Check In for Haiti – It’s Your Turn, Macworld

Last week, we asked you to help people affected by the earthquake in Haiti by checking in to a Whole Foods, Chipotle Grill, or Panera Bread retail location. We promised to donate $1 for each such Check In, and as a result, we saw Check Ins at these location rise 200% from their norm. Thanks so much for your help, guys!

Macworld: now it’s your turn! Check In to Macworld at the Moscone Center from now until midnight on February 13, and we will donate $1 to victims of the earthquake in Haiti on your behalf. The funds will go to the American Red Cross as well as Doctors Without Borders.

There is no charge to the Loopt user. You can share your Check Ins with friends by linking Loopt to your Facebook and Twitter profiles.

If you'd like more information about donating to the Red Cross' Haiti Relief and Development Fund, click here; to learn more about how you can help Doctors Without Borders, click here.

Mella Media Wins Best Mobile Campaign with Loopt

The partnership between Loopt and Mella Media delivered the honor of, “Best Mobile Campaign – 2009” at the DPAC Awards on Tuesday night. For its client, B.R. Guest Restaurants, Mella Media engaged Loopt to deploy the hyperlocal mobile campaign. 

“It was exciting for us to match our client’s business goals to the right mobile platform. Location-based advertising has been promised in the mobile industry for over a decade, and Loopt has delivered the engaging platform that makes this a reality,” said Jordan Greene, Principal/Mobile Media for Mella Media. 

The campaign won the coveted mobile prize amongst other digital categories won by American Express OPEN, Coca Cola, and Ogilvy. 

The campaign running in New York City presents the Loopt community with exclusive offers from the closest of B.R. Guest’s 15 restaurants including Dos Caminos, Ruby Foos, and Blue Water Grill. With a simple tap, the consumer can call the restaurant, connect to view the menu, map its location, or find the fastest route to get there.

  

Loopt Holiday Scavenger Crawl: Play in LA, NY, or SF

Time to give yourself a Holiday from the Holidays! Join a Holiday Scavenger Crawl of massive proportions - it’s part pub crawl, part urban scavenger hunt. Armed with the new Loopt application on your phone, you will join fellow players in Los Angeles (Sat., 12/12), New York (Sat., 12/19), and San Francisco (Sat., 1/2) scurrying from speakeasies to swanky galleries to coffee shops, solving clues, engaging with secret agents, and racing against the clock to win cool prizes and locate the VIP party of the season.

All you have to do is download the new, free Loopt application for your iPhone, iPod touch, or Blackberry and sign up to play here. Get a free Loopt t-shirt if you’re among the first 500 to sign up!

Consider this the cure for the unending drone of Holiday muzak, 50% off sales and grandma’s bundt cake. Instead, we’ll feature Carnival Dancers, love letters from Cupid, and dandelion weavings around the May Pole. And, all the while, you’ll get to meet up with fellow Loopt denizens on an escapade through the hotspots of a city you only think you know.

Go here to sign up to play »

What’s a Life Graph?

You’ve heard of the “Social Graph” but have you heard of the “Life Graph”? Want to find out more about what your “Life Graph” is and how it will change your life?

If you do, please vote for Loopt’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Conference panel – The Life Graph: You Are Your Location. Click here to vote.

Here’s the description:

Bridging the gap between cyberspace and reality, the “Life Graph” will revolutionize how individuals interact with the world around them: predictive recommendations with rich local content that matters the most to you here and now. We will explore the Life Graph concept and how it will change your life.

At the last SXSW Conference, we led a great discussion on location-based advertising with our “Location, Location, Location: The Future of Mobile Advertising” panel so we hope to do it again. If you’re interested, you can listen to that panel here.

Again, you only have until September 4th to vote so do it now.

Thanks for Coming to the Loopt Mix-er!

Loopt community, thanks for joining us at the Loopt Mix-er in San Francisco last week! If you took any photos at the party, feel free to add them to this photo album. Here are a few that have been added already:

 Nini and Alok viewing the art at 111 Minna Gallery.

Paul, Jessica, and Trevor from Y Combinator – where Loopt got its start.

Sam giving an update on Loopt.

 

The Loopt community enjoying the open bar and DJ WiiJ’s music.

Chris chilling with his friend Ashley.

Check out the photo album on Facebook for more (and add your own).

Laura has more up on her Flickr page too!

Time to Party! Loopt Mix-er on June 8

It's time to party! Loopt community - we want to personally thank you for continuing to support the Loopt service on Monday, June 8th from 7-9 PM at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco over drinks, snacks, and music. Let's celebrate what we've accomplished so far and chat about what's next.

RSVP to blog@loopt.com or on our Facebook page soon and we'll send you a message to confirm your spot.

We'll see you there.

Headed to Austin for SXSW?

We’ll be there too! Please join us for a lively discussion at the Location-Based Advertising panel entitled “Location, Location, Location” on Tuesday, March 17 at 3:30 pm in Room C. There’s a great line up of panelists joining Sam Altman, our CEO and founder:

Bud Caddell - Strategist, Undercurrent
Denny Reinert - Director Interactive Ad Sales, Navteq
Tina Unterlaender - AKQA
Uwe Hook - SVP Media, Direct Partners (moderator)

You can find more information here: http://bit.ly/looptsxsw. If you won’t be in Austin or can’t make the panel, we’ll be sure to share the highlights via our Twitter stream (@loopt) during the event.

And if you are sticking around for the music festival, we’ve partnered with the Carrera Café, the Perez Hilton Showcase, and Pure Volume Ranch to support their real-time, location-based communication needs during the festival. Just add the “Austin Insider” to your Loopt friends to receive live updates, artist schedules and locations, pictures, and party news. All things Austin delivered straight to your mobile phone. To add the “Austin Insider” simply send a Loopt friend invite to (000) 000-0015. 

Finally, don’t forget to link your Loopt updates to Twitter and Facebook so that all your friends can find you in Austin and keep up with your adventures. See you in Austin!

 

(Note: Registration badges are required for access to SXSW conference, festival, and trade show events. Go here for information on how to register: http://sxsw.com/attend/)

Loopt is for Lovers

What was the location of your best or worst (your choice!) Valentine’s Day date?

The best two stories (as selected by a seasoned panel of Loopt judges in combination with blog comments) will be rewarded with a $25 gift card to help take your sweetheart out on the town - or go partying with friends. Whatever fits your plans this year!

Loopt at NATPE

The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), which holds its annual conference from January 26-29 in Las Vegas, asked top media and technology companies to showcase the latest digital products and services. Loopt was asked to work with Ad Council to show how it could help the Community of Veterans (http://communityofveterans.org/) connect with one another. Check it out:

Holiday Location Hunt: Location #3

We know you're excited for the last holiday location hunt!:

Frank Costanza, George's father on the TV show, Seinfeld, introduced a holiday called "Festivus" for the rest of us.  In 2005, after being declared "Governor Festivus", the governor of a certain state displayed a Festivus pole in the Executive Residence.  What city is this Executive Residence located in?  Make sure to click the picture below for some entertainment.

Enable your Loopt-Twitter integration and send the correct location to "@loopt" when you Share What's Up on Loopt.  The first five correct responses win!

You can also leave a comment on our blog with the correct location (be sure to submit your email address), and we'll enter you in the drawing to win a Loopt t-shirt.

Click here for more information.