Catch those gurgling goo-goo noises emanating from your computer speakers? Oh wow, you better see a psychiatrist about that! Hah hah, just kidding. No, that cooing that you hear is the dulcet sound of Groupon Boston, who was born at midnight on March 16, 2009. Right out of the Interwomb, Groupon Boston started working on behalf of Boston-area small businesses and consumers, offering a $40 voucher at the Brighton, MA restaurant Zocalo Cucina Mexicana for just $20. Smartypantses that they are, Bostonians responded with gusto, buying up 78 Groupons so they could enjoy mucho mas mole por menos.

Lil’ Baby Boston Groupon has had a smashingly successful first week on earth, with each daily deal scoring way more purchasers than necessary to make the deals tip over. We’ve got a community manager on the scene to nurture Boston Groupon into a modern-day Hercules of daily discountdom, as well as some sales nannies who are working tirelessly to secure those awesome deals that Chicago Groupon fans have become so used to by now.

“How come Boston, and not my town?” you’re probably wondering. Well, Boston has a ton of universities that churn out thousands of web-savvy graduates, some of whom even go so far as to marry their computers. It’s got a diverse, vibrant local business scene. And perhaps most importantly, we are exceedingly Old School patriotic — so patriotic, in fact, that we come to work every morning riding horses in the manner of Paul Revere, and dump a box of tea into the nearby Chicago River. Horse-riding and tea-dumping are activities that staffers must endure in order to enter Groupon HQ; anyone who fails has to spend the morning in front of our building, locked in wooden stocks and subject to the mockery of tomato-wielding colonists. So we pretty much had to go for Boston, or else we would have felt vile and seditious.

Worry not, Rest-of-America: We’re totally on board with the Brangelina/OctoMom modus operandi when it comes to birthing Groupon babies — i.e., more equals better. So expect more Baby Groupon news in the next few months.

-Filed in Groupon, Tactics, Tools

We’re excited to announce that we’ve integrated Facebook Connect into The Point, making it possible for Facebook users to use The Point without setting up and managing a separate account or maintaing a separate login.

Back in December 2008, Facebook announced Facebook Connect – a service that lets people use their Facebook login and identity on third party sites that provide integration, like The Point.

Connect!

If you already use The Point and have a Facebook account (who doesn’t!?) clicking the Facebook Connect button will link your account on The Point to your Facebook account and you’ll be able to use your Facebook login from then on.

New users of The Point can just click the Facebook Connect button when joining a campaign for the first time, and a quick Facebook login is all it takes – no account setup, no account activation.

Your Facebook login information is never sent to or shared with The Point in any way; it’s entirely handled by Facebook.

Your Portable Identity – You Can Take it With You

Once you’re connected, your identity on Facebook – your name, profile pic – even your friends – will be available on The Point.

Tired of that profile pic?  Change it once on Facebook and it’ll be visible on The Point.

Your Facebook profile information is subject to the same privacy controls on The Point as you set in Facebook.

Let Your Friends Know What You’re Up To on The Point

When you join a campaign on The Point, we’ll ask if you want to publish a Facebook feed item to share it with your Facebook friends.  You’ll see a preview of what the feed item will look like, and have the chance to post it or, of course, say ‘No Thanks’.  It’s up to you.

You’ll also see your friends’ activity on The Point on their feeds so you can keep up with what they’re up to.

What’s next?

Of course, what’s Facebook integration without friends, right?  We’ll be adding features over time to let you see which of your Facebook friends are also using The Point and let you invite them to connect.

For example, you might want to know which of your Facebook friends are already members of a campaign you’ve joined.  Or maybe you want to invite your Facebook friends to a campaign on The Point.

What about Groupon?

For those of you using Groupon in Chicago (and soon Boston, and beyond!) to get great deals through the power of collective buying, you probably know that Groupon is powered by The Point.  We’ll be making the Facebook Connect features of The Point available to all Groupon users in the coming weeks.

-Filed in Groupon, News, The Point, Uncategorized