Events are nice, but they’re not enough

FourSquare updated their Android app yesterday and introduced what they call events. From their announcement:

In particular, we think you’ll love events. If you’re out at a movie, concert, or sporting event, you can check in and share exactly what you’re doing. It’s great because you can easily tell your friends that you’re at the Lady Gaga concert, instead of just at the stadium. And you can see which of your friends went to see Bridesmaids, and not just that they checked in at the theater. It saves typing, makes your history more memorable, and makes your friends’ updates richer.

Essentially, what they’ve done is a nested checkin. And it’s a very cool concept. The problem is, it doesn’t go far enough. They should extend the model so that anytime you checkin someplace, it ‘bubbles up’ to the city level wherever you are. You can think of it like the Russian nested dolls. It would work like this:

 I checkin at the store I’m currently shopping at. My checkin would ‘bubble up’ and end up looking like:

• I’m at JCPenney in The Mall At Tuttle Crossing in Dublin, OH

This ‘event’ would mark me as ‘checked in’ to JCPenney, The Mall At Tuttle Crossing, and Dublin, OH all at once with just one action by the user.

Another example:

I get a lobotomy and decide to attend a Buckeyes game. It would end up looking like:

• I’m at the OSU v Michigan game, The Horseshoe, OSU, Columbus, OH

Which would check me in at the game, the ‘Shoe, the university, and Columbus itself. All in one whack. 

A final, “simple” example:

I’m eating breakfast at my local Chick-fil-A:

• I’m at Chick-fil-A, Hilliard, OH

Which would check me into both the restaurant and the city and nothing else (since it’s a standalone restaurant and not part of a mall or other venue).

Please FourSquare, can we have this?