You've most certainly left an indelible mark on the industry and with many top brands. Best wishes for continued success, Peter!

I saw your 4sq check-in at Aulani and wanted to ask you about it. This recap / review is more than I could have ever expected in response - wow! And thank you. Glad you guys had some good times off the grid.

Wow, sometimes I forget just how Amurican many in the U.S. are... how diplomatic we must all seem to a global audience.

Congrats, Pete. You guys have had quite an impressive run in just a few years! May the fourth be the best yet...

In the era of 99% of mobile-based conversations occuring via text, it's really conspicuous when someone has to step away to take a voice call on their mobile. Ha!

I use LBS check-ins for one of two purposes: 1) to help me reconcile business mileage and 2) to remember an interesting place a I visited. Rarely does the social aspect of LBS enter my train of thought. Back to point #1, however: I think there's a definite use case for business purposes vis-a-vis LBS, but it probably has little to do with loyalty or unique 'engagement' with a brand.

Wow, talk about being on the same wavelength... Along with some other talented folks, I have been working on a concept called Keepio that aims to augment the activities you mention vis-a-vis pre-commerce and re-commerce. In short, Keepio wants to make it easier for friends to connect with other friends when considering the purchase or sale of the products we own and value. With so many opportunities to elevate advocacy and discussion around products using our social graph, we're hoping to unlock lots of valuable tacit knowledge that people possess when it comes to the products they buy, share, and collect. I hope that you and the rest of the WCG gang will be in Austin for SXSWi next week; I'd love to chat more about your thoughts on pre-commerce and other cool ideas you've seen in the burgeoning space. I hope all is well... NH

I've found leftover White Castle to be exceedingly unpopular in work environments with >1 person.

"viral" is an outcome, not a strategy. your chances of going viral rival those of getting struck by lightning ...while you're being eaten by a dinosaur. people don't scale.

Congrats on all the success with DG, Peter. Observing and absorbing from afar has been enjoyable and inspirational to me. Best wishes for continued success!

Your distinction - all customers are individuals, but not vice versa - is indeed vital to understanding the social media universe. Well said. I tried to tackle a similar topic from another angle a while ago: http://www.nickhuhn.com/2008/09/21/social-media-myth-debunked-consumers-are-not-in-control-of-your-brand/ In that example, I'd see SWA employees on equal footing as paying passengers vis-a-vis advocacy and responsibility for a good experience. In my experience, true customers [brand ambassadors] often mitigate any issues of assumed 'control' initiated by otherwise unaffiliated individuals. @tomob makes a solid point too: if a brand is trying to respond to an individual or customer concern, a copy/paste methodology of messaging is tantamount to ignoring the issue in the first place.

I'm unable to make it this year, Pete, but would love to get back in touch. I'm glad my pals Rick M and Chris H will be there, and I look forward to re-living some elements of the experience vicariously with them later. Hopefully we'll get to chat again face-to-face in the 502 or 512. Keep up the tremendous work @ Dachis!