I do… now.  Until this morning, I have to admit I didn’t even know what the thing was.  I’d never heard of it.  I know, I know… this is my job.  I’m supposed to know what this stuff is ahead of time and put it to good use.  I guess this one slipped through the cracks.  Regardless, here’s my take on it.

For those asking themselves what it is, a Poken is a handy-dandy little networking tool that effectively swaps digital business cards with anyone else that has one.  When they come within a certain radius of another one, they light up.  This tells you to wander the room, meet, greet, and chat, all the while scanning those people head-to-toe for a little device that’s about 2 inches long that can be concealed as one of many pseudo Japanese figures.  Mine’s a ninja for example.

Once located you need only hold them together and your pre-determined contact information is transferred to theirs and vice-versa.  When you get home, simply plug your Poken into a USB port and all the contact info you can into contact with is transferred to your account.  This info can then be downloaded as a vCard, nice, or kept on their server… handy.  Set up is simple and cost is minimal at around $20.  You can pick one up here. http://www.pokenplace.com/shop/

So you’ve bought your Poken and you’re ready to set it up.  Here’s how you do it:

Step 1: Open the box, pull the figure off the hand and pull the little paper tab out to activate your Poken.

Step 2: Plug your Poken into your computer’s USB port and wait.  Most of the time, your computer will recognize what’s been plugged in and auto-launch the website.  If not, open the new folder and double-click on Start_Poken.html

Step 3: Set up your account with a username, email address and password, then enter your contact info, picture, and any Social Media networks you’d like included.  You get a sample view of what your new friends waiting to be met will see.  Once you get that looking the way you like, save and you’re all set.

Step 4: Go out and start Poken.