WO2012116397A1

WO2012116397A1 - Method of selecting a vends and system for the method

Info

Publication number: WO2012116397A1
Application number: PCT/AU2012/000193
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marco Vincent DE PASQUALE
Original assignee: Crowdchaser Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2011-02-28
Filing date: 2012-02-28
Publication date: 2012-09-07

Abstract

A system for selecting a recreational venue by one or more users including: storage means for receiving, storing and dispatching data pertaining to plurality of venues; venue access means associated with each venue and connectable to said storage means for inputting at least some of the data into the storage means; user access means associated with each user and connectable to said storage means for inputting the remainder of the data into said storage means and receiving data dispatched from said storage means; search means operable on said data for searching the data of one or more of the venues according to search criteria for the or each user; and reporting means operable on or by said user access means for reporting whether any one or more of the venues satisfy the search criteria.

Description

METHOD OF SELECTING A VENUE AND SYSTEM FOR SHE METHOD

This invention relates to a method of selecting a venue and a system for carrying out the method.

The Invention has particular application to a method and system for selecting a recreational venue from a range of possible recreational venues according to demographic criteria of a population determined to be present at the possible recreational venues. The invention has more particular application to enhancing the likelihood of a user meeting another person who falls into the preferred demographic criteria of the user.

Many people spend their recreational time at a hotel or pub, club, bar or such like with a view to meeting new friends or catching up with old ones. However, with an increasing number of such venues, and the tendency for such venues to become crowded, it is difficult to assess whether any venue is more suited to the aspirations of the patrons, particularly those who are seeking to establish a relationship beyond the meeting at the venue itself. Many patrons simply do not know what the available venues have to offer.

More traditional avenues for social interaction, such as Church or community sponsored gatherings, are falling into disuse, resulting in increased difficulty for people seeking to meet new friends for companionship and personal relationships, whether it be for casual or lifelong relationships .

An increased use of electronic aids to communication has failed to provide a solution for people seeking a suitable candidate for establishing a relationship. There is also a large and increasing number recreational venues which are well patronised and this may be seen in and of itself to address the issue of people seeking a relationship finding a suitable partner. The difficulty presented to such people is a lack of knowledge about recreational venues, particularly with the rate at which such venues open and close, or the rate at which the demographic make-up of the patronage changes.

The present invention aims to provide method of and system for venue selection which alleviates the aforesaid problems. Other aims and advantages of the invention may become apparent from the following description. With the foregoing in view, in one aspect the present invention resides broadly in a system for selecting a recreational venue by one or more users including: storage means for receiving, storing and dispatching data pertaining to a plurality of venues; user access means associated with each user and connectable to said storage means for inputting the remainder of the data into said storage means and receiving data dispatched from said storage means; search means operable on said data for searching the data of one or more of the venues according to search criteria for the or each user; and reporting means operable on or by said user access means for reporting whether any one or more of the venues satisfy the search criteria. The system may also include venue access means associated with each venue and connectable to said storage means for inputting at least some of the data into the storage means.

In another aspect, the present invention resides broadly in a method of selecting a venue, including: receiving, storing and dispatching data pertaining to plurality of venues on, in or associated with storage means; inputting at least some of the data associated with each venue into the storage means;

connecting to the storage means for access to the data; searching the data for one or more of the venues according to search criteria; and

reporting whether any one or more of the venues satisfy the search criteria.

Preferably, if the reporting means reports one or more of the venues satisfy the search criteria, the particulars of the or each venue are also provided. More preferably, the particulars of the venues reported include demographic information. For example, the location, contact details, number of patrons, including their gender balance and age profile, and general description of each venue may be provided.

Preferably, the user access, search and reporting means are provided in the form of an applet or application {"app") operable on a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone. The app be offered to users by subscription, or for free as a download. The app may be in the form of an executable app on a mobile device and/or a website having user registration capability. Additionally, in such form, it is preferred that the venue access means be provided in the form of application software executable on a general purpose digital electronic computer.

In the form which includes the venue access means, each venue may provide for staff, such as, for example, security personnel, who monitor the incoming patrons to the venue, including, for example, the age and sex of each patron, whether they are accompanied or not, and such like. For example, the provider of the app may require minimum particulars of patrons, the currency of the information and such like, to input such data to the storage means. In such form, venues may be checked from time to time by the managers of the system for accuracy and currency of the information uploaded to the server. The method of the invention may further include delisting any venue found to fail in meeting the accuracy and currency criteria. Additionally, as personal identification technology improves, it may become possible for venues to automatically obtain and upload data on their population of patrons.

