Kismet's Blog

We simplify your social life, letting you make plans to hangout with friends in just a few clicks.

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Blink (the maker of Kismet) is now a part of Yahoo!

We're excited to announce that as of May 13, 2014 Blink (the maker of Kismet) is joining Yahoo! We built Kismet because we wanted to help people connect with their friends in the real world. We look forward to the possibilities that will come from bringing the Kismet vision to Yahoo.

What does this mean for you as a Kismet user?

In the next few weeks, we will be shutting down Kismet as a service. If you have any questions or concerns, you can email us at [email protected] and we will personally reply to you.

 We can't begin to express how grateful we are for your support throughout this journey. We hope you stick with us through the next chapter.

  - Kevin, Michelle, and the Kismet Team

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Have you checked us out on Pinterest yet? Take a look at our board "Orange" (celebrating our signature color) and see what else we're pinning! http://pinterest.com/getkismet/

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Kismet won the Audience Choice award at Vator Splash SF last night!

Thank you so much to everyone at the event who voted for us.

For those of you who weren't able to join us in person, here are some great photos of the event taken by Alastair Goldfisher of Thomson Reuters.

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Who’s Ready for Some TEXAS Football?

 by Lorri Marlow

 Kismet is spreading fast at college campuses around the country. Check out what University of Texas campus ambassador Lorri Marlow has to say  about kicking off college football season:

You know what I love about Labor Day weekend? The first college football game of the year. I went to the University of Texas at Austin, and nothing was going to keep me from cheering on the Longhorns last weekend. Every year, students and alums like me swarm the stadium at UT for the first football game of the season. 

Now I ask you, what’s football without a pre-game tailgate party? BBQ, beer, and friends -- what more could you want? But you know what I hate? Planning. No matter how many friends I bring along, getting everyone together at the same place and same time has never been harder. If I’m not sending hundreds of text messages or trying to keep up with a long email thread, I’m creating a Facebook event. And that never really tells me who’s actually coming.

And how many times have y’all gone tailgate hopping, lost track of your friends, and wondered -- who’s at the game? Who’s still tailgating? Where’s the Ticket Guy???

There has to be a better way. The good news is, there is. With Kismet. I’m using the Kismet app to send out the invites from now on. A few clicks on my iPhone and it notifies everyone on the invite list -- whether they have the app or not. Kismet also tells me where everyone is. Not only do I know who’s in town for the weekend, but when I’m tailgate hopping I know exactly which party my friends are at -- or if Ticket-Guy has already gone to the game. Let’s see a text message do that.

Later this season, Kismet is launching some cutting edge new features that are going to make planning and going to a tailgate as enjoyable as the party itself. I’ve gotten a sneak preview, and really, you don’t want to miss it. Because really, what’s better than 95,000+ screaming football fans in burnt orange? Nothing. If you want gameday to be better than it has ever been before, plan your next tailgate with Kismet. It’s on iPhone now.

Want to join Kismet's team as a campus ambassador and help spread the word? Send us an email at [email protected].

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Starting Up, Finding A Forcing Function And Building A Story

Kismet is on the Women 2.0 blog today! Check out our guest post about some ways to help your startup be better, more efficient, and generally more successful. 

Multiple times, we discovered the value of real, external deadlines, despite the added stress and workload they bring.

Today is also the last day to apply for Women 2.0 PITCH startup competition, NYC in November. For those of you that don't already know, Kismet launched this year at the SF PITCH competition in February. It was a great opportunity, and one we'd recommend to our fellow entrepreneurs! Check it out.

You can read our blog post on Women 2.0 here.

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SoLoMo - Why It Matters and What You Should Know

Looking for some educational lunchtime reading today?

Here's a great discussion of the SoLoMo space, and Kismet's place in it, originally posted on The Network. The article explores the use of geo-location tech in retail, social, and other markets.

"SoLoMo is steadily gaining momentum. This intersection of social media, local merchants using location-aware technology for advertising and mobile device usage (SoLoMo) offers opportunities to retailers, marketers and consumers—and all have something to gain from this new trend.

