#SxSW: Thanks Dennis Crowley for the Badges!

Last year, in Cannes @princess_misia and I had a long conversation with Dennis Crowley (@dens) in Cannes. We both were disappointed with the fact that a couple of mayor events in Europe happened without a sign of the trusted Foursquare badge. No badge at Cannes, no badge at LeWeb. Rumor even had it that Foursquare would be throttling down heavily on badges.

Now I get it. Foursquare is much more than a badge. It’s a location based social platform, a service that mixes social, locative and gaming elements to encourage people to explore the cities in which they live, and the places that they visit. Foursquare is sharing, pointing good places out, leaving tips, mapping the social underground soft spots of society. But, badges were fun. Thousands of people have been collecting badges over the years, like scouts boys there precious shoulder patches. Collecting badges was one of the mayor drivers in keeping check-ins fun and rewarding.

But here at #SxSW, the badges are back. In style. Close to 20 to collect over a period of 1 week. Let the games begin. Thanks Dennis, we own you a Belgian Beer….