December 2010
31 posts
Go out with Gowalla on New Year's Eve
You’ve got your top hat, your sequined dress, your air horn, and you are ready to ring in the New Year. We’ve got a swell new Pin when you go out on NYE with Gowalla: simply mention New Year’s Eve or NYE in your check-in message, and boom, this Pin will drop for you!
Have a great and safe time out there tonight, and we’ll see you on the other side—we’ve got *loads*...
Grande Finale: The Gowalla Bike
We have one last fabulous gift under the Gifts on the Go tree today, the custom Gowalla bike. Harkening back to that favorite gift you so eagerly received years ago as a child on Christmas, this gift is one which truly will help you get out and go. All of us at Team Gowalla recently received one ourselves, and today’s lucky winner also gets one. Only one way to win today: tell us what is...
Day 24: 250 Pairs of TOMS Shoes
It’s Christmas Eve. There’s a chill in the air, a special bit of magic, and children worldwide are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Santa. Cookies and milk are being prepared, excited kiddos are straining little ears to hear the slightest clippety-clop of reindeer hooves on the roof, and Moms and Dads are trying to figure out how to put together that bike (and probably regretting...
Day 23: 4 Mac Book Airs
Today’s Gift on the Go really doesn’t need an introduction, a recitation of its amazing features, or an enthusiastic declaration of its awesomeness. The Mac Book Air is the latest iteration from Apple on portable, powerful computing for those on the go. This is an excellent laptop for those who need a real computer but also need something light-weight and with small footprint. From...
Day 22: 4 Flagship Jones Snowboards
As our co-founder and CEO’s TripIt bio so eloquently says, “I love me some champagne powder to ride on.” Today’s gift was Josh’s personal addition to the Gift on the Go calendar, specially picked for those outdoor enthusiasts who share the same passion in pursuing the perfect ride down the mountain.
Jones Snowboard’s Flagship is a battle proven weapon for...
1,000,000 Photos & Counting...
We interrupt this segment to make a brief announcement: we quietly just crossed 1M photos uploaded to Gowalla. Yay, y’all! This favorite feature has been rocking since March and you all have taken some amazing shots in extraordinary places along the way. Thanks for making this an awesome part of Gowalla!
The 1 millionth, you ask? Anna B. snapped it at Chinese Arts Centre in Manchester,...
Day 21: 10 Pairs of Studio Beats by Dr. Dre
You call yourself a music fan, right? Sure you do. You listen to the latest bands, you’ve got an Rdio account, heck, you’ve even used a proxy to try out Spotify. HypeM gets their most popular suggestions from you, no doubt.
But what’s this? You’re still using those earbuds that came with your iPod?! Please, whatever you do, don’t tell Brian Eno, and most certainly...
Day 20: 5 Pairs of Southwest Airlines Vouchers
One of the biggest parts of getting out and going is the going part. You don’t have to travel to the Great Wall of China to have a real adventure, though: sometimes excitement is right in your home town, experiencing that hidden park you’ve never been to, or visiting a world class museum you’ve somehow overlooked.
On the other hand, sometimes you just wanna get away....
Day 19: 10 Amazon Kindles
Some hailed the iPad as the death of Amazon’s Kindle Wireless Reading Device, but the Kindle kept doing what it does best: making reading books on the go super easy, and fun to boot. And while we do love our iPads, we have several Kindles kicking around the office and our homes, and think it is the perfect companion for people on the go, be it on a 15-hour plane ride on that special once in...
Day 18: 10 Four Seasons Spa Vouchers
Let’s face it: we all love the holidays, but they have that special quality of being highly enjoyable and also completely exhausting. Kind of that whole ‘I need a vacation from this vacation!’ thing, right? Lucky, you: for today’s Gift on the Go we enlisted some help from our friends at Four Seasons to hide 10 $50 spa vouchers around Gowalladom, and if you find one, you can...
