It’s likely that you’re familiar with Groupon – the popular group-buying discount site that offers hyper-local deals to consumers – but have you heard of Loopt? Similar to Foursquare, it allows users to check into locations and redeem deals and specials, if the venue allows it. Loopt and Groupon have partnered to offer $1 local deals through Groupon Now. Although Groupon Now is only available in Chicago right now, the company likely plans to quickly roll it out to cities across the country.

Groupon Now is beneficial for businesses that want to create deals specifically tailored to a certain condition. For instance, if business is slow one day, they can create a quick deal that users will see when they check into a nearby location on Loopt.

OK, you may be thinking. This is all well and good but what does it have to do with small staff associations?

Well, I think it’s a great example of a smaller, lesser-known company (Loopt) partnering with a more established one (Groupon) to create a mutually beneficial experience for consumers. It can provide a jumping-off point for associations who want to take advantage of group deals or location-based services.

Retailers and restaurants often offer discounts and perks to people who frequently check-in to their venue. Foursquare users who frequent Starbucks can be eligible for discounts if they become the mayor of a certain location. (The “mayor” is the Foursquare user who checks in most often to a certain location.) Mayors of Ann Taylor receive 25 percent off their purchases, while shoppers who check in receive 15 percent off. Many tech-y locations offer deals to users who check in using Gowalla. Users can join Loopt through Facebook, and a program called Loopt Star offers retailers a loyalty card, which users can use to compete with friends and fellow users to receive perks and discounts from retailers.

A few ideas for small staffs looking to use location-based services:

1. Reward volunteers: An activist who frequents a particular venue could be compensated with donations, supplies, or community outreach support.

2. Use social check-ins as a fundraiser. Partner with a local business and ask them to donate a certain amount for every check-in during a specified time period.

3. Event camaraderie. Encourage meeting attendees to check into various venues. This could help them meet new people and learn about restaurants and locations they otherwise may not have.

How can your small staff association use location-based services?

There’s always something new going on in the world of social media, and this year, location-based applications were poised for big increases in use. They’ve gained a (relatively) small but loyal following, all right, but how useful are location-based apps for associations and nonprofits — especially small-staffs?

No matter which app your organization uses (or is thinking about using), there are several ways associations can take advantage of location check-ins.

1. Events and conferences: Thinking back to ASAE and The Center’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Expo, I think a Foursquare-type application would have been immensely useful. (The fact that the meeting was in Toronto made using our cell phones a little more difficult, but I digress.) The convention center was so huge and after-hours, people were spread out at tons of different restaurants and bars. Using location-based technology might have allowed us to meet even more people!

2. Volunteer incentives: How do you reward your frequent volunteers? Recognizing those who check in often to a particular venue to volunteer could receive perks, discounts or another form of recognition. Many Foursquare users see mayorship as a point of pride, and will frequent the same venue again and again to become its mayor. Recognize your frequent volunteers online.

3. Brand your event: Create a Foursquare badge people can earn when they check into several venues around your event. Badges are fun ways to reward Foursquare users who do interesting things. For example, checking into a gym 10 times in 30 days earns users the “Gym Rat” badge.

4. Team up with a for-profit for fundraising: Would it be possible for your organization to team up with a restaurant? When patrons check into a restaurant, could a percent of the profits go toward a cause your organization promotes? By teaming up with for-profits, your organization can spread the word about its cause.

Now, which of these applications is right for your organization?

- Foursquare: Originally popularized in big cities, Foursquare users don’t have to have a smart phone to check in to various venues. Users can text their check-ins to a specified number once their cell phone is tied to their account. Foursquare’s goal is to help users find new places to go in their cities, as well as to meet new people.

- Gowalla: Gowalla’s goals are basically the same as Foursquare (discover, capture and share places with your friends). The two seem to have a lot in common: smart phone apps plus an iPad app. It’s really about which one your members prefer, but of course, members and volunteers could be active among both.

- Loopt: The third in the “big three,” Loopt lets you discover places in your city, share directions and tips, save money with coupons and share where you are with your friends.

