We are a group of Boiseians that wanted a fast simple tool to canvas our friends when searching for the best local businesses and service providers. UrbanChalk is based on the idea that a simple action by a user, such as a vote, will provide value during search, purchase, and post purchase to both the user and his or her friends. As important to us is that UrbanChalk promotes the best local businesses and service providers in Boise.

How do I get started?

Simply login with Facebook or create an UrbanChalk account.

Do I have to create an account to vote?

Yes. In order to prevent fraudulent voting activity, we do require everyone to validate their account.

Do I need to write reviews?

No, to keep things really simple we created a system where you can either vote for a business on UrbanChalk’s site or point one’s smart phone at a QR code to click, store, and share. No reviews required – just a simple vote.

Are my votes private?

Your individual votes are private and can only been seen by the people you choose to share them with. See our privacy policy.

Why Should I Vote?

‘Act Local’ - Your vote not only supports your favorite local business in Boise Weekly’s ‘Best of Boise 2012’, but it also promotes the business within your circle of friends.

What is your relationship with the Boise Weekly?

We provide the technology that powers Boise Weekly's ‘Best of Boise 2012’ voting process. The ‘Best of Boise’ is the premier contest for highlighting the best local businesses, artists, musicians, etc in Boise and we are excited to be one of many companies supporting it.

Does my vote work for both my UrbanChalk account and Boise Weekly’s ‘Best of Boise’?

Yes, your vote works for both the Boise Weekly ‘Best of Boise 2012’ and your UrbanChalk account. However, Boise Weekly focuses on purely local companies so if you are in the ‘Boise Weekly Voting’ mode on the UrbanChalk site, not all companies will appear. To see all companies in a category you must be in the ‘View All Categories’ mode. Additionally, UrbanChalk supports a much wider breadth of categories than those appearing in the Boise Weekly ‘Best of Boise 2012’.

Why are there two sets of search results?

When you search for a business or service provider, UrbanChalk returns a set of results based purely on the votes of your friends in Boise – think of it as your personal search engine. In a separate listing, called the Boise Leaderboard, the results are based on the votes from all UrbanChalk users.

Do I have access to Rewards Programs?

Yes, several businesses are in the process of creating Rewards Programs. These programs will provide loyal users and new users with deals and discounts.

So what is with the file storage?

UrbanChalk allows you to permanently store image files and documents such as warranties, receipts, diagrams, user manuals, etc. within a vote. For us, we figured it would be cool to store all of the relevant information for our significant purchases and transactions. Storing these files in the cloud will make them more accessible and transferable. This feature has been readily adopted by home owners that want to store their home information (repairs, construction, appliances, etc.) in preparation for a home sale and transfer to new owners.

If you have any additional questions, please contact us at: feedback@urbanchalk.com