While on the journey to San Diego from Ohio, Derek and I stopped at this little steakhouse in Oklahoma City. Because I’m a huge FourSquare fanatic, I immediately checked in and to my surprise, I was awarded a “Real Housewives” badge! I’d only ever read about the badge, and had no idea how to get it…I was excited (probably too much so). As the waitress came to our table, I tell Derek:
Me: “I just unlocked the Real Housewives badge on FourSquare!!”
Waitress: “Oh, I love that game!”
Me: “I know, it does make life like a game, doesn’t it?”
Waitress: “I haven’t played that in forever…four square, hopscotch. I loved them when I was younger.”
As she took our order and left, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. I wasn’t laughing because she’d never heard of FourSquare, a lot of people back in Ohio weren’t familiar with it either. Trust me, I’d spent nights trying to find a place that had enough people checked in so I could receive a “Swarm” badge (by the way, the most people ever found checked into anywhere in Ohio was 4).
I thought it was funny because I was so excited that someone saw FourSquare as a game, just like me, but she actually meant THE playground game four square.
I thought FourSquare would make exploring the city of San Diego a little more exciting…I check in eagerly awaiting what badge I may earn or tidbit of knowledge about the city I may receive. But despite the wealth of amazing bars, clubs, and restaurants in San Diego, there are surprisingly few places participating in FourSquare. Offering free swag for FourSquare mayors, or working with various organizations to create badges is surprisingly cheap and easy – especially for the amount of insight you’ll receive about your customers. It’s truly a shame that more establishments aren’t hopping on the bandwagon.
Until then, I guess I’ll continue to search…
By the way, I finally received my “Swarm” badge. : )
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