl. Whrrl 3 will provide even more ways to discover Food Wars content, including:

Societies Tab: You’ll be able to view the Food Wars Society and all Societies within Whrrl in one place. As a member of the “Food Wars” Society, you’ll have the exclusive ability to view special challenges, view recommendations and create recommendations for your friends.
Ideas Tab: You’ll also be able to view challenges on the new Ideas tab when you’re nearby any Food Wars location and save these challenges on the new “want to” and “did it” lists. You can also recommend these challenges to friends by placing them on their “Ideas” list.

Food Wars is one of the first among many Travel Channel Societies that will be launching within Whrrl. Stay tuned later this week to learn more!

And don’t forget to catch the premiere of Travel Channel’s Food Wars tonight, Tuesday, March 9^th at 10 PM EST, as Travel Channel settles the Buffalo Chicken Wing war and Chicago’s infamous Italian Beef Sandwich rivalry. To learn more, you can visit the show’s Web site.

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Six technologies that will facilitate change within the automotive retail industry

Jeanna Barrett — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:11:04 +0000

Eric Miltsch, Headlight

Automotive consumers have been asking for change for a long time. Changes that improve how they shop, how they buy and, most importantly, their overall experience and satisfaction.

How Whrrl and other technologies are changing the face of the automobile retail industry

Jeanna Barrett — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:47:13 +0000

Eric Miltsch posted a great blog post this week on Headlight – a digital automotive trends blog from Razorfish – about how six technologies are changing the face of the automobile retail industry. We were very pleased to see Whrrl and our Merchant Program was mentioned as one of these breakthrough technologies!

The article talks about geo-location services whereby you can offer an incentive for consumers to visit and engage them with new discount/promotional ideas. That got us thinking, and we have an idea.

How about having customers check in on Whrrl, take a picture of the hot new car model, and then tweet it out for a chance to win a prize from the dealer? Or, you could have customers share details and pics from their test drive, creating a “virtual test drive” for other customers, which would lure them take their own test drive?

We’re fired up with ideas- what are yours?

Here’s the article:

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UPDATED: 40 new Whrrl Societies now live!

Jeanna Barrett — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:25:06 +0000

In January, we announced the first expansion of Whrrl Societies to 28 cities throughout the Unites States. If you’re still unfamiliar with the concept behind Whrrl Societies, they are groups of like-minded people that have the same real world patterns. For instance, I’d consider myself a “foodie” because I like to go to restaurants in Seattle that are known for their top-rated cuisine. If you also have a passion for fine dining, you’d be a foodie, too- and we would be in the same Society.

Today we’re excited to roll out our first set of 26 nationwide tag-based Societies. (And there are more than 625,000 places in cities across the U.S. that count toward membership in these Societies!) Do people call you “Norm” when you walk into the local bar because you have a seat waiting for you? Chances are you’ll be in the Bar Fly Society. Are you pampered, head-to-toe, from all the spas and salons you go to? Sounds like you’re the perfect person for our Princess Society!

You can find a list of Societies near you that you’re not yet a member of on your “Profile” page in Whrrl’s iPhone app. Here you’ll be able to read about each Society, and see locations near you that count toward membership into the Society. Each check-in to a place associated with these Societies will count toward unlocking the membership for you. We’ll also automatically share when you are accepted into a Society on your Facebook and Twitter pages (if you’ve linked them). Here is our list of new Societies and the establishment type associated with them.