Preferably, the storage means is provided as application software executable on one or more general purpose digital electronic computers. For example, the application software may be operable as a database. Moreover, the application software may incorporate the application software hereinbefore described in relation to the venue access means. If desired or appropriate, the application software may be run and stored, along with the data, using distributed processing and may involve, for example, a server, virtual server host, cloud or such like.

in order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the following drawings which illustrate preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for selecting a venue according to the invention. The system 10 illustrated in Figs. 1 includes a website

11 which users, such as user 1 and user 2, referred to by reference numerals 12 and 13 respectively, may access. Each user downloads a free app 14 (illustrated for user 1 only) and enters user data 15, including setting up a user name and password, setting up a user profile, and being provided with informative material including suggestions as to how to enhance both their own experience and that of their friends and acquaintances using the system.

For user 1, a first scenario at 16 arises in which user 1 enters a bar and checks into the system by executing the app which accesses the website. The user is prompted by the website to input basic data, including how crowded the bar is, if there are more males than females or vice versa, and by how much one sex outnumbers the other. The data input by user 1 is uploaded to a server 17 as a posting and the data are compiled into a basic graph with other data from other users.

User 1 may then access refreshed information at 18 including data updated as a result of their posting. User 1 gains credit points at 19 as a consideration for posting the data to the website (and server). As user l's credit points accumulate, their status may be improved or elevated at 20.

For user 2, a second scenario 21 arises wherein user 2 wishes to locate a bar as a selected venue for their evening's entertainment and social interaction. After accessing the system (in a similar fashion to that of user 1), may select from options such as the top bars stored in their profile, the five most crowded bars in their area, the bar or bars with the most boys or girls or whether any of their friends are at the bar. User 2 then uses the information to select and proceed to the bar at 22.

Further services may be made, including an additional data module 23 to provide additional reference material uploaded from the user or down loaded to the user, such as whether they managed to establish expected social interactions, how the music, decor, menu and other attributes of the bar would be rated against a scale of, say, 1 to 10. Such data is uploaded to the server at 24. The users can also keep track at 25 of their status and/or standing, and check up what other users have uploaded to the system.

In use, the system of the present invention may be used to provide real time head count numbers of public bars, clubs, hotels and such like in major cities and towns throughout the world during trading hours. Hereinafter, these are referred to as participating venues. Head count numbers would be broken down by number of females verses number of males. Other features may include may include · Search for venue with most females or males;

• Capacity of venue

• Celebrity sighting

• Special offers to members

• Genre of musical or other entertainment

• Post real time location of user to social networking websites

• Maps of and instructions to locate the venues

• Map user's own activity

• Real time gallery page of personal or shared images

• Call a cab

Report on the demographic make-up of the patrons at the venue • Nearest food stop by options

• If the venue is at capacity, an estimate of the queue time

The app may be provided as a free download and have a subscription of membership for little or no charge for a nominated period of time, such as, for example, 3, 6 or 12 months. Membership may be renewed upon prompting by a timely reminder. Once established, all participating venues may also be provided with real-time advertising and/or promotional opportunities to users. Moreover, alcoholic beverage suppliers may be offered real-time advertising and/or promotional opportunities to users.

In an alternative form, the patronage information is provided to the server by the participating venues. For example, data may be updated every hour during off peak and every half hour minutes during peak time. Data is then verified in two ways. Firstly, users may provide immediate feedback as to accuracy. If negative feedback is received, contact is made with the participating venue to verify data and, if necessary, update correct data. Secondly, random audits may be conducted by friends or associates of the app provider.

In order to provide operability of the system according to the invention, the following minimum requirements are suggested:

• Live data graphic display - select venue select display option; • Ability to upload real time data via text or email from multiple venues simultaneously;

• Create an application to function on mobile communications devices having graphic displays, such as the Apple® iPhone®;

• Create a web site.

Test data upload capability and speed. Must be real time.

In a preferred form, data may be uploaded to the server by users to provide information distinguished by the fact that its source is the body of users themselves. In such for, patronage data is sourced from users of the app or website. This data is collated, sorted and modelled to best represent the patronage break down of each and every participating venue. Data may be viewed in a variety of ways depending on users' wants and needs. For example, the top five most crowded venues may be displayed and ranked by, for example, most females, reliability of the source list, etc.

It will be seen that sourcing data from users provides advantages such as better interactivity, ""ownership" of the data by the users, authenticity, privacy or legal issues are minimised and cost, users will appreciate that the data would not be 100% accurate as users will now be more accepting of inaccurate data, but in such a circumstance, users may also correct the data by posting accurate data themselves once they arrive .

It will be appreciated that the system of the present invention requires a minimum amount of data before it can publish useful patronage data for any particular participating venue, as well as a threshold number of participating venues in a city, town or region. Once a user arrives at a venue they simply go to the app and input data. Preferably, multi-choice input options are provided to the user to input the data to provide consistency in the reporting of the data between users. Users may also, or in the alternative, verify or update data once they arrive at a participating venue.

