2011 has been a wonderful year for all of us, and what better way to celebrate the holidays but to throw a party? Loopt held its company holiday party at Yoshi’s in San Francisco on Thursday night. With a private area reserved, overlooking the restaurant and jazz stage, what more could we ask for? Apparently, so much more…

Check out some of the pictures from our holiday celebration!

Amongst all the fun, wine, sushi and hors d’oeuvres, this company party had our very first annual awards ceremony, The Loopties! Each member of the Loopt family received their very own certificate (featuring an Elf-Yourself portrait) in honor of their hard work and contribution to the company. Check out the elfed Loopters.

Happy Holidays, from the Loopt fam to your fam.

Like a scene straight out of a James Bond movie, ladies were looking glamorous and gents were looking dapper at our swanky Casino Royale event last Wednesday, November 30th in the fabulous 23rd floor penthouse at 360 Residences in Downtown San Jose! Floor-to-ceiling windows provided guests with an incredible view of the valley lights, and those who braved the wind enjoyed taking in the breathtaking sights out on the expansive deck.

Loopters enjoyed sampling delicious wines from Ridge Vineyards, Jazz Cellars, Nottingham Cellars and Poetic Cellars, and noshed on delectable Greek bites from Myth Taverna and mini cupcakes from Sugar Betty. DJ JoJo spun fun dance beats to get people party rockin’!

It was lights, camera, action inside the master suite, where guests had fun taking photos with Studio Booths. And of course, we brought the casino to the penthouse as Full House Casino Events provided guests with blackjack game play in two of the bedrooms.

To relive the swanky affair, peep the photoshoot by Studio Booths here (code: casinoroyale2011), and fun party shots in our Facebook album.

For the 411 on future Loopt events, be sure to follow me on Twitter!

Let’s get Loopt!

Connie

-SF Bay Area Community Manager

BizSparkSF will be holding an exciting and informative meetup, “Tools, Tools and more Tools” about tips and tools that developers, designers and tech wizards use to be successful at a startup. Heine Frifeldt – the lead of Loopt’s server team – will be representing Loopt and speaking at the meetup. Heine is the backbone behind Loopt’s maintenance and stability of our services, making sure the mobile app is smooth sailing for Loopt users. Come check out Heine at the meetup and learn about Automated Testing (Unit, Integration and Systems).

“OOH, WHEN?!” Monday, November 7, 2011 at 7:00 PM

“AWESOME! WHERE?”

Microsoft Northwest District: SF, CA

835 Market St.

STE 700

San Francisco, CA 94103

7^TH Floor

“NICE! WHAT’S IT ABOUT?”

The Meetup will focus on what tools, utitilities, tips and tricks you can use to save time, develop amazing software and, well… Change the world! Developers and tech experts will individually present 5-minute lightning talks on key technology topics that could help in the success of Startup business.

“PERFECT! WHO WILL BE THERE?”

“I CAN’T WAIT, SIGN ME UP!”

Join in on the fun! Sign up here:  Bizsparksf Startup Meetup

Bay Area Loopters had a frighteningly fun time celebrating Halloween at Mr. Smith’s in SF last Thursday night! Dressed in an array of amazing costumes, guests enjoyed specialty cocktails that paid homage to our co-founders – “Altman-hattan” and “Alok U Up” – and indulged on sinfully decadent chocolates and cookies in the dessert lounge provided by Pastry Smart. Loopters also had a blast taking silly photos with Studio Booths up in the loft. Check out the ghoulish gallery of flicks here (password: spooktacular2011)!

Downstairs, party goers bobbed to beats by DJ Jojo and created mesmerizing light shows with Loopt finger lights. Our fang-tastic photohgrapher, Alex Akamine, captured fun shots of it all.

The night’s costume contest was presented by Giftly, where the first place winner won a $100 Giftly and the second place winner won champagne bottle service from Mr. Smith’s. It all came down to the crazy LMFAO duo, a bloody Dexter, a fabulous Lady Gaga, but it was Betty N’s Marie Antoinette and Cat O’s cute Big Bird costumes that got the most love from our voters.

Special thanks to the awesome staff at Mr. Smith’s for hosting our wickedly wild crew and to the cool peeps from Eventbrite for greeting our guests upon check-in!

To stay in the loopt for future events, follow me on Twitter!

