The great scvngr hunt
Location is taking the internet by storm according to all the hip tech blogs. I’ve used every possible means of publishing my location for a few years now and finally I can testify that it’s not as lonely as it used to be.
Foursquare and Google latitude are reaching medium adoption with higher smartphone penetration in Iceland and cheaper data rates (still silly prices though).
When I first heard of SCVNGR I was instantly sold on the idea. Their approach is more open than Foursquare and Gowalla. They use the Google Map places and provide the tools for the community to build more meaningful check-ins. Their plan is to create a gaming layer on top of the dull offline world.
This video explains how you play (app has been updated since this recording)
I set up a facebook page for Icelandic social media geeks and organized a meetup during social media week. This provided for an excellent test bed for a scvngr trial run. All the early adopters in one room.
I convinced the owners of Faktorý to fork over a pint of beer for 6 scvngr points, set up a few challenges on SCVNGR.com and just in the nick of time intended to activate the reward. Boom, turns out you need a signoff from the HQ to activate it. With 4 hours to go, I was sure it would not pass through the vetting process across the pond. But to my surprise, a quick email with the word URGENT and a couple of exclamation marks got a quick positive response and we where in business.
We had a total of 19 people with their Android or iPhones install the app, complete at least 3 challenges, including one where you have to physically bump phones and then finally flash your reward to the bartender to receive a free pint of beer. The geeks where thrilled and completed a total of 55 challenges and put Faktorý firmly on the SCVNGR map.
Tonight I created my first trek; Reykjavik pub crawl – so if you have a fancy phone and enjoy a sneaky pint, head down town and try it out.
I’m still waiting for a popular pub or restaurant in Iceland to actually embrace Foursquare or SCVNGR but we’ll get there soon enough.
I hope SCVNGR catches on quickly. There is room for improvement in the social aspect and online profile as it might be a bit complicated for your first time GEO user. I also hope they add more building credits for the people that actually build challenges and treks using their service.
Here is another video from an intern that gives good insight into the culture of SCVNGR