Thanks for celebrating #4sqDay with us around the world!
Two days after 4sqDay, we’re still smiling over all of the tweets, photos, and specials from around the world. 4sqDay is all about celebrating our communities, and the ways people use Foursquare to find their new favorite coffee shop, that tucked-away clothing store downtown, or an amazing restaurant in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Now in its fourth year, it continues to be a truly global movement, and we couldn’t be more inspired by you, our amazing community.
From Berlin, Bologna, and Moscow to Paris, Atlanta, and Miami, you came together to check in at local cafés, plazas, bars, and restaurants, and unlock great specials along the way. Celebrations spanned across college campuses, throughout dozens of cities, and even went all the way to outer space (oh hey there, Mars Curiosity!).
Istanbul, Turkey
Syracuse, New York
Bologna, Italy
Miami, Florida
Cookies from Moscow
Paris, France
Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Jakarta, Indonesia
Team Foursquare NYC
Team Foursquare SF
We were thrilled to see amazing 4sqDay specials offered at places around the world, and to see so many people taking the opportunity to check in at local businesses – from their neighborhood favorites to new places they found using Explore.
Some fun stats:
- Tens of thousands of businesses created specials in the weeks leading up to April 16
- Thousands of businesses around the world offered 4sqDay-specific specials
- The cities with the most 4sqDay-specific specials were Jacksonville, Florida, New York City, and Los Angeles, California!
So thanks to everyone who participated in 4sqDay this year, whether you offered a special at your business, unlocked one in your neighborhood, or organized an amazing meetup in your city. As always, a big thank you to the 4sqDay founders and team – the day wouldn’t be the same without you! And if you haven’t already, make sure to check out all of the places you’ve explored this year at foursquare.com/visualizeme. Until next year!
What NYC spots can you not live without? Make an #NYCmustsee4sq list, and you could win!
Foursquare is all about helping you and your friends find the best places to go, wherever you are. Now it’s your turn to tell us — what are your must-see spots in NYC? Make a Foursquare list that includes the top five spots you’d recommend to everyone you know, locals and visitors alike, and you could win behind-the-scenes tours of Lincoln Center and Foursquare HQ.
Here’s how to enter:
- Log in at foursquare.com and click the ‘Lists’ tab. Create a new list with #NYCmustsee4sq in the title, and add five spots to it.
- The places should span at least three boroughs, but can be anywhere that you like to go (that’s open to the public). Maybe it’s an iconic spot like a park or a museum, or perhaps it’s a hidden gem that has yet to be discovered. Or like, that place where they go in “When Harry Met Sally”… or “You’ve Got Mail” … or “Kate & Leopold.” #welovemeg
- Dress your list up with tips and photos so that it really stands out.
Click here for the full list of details, and submit your list between April 17 and April 26. The winner will be announced on May 2.
Happy list-making!
Celebrate local businesses this #4sqDay (today!) — find specials with Explore
In celebration of 4sqDay, thousands of businesses are running specials — and there’s still time to unlock them! To find a special near you, search the app for ‘specials’ or visit foursquare.com/explore, then check in to show support for your local business community.
Here are some of our favorites:
- AJ Bombers (Milwaukee, WI): “Whaaaa Hoooos, look at you go, checkin’ in on 4sqDay. Please allow us to reward your good decision making. Show this message to your server and your burger is just 4 Bucks. As in 4Square, get it?”
- H&M (all locations): “It’s Foursquare Day! To celebrate, we’re offering you a special 25% off an item of your choice. Happy shopping!”
- DAVIDsTEA (108 locations in US & Canada): “Happy 4sqDay! To celebrate, have a FREE tea of the day on us.”
- Grandaisy Bakery (New York, NY): “#4sqDay Special: Our signature loaf, the pane pugliese is 3.80 today: a dollar off making it (4+(16×2))/10 — had to show the math to keep it in the spirit of 4/16!!”
- The Children’s Museum of Atlanta (Atlanta, GA): “Happy 4sqDay! You just received $3 off General Admission.”
- New Beginning Salon Spa (Hillsboro, Oregon): “Treat yourself to a relaxing 60 or 90 minute Elemental Nature Massage & receive 25% off! Cannot be combined with any other offer. Valid Tue-Fri 4/16/13-4/30/13 #NBSalonSpa #4sqDay #Aveda”
- Musée Jeanne d’Albret (Orthez, France): “A l’occasion du 4sqDay, le 16 avril 2013, une entrée gratuite pour tout check-in au Musée Jeanne d’Albret!”