Retailers and restaurants often offer discounts and perks to people who frequently check-in to their venue. Foursquare users who frequent Starbucks can be eligible for discounts if they become the mayor of a certain location. (The “mayor” is the Foursquare user who checks in most often to a certain location.) Mayors of Ann Taylor receive 25 percent off their purchases, while shoppers who check in receive 15 percent off. Many tech-y locations offer deals to users who check in using Gowalla. Users can join Loopt through Facebook, and a program called Loopt Star offers retailers a loyalty card, which users can use to compete with friends and fellow users to receive perks and discounts from retailers.

If none of these appeals to your organization, take a look at DoubleDutch, which I first wrote about back in April. DoubleDutch lets users create their own location-based check-in for their conference or event. Exhibitors’ booths, session rooms and hotel bars will all be distinguishable using the application, so attendees, vendors and other participants can all check in at their exact locations and share it with other users. Checking in to different locations can help attendees find one another, meet new people and have a more fulfilling conference experience. Helping attendees keep in touch is what events are all about, and applications such as DoubleDutch only enhance the connections.

Location-based apps can be useful to associations of all sizes. They can help create more intimate communities among larger ones and help smaller membership bases discover new places. No matter how small your organization, there are still plenty of potential uses for one of these applications. They don’t require a lot of maintenance time, which is good news for smaller staffs!

Is your organization exploring location-based applications?

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Are you on the fence about geolocation apps such as Foursquare? You’re certainly not alone, but these applications (another example is Gowalla) are gaining traction, and just last night, Twitter unveiled a new feature: Twitter Places.

Basically, the feature will group tweets from certain locations and venues so you can see what others around you are up to. It will integrate with both Foursquare and Gowalla. Twitter will also alert you to nearby places of interest when you use the feature.

Right now, the feature is only available from Twitter’s web interface (twitter.com), as well as its own mobile apps. However, the Twitter team is releasing an API, so if you use another application, such as TweetDeck or Hootsuite, you’ll probably have access to it fairly soon.

Since the feature is “opt-in,” I don’t think it presents a huge issue with regards to privacy. It’s likely that only those who actively use location-based apps will be interested, but it could open up new possibilities for those considering jumping on the Foursquare bandwagon.

However, I do think this feature presents a lot of potential for associations looking to take advantage of both location-based applications and Twitter for their conferences. If you turn on Twitter Places, your tweets from a conference or meeting venue will appear in a stream with others’, and attendees could use it to find a restaurant in a new city or meet new people. I’m thinking it could complement the use of hashtags and facilitate introductions or new connections, depending on how it’s used.

If you’re part of a small-staff organization, I think this could be a good starting point if you’re looking to start using location-based services. The beauty in these apps is that they are inherently mobile in nature, so they can complement your organization’s mobile strategy (assuming one exists, which I hope is the case!).

Unfortunately, it’s not yet clear how the Foursquare and Gowalla integrations will work, but I think there’s some potential. There are certainly uses for location-based apps for associations, but these apps aren’t nearly as popular with mainstream social media users as other social media tools.

What do you think of Twitter Places? Would it be useful at meetings or is it just another distraction? Has your organized explored how it can use location-based apps such as Foursquare?

With so many technology and social media options, it’s hard to know where to get started, or, depending on your membership, if you even need to. However, when I find out about a cool new application that could be really beneficial to organizations, I can’t help but share it.

You may have heard about FourSquare or Gowalla – two location-based applications intended to share with other users where you are at any given time. However, using these applications at your conference or event can be difficult because there’s no easy way to break down exhibit halls or conference centers into even smaller venues for easier and more accurate check-ins.

Enter DoubleDutch. This application allows users to create their own branded check-in application designed specifically for their use case, such as conferences. Exhibitors’ booths, session rooms and hotel bars will all be distinguishable using the application, so attendees, vendors and other participants can all check in at their exact locations and share it with other users.

