600block

Case Study

A Community for Finding Baltimore Area Places, Specials and Deals

600block was originally made as an online community of Baltimore area foodie's in search of new places to find, try out, and share with friends. A user can find places, get reviews, write a review, see address and phone information as well. However, the niche that sets 600block apart from other similar websites is by showing the daily and weekly specials and deals for each location within their database. This is perfectly fine if you are sitting in front of your computer checking out the specials for the day of a new restaurant you want to experience with your friends, then try to find the place yourself.

The Problem

But what if you were already in the city, in a new neighborhood looking for a new place to eat or drink, and wanted that same wealth of knowledge and convenience of 600block without needing a computer? That's where viaPlace makes this happen.

The Solution

By utilizing the viaPlace framework, 600block is now available on the go wherever you may be in the city. viaPlace is a location based content distribution platform for delivering geospatial information and digital multi-media experiences. Currently the viaPlace platform is available for iPhone and Windows Mobile Devices and is ready to be customized and skinned for your business. The 600block app is available to iPhone users for free, as it only requires you create a new account on their website or use Facebook to sign in. The iPhone App is fully skinned to look like and provide users with the same information to all the great places, specials and deals within each neighborhood of Baltimore that is available on the internet. They have access to all the features of their account including "My Scene," a collection of saved favorite locations, they can read reviews for each location, and write their own to contribute to the community. In addition, the viaPlace framework comes standard with an interactive Map indicating where they are currently located and also displays which places from their 600block Scene are close by while presenting the quickest route available. The "Nearby" screen shows all locations within a 10 mile radius of their location and sorts the lists of places by closest to furthest.

The Results

Due to their enthusiastic local online community, 600block has enjoyed instant success due to the iPhone app. The company has already garnish National Press, Local newspaper and Television coverage, and praise from around the city. Once someone see's the app in use, they understand the enormous beneit in having instant access to information in your current location. Not to mention the amount of money you will be saving by finding great deals and specials around you, every day of the week.