- Trou aux biches (Resort & Spa in Mauritius): “Happy 4sqDay! Get a FREE cocktail to celebrate the occasion! Check-in at any Beachcomber resort in Mauritius and enjoy a free drink at the bar!”
Here’s to supporting local businesses, and happy 4sqDay!
Happy #4sqDay, and a huge thank you to our incredible community!
At Foursquare, we’ve always known how very special our community is. Today, April 16 (4/4^2), marks the fourth annual 4sqDay. Each year, we take this opportunity to thank our amazing community for all that they do.
From checking in, to uploading tips, photos, and addresses, to telling friends about the app, the 33 million people on Foursquare have brought us to where we are today.
Four years and over 3.5 billion check-ins since we launched, our community-created map of the world is more complete than ever. As a result, the brand new version of Foursquare is even better at finding the best places nearby, and helping you record your adventures — we couldn’t have done it without you.
Download the update on iPhone or Android to see what we’ve been up to, and — just in time for 4sqDay — take a peek back into your own history at foursquare.com/visualizeme. It’s just our small way of saying, “Thanks! We think you’re awesome.”
While you’re at it, make the most of this 4sqDay by checking in at a local business or two and supporting your local community. Search Explore to find a new place to try, or see which businesses are offering amazing specials.
Happy 4sqDay!
Heading to Coachella? Find the best things to do before, during, and after the festival with the new Foursquare
This weekend and next, thousands of people are heading to Indio, California for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and we’re partnering up with Coachella for the second year in a row to help you make the most of it. Whether you’re making pit stops in LA or Palm Springs, or hanging out poolside in Indio, you can use Foursquare to find the best places to eat, hang, and enjoy the sun.
If you’re hanging out in sunny California before or after the festival, open up Foursquare to find the best food, drinks, and entertainment nearby. Search for anything from “quinoa” or “vegetarian” to “nightlife” or “brunch” to get personalized recommendations based on where friends and locals like to go, or search “trending” to see what’s popular right now.
Once you get to Coachella, be sure to check in at the different stages and areas so your friends can find you, and check out photos and tips from others to make sure you don’t miss out on the good stuff.
Enjoy! And if you haven’t already, check out the new Foursquare now!
See amazing specials nearby as soon as you open the app #new4sq
With the latest version of Foursquare, we’re crunching our billions of check-ins to show you the most interesting recommendations around you the second you open the app. For example, if you’re just getting out of a movie, we might show you places people tend to go to dinner next. And occasionally, if there’s a really great money-saving special that we think will be perfect for you, we’ll make sure you know about it. Just open up Foursquare and it’ll be there.
Want to find more places to save money? Just tap Explore at the top of the app to browse all the specials in your area, from free appetizers to great discounts. Read more about the new Foursquare here and download the update now.
Continuing Foursquare’s Growth
Hey guys, Dennis here.
If you’ve ever met me, you know I get really excited about how all the technology we carry around will change the way we explore the world. When Naveen and I started Foursquare four years ago, it was to help build that future.
Today, I’m really happy to announce we’ve secured additional funding to help us realize that vision. We’ve raised $41 million – a combination of new investment from the Silver Lake Waterman growth debt fund, as well as convertible debt from all of our existing investors (Andreessen Horowitz, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Spark Capital, and Union Square Ventures).
The stuff we’re building takes a lot of work. Look at yesterday’s big update, for example. The most amazing thing about it is that it tells you interesting things around you, anywhere in the world, the second you open the app. That’s not easy. We have to crunch your 3,500,000,000 check-ins, layer your social data over it, semantically analyze our tens of millions of tips, and take a look at real-time activity around you. We do all that in under a second, all to recommend two or three places that are perfect for you.
To us, this is like when Google came and revolutionized web search. Suddenly, you could find things on the internet. The real world is the same way. Four years ago when we started Foursquare, it was really hard to discover a new retro arcade that opened up on a side street, or to make sure you weren’t overlooking the best dish on the menu, or to know a good friend was just around the corner. Sometimes, we think of Foursquare as having the ability to give people superpowers for exploring the real world.
But we’ve got a ton left to do. We’re building tools for local businesses to connect with their customers. We’re making search better, every single day. We’re building that location layer for the internet – the platform that all other companies use to power location in their apps. This takes time and a lot of work, and great investors.
So, today, thanks to our investors, the 1,300,000 businesses using Foursquare, and especially the 33,000,000 of you who have given us a try. Stay tuned… we’ve got a lot more coming in 2013 and beyond!
