Sometime ago Evernote introduced the ability to insert a checkbox (instructions at the bottom of this post) into your notes to flag something as a “ToDo” item which helped, but still fell a little short since I now had to go through my notes to find the ToDo’s. Part of the problem was me, since I was used to a traditional ToDo lists (outside of Evernote) which were all consolidated and orderly. Yet there was a problem with those consolidated lists too… a lack of context around that ToDo item.

Of course some ToDo’s are easy to figure out and don’t need context (“Pick Up Dry Cleaning” for example), but with others, particularly those more business oriented, or associated with on-going projects, it helps to have other information to refer to.

Back to Evernote…

So I set out for searching for a way to create a dynamic, consolidated list of the items in Evernote that I mark as “ToDo” (by adding the little checkbox) in Evernote, without the need for yet another 3rd party application. While I assumed there must be a way to do accomplish this in Evernote, I was wrong. However, there is something better, and if you can challenge yourself to think a little differently, and appreciate having your ToDo’s in context this might work for you too.

As it turns out there is an array of Evernote search parameters that you can use from within the Evernote application and on the web interface. One of those parameters is:

todo:[true|false|*] -  If the argument is “false”, this will match notes that have ToDo checkboxes that are not currently checked. If the argument is “*”, this will match notes that have a ToDo checkbox of any type. If the argument is “true” then it will match notes with ToDo checkboxes that are currently checked.

So, in your search bar simply type “todo:false” and you’ll get back all of the notes which have unchecked ToDo items.

Why This Is Better Than A ToDo “List”

While it challenges us to think about the ToDo list a little differently, I’d argue it’s better because it puts our ToDo’s in context (surrounded by the notes on that subject). And by combining the todo: search parameter with other search parameters, for example tag:tagname we can easily refine our searches and see only what we want to currently focus on, again, kept in context.

I’d recommend creating and saving searches that you use frequently so that you can easily execute the search later without having to type things in every time.

Adding The ToDo Box:

In case you are not sure how to add the ToDo box in Evernote here is a quick tutorial:

If you prefer to use keystrokes then on Mac try : Command+Shift+T

on Windows try Control+Shift+C.

Extra: Check out the very cool “Evernote Peek” Smart cover App designed specifically for the iPad2.

So while recently attending RIM WES 2010 (RIM as in the makers of Blackberry) I got an idea for using Foursquare at events.

Simply, if I were attending a conference and had a booth or meeting room for my business, I’d find ways to get people to check in at my booth as a way of connecting with them online, driving more traffic to my booth and finding new peers and contacts.

Think of it has “hyper hyper local.” There’s nothing on Foursquare now that says a location has to be a Starbucks, grocery store, …. why not your booth at a conference?

I’d track who checks in at the booth, reward my mayor, have people tweet it, run give-aways for people who check in (beyond the usual useless conference schwag) and try to get people to connect with each other at my location.

I’d be cautious of conference trolls who are just looking to score prizes but we could find ways to weed them out.

Foursquare might also be a good way for a company that is sending people to a conference to see where employees check-in, less for “monitoring” and more to see who they are having a chance to connect with while there.

Admittedly the strategy needs some flushing out but what do you think? What ways would you use Foursquare at a conference?

Update: Misha Williams from iMergeMobile.com dicusses how he used Foursquare and other social media platforms in a manner similar to what I’ve suggested above to drive traffic and business to his booth.