Foursquare is a social networking application that permits you to state or ‘shout’ your location, but do not get involved if you value your sanity. Over the past few days I have deteriorated into a mad person running around ‘checking-in’ to as many venues as possible in an attempt to unlock new ‘badges’ and become the ‘mayor’ of any old place.

Sounds like shameless broadcasting, except that the developers have also integrated a point score component, permitting users to unlock certain badges based on their whereabouts, frequency of visits and usage of certain key words. I am now addicted to marking my territory and stating my location at any given opportunity.

Foursquare has the capacity to be a powerful marketing tool. Local businesses can be provided with data including check-ins, unique visitors, male-to-female ratio, social media-sharing, top visitors and check-in time breakdown. This gives business owners the opportunity to adapt their product-offerings accordingly. It is now not unheard of for local cafes to offer a free coffee to the ‘mayor’ (the person who has checked into the venue most) which also provides incentive for repeat custom.
Is Foursquare yet another tool for blatant self-promotion? Or a useful tool for businesses to gain consumer insights? I’d say it’s a little from column A and a little from column B. No matter how you look at it, there’s no doubt that it’s on the rise; a record 347,000 people checked-in at one location on the 14th March for an event in Austin, Texas and with users obsessively trying to earn and retain ‘mayor’ status, the check-ins will arguably continue.

Foursquare on Mashable

Love it or hate it, there is something to be said about cricket and the way the sport has evolved.
Traditionally cricket requires equal amounts of patience from the players and fans alike who dedicate hours, days and even weeks of their time to follow matches.

These days are by no means over; there are actually people who enjoy giving up hours on end to watch cricket. However, there is also a sizeable part of the population who, having not been brought up with the sport, are not about to start engaging in an activity, which has been affectionately compared to ‘watching the grass grow.’

Gen Y wants everything now…and preferably yesterday; this mindset and lifestyle does not mesh well with an intrinsically protracted sporting experience. Cricket’s solution to this audience shift has been 20/20 cricket. The point is that events, whether they are music, performance, sport or other, are not sustainable if the experiences they deliver to do not adapt and grow with their audiences.

Having been to my first live 20/20 Cricket match last week I felt as though this version of the sport was made for people with ADD, also affectionately known as children of the Y Generation. My attention was held with fireworks following every six and music between every bowl plus it was finished in 40 overs so it didn’t require too much commitment…or patience for that matter.

Like it or not, it is a clever and arguably necessary response to a clear shift in the way that new generations prefer their experiences – fast and with lots of energy.