Scoutmob Field Notes

An update from Our Nation’s Capital, where our Scouts continue to spread good tidings of the ‘mob.

Scoutmob infiltrates the Washington City Paper:

And your favorite local coffe shop/banana hammock:

Day 1, and co-founder Dave Payne is already on TV {alongside local Georgia Brown’s restauranteur Yale Woodson}:

The DC food truck scene is hot {LITERALLY}. Feels good to support these entrepreneurs {and the CapMac, Pi Truck and Pleasant Pops craving masses}.

Next time you’re taking in the sights and sounds {and tastes} of our nation’s capital, fire up that Scoutmob app and let us guide you to this city’s best local establishments of repute. 

Correctomundo, folks. We’re sending one lucky mobster and their guest on a FREE trip to our attend Scoutmob DC’s Revel party in September. So:

This prize awesomeness includes (but may not be limited to): round-trip flights for two + a two-night stay at Hotel Palomar + two unforgettable dinner experiences + two VIP-access invites to our first-ever DC Revel party. And with all of this, we hope you’re now wondering….

How does one score this sweet prize package?

It all starts with claiming your unique sharing link through our Secret Sharing Society, Revel. Click the share button to retrieve your link or to create a new link if you haven’t made one already.

Share this fancy piece of URL with any and all of your DC friends (and DC friends of friends). When three of them join our mob, you’ll be in the running to win this jet-setting, elbow-rubbing, Revelry-filled fun pack.

And don’t for get to check out thems (official) rules. See you on Pennsylvania Ave.

Like a baby bird kicked from the nest, Scoutmob DC took flight today. Every day, from now until the end of time, the DC Scouts will be feature a stellar locally-owned business and cover the most curious finds in town. It’s a beautiful thing.

Last night, we gave the neighborhood a preview of what was to dawn the next day.

Welcome festivities brought the entire block together to celebrate the Shaw neighborhood: the beautiful Lamont Bishop Gallery, the incredible eats and homemade bacon of Seasonal Pantry, the baked goods of Chatman’s D’Vine, the inspiring parking-lot-turned-urban-oasis greenery from OLD CITY Green and last, but never least, the incredibly talented Mab.

Feel like you were part of the madness with first hand accounts by Liz Gorman, KStreetKate, ReVamp and 94.7’s the Tommy Show. Many thanks to BKE, Object Trust and Amore PR, couldn’t have done it without you.

Today, the District of Curiosity woke up to find a fresh email on their doorstep bringing tidings of free deals! local content! and 50% off Georgia Brown’s. And all was well.

If you are in the metro DC area, sign-up for Scoutmob DC, get a Revel link and share the heck out of it. I don’t want to spoil any surprises, but we are planning some amazing deals and events over the next few months. Stay curious.

The mystery surrounding Revel has churned for weeks. WTF is Revel? How the heck do I get in? A snowball effect of curiosity… ah, yes, our point exactly. Last week, we answered those questions with an inaugural event in Atlanta. Revel is our special way of saying thanks; a way to reward you for using deals, spreading word of the ‘mob, and being gnarly super fans. We distilled Scoutmob Atlanta to its very purest essence, and gently placed it down in our most favorite spot, Paris on Ponce. If you have yet to fill your home with good from this magical wonderland of antiques and oddities, pay them a visit while you can get 50% off Paris on Ponce through July 9, 2011.

It truly was the ultimate evening, chock full of quirkiness, cleverness, locally sourced food vendors, drink sponsors, & entertainment. A special thank ya goes to those who consistently pour their time and energy into this city, and contributed to this one particularly spectacular evening:

Paris On Ponce // Smilebooth // Charlie Smith // The Imperial Opa // Minette Magnifique // Little Tybee // 13th Colony Distillery // Wild Heaven Craft Beer // Hop City Wine & Beer // Lafayette’s Fancy Boiled Peanuts // (Alcoholic) King Of Pops // The Good Food Truck // Grace’s Goodness // Duncan Shirah // Joy Phrasavath // Binder’s Art Supplies // T. Lynne Pixley

On the night of Saturday, June 25, 2011 history was made. Scoutmob’s first ever #revelmob occurred and it was a rousing success. If that’s all you want to know, don’t bother with the rest of this. If you want details, please read on.

