Lawrence KS App

Do you have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Want to keep up with local businesses in Lawrence? Check out the Lawrence KS app, a guide to Lawrence restaurants, bars and shopping!

IMG_0708_0003 The app was created by our friend Jacinta at LangfordMedia, a web/social media/mobile marketing company in Lawrence.

The application is great for folks who live in Lawrence and especially if you're just here to visit. View business hours, menus, drink specials and more- including live Twitter feeds if the business has an account. You can browse businesses by category, or you can choose "near me" to find places close to you. 

The app costs 99 cents, which is a steal. A really cool feature of this app is that a portion of all proceeds will be donated to the Lawrence Public Schools.

If you own a business, you can request the business to be included as a "featured listing." These are the first places a user sees when launching the app. If your business isn't currently listed in the app, contact LangfordMedia.

Be sure to check out the website for more details! 

(This is a completely independent review of the Lawrence KS app. It was not paid for or requested by LangfordMedia. In fact, I paid for the app myself. I just think it's cool and wanted to share the info.)

Blog Posts by Email

Do you enjoy our blog but find it hard to visit the website every day? There's an easier way to keep up with our stories!

One of the features we offer on the blog is a subscription by email. There's a little box on the right side of the page, near the top, that says "Enter your email address." It's that simple. All you have to do is type in your email address, then click subscribe. Another box will pop up, and to make sure you're not a spammer it requires that you type in some text. Once you click on "complete subscription request," you're done.

You'll receive a confirmation message at the email address you provided, and you can unsubscribe any time.

Currently, the blog posts are scheduled to be delivered between 9-11 p.m. on any day there's a new post. We can change this, so if you have strong feelings about when the email should arrive, let us know. 

This is a really easy way to make sure you don't miss any of our posts, and you don't have to visit the website every day. Of course, we'd still like for you to stop by and leave comments every once in awhile!

Live on the Webcam in Texas

A few nights ago, Dave and Andrew were holding down the fort at the Sandbar when the phone rang. It was a woman calling from Texas to tell them she was watching them on the webcam.

We get these calls occasionally, and usually they're creepy- some weird guy who merely says "I'm watching you" as if he expects a reaction other than "okay….so?" Or the time when some guy called in the middle of the afternoon to say he'd just been in the bar, and could he please talk to the blond girl sitting at the end of the bar, because he'd been talking to her when he was there? Dave said no. "That's my wife, and you weren't just here talking to her because we aren't even open yet." That's the kind of creepy we usually get.

But this caller from Texas was fun. Dave and Andrew created a quick sign for them:

Texas 

They held it up in front of the webcam to say "hi" to our Texan voyeurs. Thanks, guys!

Foursquare Swarm Badge at The Sandbar

Nerd alert: this post won't make sense to many of you. But it's an interesting account of the activities at the Sandbar last Thursday night when the Free State Social community tweetup took place.

Foursquare is a location-based social networking site. Users "check in" when they go places, and their friends can see where they are. The game aspect is one appeal of Foursquare- check in's accumulate points, which in turn allow the user to earn different badges. One of these badges is the elusive "Swarm Badge," which can only be earned if 50 or more people are checked into the same place at the same time. It's like a Foursquare flash mob.

Our neighbors in Kansas City have organized several events to try to earn the Swarm Badge, and each time they've fallen short by just a few people. Lots of people thought the Swarm Badge would be earned at the Free State Social conference last week- since many of the attendees use Foursquare and 300 people were at the conference- but it didn't happen.

I never thought we'd earn the Swarm Badge at Thursday night's community tweetup- after all, if we didn't get it at the conference where all the attendees were in the same place at the same time, it didn't seem possible to unlock it at the tweetup, where participants were spread all over downtown Lawrence in a million different places.

