If you’re excited about the mysterious array of special Foursquare badges promised for this year’s SXSW, then you’ll probably want to skip this post. Otherwise, read on.
A site dedicated to Foursquare badges appropriately called Foursquarebadg.es has taken advantage of a technical glitch this morning to identify 15 special badges that will be available during this year’s SXSW conference, which starts this week in Austin, Texas.
The criteria needed to unlock some of the badges are still unknown, but some of them are pretty easy to guess based on their titles. Hangover is apparently earned by checking in late at night and then early the following morning. RVIP Lounge (aka Karaoke RV) is earned by taking a ride on the infamous vehicle, which cruises around downtown Austin as its occupants belt out bad renditions of Journey. There’s Panel Nerd, which the site guesses is earned by heading to the Convention Center before noon for three days during the conference. And Early Adopter goes to the not-so-elite crowd that was checking in at SXSW using Foursquare last year, when the service was just getting started. For the full list, check out the Foursquarebadg.es page.
Personally, I stopped caring much about my Foursquare badges around 9 months ago (hence my previous post on why I think this model will grow old, and why Foursquare needs to innovate beyond just making new badges). That said, I’m sure the rampant use of Foursquare at SXSW by fellow techies will rekindle my competitive attitude for at least a few days. And for no apparent reason, I really want to get the still-mysterious special Swimmies badge.