Let’s get Loopt!
Connie

Yes, SIRI-ously!

Loopt posed some questions (or “Qs,” as we call them) to early iPhone 4S buyers lined up at U.S. Apple stores this past Friday and Saturday. We learned a few interesting things from their answers. We found that in many cases, Apple’s new voice recognition feature, Siri, was the thing that lured most people in (45% put Siri on top). The second picture-perfect feature named was the new 8-megapixel camera (22%). This was followed by a close 3rd place choice, the iPhone 4S’s need for speed (22% named the dual-core A5 chip).

We found that stat to be quite interesting — the people lining up for the latest Apple device on the first two days of availability found Siri software to be cooler than the new, juiced up hardware. Now you might ask, who were these people lined up at 8am on Friday to get the very first iPhone 4Ses? Our findings show the majority of people were iPhone 4 users (72% — considering they were answering the questions on an Apple device) who were playing hooky from work (43%, top answer). Also, they’re people who are into the cool-factor of having the latest iPhone — when asked who they’d tell first (with options including their kids, parents, significant others), more than half (53%) said they would tell everyone!

What do you think of these results? Do you agree with the iPhone 4S crowd?

P.S. Survey results were collected via the Loopt mobile app between Friday, Oct 14 and Saturday, Oct 15 in the U.S.

Q: What’s better than a brand-spankin’-new iPhone 4S?

A: Getting it for FREE! No jokes, folks—we’re giving you a chance to win it!
Plus other prizes for runners up . . .

You heard right, dear Loopters. Welcome to 4Qs for a 4S. Whether you’re pining for the 4S, or already planning to upgrade on October 14th, we’d love to help you get your mitts on a FREE iPhone* or oodles of other awesome goodies:  iPhone & iPad keyboard cases from Solid Line, nifty Giftly credits to try gifting the new-fashioned way, or iTunes credits, oh my!). Just answer four Loopt Qs—short for “Questions”—at your nearest Apple Store, and we could hook ya up!

Solid Line Products makes one-of-a-kind cases for Apple iPads and iPhones.

Think of a Giftly as the cooler, more sophisticated, smarter cousin of the gift card. You personalize and customize it, choosing where it works and how it looks.

HOW TO PLAY

1. Download the free Loopt app to your iPhone…any old iPhone will do.  ;)
2. Swing by your nearest (U.S.) Apple Store, fire up Loopt, and click on “Places” to find the Apple Store.
3. There are four Qs to answer if you want to win. Once you’ve answer the Qs, you’re automatically entered to win one of the great prizes we’ve already told you about.

Loopt’s 4Qs for a 4S contest is only around from first thing Friday, October 14th (12:01am ET), until last thing Saturday, October 15th (11:59pm ET). So, get those answers in early!

Winners will be contacted by Tuesday, October 18th. GOOD LUCK!

P.S. Here’s that asterisk you were looking for:

* iPhone winners receive an Apple Store gift certificate good for the value of an iPhone 4S 16GB ($199). Service plans, data/messaging features, and subscriber agreements not included.

Two of Loopt’s co-founders, Sam Altman and Alok Deshpande are standing by to speak at SXSW 2012 (Already?! Yea, it’s coming up again!). Check ‘em out, and vote ‘em up. Both Sam and Alok have a lot of tips to share with the SXSW community on two very interesting topics. Loopt is also in good company, with speakers from Facebook (Jon Fougner), American Express (David Wolf) and BIA Kelsey Group (Michael Boland) participating with us.

Here are the proposed sessions (which need your VOTES):

Is That Your Final Offer? Mobile Dynamic Pricing – Dynamic pricing is back. In 1845, people walked into price-free stores, and the price was decided then and there. More recently, we’ve seen this with airline tickets, fluctuating in price based on demand. Now, with mobile advances, we’re seeing the first signs of dynamic pricing at a local level. VOTE HERE: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/9792

The New Deal: Use This Service, Get a Payoff – Using a mobile service should be like a gym membership…the more active you are, the more it should pay off, right? This panel is with Loopt, Facebook and American Express (moderated by BIA Kelsey Group). This awesome panel of experts will explore what makes a mobile app, service or campaign pay off for the everyday consumer. VOTE HERE: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/13031

Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook if you have any questions on the sessions!