UPDATE: We added 14 more this week, for a total of 40. The new ones are the first 14 on this list:

Supermarket Sweep (grocery stores)
Hold the Mayo (delis)
High Steaks (steak restaurants)
Snow Chaser (ski & snowboard resorts)
Animal House (universities)
Up in the Air (airports)
Roller Coaster Junkie (amusement parks)
Love Birds (bridal)
Homer’s (donut shops)
Gym Rat (gym)
Shaken, Not Stirred (cocktail lounges)
Pinball Wizard (arcades)
Slurpee Society (convenience stores)
Societe de Café (cafés)
Weekend Brunch (Breakfast)
Chinese Pagoda (Chinese cuisine)
Supersized (Fast food)
Strange Brew (Brewpubs)
The Dude Abides (Bowling)
Yo Quiero Mexican (Mexican cuisine)
What the Pho (Vietnamese & Pho cuisine)
Pie in the Sky (Pizza)
Cultured (Museums, Theaters, Galleries, etc.)
Furry Friends (Pet stores, Veterinarian, Pet services, etc.)
MiniMe (Kids places, parks, zoos, toy stores, etc.)
Princess (Tanning salon, nail salon, massage, etc.)
Bar Fly (Bars)
All American (American cuisine)
Pitmaster (Barbecue joints)
High Jolt (Coffee shops)
Dough Boy (Bakeries)
Do It Yourself (Home improvement)
Mamma Mia (Italian cuisine)
Wasabi (Sushi joints)
Fisherman’s Wharf (Seafood restaurants)
Golden Popcorn (Movie Theaters)
Starbucks
Do Not Disturb (Hotels)
Hamburgler (Hamburger places)
We Scream (Ice cream )

We’ll be rolling out many more over the next month. What societies will YOU be a member of? We can’t wait to find out! Is there a society we’re missing? Let us know – email us with suggestions and comments at societies@whrrl.com

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Discover where Hendrix, Nirvana, Springsteen, others once rocked

Jeanna Barrett — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:26:29 +0000

John Cook, TechFlash

Imagine if the walls of some of the country’s most famous music venues could talk. You know they’d be filled with legendary stories of sex, drugs and rock and roll.

Whrrl brings the history of rock and roll to the palm of your hand

Marcus Sacco — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:26:57 +0000

Today, we announced a partnership with Paul Allen’s Seattle-based Experience Music Project and the iconic New York venue Max’s Kansas City to bring the history of rock and roll to Whrrl. So, what exactly does this mean?

Much of our nation’s history of rock and roll has not yet been digitized. The information is in books, manuscripts, interviews and even memories, but not accessible on the Web – much less on the mobile phone. By bringing the rich history of rock and roll to Whrrl, anyone can now say “I was here too” when they check in to locations around the country and experience this history firsthand. It’s a one of kind experience!

Here’s an example: If you visit the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle, you’ll see napkins from hotels where Jimi Hendrix wrote the lyrics to some of his most famous songs. What hotel was that? Why did he write those lyrics on that occasion? What’s the story? It’s now possible you may check into that exact hotel and learn what inspired Hendrix on that day.

Whrrl is bringing over 125 stories at over 100 places to six cities around the nation, and more to come. Here’s the current societies that you may stumble upon and unlock membership:

Grunge
Jimi Hendrix
Minneapolis Punk
Prince
LA Rock ‘n’ Roll
LA Punk
New York Rock ‘n’ Roll
New York Punk
Washington, DC Punk
San Francisco Psychedelic Rock
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Bruce Springsteen
Max’s Kansas City Society

To learn more, you can read the entire press release here, and read the blog post TechFlash wrote about it here.

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Push notifications and merchant offers now live in iPhone app store

Jeanna Barrett — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:10:37 +0000

We’re always movin’ and a shakin’ here at Whrrl – proud to be constantly pushing out new updates and features that our users have been requesting.

All iPhone users should have a Whrrl update in the app store available for download now. This update includes two significant features that we’ve been working hard to include:

Push notifications
Merchant offers (deals available near or at the place you check in at. To read more about our merchant offer program, go here: http://faq.whrrl.com/merchants)

We’ve also fixed a few known bugs in this version too. To get the latest app, got to http://whrrl.com/getiphone.

As usual, we love to hear feedback from our users. Shake your iPhone to send in feedback, or email any thoughts, bugs, ideas, etc that you might have to feedback@whrrl.com.

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Check in on Whrrl at the Blissdom Conference to win big!

