SF Hidden Gem

How often do you want to show off some of the hidden gems of your city but you forget where they are?
That happens to me often.
This past weekend I took a different route and re-discovered the Tiled Stairs of Moraga street.
They are beautifully done and give you a nice view of the ocean.
The problem is that they are in an out-of-the-way part of the Sunset district of San Francisco.
Now I can recommend it simply by sharing a near2there reminder for the place.
Just click on the below button and near2there will remind you of this place when you are near.

Early Feedback

Last week we got a customer service email from a user of one of our partner sites, GlutenFreeTravelSite.
I will quote it in its entirety:
Oh my gosh I think this program is amazing! It is such a great idea. I usually go online and research restaurants due to my dietary restrictions before going on vacation and then print out a list of restaurants to check out. But once I am there, I often miss going as I am not aware of how close they are to me and I forget why I chose it. What I love about this app is that it adds the website address where I added the reminder so I can see exactly why I chose it. I can't wait to use this on my next vacation. Easting out for us is a chore but hopefully not anymore! Thanks so much for this app, it's genius!
This is exactly the user case and benefit for which we created the service!
Most of us do our research and discovery on our PCs but when we go out, we find it hard to remember all of the places.
I hope we can get our button on other sites from travel guides to event listings.

Peter

This is what it is all about!

Today is the day I have been looking forward to for some time: we are ready to show what near2there is all about:
We've got an Android app on the Android Market.
We've got an iPhone app on iTunes.
And most importantly, we have a number of great sites which have put the near2there button on their location-relevant content.

Our 3 featured partner sites are:
FoodSprout - a sustainable food guide
GlutenFreeTravelSite - a guide to restaurants serving gluten-free food
QGuide - a gay travel social network

With all these together we can finally demonstrate how near2there will change the way we travel, and will change the way we keep track of all of the places we want to go. Now, if you are reading the review of a place, you can just click on the near2there button and save a reminder to your phone. Then, when you are nearby, you'll get an alert and a link back to the original article.
Isn't that cool?!!

Please tell your friends and try it yourself.

Peter

Santa Ramen

Last week near2there came in very handy.
Knowing I love ramen noodles, a friend recommended a place called Santa Ramen in San Mateo.
He said it was the best ramen he has tasted outside of Japan.
I had to go.
The problem is that it is located in San Mateo.
I live and work in San Francisco, often go meet with Bob in Palo Alto, but I rarely stop in between.
Well, I was driving back from a morning meeting last week when my phone alerted me that I was near Santa Ramen.
It was perfect timing because I was hungry and it was lunch time.
So I finally got to try out the place. Not bad ramen!

Santa Ramen
1944 S El Camino Real
San Mateo, California

Our first partner: Foodsprout

The first company to put our near2there button on their site is a great new site called FoodSprout.
I met the founder of FoodSprout, Andrew Naber, when we were both selected to demo at the FailCon conference back in October.
FoodSprout is the perfect site for near2there. It researches restaurants in cities across the U.S. to see from where they purchase their ingredients. Naturally, the more local the better. I am sure many people come upon this site and think "oh, I should go to this restaurant next time I'm in that city." The problem is that by the time they are in that city around meal time, they probably forget. That is where near2there helps. If they click on the near2there button, they can save a reminder for that place. So, when they are planning their trip or when they are in the neighborhood, they can be reminded that they wanted to go there.
One of my favorites is listed on their site:
Mission Pie
2901 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA

near2there - Where the idea came from

The original idea for a location-based reminder service came to me some 3-4 years ago. I had a strong need for it. My friends often recommended places to go, but I found I forgot them each time I went out. In fact, a friend Mo told me he had eaten one of the best meals of his life at a place called Le P’tit Laurent. But maybe because of the French name or because it is in an area I don’t normally go to, but I kept forgetting it. I needed some service that said “Yo, you’re not far from that place you wanted to try.” So, now we’ve built it.

near2there does exactly this: it saves the places you want to go to and reminds you when you are near. Now, anytime someone recommends a place, I just add it to my near2there app or click on the near2there button where I see it.
Then, when I am near-to-there, I get an alert.

Le P'tit Laurent
699 Chenery Street
San Francisco, CA


Peter