Foursquare venue managers can now add their own events
Foursquare just launched a very important feature for venue managers: the ability to add their own custom events.
Managers will be able to add any sort of event to their venue pages — book signings, trivia nights, keg tappings, etc. — and users will be able to check in to them through the apps. For venue managers, this brings greater exposure for their events and for users it adds important information when they’re deciding where to visit.
When users check in to events, the event name will be exposed to their Foursquare friends and anyone who sees their posts on Facebook or Twitter. They appear both on the desktop venue page and in the apps. They’ll also appear in Foursquare’s new trending venue notifications in the activity feed, answering the question of why so many people are there.
Events could eventually be used to recommend relevant events to users in the Explore feed. Someone who checks in at a lot of book signings might see those recommended, while someone who visits a lot of breweries might see a recommendation for a tasting event at a local bar. These could even potentially be monetized down the road.
Foursquare initially added event support in August 2011 with concert, movie and sports event listings from a select group of partners. Events outside those categories could not be added.
Business managers can add events by visiting the individual location information screen of the manager tools page. The tool is simple to use, requiring simply an event name, date and time. Scheduled events are listed below the calendar.
This is a big move for Foursquare that opens up a lot of possibilities for businesses, users and the future of Explore. It will be interesting to see how Foursquare utilizes and expands them over the coming months.
What do you think of event support? Is this something every business should take advantage of?
