Last week I spoke at RETech South and my first presentation was directed at Broker/Owners of real estate offices. After the session, I asked a trusted adviser to give me a harsh critique. They didn’t, but they said something to the effect of, “I think you need to stop using acronyms that are comfortable for you, but foreign to your audience, like API.”
What they were referring to was a point in my talk where I advised the audience members to stop looking at the apps and tools put out by developers as an end unto themselves. Instead I wanted them to start asking the question, “how could I use the ‘ideas’ behind their tools to accomplish my specific goals? Does their API provide a path to use their tool in ways the creators would not have imagined?” As I write that now, I understand that I should have explained further.
So, let me explain further. First, API stands for “application programming interface.” It’s a way of explaining how different software applications communicate with each other. So, if you want your website or tool to interface with another website or tool, the API tells you how to do that and let’s you know what is and is not possible.
Now, the interesting thing about how most API documents are written is that, in many ways, even a non-programmer can get an idea of what’s possible. And this is why you, as a non-programming business person should care. Because if you know what’s possible, doors to new ideas and creative uses may open up for you. Here’s an example.
Much to my dismay, Foursquare doesn’t appear to be going away and among the current location-based social networks, it is the leader. But if I’m a business owner, in this case a real estate broker, I don’t want to just sit back and wait to see how the developers at Foursquare are going to move their platform forward. I want to take advantage of the network and make it work for me. First step, understand what it will let me have access to and make sure how I want to use the data is within the limits of their terms of service. The terms are simple enough to get to. Their terms of service are clearly displayed on their API page.
How can I tell what I have access to if I’m not a programmer?
I think most people will be surprised at how much “human-readable” text is contained in a well-done API document. Here’s a section of the Foursquare API that is under the category – “Check-in Methods.”
—
Checkins
Returns a list of recent checkins from friends.
If you pass in a geolat/geolong pair (optional, but recommended), we’ll send you back a <distance> inside each <checkin> object that you can use to sort your results.
Some notes on how to parse each <checkin> block:
- if <venue> exists, it’s a check-in to a proper place.
- if <venue> and <shout> exist, it’s a check-in to a proper place with a shout.
- if only <shout> exists, it’s a shout (no check-in). shouts are like callouts or tweets to your network. they need not be tied down to a particular place. it’s useful for sending messages like: “hey who’s up for hanging out later tonight?”.
- if no <venue> or <shout> exists, then it’s a silent check-in (“off-the-grid” as we like to say). this shows up in the timeline so that you know the person is out and about (to make it easy to meet up after they are done with whatever they are doing. it’s useful for stuff like dates, business meetings, etc).
URL: http://api.foursquare.com/v1/checkins
Formats: XML, JSON
HTTP Method(s): GET
Requires Authentication: Yes
Parameters:
- geolat – (optional, but recommended)
- geolong – (optional, but recommended)
—
Even if you’re not familiar with programming, you can learn several things from this section. A quality high school education is probably a good start, but I don’t need to understand the formats, http methods or how to pass along the parameters to see that if I “pass in a geolat/geolong pair” that Foursquare is going to tell me how far away <distance> each place I can <checkin> is from my latitude and longitude. I know that my phone can figure out where I am and that a programmer can figure out how to get that information from my phone.
So, I now know that I can use the Foursquare API to deliver information about where I can check-in. In the next section of the API it tells me what I can do when I get that information. I can make a “shout” and send it out to my friends. I can check-in to one of the venues they send back. I can create a new venue and tell them about it. Just like I can do with the Foursquare app.
But this is where it gets cool. As long as I’m within the terms of service, I can then use that data to distribute information to places that the Foursquare app might not provide. Where might that be? Other websites? Other tools? I don’t know where it is for you, but you might. I know where that knowledge leads me. And armed with a better understanding of what’s possible, you may be spurred to create a new use for the tools, one that the developers never saw coming.
This is why the API is made public. This is where innovation lives. Diversity – of thought, experience, and need – provide the energy required for growth and change. It’s the beauty of an open system. And I believe that the missing ingredients in fueling commercial growth are the thoughts, experiences and needs of the average business owner responsible for making these tools work for their business.
So, do yourself a favor and take at look at the API of one of the tools you like using. Spend an hour studying it. Read past the programming jargon and sift through the text that feels like common English to see if it sparks some creative juices. I think you might be surprised.
And let me know how it goes. 
Sometimes I just want the digital world to mimic the analog world. Exactly. It’s rare, but there are times that I don’t want an “vast improvement.” And I don’t want innovation. I just want to continue doing what I’ve always done, without having to change my behavior. I just want to do the same thing, only digitally. And this is the hope I have for the iPad for one specific task – my to do lists.
I’ve really enjoyed reading Russ Leseberg’s “
We received some excellent suggestions in the comments and we want to get some of the ones we liked in front of you here.
If I’m a business, I’m hoping guys like me and gals like my wife change their mind fast. Why? Because these services represent a major opportunity to influence our buying decisions. And the 
I’m live blogging 
I’ve spent at least a year in a complete blogging funk. And it’s not because I don’t have things I’d like to say. I most certainly do. The reason for the funk is that I’ve been having an internal battle between “what I should be doing” and “what I really love to do.” Luckily for me, what I really love to do is also what I’m really good at. And it’s not creating and defining marketing strategies.
Gist Nails The Gist Of A Simple Training Game
We love games here at Zeek Interactive. We play them. We make them.
In 2003, we attempted to turn our game creation experience into a training solution for corporations. We created Motus Learning Systems with a couple of other partners to give it a focus. Motus built several demo games for different companies, and we even created a kids game to teach mousing skills. The initial illustrations for that kids game are shown above. And although this proved to be a short-lived venture for many reasons, it didn’t alter our belief that games are simply the best way to learn things that require repetition to master.
This past week, Gist launched their own training game. And I really like it.
Stated very clearly on the front page of their site, “Gist helps you build stronger relationships by connecting the inbox to the web to provide business-critical information about the people and companies that matter most.” Others, like Dustin Luther, have written about how Gist is helping them manage the many online relationships they’ve fostered. I like it too, but I really like their newest feature, a game called, “Learn That Name.” And it does exactly what the name implies… it helps you learn the names and companies of the people you follow on social networks.
It’s a simple game, as most good training games are. You’re presented with a person’s avatar and you get points for guessing their name correctly. The faster you guess, the more points you get. Get it wrong and you lose 50 points. Each round is five people. For my taste, it’s just the right number. In my first round I achieved the “Super Socialite” level, though I was lucky to get five people I know pretty well. The second round labeled me a “Casual Networker.” I think the game could do a better job of sensing the sex of a contact. If I didn’t know that was Geoff Livingston, it would be a lot harder to figure out if all four names were male oriented.
The game strips off choices as the time clicks by and the points drop. So, if you don’t know who someone is, it helps you. If you don’t get the name right, you don’t get the option of the bonus question, which is “Where does <first name> work?” I wasn’t sure who this next guy was, so the game gave me some help.
I haven’t used Gist much since I loaded it, but I’ll be using it more now. I think they did a great job with the game. I can see lots of potential for categorizing contacts based on upcoming events, recent additions, high school classmates, etc. In fact, I’d download this app JUST to play this game. After just a few rounds, I’ve already become more familiar with some folks I’ve been trying to get to know over the past year. And I was surprised by some of the faces I recognized and how hard it was to place their name.
Kudos to Gist. Well done.
Tags: adout, fun, Games, gist, learning, motus, Social Media, training
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