Green with Envy

On Tuesday I got together with a friend to talk governance and board roles. Important but mundane stuff. While we were together, he updated me on the progress of his new venture.

To me, PickupPal first sounded like it might be an on-line dating service (Plenty of Fish?; PickupPal?). It's not (maybe that's just me).

PickupPal is a ride share program. Carpooling. As in - you drive, I ride shot gun. We save the environment, talk celebrity gossip, kill some time and split the gas.

What's fascinating about this venture is the unexpected relevance, logic, and great execution that makes ride share and PickupPal something way more intriguing than I first imagined. Carpooling is cool? I kind of missed that one.

For those into green, social media and getting from a to b, it really is.

Here's PickupPal's website. You go there, sign up and create a profile. Using Facebook Connect it takes no time. Profiles can be created without using FB but a FB profile adds credibility and reassuring background to someone you may end up spending three hours in a car with.

When you want a ride somewhere in North America (or you're going somewhere and want company), simply post the details of your trip. Find a match (location, interests, timing) and fasten your seat belt.

Makes sense?

It's gets bigger and better when you add Groups. Think Church. Concerts. Companies. Colleges and universities. Anything with lots of like minded people going to the same place, same time.

One that got my attention was rock concerts. You don't think concert promoters aren't aware of the green impact, publicity and perceptions that bringing 50,000 people to the same venue has? Through it's partnership with Reverb, PickupPal is the ride-share sponsor for acts like the Dave Mathews Band, The Dead, Crowded House, Fall-out Boy, Kelly Clarkson and many more.

Marketing-wise, PickupPal has an active biz dev effort that is forging key relationships with green organizations, ride share users and partnerships all over North America. Following developments is easy on Twitter.

Talking to my friend, I suggested that perhaps the only thing better that could do is get more public exposure. Yesterday he sent me a copy of this email (details omitted to protect the innocent, but you get the point):

My name is ------ and I am a producer with ------(big news channel). I
am based in our Big US City Bureau and am hoping to connect with someone
from Pick-up Pal. We are interested in producing a feature story on the
website and service. Please call me at your convenience at -----.

Guess I'm not the only one who thinks maybe PickupPal is onto something interesting.