Jeanna Barrett — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:17:27 +0000

Whrrl is very excited to support this week’s Blissdom Conference, put on by the lovely duo of Allison Worthington and Barbara Jones, held at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.

In case you’re not familiar, Blissdom is a conference for women who “find and express their bliss by publishing online.” While the Whrrl crew can’t specifically make it out to Nashville this year, we still wanted to plan some fun things for the attendees. That’s right; we have a bag of tricks gifts up our sleeves. Literally.

We’re purchased a ton of items that we think you’d love – and laugh – about owning, and we’re going to give them away during the conference at random. Simply check in everywhere you go during Blissdom for a chance to win. Be sure to add #Blissdom tag and tweet your update. We’ll choose winners from Twitter at random and send a DM to the winner, so don’t forget to follow us on Twitter too! We’ll be announcing what you won in the form of a riddle, and you won’t know what it is until you’ve picked up your prize from Whrrl Ambassador Jyl Johnson Pattee.

What are the prizes, you ask? Well, 25 lucky ladies will win items that can or might do the following: Spice up your marriage, make your Snuggie seem SO last year, launch the biggest idea since Google, make the man in your life’s HD TV look like chump change, shed hours off of time spent cooking Thanksgiving dinner every year, make Snookie jealous, and more…

To make your Whrrl experience at the conference even more special, there’s a custom Blissdom Society we created for the 2010 attendees. Just check into two of the following places, and you’re in!

Blissdom Opening Night Party at Opryland
Fuse
Jack Daniels Saloon
Volare
Soles4Souls Dropoff (one special prize for the check ins here!)

Three lucky Blissdom Society ladies will be the winner of one of the seriously coolest tech gadgets – the Powermat (a wireless charging station & battery cover valued at approximately $150), which was listed as one of the five best products at CES this year! So what are you waiting for? Check in for a chance to win! We’ll notify who the winners are on Friday evening via Whrrl, and once again, you can pick up your prize from Jyl.

We can’t wait to “virtually” share in the fun with you this year!

Blissfully Yours,

The Whrrl Team

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Announcing new Whrrl Societies across the U.S.

Jeanna Barrett — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:35:11 +0000

As many of you know, we recently introduced Societies in Whrrl with version 2.3, which launched in December. Societies connect you with like-minded people that check in to similar places. They’re a great way to meet new people, share recommendations and learn about new places to go. For example, I love wine. Being a part of the Seattle Wine Bar Society means that I can learn from other oenophiles about great pairings, varietals to try, etc. I can even find out other hot new wine bars to hit up in my city. How cool is that? After your first check in on Whrrl v2.3, you should have been accepted into the Founders Society and read a note from our CEO and Co-Founder, Jeff Holden.

I’m excited to announce today that we launched 17 more cities participating in Whrrl Societies! That means we have 28 cities total. Is your city on the list?

In each of these cities, you’ll find the following Societies: Foodies, Brewpubs, Indie Music, Sports Bars and Wine Bars. A few cities have additional Societies including Fashionistas, Independent Bookstores, Punk Rock, and Rock n’ Roll. We even launched Societies for Whrrl influencers @katjapresnal – The Skimbaco Lifestyle Society – and @scrappinmichele – The Washington D.C. Scrappin’ Society.

Most importantly, Whrrl Societies are all about YOU. We’re adding new cities and Societies every day. Is your city listed? Is your favorite place in an existing Society? Is there a new Society we should create? Did we miss something? Let us know! Send your suggestions to: Societies@whrrl.com and if you haven’t already, download Whrrl today and start checking in to become a member of the Societies that most represent you. After all – You Are Where You Go!

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I survived my first CES

Heather Meeker — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:18:55 +0000

Yes, you heard it correct. I just went to International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) for the very first time this year. For a gal that’s been in the technology space since Web 1.0, that’s quite a shocker.

What made me want to attend CES anyway? From a business standpoint, we didn’t have a presence with Whrrl at the show, as we’re a location-based application for mobile phones – specifically the iPhone – and as you know, Apple is noticeably absent from the show every year. I worried about whether or not there would be value in me attending?

