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Know Before You Go (A Closer Look at the Supportland Card)

Supportland-CardThe AM:PM PR team recently held one of its weekly PR 3.0 meetings at a spot close to our offices called Madison’s Grill. We likely would have picked this location anyway, due to its proximity and ability to accommodate large groups. But throw a free plate of delicious nachos into the mix for just checking in, and we couldn’t get there fast enough.

Clearly, I’m always up for a good deal, and if I had a retail/service business I would certainly be on board to create deals for patrons to reward them for showing up regularly. The problem with apps such as Foursquare is that you never really know, until you’re there or nearby, whether the business offers a deal. Since I’m burned out on the gaming aspect, and really couldn’t care less if I become the Mayor, I’m much less likely to use this app on a regular basis.

In a previous post, I wrote about a Smartphone application called CardStar. It’s a way of condensing all of your rewards cards info into electronic form. My only issue with this is that I often shop for essentials at places other than the major box stores.

The Supportland card has filled this gap. Visit the site and learn all you need to know about it. For me, this one is a no-brainer. It’s the best of location-based applications married with the ease of an app like CardStar – or for those who prefer a tangible card, it’s just one card for a whole slew of businesses.

It couldn’t be much easier; you simply swipe your card at participating establishments and earn points to score sweet deals. What’s more, if you see a Supportland sticker in an establishment’s front window, you always know you’re able to use your card and earn points. You can even visit their website and check out a list of participating businesses broken down by neighborhood.

For those of us who get burned out easily with game-centered apps, there’s an alternative. That is, at least, if you live in lovely Portland, OR. **

** Supportland has plans of rolling out their technology to other locations. If you’re lucky, maybe it will be your city next.

A Smarter House of Cards

CardStarI’ve never been one to bother with loyalty rewards programs even though I’d probably benefit from them considering my propensity for excessive shopping. But with the addition of a Smartphone to my life – and the creation of a free, user-friendly application like CardStar – I find myself toying with the idea of spending my weekend making the rounds of local stores and actually signing up for each of their respective loyalty rewards cards.

Similar to the idea in Jake’s blog entry last week, it seems new technology can have a real impact on our day-to-day behaviors. Something I was never interested in, has now become more attractive in electronic form. I always hated the idea of having a bunch of extra plastic cards taking up valuable space in my wallet.

That’s where I keep pictures of my cat Gus.

The idea of tapping a few buttons on my Smartphone and simultaneously earning shopping points AND Foursquare points, on the other hand, makes me just itch to head to my local Fred Meyer for some additional cat-themed accoutrements I don’t need.

How about you? Have you noticed any other fantastical, amazingly stupendous, ways in which your Smartphone and its apps have changed the way you do things and the things you’re willing to do?