Day 17: 10 REI Stratocruiser Carry-On Bags
One thing adventures and world travelers can never have enough of is quality bags! It would be tough to find a more versatile, quality carry-on sized bag than the REI Stratocruiser. Great pockets, tons of storage, and a nice top pocket for easy access in and out access of important things likes passports and iPods when you’re on the go. It can’t protect you from a thorough probe at airport...
Day 16: 50 Gowalla Hoodies
Baby, it’s cold outside. Well, maybe not always, and not everywhere (heck, it’s in the 70’s today in Austin), but winter is upon us, and most of you lucky ducks out there might actually even see some snow. You’re going to want to bundle up, and we’ve got you covered: we’re giving away 50 Gowalla hoodies today to keep you nice and toasty and stylin’. Going out with...
Day 15: 3 (+1!) GoPro HD Helmet HERO Cams
We’ve just two words for you regarding today’s Gift on the Go:
…you know what, strike that, we’re just going to play this video for you instead:
Yeah, that bad boy is today’s amazing gift for people on the go: the GoPro HD Helmet HERO Camera, the world’s highest performance wearable 1080p HD video and still photo camera. This gift is perfect for outdoor...
Seesmic, Squarespace + Flavors.me Gowalla...
Publishing platforms Squarespace and Flavors.me, along with popular Twitter client Seesmic have all recently integrated Gowalla into their services, and we wanted to give them a shout-out and show you all the pretty stuff:
Seesmic
Seesmic’s integration is full of the fun information about friends and places that we all love about Gowalla, including:
A feed of your network’s...
Day 14: 10 Nixon Rubber Re-Run Watches
Day 14 finds us gazing longingly at beautiful timepieces. Rolex Schmolex, we’re talking the ridiculously gorgeous and wonderfully functional Rubber Re-Run watch from Nixon. Sure you could brag about it’s “custom injected silicone with patented locking looper and polycarbonate buckle” or how it’s good to a depth of 100M, but we think the Gowalla orange and complete radness of this watch is...
Gowalla charity: water Update
We’re just about to roll out Day 14 of the Gifts on the Go campaign, but first we wanted to update you on our charity: water campaign from Day 13. Our goal was a bare minimum of $10,000, which will provide clean, safe water solutions for two villages, approximately 500 people. Donations are still coming in, and we are still processing the donations Gowalla is making on behalf of users. We...
Day 13: Give with Gowalla - charity: water
Today we reach the halfway point in the Gifts on the Go holiday fun, and boy howdy, what fun it’s already been: we’ve given away about 1,000 gifts so far, including Gowalla swag, music downloads, and amazing products from great companies like Levi’s, Incase, the NBA, Nike LIVESTRONG, Threadless and Field Notes. We hope you’re enjoying this as much as we are, and that you’re up for something even...
Day 12: 10 Messenger Courier Backpacks by Incase
Our friends at Incase once again show up in the Gifts on the Go campaign, this time with an amazing bag. We asked them for a completely rad and durable bag, something perfect for people on the go, world travelers, and everything in between. The answer? The Messenger Backpack from the Incase Courier Collection. This totally sick grey and orange backpack has it all: reinforced nylon construction,...
Day 11: 100 Nike LIVESTRONG K.O. II Hoodies
Since 2004, Nike has helped LIVESTRONG raise more than $80,000,000 to fight cancer, supporting the 28 million people living with cancer today. It’s been our pleasure to partner with LIVESTRONG on a number of events and campaigns. Today’s gift is in support of LIVESTRONG, from Nike’s line of LIVESTRONG products. This hoodie features a super-soft fleece interior and sleek athletic...
Day 10: 100 Gowalla T-shirts
Who says you have too many t-shirts? You don’t have one of these bad boys, do you? The original Gowalla tee, made from 100% cotton by those crazy kids at American Apparel, in dude and lady sizes. (You didn’t think we were going to send you a Big Beefy one-size-fits-all, did ya?) Colors may vary, and the fit definitely varies <cough>SUPERSNUG</cough>, but the level of cool...