According to market research firm, Nielsen, over half of the U.S. population (50.4 percent) currently owns a smart device. In addition, well over half the population (70 percent) use social media regularly. Add to these items the fact that all mobile devices incorporate some aspect of geo-location, and all signs indicate that SoLoMo expansion is primed to take off."

Check out the full article here.

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Want to learn how our CEO, Kevin Stephens, got inspired to become a computer scientist?

Check out this profile of him and where he got his start, published by his hometown paper the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript.

“Back in 1993 or 1994, computer science wasn’t a cool or sexy thing; it was kind of this nebulous thing that you had to go to college to learn more about,” Stephens said in an interview with the Ledger-Transcript on Friday. But for Stephens that class was a turning point in his life. He had been given a taste of the real thing and he wanted more.

Read the full article here!

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Here are the photos from last night's Sales4Startups event where our CEO, Kevin, was a special guest speaker. He discussed business development and shared stories from his time at Google, YouTube, and Boxee.

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Great post by Joanne Wilson on life, how decisions impact you, and sharing the real reasons why you've chosen what you have.

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Here's our fearless CEO, Kevin, yelling over the music at the WWDC 2012 Mashup Party last week to talk about Kismet for the cameras. We had so much fun showing the product to party-goers and sharing in the excitement of WWDC!

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Planning a Memorial Day BBQ? Kismet can help.

One of Kismet's most popular features at SXSW was the ability to create spontaneous events with friends or people nearby. And what better excuse to try it out than with the summer BBQ season starting on Memorial Day. (For our friends outside the US, you don't need a bank holiday to have a BBQ.) Tap the "Events" menu item in Kismet to create your event. If friends you want to invite are not yet users of Kismet, the app will automatically sms, email, or send a Facebook notification to anyone you want to invite. When your friends accept your invitation, you'll be notified wherever you are. And because it's Kismet, you'll see at a glance which of your friends are actually nearby. Simple! No more long email threads, no more juggling 20 different conversations on SMS and Instant Message.  Tell us what you think!

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iMedia recently featured Kismet in their list of the 10 leaders revolutionizing the hot new SoLoMo space. SoLoMo is a mashup of social, location, and mobile. The article describes the space as "the next evolution in what we used to call hyper-local." Apps in the space are completely separate from the desktop world and are creating an entirely self-sufficient mobile eco-system where "deals, suggestions, or events are pushed based on your check-ins or social activity as you wander across different tiles of the earth."

Read the full article (and see the video about us) here.

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"Now that Facebook is a public company (or will be by the end of the week) and will be making regular appearances on channels like CNBC and Fox Business, you might be thinking that the once-cool social network is getting a little too corporate for your tastes.

If so, you have options. Facebook alternatives have been around as long as Facebook has (R.I.P Friendster), and a bunch of upstarts would be glad to have you if you're fleeing Zucks' behemoth. We've gathered up nine alternatives you might want to try on your way out. With apologies to Facebook (and its corporate competitor, Google+), these smaller alternatives might be better options for those shying away from the whole megalithic-corporation-thing:"

Check out the full list here.

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Addicted to Pinterest? Already using Kismet? Combine them!

Follow Kismet's boards on Pinterest and we'll share the love. We've always looking for cool new pins and we'll repin the best ones from our users. You can even share photos of the events you plan using Kismet, and how much fun you're having.

Pin away!

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Want to learn a little more about AngelPad? PBS did an interview with Thomas Korte, AngelPad's founder, where he shares a bit more about the incubator. Learn what Kismet, and our fellow AngelPad alums went through in the 10 week program.

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We're really proud to be alums of AngelPad! Check out this great video where AngelPad's founder, Thomas Korte, talks in depth about the latest class of startups and how the program helps startups to grow into great companies.

If you're interested in learning more, or signing up for the next class of startups, check them out here.

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Robert Scoble recently interviewed the founders to talk about Kismet, the social discovery space in general, and what it will be like for SXSW attendees to use these apps this year.