add it up.

There’s a lot of talk in the social space about the benefits of having a high Klout score, but it is rare that one sees Klout being used for greater good.

I stumbled upon a project sponsored by Klout and Nike Basketball called Campus Roar. The basic premise is that four universities that “roar the loudest” in the social space will win a youth basketball coach, sponsored by Nike, to serve kids in need in the university’s community. A “roar” consists of a Facebook post or a tweet that is automatically tagged with the university-specific hashtag and #CampusRoar. The “roars” also show up on Nike Basketball within the respective university’s page.

It is well known that there are countless studies illustrating the positive impact being involved in sports and recreational activities can have on a child, especially for those in low-income homes, so Campus Roar stands to make a huge impact on youth in the winning communities.

What I find interesting about Campus Roar is that Nike could have easily sponsored the entire promotion solo. The inclusion of Klout really intensifies the social aspect of the competition by allowing roars to be amplified by users with a high Klout score. The leaderboard is calculated using more than aggregate number of tweets for each university, but also by number of retweets and likes the roars receive on Nike Basketball.

To roar for your favorite university, visit: Klout or Nike Basketball.

As of the date of this blog, the current Top 10 Universities on Campus Roar are:

1. Northern Iowa
2. Oakland
3. Missouri State
4. University of Georgia
5. Syracuse University
6. North Florida University
7. University of Oregon
8. Gonzaga University
9. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
10. West Virginia University

Ok, let’s be honest, my number one life goal at the moment is to find an awesome job at an innovative, creative agency or corporation. Nevertheless, I have an entirely different subset of goals that relate to the geo-location game of Foursquare.

When I first started playing Foursquare (back in October or so), my main motivation was to grab as many mayorships as possible. And I did, seeing as how I was maybe 1 of 10 people in the Athens area using the app. Over the past few months, I’ve seen my mayorships dwindle from about 9 (so close to that Super Mayor badge…sigh) to my current total: 1.

Thus, I’ve decided it is time to reevaluate my use of Foursquare. The pursuit of mayorships in Athens is futile, given that I will be relocating in about 5 weeks. My new goal in Foursquare is to collect as many badges as I can get my hoarding, iPhone carrying hands on.

Firstly, currently I possess these shiny badges:

Thanks to The Kruser, I was able to research all the badges I’d plan to obtain in the coming weeks:

Jetsetter

Requirement: 5 Airport Checkins
Strategy: I believe I have 4 checkins right now. I’m going to New York City next weekend, so a checkin at LaGuardia should accomplish this.

Far, Far Away

Requirement: Check in above 59^th Street in NYC
Strategy: While in NYC, I’ll be staying with a friend who lives in the 70’s, so a checkin about 59^th should be cake.

Barista

Requirement: Check in to 5 Starbucks locations
Strategy: I can believe I haven’t accomplished this yet. I must frequent the same Starbucks far to often. Branching out.

Bravo Newbie

Requirement: Check in at a Bravo rated location
Strategy: Not sure. I doubt I visit anywhere classy enough to warrant a Bravo ranking. In NYC, I’ll stroll down 5^th Ave, but I’ll probably get shunned.

Jobs

Requirement: Check in to 3 Apple stores
Strategy: Another badge I can’t believe I haven’t obtained yet. Oftentimes I visit Apple stores just to gawk at the pretty things I cannot afford. More window shopping, I suppose!

Zeotrope

Requirement: 10 checkins at venues tagged “theatre.”
Strategy: This one is a stretch. My wallet restrictions don’t allow me to see as many movies in the theatre as I would like. Too bad there isn’t a Netflix badge.

I’m on a Boat!

Requirement: Checkin at a venue tagged “boat”
Strategy: Hrmmm….

Now that I’ve laid out my plan for badge domination, I’ve realized that this post is also an indicator that I have entirely too much free time on my hands.