Over the past two weeks, I feel like my life has been one big blur where I move from car -> airport -> airport -> home -> airport -> houston?

It is during times like these where it is best to collect points: Airline Points, Hotel Points, Rental Car Points, and Foursquare points.

What is it? Foursquare is part game, part social networking, part GPS. Combine them all together and you have an application (apps for iPhone, Android & Blackberry) that allows you to “check in” at a certain location, give short (tweet-like) tips, all while earning points and location-based badges.

Badges.. I don’t want no stinkin’ badges..
Oh, but you do! Especially when organizations, non-profits, and local businesses get involved and come up with fun ideas like the City of San Francisco, who partnered with foursquare to launch the “BART Badge.”

According to Bart.gov, the BART-themed badge that can be unlocked by regular riders of BART, which provides train service in the San Francisco Bay Area. BART will award $25 promotional tickets each month for the next three months to riders chosen at random from all the riders who have logged Foursquare check-ins at BART stations, starting in November.

So, you’re probably wondering why I am new to this whole foursquare business. Well…

(a) my previous phone was not “App-Friendly”

(b) I didn’t “get” it

(c) Until recently, it was only open to certain cities (Foursquare is completely open now)

In case you’re not convinced, foursquare and geosocial networking sites has been mentioned as a “top trend” for what’s going to be big in 2010.

Every once in a while, I come across a video on YouTube (or a slideshow on SlideShare) that really captures the excitement, data, and the importance of what social media is all about.

While navigating to CastTV to check out the newest episode of Vampire Diaries (I know…), I saw a link to this video, which was being viraled on YouTube.

In presentations and trainings on social media, I’m always asked if it’s “a fad” and “what’s the point?”

In order to answer this question, I have to take a step back and put myself in the other person’s shoes. Do they have experience in social media? What is their daily life like? Does social media impact their job? Do they have a smartphone? a need to keep in touch with people using these networks?

Change is scary. Technology can be scary too (and overwhelming). So, the first step is to focus on the concepts instead of the technology and the platforms. Keep things basic. Give numbers and metrics. Show a video like the one above or one of the “In Plain English Videos” (I like those too).

And stay calm. Answer questions with facts and let people form their own opinions on social media. You’ll win them over.

(and the fatboy slim song in the video above should help with that too)

I get this question a lot. At work, at home, at the bar… wherever.What the F**K is social media, anyway?

Watch my friends, and learn.

Couldn’t agree more. Love this presentation!!!