However, people kept coming to the Sandbar on Thursday night, and our friend Jacinta sent the first tweet about swarming the Sandbar. More tweets and retweets followed, and more people kept coming to the bar and checking in. Suddenly we had 16 people checked in, then 33, then 45. The Swarm Badge seemed like a real possibility. Even people who don't normally use Foursquare checked in to help with the cause, and at 9:50 p.m. the 50th person checked in and unlocked the Swarm Badge for everyone:

Picture 1

A funny irony- our legal capacity is 49, and 50 people are needed to unlock the badge. There may have been more than 49 people in the bar, but the patio was busier than it's ever been too.

I think we're the first place to unlock the Swarm Badge in Kansas, from what I've heard. This might seem trivial, and perhaps it is. But it was a fun activity on Thursday- it encouraged people to network with new people and gave them something to talk about, and it helped add to the sense of community that was already created by Free State Social. 

And, of course, it was great for business on Thursday. I saw several tweets from people who only came to the Sandbar so they could check in and try to get the Swarm Badge- I don't know if they bought anything or not, but at least they were exposed to our crazy little world for a little bit of time. Maybe they'll be back sometime.

If you were there, leave a comment and let us know what you thought. If you want to write a guest post about your experience at the Sandbar, we're up for that too.

Our new website is live!

After a long design and development process, the new Sandbar website is finally live!

Lawrence managing partner & bartender Dave came up with most of the design, and regular customer Frank worked his magic to make it into a website. 

The background image on the home page isn't a stock photo- it's an actual picture from our own photo library, taken in Mexico at former staffer Maynard's wedding.

And, we've incorporated better links to all of our social networking sites to make it easier for you to find us online.

Another important thing to note- each of our locations now has their own page! You can find the menus for both Sandbar Ottawa and the Sandbar Sub Shop on their pages.

It's a work in progress, so more stuff is coming- like an online store and other fun stuff- but for now, check out our website and let us know what you think!

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With Us Tomorrow!

Our favorite day of the year is almost here!

The annual Lawrence St. Patrick's Day Parade starts tomorrow (that's March 17, if you didn't know) at 1 p.m. The action begins at South Park and heads north through downtown Lawrence, over the bridge, and through the construction in North Lawrence to end up at the Flamingo Club.

It's a long day for us. We get started early in the morning with last minute float preparations, dancing, and pizza for breakfast. By the time the parade's over, we're all worn out. Some of us go home, some party for awhile, and some of us keep going into the wee hours of the night. A few unfortunate folks- usually Dave- end up working behind the bar.

Here's a few parade and St. Patrick's Day related tips and ideas for you:

  1. Get downtown early. Don't drive downtown if you don't have to. Bike, walk, or scooter if you can. The area is packed with people and cars.
  2. If you're on Twitter, be sure to use the #lawstpats hashtag when you're tweeting about the parade. We're giving away some t-shirts, and the Bull 92.9 radio station is giving away some stuff too, including a $25 gift certification to Salty Iguana. Prizes awarded to random tweeters who use the hashtag.
  3. If you're drinking, get a sober driver. Lawrence police are conducting a saturation patrol Wednesday night. (Actually, get a sober driver anytime you're drinking, not just because there's a saturation patrol.) Sandbar staff is happy to call a cab, call a friend, or as a last resort someone would probably even drive you home- it's been done before.
  4. Looking for St. Patrick's Day themed drinks? Check these out from Fine Living Food & Drink. We don't have the ingredients to make most of them, but you can make them at home. Although, the Frozen Irish Banana sounds a little like the Dirty Banana…
  5. Try cooking with Guinness. Our IT professional, Frank, will appreciate these recipes, courtesy of the Beeriety blog. If you like Guinness, you'll probably enjoy adding it to your food.
  6. Use Smartphone apps to enhance your drinking experience. If you're using Android, Blackberry, Palm, or iPhone, there's an app for you courtesy of PC World. You can find a pub, play beer pong, or cure a hangover.

Our favorite friendly float rivals, the gang from Kennedy Glass, invited our crew over tonight for burgers, beers, and float viewings. After that, we've got some details to finish up. We'll see you tomorrow in downtown Lawrence!