Update (8/22/11): You can view Heine’s presentation here: http://www.slideshare.net/hfrifeldt/loopt-unit-test-experiences 

Hey, Bay Area Loopters and developers!

We’re hosting a meet-up on August 18 at Loopt HQ for Test Driven Developers Bay Area. You’re invited! Our very own Heine Frifeldt, the lead of Loopt’s server team, will be the featured speaker.

Heine and his team make it possible for Loopt to quickly crank out new features while maintaining stability for our services (translation: Loopters can loopt it up freely…without a care in the world while Heine sweats the small stuff). Heine has been integral in the progression of our apps, ensuring that our new and existing features meet the high expectations of our users.

If you’re a developer and have noticed our recent launches of Qs and u-Deals, Heine can fill you in on how Loopt was able to push out these features while keeping the backend servers stable. C’mon out, we’d love to have you.

Where: Loopt

When: August 18, 6:30 p.m.

RSVP: On Meetup.com (hurry! Limited spots available)

If you can’t come to the meet-up, then please enjoy this engineering joke in consolation (sorry, we couldn’t help it), and Loopt’ll catch you at the next one!

—

One day, a Mechanical Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Chemical Engineer and Computer Engineer were driving down the street in the same car.

The car broke down.

The Mechanical Engineer said, “I think a rod broke.”

The Chemical Engineer said, “The way it sputtered at the end, I don’t think it’s getting gas.”

The Electrical Engineer said, “I think there was a spark and something is wrong with the electrical system.”

All three turned to the computer engineer and said, “What do you think?”

The Computer Engineer said, “I think we should all get out and get back in.”

—

Har har

Public Service Announcement!

Are you experiencing any of these symptoms?

• A stale music collection…making it embarrassing to jam out to your playlist while partying with friends?
• A nagging lack of good ole’ American Pastimes times in your life?
• Feelings of deep envy while in the presence of smartphone-wielding friends…or, alternatively, pangs of embarrassment while around a flip-phone friend?

Well, have we got the thing for you! Loopt and Universal Music Group announced today that they’re bringing “Music Nights” to MLB ballparks across the U.S. At these “Music Nights,” baseball fans will score big! Here’s how:

• Loopt has 100,000 Android phones on its hands to give for FREE at select ballparks (note: you still need to sign up with a contract, but still, the phone is freeeeeee!)
• Also, each Loopt “Music Night” attendee at the 15 participating MLB ballparks will get music from Loopt — five free song downloads of their choice from the entire Universal Music Group catalog, including new releases. Yes please!

So, what to do now? Get thee to the ballpark! We’ve included a list of participating teams below. For full official details, please see the press release.

If you’ve got any other questions, we’ve got answers! Feel free to email us at blog [at] loopt.com. We’re at your service!

Here are the teams:

Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers. Complete details, scheduling and ticketing information can be found at MLB.com/entertainment

San Francisco’s Mission District couldn’t have been a better place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and Public Works couldn’t have been a more popping place that day – we were there to celebrate the SF Bay Area launch of Loopt Qs! Being the very first to uncover local insights about the places in the Bay Area through Qs, the community came together for an exclusive fiesta where many donned sombreros and downed cervezas while checking out the cool new feature on iPhones.

While DJ Spark spun fun Latin house beats, guests enjoyed festive bevvies from Blue Angel Vodka, distinctive local wine tastings from The Winery SF, and a liquid buzz from Hawaiian Energy Shotz.

Frozen Kuhsterd kept everyone cool with scoops of their delectable Spicy Mexican Chocolate and Four Barrel Coffee frozen custard and the MoGo BBQ truck came just in time to fill everyone’s bellies with delicious Korean tacos and burritos. Mythbusters’ Grant Imahara also came by to get geektastic with us!

The SF Giants’ Orange and Black Attack Team was in the house and gave complimentary tickets to the June 24th Giants Tweetup Game Night to the two lucky winners of our AT&T Loopt Q-Off challenge. The race to the finish was a close one! People also got silly with The Laugh Box, as guests were provided with fun keepsakes from their awesome flipbook photobooth.

If you missed getting loco with us, peep the flicks captured by the talented Henry Lee of Woodson Photography. Special thanks to the staff of Public Works and all our amazing sponsors for making it one fantástico fiesta!

-Connie Chang, SF Bay Community Manager