Radical Resourcefulness: Live Off Groupons?

By Melissa Massello, February 17, 2010

For those of you who loved our bartering story featuring Kyle MacDonald, the guy who turned a single red paperclip into a house by trading up over the course of a single year, you’re going to love the new Live Off Groupon project, where one lucky finalist (read: brave soul) will attempt to tour the country and live off nothing but Groupons for 365 days.

Groupon.com, in case you’ve been living under a rock, is a daily coupon site driven by crowds, which works like this: local businesses offer consumers the ability to buy their product or service at a discount of 50% or more, but only if enough other people also sign on to buy that product or service. Launched in Chicago in 2008, Groupon now has daily deals in over 40 metro markets nationwide and plans to expand to a total of 80 metro markets — including many in Canada and Europe, such as Toronto, Vancouver, and London — in 2010.

Earlier today, we got to chit-chat with Groupon public relations director Julie Anne Mossler about her company’s intriguing experiment, and also found out a bit more about what they’re looking for in the perfect candidate.

Here’s a run-down of our conversation:

We’ve been re-reading your FAQs on LiveOffGroupon.com and are laughing our asses off.

I’m glad you enjoyed that. Some people actually get the humor, or they don’t.

When did the contest start?

It launched on February 4th and the contest goes until February 24th at midnight CST. We’ve had hundreds of applications, thousands of people who have actually applied but only a few hundred who’ve followed the directions. [We ask for a video of the candidates talking about themselves, plus a video of and blog post about their interview with a local business as part of the application process] because we like to see how they interact with the general public and any businesses in their area, so that’s going to be a big component of what they do everyday. Some people have called it a contest, but it’s not: we’re doing an extensive interview round and then we’ll fly the finalists to Chicago for an even more extensive interview.

So, the gist is that the lucky finalist has to give up all their possessions for a year, including the clothes off their back, only keeping their health insurance?

Yep. Not even a toothbrush, but they’ll be able to get everything else they need over time by using their unlimited Groupons and being resourceful.

Perfect timing or what?

It’s unfortunate: right now there are so many [creative professionals] who are so talented and experienced, but they’ve lost their jobs because of the recession. If the person is resourceful and friendly and good at this, it could really change their life. The running joke around [the Groupon offices] is that if we didn’t like our jobs as much as we do, we’d all apply!

Are there any cities Groupon doesn’t cover?

We’re currently in about 40 metro markets, and that number goes up literally weekly. We’ll be in 80 cities by the end of 2010 including Canada and Europe. Toronto and Vancouver will be the first in Canada, and in Europe London is at the top of our list. We already have thousands of subscribers in all of those cities.

Are there any categories Groupon doesn’t cover that are going to provide challenges for the finalist?

We’re cheating a little bit: food won’t be an issue; and we’re working it out so they’ll have a different fun activity everyday, anything from sky diving to yoga to striptease classes. We’re working on lodging, which will probably be a hotel, and also transportation, but we’re encouraging this person to be resourceful and get out there and meet people. They can rely on help from our Groupon community, but the hotel is important to us for safety, to make sure they have a roof over their head and a shower. They’ll stay with a friend (or couch surf) only if they want to.

You seem to put a lot of caveats around couch surfing in your FAQs, but are OK with promoting hitchhiking?

I’m not the best judge on which is safer, but the heart of the program is that we want people to make the best of it. We want soemone to take the bull by the horns and make the most of what these cities have to offer. We have 2.5 million subscribers nationwide and have received a lot of interest in and feedback about the challenge, and the finalist will be interacting with followers via their blog and Twitter and Facebook all along the way [to get the things they need outside of Groupon], but we definitely encourage safety first.

While living off Groupon, we’re sure you expect people to document their entire experience online — what about equipment? Will you provide laptop, camera, smartphone, Skype credits, etc. or do they get to keep theirs?

Yes, definitely. We want to give them the right tools to enjoy their year. We’ll give them a smartphone with GPS and internet, which they can use to post and also so we can keep track of them and make sure they’re following the rules, plus a Flipcam and a laptop.

Do you really prevent family or friends from seeing the finalist during their Live Off Groupon year?

[Friends and family members] are welcome to come and visit the challenger in some of cities they’ll be visiting, and we’re talking about working with the finalist to determine which cities they want to visit, but they can’t have anyone travel with them.

Will contestants be able to barter/work the system like Winona Ryder and her gas card in Reality Bites?

That’s such a funny analogy, because I feel like everyone has done that at least once in college. It’s against the rules to sell the Groupons, but, as I mentioned, we do encourage them to be resourceful. Dinner Groupons don’t include tax and tip, for instance, so they can invite people to dine with them and then ask them to cover tax and tip. Or, say, if the Groupon is for two people to go go-carting, then they can barter with their guest for a toothbrush or something else they need.

What about going freegan for stuff Groupon doesn’t cover: is that allowed? Like dumpster diving and hitting up free events and wine tastings?

Sure, they’re encouraged to do that — the big things are no cash and no selling the Groupons. If they abide by those two rules, then they can still be creative, though I think we still need to talk through that a little bit. Obviously, we want them to use Groupon businesses as much as possible, to prove the point that you can live solely on things that Groupon provides.

What is your ideal Live Off Groupon finalist like?

The beauty of it is that there are so many kinds of people this could work for. The person that we choose will be creative, have a fun personality and will be someone you want to watch for 365 days. They’ll be engaging, someone we’re all rooting for to make it to the end. Also, we’re looking for someone who can push their boundaries and do things they haven’t done before.

Are the application videos available online? Will Groupon customers get to vote in the finalists?

We’re going to be posting some of our favorites in the next few days, probably by tomorrow and definitely before the contest ends. We’re not going to open it up to voting because references and background checks are really important to us, and if we did a vote then we wouldn’t be doing our due diligence, but we’ll be opening up a discussion board and will take those comments into consideration when we do our interview rounds here in Chicago.

Is there really going to be a martial arts contest to decide the winner?

(Laughs.) Let’s just say that’s under debate.

We better brush up on our Kendo for the Wii, then…

Definitely. That’s a skill you should have in your back pocket regardless.