The answer: A resounding YES.

From the moment I stepped off the plane and arrive at the Las Vegas Hilton Convention Center, I was greeted by many familiar faces: Jim Alden, Keira Dazi, Calvin Lee, Rynda Laurel and Ricardo Bueno. It was safe to say the LA crew was “in da house!” Each explained to me what was located in the North, South and Central halls, what I should not miss (the LG super thin TV, 3-D TV) and to wear some comfy shoes- which I was clearly NOT doing. Hmm. Wardrobe change!

Because I arrived so late on day one of the show, I decided to skip the floor and head out to Aquaknox for the Lenovo event, which included Jeff Pulver from the 140 Characters conference. Safe to say the “who’s who” of technology were in attendance, as I hobnobbed with folks including journalist Cathy Brooks, Shiny Heart co-founder Frank Gruber, Social Media Club founder Chris Heuer, PR rockstar Brian Solis and the Mashable crew- Ben Parr, Barb Dybwad, Adam Ostrow and Adam Hirsch. In fact, it was my first time meeting the “Adams” in person to which I was thrilled after emailing them back and forth for years! I tried to capture the night on Whrrl but it was a total fail due to lack of lighting (note to self: bring the Fastmac with flash next time). Thank goodness photographer extraordinaire Ken Yeung was on hand to snap fantastic pics and capture the event!

Day two of the show turned out to be a day of meetings and not a lot of time spent walking around the show- when would I do that? It was great to catch up with Momfluential Media founder Ciaran Blumenfeld and finally meet Liz Philips from HP. But I know what you are all really thinking- “where’s the party?”

Oh yes, there was a party! The Parnassus Group hosted an event at the Atomic Testing Museum (I know what you’re thinking- huh?) to which I was actually able to capture here. Again, the “who’s who” of tech showed up, including Robert Scoble who was shooting video of a flying saucer (don’t ask), and Sarah Austin who was enamored with Star Trek The Next Generation stars Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton. Again, I was thrilled to finally meet people in person, and Sarah was no exception. I wandered around the museum learning about the history of nuclear bombs while enjoying a cold adult beverage and meeting more people, and seeing lovely familiar faces like my good friend Marsha Collier, an eBay author and customer service expert. So glad that Brian M Westbrook caught us in a “totally unplanned” and “not staged” shot. :)

right image/brianwestbrook.com

Finally on day three of the show I walked the floor! G4TV’s Dave Mathews showed me around the entire convention, pointing out various gadgets that he thought were noteworthy. We checked out the much hyped 3-D TV which ended up making me dizzy. I learned all about Powermats and scored a Speck iPhone cover (won best of show). I even walked by the ultra-douchey Ed Hardy booth, complete with a scantily-clad model showing off her iPhone bling. Check out more of my experience here.

So, what was the return on investment of attending CES, you ask? Well for starters, just about everyone in technology and social media attends this conference. If you’re looking to build new relationships, meet with clients and connect with colleagues, this is the place. By far, the value I received from networking and in-person communication was priceless. And meeting people in person is always a huge advantage.

image/Ken Yeung, thelettertwo.com

In addition, it certainly doesn’t hurt to be up on the newest technologies and gadgets. Working for a company that develops apps for phones, it’s nice to hear what’s new with different mobile providers and be able to hold a (somewhat) intelligent conversation about the latest and greatest.

Most of all, any conference is what you make of it. Whether I was a booth babe back in the day at Internet World, prepping speakers for Ad:Tech, or wandering around CES, you have to have a clear goal and purpose in mind. For conferences where you don’t have a presence or tie-in (like CES was for me), it’s crucial you plan ahead. Think about technologies you want to see, people you want to meet, events you want to attend and meetings you want to have. There’s nothing worse than getting off the plane and wandering around aimlessly. Be prepared and I promise going to large conferences like CES will be worth it!

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