On Friday, June 24th I wrote a blog post about my thoughts of the upcoming event in a shameless attempt to get an invite…and it worked! I got an DM on Twitter from Scoutmob saying that I was in, along with a plus-one, as long as I RSVP’d in time, and to stay tuned for “final instructions.” Final instructions included dress code, location, time, the usual…except they still hadn’t explained what to expect; the mystery continued. I went to the party with two DIG team members, Kaitlyn (@kaitlyndennihy) and Rene (@reenazoid), along with new friend Evan (@evcon).

Held at Paris on Ponce, an antique shop with an incredible event space in the back dubbed Le Maison Rouge. After getting let in, and getting our (almost) permanent stamps, we were escorted to the back of the shop to the event space…while walking through something out of a horror film. Mysterious figures dressed as old crippled, creepy clowns, faceless statues, figures shouting nonsense words and phrases, and a woman following us singing “it’s teaaa timeee…it’s teaaa timeee…it’s teaaa timeee” were our escorts. Add in the old, dust-covered antiques and feelings of confusion and bewilderment and you get the picture. 

The first couple hours of the event were for taking in the atmosphere, networking and gathering around the spread from the Good Food Truck or indulging in a treat from King of Pops. It was great to see such a large crowd of people passionate about Scoutmob, Revel, and social media. Altogether the atmosphere was exactly what you would expect from a company who has a such a quirky and eclectic personality, and has a mustache for a mascot.

I could go on and on about the event but to sum the rest of it up here is all you need to know:

• There was a burlesque show from the ladies at Minette Magnifique. A crowd pleasure judging from the catcalls, whistles, and whoops from those attendance.
• The served Revel signature cocktails such as the Mustache Mule and the Mobhattan (I personally recommend the Mustache Mule – a mixture of ginger beer, vodka, and lime).
• The headliner of the night, Little Tybee, came on to the the delight of everyone there. I am from the north and had no idea who Little Tybee was before this event, but they definitely have talent and put on a good show.
• What I am presuming is the real life version of the Mustache Mule (see pic below), and the inspiration for the beverage, was running around all night with an assortment of sombreros and a ‘stache (get it?) of mastaches to give to everyone to ‘mobify the guests.

You only have to read the tweets to get an idea of how adept at throwing a party Scoutmob is. Of course, the point of the party was to introduce Revel to the masses (a very select list of people = the masses). Revel, in a nutshell, is a hyper-local version of Scoutmob that isn’t going to cater to just anyone. It’s about finding places that aren’t just restaurants wanting more business; where are the hole-in-the-walls, the dive bars, the little-known venues that only those who have an “in” know about? Revel will show those lucky enough to be in on it the real secret gems of the city.

Oh, and one last reason this event was such a success…the hype that built up for it was extraordinary, and it totally lived up to the hype. I know I’m not the only person still talking about it, and everyone not at the event still followed the Twitter stream. What do you think people are going to be willing to do to get an invitation to the next event? There are going to be many more of these, says the Scoutmob team, and you can be sure each of them are going to be highly anticipated. I know that I wrote a blog post to get an invitation, but the true requirements are only rumors. Revel has proven to be an instant hype machine that already has thousands of people wondering “what comes next” and “how the hell do I get involved?”

 After such an awesome event, and one that I was lucky enough to even go to, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll get to go to the next one. For those of you that went, what’d you think? And for those who didn’t get the chance, what would you do to get onto the guest list for the next #revelmob? 

Sign up for Revel and stay curious, friends. Get a candid view of the night from T. Lynne Pixley Photography in our Facebook album & the now-with-more-costumes version on Smilebooth.

Out of the New Atlantic Ventures portfolio, Scoutmob was one of four chosen to represent among the many startups at TechCrunch Disrupt this week. Co-Founders Michael Tavani and Dave Payne took good word of the mob NYC’s Pier 94.

First thing Monday morning Tavani responded to the LinkedIn IPO and the mood of social/tech startups at Disrupt with CNBC’s Brian Shactman. See the video here.

The view from the NAV Pavilion, where you could score some really amazing free local deals. 

It’s true! We’re thrilled Scoutmob is a top five finalist for a Shopping - Mobile & Apps Webby Award. One slight issue: the Webby gods assigned the little mustache that could to the tablet category. Our app is beautifully designed for iPhone and Android platform. Only.

Ah well, give us your tired, your hungry, your votes anyway.