There are no shortage of location-based services launching this week at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Many of them allow you to “check-in” places to let others know you are there. So how do you differentiate between then and decide which to use? Well, here’s one good way.
CauseWorld, is a free iPhone and Android app that lets you check-in places, but it has an added real-world bonus: big brands give money to charity when you do so. And this week at SXSW, CauseWorld is teaming up with TechCrunch to offer double point (which they aptly call “karma”) when you check in to one of over 50 venues around Austin (I’ll paste the full list at the bottom of the post), including the Austin Convention Center (where SXSW is held).
We’ve covered CauseWorld, which is the first offering from the soon-to-launch ShopKick, a few times now. It’s a great product because it takes an area that is red hot right now, location-based check-ins, and converts it into good deeds in the real world. For example, if you check-in at a store, you may earn 20 karma points. As you continue to accumulate these, you can turn them into real dollar donations for causes such as water in Sudan or trees in the Amazon. Brands such as Kraft Foods and Citi are currently giving the donations based on what users choose to trade their karma points for. The best part is, you don’t even have to buy anything — you simply check-in at various venues and earn the points. And again, this week at SXSW, checking-in with the app at a bunch of venues will earn you double karma points.
And like any good service with a gaming element, there’s a leaderboard to show who has donated the most karma points. And yes, checking-in can earn you badges, such as the TechCrunch one show in this post.
So if you’re going to be in Austin for SXSW this week. Or really, if you just want to do some good with your mobile device, check out CauseWorld. Find it in the App Store here, or in the Android Market (on your Android device).
Below find the 54 participating double karma Austin check-in spots:
- Aces Lounge
- Alamo Drafthouse
- Amsterdam Café
- Austin Convention Center
- Austin Music Hall
- B D Riley’s Irish Pub
- Barbarella
- Beso Cantina
- Bob Bullock Theater
- Buffalo Billiard
- Café Mozart
- Carver Museum and Cultural Center
- Cedar Door
- Chupacabra Cantina
- Chuy’s
- Clay Pit
- Club Deville
- Cuba Libre
- Dirty Dog Bar
- Elysium
- Emo’s
- Emo’s Annex
- Flamingo Cantina
- Hyde Park Bar & Grill
- Iron Cactus
- Karma Lounge
- Kenichi
- Kerbey Lane
- La Zona Rosa
- Lambert’s Downtown
- Lustre Pearl, Lustre Pearl Bar
- Malaga, Malaga Tapas & Bar
- Malverde
- Mellow Johnny’s
- Molotov Lounge
- Moonshine Bar and Grill
- Opal Divines
- Palm Door
- Red 7
- Red Eye Fly
- Rudy’s Country Store and BBQ
- Rusty Spurs
- Salt Lick BBQ
- Spider House Café
- Stubb’s BBQ
- Stubbs
- The Belmont
- The Best Wurst I
- The Highball
- The Scoot Inn
- Uncorked Tasting Room
- Velveeta Room
- Victory Grill
- Vortex Repertory
Great App!
A very laggy app, and it seems I can check in a location even though I am like 3 miles away.
Interesting app that combines what we could be doing everyday, have fun and at the same time doing charity.
yea ok
http://www.confessionhub.com
I am glad to see a great use of a check-in, an app that helps charity is a great idea.
My web startup – http://www.YourLocalBlog.com – gives 10% of profits generated by our website to charity – we call it “Blog it Forward”.
(YourLocalBlog is a new hyperlocal map-based blogging network)
10% is a good start for your “value added giving”, but if this is the core of your business model don’t you think it should be a higher number? With http://www.mybiggive.com we give 70% of REVENUES to the causes people care about.
Just a thought, if altruism is your business model you need to make it as strong as you can while still operating a ‘non-loss’ business.
This is a pretty much crap application in almost every way but for the charity.
A. You can grab a location and check in at every store over the course of a day even if you go to work on the other side of town, just find a populated area and open the app there, now you can go through that list where ever you are.
B. Thus the data that you get from the app is pretty minimal.
C. Is this company a Non Profit? I don’t see much about this, which makes me think they’re getting rich off people’s work (fictious work or real work?)
However I do like the fact I choose who gets my money. I wouldn’t donate to Haiti, I’m glad I’m not forced to, I’m glad I can give my money to education instead. too bad it’s not a lot of money but hey, what do I expect for free?
Overall it’s a weak app that’s trying to do something good, so I guess we can applaud that, but overall it’s just a “feel good” app, it’s not changing the world, and it’s making the creators richer.
interesting article………….
It’s a great product because it takes an area that is red hot right now, location-based check-ins, and converts it into good deeds in the real world.