Venue owners may attempt to corrupt or falsify data by sending bogus reports but this will be buffered out by the volume of data provided by users. A verification process may also be employed. The app may also be used to provide a function for social discourse, allowing users to provide feedback, in the social networking sense, to other users. Users may ask for a venue to be added to or deleted from the system. However, it is suggested that users will benefit from shared experiences, including, but not limited to, general rating for the venue, music, gender balance, conversation and such like.

This ability to correlate data and receive feedback from users will encourage users to regularly use the app and/or website. A points counter may be added to the system to track the number of reviews posted by users. The more reviews a user posts, so long as they are accurate, the more credible they become and users may then follow such postings.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the following example system for the method of selecting a venue according to the invention. The app and website will perform selected functions at a high level, the website being provided in distributed form: a public portion of the website and a mobile portion of the website. In such form, the public portion website provides the following functionality: an ability to view details of all pubs, clubs and bars registered with the system, particularly for the uploading of information relevant to the venue itself, such as address, opening tiroes, dress code, menu and food prices, drinks available and drink prices and such like; an ability to view real time details on the crowds at each pub, bar and club registered with the system;

an ability to show 5 top-rated crowded venues based on predetermined or selectable criteria;

an ability to download data to a mobile device (such as, for example, and iPhone) ;

data to be displayed in graph form;

establishment website access; an ability to register as a pub, club or bar in order to maintain key details;

an ability to turn into a source of revenue later if you start to charge subscription.

The app (executable on the mobile device) will provide the following functionality:

a ability to display all the pubs, clubs and bars either by closest match (using GPS), by selecting state and postcode or by searching for a name; an ability to see the top five crowded venues in the system (or a predetermined geographical area); an ability to add establishment to a favourites list;

an ability to add estimated capacity (eg. in %) ; an ability to add ratio of female to male; an ability to add friends

an ability to flag to verify or deny current data for authenticity;

an ability to display available data, such as, for example_/ the number of reports that within a predetermined prior timeframe, such as, for example_/ a number of hours just past to assist with explaining the data

data to be displayed in graph format on the mobile device (eg. iPhone) ; and

an ability to add social achievements such as hooked up, found love, scored, rate the hotties and such like.

In an alternative form, the website may also include an ability to limit the number of reports supplied by time limit (set to , for example, once every 30-60 minutes) to reduce fraudulent reports;

The system may also be adapted to use friends as reliable sources of data and ability to view friends reports on their favourite venues.

The mobile portion of the website provides the following functionality: an ability to feed off the public website in order to enable users who do not have mobile device capable of running the app (that is, an iPhone) to take advantage of the service provided by the system. It will be appreciated that the ability to add friends to a list may require registration. Alternatively, link into a social networking application (such as, for example, Facebook) may assist in disseminating information about the venue. The app and website may further include functionality to provide technical support for users and venues.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific example, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in other forms within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth and defined by the following claims .

Claims

1. A system for selecting a recreational venue by one or more users including:

. storage means for receiving, storing and dispatching data pertaining to plurality of venues;

venue access means associated with each ¹ venue and connectable to said storage means for inputting at least some of the data into the storage means;

user access means associated with each user and connectable to said storage means for inputting the remainder of the data into said storage means and receiving data dispatched from said storage means;

search means operable on said data for searching the data of one or more of the venues according to search criteria for the or each user; and

reporting means operable on or by said user access means for reporting whether any one or more of the venues satisfy the search criteria.

2. The system according to Claim 1, said venue access means is associated with each venue and connectable to said storage means for inputting at least some of the data into the storage means .

3. A method of selecting a venue, including: receiving, storing and dispatching data pertaining to plurality of venues on, in or associated with storage means ; inputting at least some of the data associated with each venue into the storage means; connecting to the storage means for access to the data; searching the data for one or more of the venues according to search criteria; and reporting whether any one or more of the venues satisfy the search criteria.

4. The method according to Claim 3, wherein the particulars of the or each venue are also provided upon one or more of the venues satisfying the search criteria being reported by the reporting means.

8. The method according to Claim 4, wherein the particulars of the venues reported include demographic information.

6. The method according to Claim 5, wherein the user access, search and reporting means are provided in the form of an app operable on a mobile device.

7. The method according to Claim 6, wherein the app is provided in the form of an executable app on a mobile device and/or a website having user registration capability and the venue access means is provided in the form of application software executable on a general purpose digital electronic computer.

8. The method according to Claim 7, wherein the venue access means provides for staff to monitor the incoming patrons to the venue.

9. The method according to Claim 8, and including checking the venues from time to time for accuracy and currency of the information uploaded to the server.