Crowdsourcing an iPhone App – 101 Things to do in Ireland

Kieran Murphy wrote a very good article about a gutter piece of journalism that appeared in the Sunday Times recently. I didn’t read the piece in the paper myself, but from the description of it given by Kieran I’d have had the very same reaction.

We see it quite a lot online too. You know the kind of thing I’m talking about – the blog post about a company that screwed up and it "goes viral". Had a bad meal in a restaurant – oooh – I’m going to blog that. The Ryanair "lunatic blogger" debacle is probably the best example I can think of that typifies this. Everyone knows what Ryanair are and they got priceless publicity out of it. That prompted me to set up the Opposite of Ryanair – to highlight companies that are providing good product and service. It didn’t get very far as you can see. My hopes for a deluge of good stories coming in didn’t materialise, but I thought it was a good way to turn the Ryanair story around on them.

I’m not naive though. I know it’s human nature to (generally) tell more people about a bad experience/story than a good one. There is just so much of it online that its no wonder the label "lunatic blogger" is applied with such ease by the likes of Ryanair.

Anyway, brain working since I read Kieran’s article and thought I might try something again.

The idea is to create a "101 things to do in Ireland " iPhone Application with crowdsourced content on what Irish people recommend to do in their locality.

If someone planning a trip to your home town / city in Ireland were to ask you “What’s good to do locally?”, what would you say?

101app is a project which asks you to suggest the best things to do in your locality.

What sites should they make sure to see?

Where is good to eat/drink?

When is the best time to visit?

What is the “hidden secret” only the locals know?

101app asks you to put on a tourist guide hat and point out the best things to do in Ireland. The best of the best will then be compiled and published as an iPhone Application. The application will be available to download by millions of iPhone and iPod touch owners worldwide, helping the visitor make the most of their time in Ireland.

I’ve set up a Twitter account and I’m working on the website at the moment.

I have zero skills in creating an iPhone Application but I’ll find a way of making it happen (secretly I’m hoping the power of Twitter and other bloggers will help find the way).

So, that’s the idea. This is ground floor – let’s see where this ends up.