Chronometers! Fancy satellites! We’re nerding out on the new #TimeNav exhibit at the Smithsonian
Explorers! This Friday, the Smithsonian is launching a new Time & Navigation exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum, which looks at the history and future of navigating the earth, air, space, and sea. Given our passion for exploring and discovering amazing places (and planets!), we think it’s pretty neat.
We crunched our data to learn more about the people who travel to the National Air and Space Museum throughout the year:
- The most check-ins to the museum are from people in the neighborhood – Washington, DC.
- The farthest people travelled to check in was 4,721 miles, from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- After visiting the National Air and Space museum, people tend to check in at the National Museum of Natural History, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Museum of American History, the National Mall, the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the World War II Memorial, and The White House.
Learn more about the exhibit here, and check out tons of great photos and tips about the museum on Foursquare.
For visitors checking in to the museum, the Smithsonian is offering the chance to take a special “Navigators Tour” of the National Air and Space Museum during May – just swing by the visitors desk after you check in to sign up!
The new Foursquare, 4 years and 3.5 billion check-ins in the making
When we launched Foursquare in 2009, we wanted to help you navigate the world by showing you where your friends were hanging out. Now, after four years and over 3.5 billion check-ins, we’ve discovered new ways to figure out the most interesting things going on around you. With the new Foursquare 6.0, we’re crunching all our data to show the best of what’s nearby, anywhere in the world, the second you open up the app.
Foursquare 2009
Foursquare today
- Search is now front-and-center at the top, so you can quickly find what you’re craving, or see things like trending places (in real-time) and top picks.
- Below that, you’ll see a map with nearby friends and interesting places highlighted. Tap on the map to expand it so you can see great places around you.
- After that, we show you the best things at that moment – our top personalized recommendations, along with your friends’ check-ins around the world.
- And, at the bottom, we have the new check-in button, for when you want to share and remember the places you go to.
See the most interesting things around you, as soon as you open the app.
When you open up the new Foursquare, we immediately show your nearby friends and the most interesting places around you. That’s because we’re constantly crunching our data to customize the recommendations you see, based on the time of day, how familiar you are with the neighborhood, and what’s popular at the moment.
- Just finishing a movie? We’ll show you a dinner spot people tend to go to after, or a beer garden that’s trending nearby.
- Lunchtime? We’ll show you our top meal recommendations nearby, or places on your to-do list.
- In a familiar city? We make sure you know about a new cafe that just opened up in the neighborhood.
- In Paris for the first time? We’ll show you the top sights and attractions, approved by local check-ins.
Look out for these and other personalized recommendations in this update, with more coming soon. They’re insights that only Foursquare can deliver, because of the billions of check-ins that show us the pulse of every city in the world.
Foursquare to the rescue. Quickly find the best cafe, restaurant, or BLT nearby with Explore.
You can now search Explore, our personalized local search, when you open up Foursquare (it’s at the top). We’ve also made a ton of behind-the-scenes improvements to make the search experience even better. As always, no need to scroll through long reviews – the best recommendations are at your fingertips.
Hungry for dinner after a day of sightseeing? Browse “food” or search for “Italian” to find a great dinner spot. Brunch too crowded? Save the day and search for “eggs benedict” or “bloody mary” to find another place in a snap. With today’s update, we show suggested types of places, dishes, specific spots, and recent searches as you start typing, so you can find what you want quicker.
Our goal with the new Foursquare is to reveal more of the world around you the moment you open up the app, and help you find exactly what you’re craving. Download the latest iPhone and Android updates now and try it out.
Run a local business? Offer a Foursquare Special this April and get featured on our site on #4sqDay!
4sqDay is an annual celebration, started and powered by Foursquare fans around the world. Every year on April 16, people celebrate 4sqDay and local businesses in their community by getting together, throwing parties, and checking in to their favorite local restaurants, bars, and stores. If you run a business, offering a special for 4sqDay is a great way to take part of the celebration and get new customers checking in and spreading the word about you.
This year on 4sqDay (April 16), we’ll be automatically featuring any business that offers a Foursquare Special in the search results at foursquare.com. It’s a great way to get even more eyes on your business! Here are some examples of some great 4sqDay specials:
- A special Foursquare Burger for $4
- Square bagels!
- Pizza, wings, and pitchers for $4.16
- A free pint for checking in
- A free tote bag for checking in
Check out more examples here, here, and here. Once you’ve set one up, you can even print out this sign and put it up in the window. We’re excited to see what you come up with!
Need help? Learn more about Foursquare’s free business tools.