Mayor of Daley Plaza….Wrigley Field…Millenium Park…

Mayor of Daley Plaza.Wrigley FieldMillenium Park

As Foursquare gains traction in the realm of social media, experts and amateurs alike continue to speculate about the future of the location-based social networking app. Foursquare has already defeated "Check-in" rival Gowalla, but this is only a minor victory when considering the bigger picture. Can Foursquare continue to evolve and increase its popularity or is this simply a social networking fad yet to run its course? Here at JZMcBride and Associates we have our differing opinions regarding Foursquare, but I will save those for another day.

Instead, I wanted to use my space on The Spin Within to highlight the excellent use of Foursquare by Explore Chicago, the city of Chicago's tourism office. They have leveraged Foursquare's popularity to encourage people to experience the city's vast array of culture and history. Checking-in at various locations has allowed users to unlock hidden trivia tidbits at each stop. For example, when checking-in at The Art Institute of Chicago's Gallery 240, Foursquare users will be informed that they are in the same place where Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off famously stared at Georges Seurat's, "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte."

Explore Chicago also recently held a contest asking which scene fans of Ferris Bueller's Day Off would like to recreate, offering to fly the winner out to the city in a package that includes a hotel stay and museum passes. The contest generated significant awareness for their Foursquare efforts and drew a flurry of entries on Foursquare's Facebook page.

They have also set it up so that visitors can re-enact their favorite Chicago-based movies, taking a tour of the city that features landmarks from these films. Users can choose from several movies, including Blues Brothers, High Fidelity, The Dark Night and of course, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

By highlighting Chicagoland's unique attractions and offering compelling contests through social media, Explore Chicago is bound to drive positive word-of-mouth about the city. Ultimately, their efforts should encourage people to get out and experience Chicago and all it has to offer. A day spent exploring the city as a Foursquare-inspired Ferris Bueller sounds like a cool adventure and should save many from regrets of never seeing enough on vacation. Those who have been to Chicago know of the wide variety of sights and sounds to see in the Windy City. As Ferris himself says in response to Cameron's indifference, "What do you mean nothing good? We've seen everything good. We've seen the whole city! We went to a museum, we saw priceless works of art! We ate pancreas!" It's Explore Chicago's knack for Foursquare that will help inspire people to experience the pancreas.

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