Find Me in Town :: Blog

PRIZEOne (1) randomly selected beta subscriber will be chosen to receive One (1) $75 Apple iTunes Gift Card. The recipient will be announce FRIDAY, August 1, 2008 by 5pm EST. 

HOW TO ENTER

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. To enter, simply sign-up for a free user account or take Our Survey. To be eligible, entries must be completed and received on or by the closing date of the draw FRIDAY,August 1, 2008. Incomplete entries will be disqualified. Findmeintown.com is not responsible for lost, misdirected or delayed entries. Entries received by telephone, fax, courier or personal delivery will not be accepted. findmeintown.com reserves the right to amend the rules at any time for any reason.

CONTEST RULES:

1. The contest is open to US citizens as well as anyone currently subscribing to findmeintown.com as of the time of the drawing FRIDAY,August 1, 2008, and of age of majority. Identification must be produced on request. Employees of findmeintown.com, its contest sponsor, advertising and promotional agencies and their respective affiliates and associates and such employees’ immediate family members and persons with whom such employees are domiciled are excluded from this contest.
2. The prize is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded.
3. Decisions of the contest judges are final - no substitutions will be available.
4. By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation of his or her name and/or likeness and/or voice/photograph and municipality of residence for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation, radio broadcasts, newspapers and other publications and in television or film releases, slides, videotape, distribution over the internet and picture date storage) which findmeintown.com may deem appropriate.
5. In accepting the prize, the winner, and any guest(s), acknowledges that findmeintown.com may not be held liable for any loss, damages or injury associated with accepting or using this prize(s).
6. The person(s) whose name(s) is drawn as being the winner(s) of the specific prize will be required to submit a mailing address before the prize is awarded to them.
7. Detailed contest rules applicable to this contest, including contest entry dates, how to enter, and prize value, number and any restrictions applicable to these prizes are available upon request from findmeintown.com
8. Winners and any guests at the age of majority must sign a release form as prepared and accepted by findmeintown.com acknowledging their acceptance and understanding of the complete contest rules.
9. Findmeintown.com retains the rights, in its absolute and sole discretion, to make substitutions of equivalent kind or approximate value in the event of the unavailability of any prize or component of the prize for any reason whatsoever.
10. This contest is subject to all federal, provincial and municipal laws.
11. Findmeintown.com reserves the right to withdraw or terminate this contest at any time without prior notice.
12. Approximate value of prizes vary.
13.  One entry per person.

This post previously appeared on my personal blog as Those who can’t, teach; those who can, build a beta.

Everyday I talk to my fellow geeks about what the next big thing might be. Hoping we can catch a glimpse and be a part of the ever growing wave of internet applications. For three years the question for me has come down to “What comes after social networks?” I think the answer might have finally revealed itself. My often-partner-in-crime Strat Parrott called me a few weeks ago to tell me he’d bought several domains all around the idea of findmeintown.com. He had a really good idea of a service we could build around it.

Let me pause here to say that this isn’t the first time he and I have had conversations like this. Over the last few years we (along with a few other friends) have brainstormed ideas then never saw them to fruition. In almost every case we’d see a site like what we’d planned launched months later to great success. This time we determined to be different.

We spent a week talking about all the cool things we like about the plethora of social networks and web apps we use: Twitter, BrightKite, SocialThing, Facebook, etc. Then we started working on where we thought they fell short. It all comes down to one thing: they don’t drive new interpersonal interaction, they are the interaction in and of themselves. The idea is connecting with our friends, and in a meta way, they do serve that purpose. With the exception of Facebook Events they rarely actually put us in physical proximity to our friends. How many times have a seen a friend Twitter that they’re walking into a movie I would have loved to go see with them, but by the time I know, it’s too late to get there. Or BrightKite tells me someone just got to a bar I would have gone out to but already got home and started something else.

So here’s the elevator pitch, “Social networks exist on a deserted island called the internet, we want to bring the back to the main land of real life.” We want to create a service that helps make real life connections, not just meta ones, and get’s people back out of their houses and enjoying life. We want to answer the simple question, “What is there to do in this town?” You like to go drink beer, cool we’ll show you whose got the specials, the best user reviews, and the most people out right then at them (or tomorrow night if that’s when you’re free, we’re not limiting this to just real time). Prefer sipping coffee and having great conversation, then we’ve got that all mapped out for you. How about a movie; we’ll show you what is playing, when and where along with which of your friends are already planning on going. Or have no idea what you’re in the mood for, the just see what’s happening in your area and go from there.

Strat and I have teamed up with the amazingly talented Jordan Lee (whose been doing work for ESPN as of late, just to be a total name-dropping douche) to get this thing off the ground. We’re going to leverage some of the best sites on the web along with our own unique spin to make an application that connects you with the world’s oldest social network, getting out and meeting people. Google Search and Maps; Yelp Reviews; Facebook, Evite, and Upcoming Events; Twitter, Pownce, and Facebook Statuses; BrightKite and FireEagle location services all wrapped into a site that learns who you like to spend time with and how you like to spend it.

It’s ambitious to say the least, but the best things always are. We’re currently preparing to talk with our friends and some of the coolest people on the net to see what they want to see us build first and how it should work. At the same time we’re prepping a private demo of the service that a select group will get to play with (looking at you Gary Vaynerchuk). The first “Hello World” opened its eyes and breathed life on Saturday and we were immediately looking at movie theaters in Manhattan, wine shops in Springfield, NJ, bars in Chattanooga, and coffee shops in Tokyo. It’s bare boned and rough around the edges (not too mention no UI at the moment) but totally fun. When we’re all done the only thing you won’t be able to find is boredom.

If you’re interest is piqued head over to findmeintown.com and sign up to get notified when we start taking private beta applications. We’re planning to have the site ready to start testing by the end of summer and working publicly by the end of the year. In the mean time, if you want to find Strat, Jordan or I, best look in the FMNT bunker cause we’ve got a ton of work to do.