down2night.com local event notification by SMS launches

A pretty interesting new site has launched tonight. Called down2night, it allows you to receive SMS messages about events at your favorite local bars, clubs, restaurants, theaters and other social functions.  What I like about this is that you can be notified about last minute type events using this service. And it can also help you learn about new events in a city you are visiting. Currently the only city online during their alpha launch is Seattle but the site shows plans on adding about twenty other major cities in the U.S. in the coming weeks. Check out the information about the launch on their blog.

"down2night's primary users will inevitably be in the 18 to 35 year old professional crowd," says Mark Michael, Synapse's CEO.  "This market segment is the most mobile-savvy group having SMS messaging experience, while also being the individuals that spend the most time and money attending musical events, and visiting clubs, lounges, and other nightlife establishments. Since mobile social networking was officially introduced in 2001, it has exploded into a surprising $3.45 billion dollar industry in the US alone," Mark goes on to say.  "It has become the fastest-growing launch of a new industry ever, and with the introduction of new and more feature rich wireless phone devices this trend is expected to continue."

Rather than hiring people to go out and find the events, down2night appears to use the idea of social networking whereby users will post from their cell phones to the site and then others will receive the information.  This appears to be another good use of SMS. Might even work well with a tie into a service like Meetmoi. And what about mashing in reviews from Yelp?