Day 9: 250 Pair of Levi's Jeans
The last time we rocked some Gowalla fun with Levi’s it was for the 2010 Rolling Roadshow, and a good time was had by all. Levi’s is pulling out the stops once again, picking up Day 9 of Gifts on the Go, with a mind-blowing 250 pair of jeans! Specifically, you’ll be looking to find men’s 501 or 511 jeans, and women’s 501 Boyfriend or Jean Legging: durable, tough, a...
Sundance Film Festival Goes Out with Gowalla
Sundance Film Festival, the country’s premier film festival, has teamed up with Gowalla for some serious fun!
Sundance is integrating Gowalla into the full Sundance experience to help attendees easily find friends and the “it” spots, share festival experiences, discover new places and uncover prizes along the way. This is the first complete immersive experience any film...
Day 8: Field Notes Colors Subscription
I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now.
An essential tool for any explorer, adventurer, traveler or Target-shopping-list shopper is a basic yet durable memobook, to document experiences, record interesting memories, sketch out beautiful surrounds, or jot down the rest of the needed items for the turkey dinner. Field Notes Brand memobooks...
Day 7: 100 $25 NBA Gift Cards
Today’s Gift on the Go comes from the NBA: 100 $25 NBAStore.com Online Gift Cards! We are big basketball fans here at Gowalla. Alas, we are sadly ineligible to win. But YOU can score one of these bad boys (see what we did there? “Score”?) by checking in at places where you might watch or play basketball.
Today’s code phrase to win:
He shoots, HE SCORES!!! Today’s...
Day 6: 50 $20 Threadless Codes
Threadless needs no introduction. Their user-driven t-shirt design website is one of the most thriving communities online, and they now have a couple of great retail locations to boot. We’ve had some fun with the team already this year, partnering together for their Threadless Everywhere Tour, and partying together at Comic-Con 2010 in San Diego. So today’s gift is another great fit, and...
Day 5: 75 Incase Ping Pong Covers
Day 5’s gift comes from one of our original partners, a company whose products we’ve used for many years, the great team at Incase, makers of some of the world’s best phone covers, laptop cases, and bags. Incase is all about simplicity and elegance, and believes in better experience through good design, something that really resonates here at Gowalla HQ. We’re giving away...
Day 4: 50 Flickr Pro Accounts
Today’s Gowalla Gift on the Go is something any traveler or shutterbug really needs: a Flickr Pro account! We bet you’ve all been using Flickr for a long time, and we ourselves are big fans. The Pro upgrade is invaluable, giving you:
Unlimited uploads and storage
Unlimited sets and collections
Stats on your account
HD playback for high-definition video uploads
It’s also a...
Day 3: 100 Groovy Gowalla Scarves
On the third day of Gowalla Gifts to Go, your true friends at Gowalla gave to you: 100 completely stylin’ Gowalla scarves! We decided to make a fun new piece of Gowalla swag for the wintery season, and we think you’re just going to love these scarves. Now…if we only had more than 4 days a year we could wear them here in Austin.
And remember, you can win not only by checking in...
Go Time for Gowalla 3!
Over the last 6 months we’ve been working on something very, very special.
Without further ado, I’m stoked to announce Gowalla 3, the most significant update to the service we’ve ever released—both in terms of design and utility. But before I dive into the specifics of new features, let’s dive straight into the feature that is sure to be the most talked about.
Gowalla is...
Day 2: 100 Amazing Music Downloads (15 songs...
Today’s exciting Gift on the Go is something you always want when you’re on the go: your favorite music! We’ve teamed up with our friends at Hip Digital to hide 100 codes, each of which can be used to download 15 songs from their massive music catalogue of over 3 million songs, including all your favorite artists and all the latest albums. Happy hunting!
In case you’re...
Gifts On the Go!
After the success of last year’s Golden Gifts promotion during the holidays, we knew we were going to have to do something rather special for 2010. Put quite simply, we have a big surprise in store for you this year.
Gowalla’s First Annual Gifts On the Go is effectively a holiday gift guide featuring a few of our favorite things all wrapped up and masquerading as an Advent Calendar....