Although the application is only available for iPhone users right now, I definitely think it’s worth keeping an eye on this one for your future conferences. I know others have written about using FourSquare for events (see Maggie McGary’s take and Maddie Grant’s, and see my recap of Foursquare here), and there’s a lot of potential for location-based applications to grow, especially with more people buying iPhones, Androids and Blackberrys.

If you’re wary of using mobile applications to check in to different places and sharing your location during your everyday life, I totally get that. But when you’re at a conference, it can be difficult to keep track of people you want to spend time with. Checking in to different locations can help attendees find one another, meet new people and have a more fulfilling conference experience. Helping attendees keep in touch is what events are all about, and applications such as DoubleDutch only enhance the connections.

DoubleDutch has several cool features, including a points system, venue photos, reviews and ratings, friending, Facebook and Twitter integration and achievement stickers (akin to FourSquare’s Mayor and Explorer badges).

Stay on the lookout for more applications such as this one. I have a feeling more will start popping up, and that they’ll become much more mainstream in the next year or so.

This is the 11th in a 12-part series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which highlights social networking sites other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are tons of other social media outposts on the Web, and they’re great places for associations to curate content. The previous 10 installments can be found here. Stay tuned.

You may have heard about Foursquare in recent weeks or months; it’s been called the “Twitter of 2010” by some. Foursquare combines two important trends in the social web: location and mobile technology. But if you haven’t heard about it, don’t worry! It’s generally more popular in larger cities right now, but it’s expanding quickly.

Essentially, Foursquare is an application that enables “checking in” at various locations. The application uses GPS to identify where you are and will give a list of nearby places from which to choose, but you can always add a place if it’s not available.

According to its Help page, When you tell foursquare where you are, that’s called “checking-in”. You can check-in from parks, bars, museums, restaurants…  really anywhere. Foursquare then will let your friends know where to find you.

The site aims to help you find friends and acquaintances in your city. There are apps available for smartphones such as iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Android, but if you don’t own one of those phones, you can check in using a basic text message – attach your phone number to your account and text your check-ins to 50500.

Besides checking in and updating your location, there are few other parts of Foursquare.

The Mayor

If you check into a certain location more than anyone else, Foursquare will crown you “The Mayor.” Many bars and cafes in bigger cities (such as New York) sometimes give the current mayor some perks, such as a discount or a free coffee. But if someone comes along behind you who has checked in more often, they can “steal” the title.

Badges

According to Foursquare, Badges are little rewards you earn for doing checking-into interesting places. For example, staying out late on a school night or frequenting too many karaoke bars. Foursquare says many badges are tagged to venues. For example, people could tag a bar “karaoke,” “pool table,” etc…

Points

Foursquare awards points for pretty much every check-in. You’ll get points the first time you check in at a certain location and when you add a new venue. Basically, the more you experience, the more points you’ll get. Foursquare says it is still figuring out what to do with the points earned. In December, though, the company donated $0.04 to charity for every point earned.

Since Foursquare updates are tied to locations, when you click on someone’s update, you’re brought to a page that looks like this:

Granted, Foursquare is more popular in bigger cities such as New York, Washington DC and San Francisco, but let’s think about the implications for associations.

What if your organization could use Foursquare for its annual meeting or conference? I know someone else in the association world has blogged about this before, and I’ve searched through archives and found nothing. So if this was your idea, please let me know!

However, thinking back to ASAE and The Center’s Annual Meeting, I think a Foursquare-type application would have been immensely useful. (The fact that the meeting was in Toronto made using our cell phones a little more difficult, but I digress.) The convention center was so huge and after-hours, people were spread out at tons of different restaurants and bars. Using location-based technology might have allowed us to meet even more people!

Foursquare can be integrated with both Facebook and Twitter, so your status updates there can also be read as check-ins. Additionally, check out this blog post (from yesterday!): Five Simple (and Fun) Ways to Promote Nonprofits on Foursquare.

Edit: This post from Mashable just showed up in my Google Reader: How Nonprofits and Activists Can Leverage Location-Based Services. Great stuff here!