Think of it as Foursquare with beer, Untappd is a mobile-based social network that allows you to check-in brews you are drinking and see what your friends are drinking. Untappd has been around since October 2010 and it only took seven months for founders Tim Mather and Greg Avola to reach a milestone as they are about to hit their one millionth beer check-in. Co-Founder Greg Avola tells us about the creation of Untappd.

The Beginning

Greg and Tim met back in April 2010 — on the internet! No, they didn’t find each other on Craigslist, they became friends via Twitter. Tim is based out of Los Angeles and at the time, Greg was in Boston. He posted a tweet looking for a web designer to help with a project. Tim responded and they’ve been working together ever since. Later on they formed a freelance company called Something More Human. Greg is in charge of development and coding while Tim takes care of the design and layout. “We both have a passion for creating products that make enhance everyday functions in life,” Greg tells us.

The Inspiration

Greg says Tim came up with the idea of Untappd. He recalls, “He first brought it to my attention back in the mid-2010 when there was ‘boom’ for location-based apps with a ‘check-in.’” Greg says the idea behind Untappd was to provide more value than just a “check-in” to a location. They wanted to attach an activity to it. Greg explains, “Drinking beer is an activity that is VERY social but has never been presented in this way in an social network online. We took those two elements and formed a Beer Network that focus on beer and venue ‘discoverability’ with a social touch.”

The Flair

“Everyone loves to earn virtual goods,” Greg points out. Untappd has over 60 badges for users. There are badges for all sorts of activities, including special holidays, certain venues and a collection of beers. Two of our favorites are the Bowl-A-Rama badge (for users who have had more than five beers at a bowling alley) and the Here Comes the Brew badge (for users at a wedding). “We saw the popularity the Foursquare had with badges, so we took a page out of their book added a ‘gamification’ element for our users. Badges provide users an incentive to try new beers and/or places to get out of their comfort zone.”

Greg boasts, “People tend to go nuts when we release new badges. They want accomplish the challenge to share the victory with their friends.” Untappd recently partnered with Dogfish Head to support Ancient Ales series. Users were challenged to find three of the five Ancient Ales to get a custom badge. It has been running for about 20 days, but Greg says, “it has turned out to be very successful.”

We were curious if anyone has ever earned the Legendary Badge or the Take It Easy badge and Greg says there are actually many users who have earned them due to the fact that they love to drink. Greg has personally checked-in 175 unique beers in the last 6 months, adding, “Once you find some good beers you can count on, you always are interested in trying new ones.” Currently, Greg is drinking the Centennial IPA from Founders Brewing Company. We often drink by ourselves alone in the dark, and eventually to sleep, but will there be a badge for that? Greg laughs and tells us, “Perhaps in the future.”

Tim and Greg are going to celebrate their milestone in both Los Angeles and New York City and you can join in on the fun!

Los Angeles Untappd Million Check-In Meet Up

When?
June 3 at 6 PM PST

Where?
Library Alehouse
2911 Main St.
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Facebook Event

New York Untappd Million Check-In Meet Up

When?
June 3 at 8 PM EST

Where?
Rattle N Hum Bar & Restaurant
14 East 33rd St.
New York, NY 10016
Facebook Event

Additional Information
http://untappd.com
http://blog.untappd.com/

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