You can help MapQuest and AOL reach the goal of spreading the One Day Without Shoes message to 1,000,000 people by taking one (or more) of the following actions:

• Tweet your support (#withoutshoes)
• Visit http://impact.aol.com/toms to take the pledge and take ‘em off today

To thank those who are getting footloose, AOL will be awarding 100 $50 TOMS gift cards to random winners.  See official rules here.

We hope by taking off our own, you’ll do the same!

Just go to sweeps.mapquest.com to enter.  It’s a 42-day sweepstakes with a new winner every day so come back daily.  We’re announcing the daily winners on the sweeps site, so keep a look out for your name!  Chris D. of Denver was our first winner – I can only assume he’s already having sweet dreams of riding his new Vespa through all the Mile High neighborhoods.

Here’s a hint: You can earn up to 24 extra entries per day (yes, that’s more than 1,000 extra entries in total).  After you enter, just look for the 2 options: click to go to mqVibe.com (it’s that easy) or share with friends so they can enter, too.

So, what neighborhoods would you explore on your new ride?

MapQuest offers more than driving directions, with several free features that double up as workout tools to meet the need to mix it up!  The features below offer great ideas to keep a workout fresh by mapping out new routes before you plan the next walk, run, hike or bike.

• MapQuest app: Available on the iPhone and Android, this free app includes voice-guided, turn-by-turn walking directions, as well as a voice search option.
• Hit the pavement or dirt: “Pedestrian Mode” directions guide you down the most efficient paths and through parks, often avoiding vehicular traffic. To use the feature, visit mapquest.com and click “get directions,” select the “walking man” icon and enter your start and finish destinations. Plan ahead, lather up with sunscreen and drink plenty of liquids!

From city cruising to mountain biking: Available on MapQuest’s Open Street Map, options allow you to choose paved streets or trails and paths, as well as the ability to challenge yourself with a “favor uphill” route or the leisurely “avoid uphill” setting.  Biking routes favor bike-specific paths, walkways and roads where the max speed is less than 30 mph.  The 27 country-specific open sites are available in 14 language options.  Don’t forget your helmet!

If you’re planning to attend BlogWorld as well, we’d love to see you. Just stop by our booth (#503). We’ll have a free t-shirt for you (while supplies last of course) and you’ll also have the chance to take a quick poll to enter to win a $500 VISA® Gift Card. The poll is meant to educate us – we want to know exactly what map and location-based services bloggers and publishers are truly looking for. We have some great tools available now for bloggers, publishers and more – check them out on our MapQuest tools site – but we want to continue to better these and also create new products. As an example, you can see a great use of our most recent tool, MapQuest Map Builder BETA, on AOL’s Monster Help Day website or see the embedded map below.

If you’re not attending the conference, we still want to hear your feedback. If you contribute to the blogosphere or editorial realm in anyway, take our poll now and you’ll have the chance to win too!

To get updates live from the show, follow us on @MapQuestTech.

MapQuest actually dedicates several days a year to contributing back to our local communities. For this year’s Monster Help Day, we’ve teamed up with Denver Mayor Guillermo (Bill) V. Vidal and the Mile High Million to plant 40 trees in downtown Denver.  He’s even proclaimed today, “AOL Monster Help Day”!  In Lancaster, we’ll be headed outdoors as well, cleaning up trails and planting flowers for Lancaster County Department of Parks and Rec.  We’re psyched to get our hands dirty (literally – have you seen the weather predictions?) and give back to our local community!  Stay tuned to our Flickr gallery for pictures of the event!

What better way to celebrate a birthday than a brand new office?  Our new 17,000-square-foot green office space in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo) brings the best of both worlds with raw materials and contemporary design.  The open space, lack of actual offices and countless collaboration areas gives the space a start-up, inspiring vibe.  The energy is palpable.

IA Interior Architects worked with us to create the amazing new space.  The office combines green, raw materials with more modern elements like metal, glass and recycled materials from local resources. The end result is that of a highly sustainable, beautiful place to work.

Some of our favorite aspects of the new diggs include: the open environment, patio over-looking the 16th Street Mall (Denver’s pedestrian mall), poker and ping pong tables, huge windows, exposed concrete floors, countless flat screen tvs and just the overall energy that radiates from the space.

The ability to host community events is another great element of the new space.  The Denver-Boulder area is known as one of the fastest growing tech hubs and we can now host events to help foster this group.  After all, it wouldn’t be fair to keep this inspiring space to ourselves.

If you want to see more photos, head to our Flickr gallery.

(Photo by Chris Schneider)

MapQuest blew out its birthday candles last night to celebrate the big 15!  We celebrated in style with a party to christen our new office headquarters in lower downtown Denver.  Some of our closest friends came by to help celebrate with more than 250 guests stopping by to share some birthday love with us!

We kicked things off with remarks from key AOL executives including Jon Brod, president of AOL Ventures and chief operating officer of the Huffington Post Media Group, Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief Huffington Post Media Group, and Denver Mayor Bill Vidal.  Other speakers at the event included Kelly Brough, Denver Chamber of Commerce, Tami Door, Downtown Denver Partnership and Richard Scharf of VISIT DENVER.

As part of the 15^th anniversary milestone and celebration, we debuted our new office.  Our 17,000-square-foot space combines raw materials with a contemporary design to deliver a start-up feeling.  There are no actual offices, encouraging real-time dialogue, problem-solving and creativity. IA Interior Architects did an amazing job, helping to bring our new identity to life within the walls. Stay tuned later this week for more photos and information about our new space.

If you’d like to hear more, head to our Flickr gallery for more photos of the party or watch the video recap of the press conference.

MapQuest Street Team in Denver, CO

MapQuest hit the streets over lunch today along downtown Denver’s 16^th Street pedestrian mall to celebrate its 15^th anniversary.  Our street team, outfitted in MapQuest gear, spread good cheer and provided a free service to people in need of directions.  Of course, we were also dishing out free MapQuest giveaways from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.  The anniversary celebrations continued downtown in LoDo (Lower Downtown) in MapQuest’s new headquarter office.  Earlier this morning, we stopped by Denver media offices  to share some “Questi Cakes,” the preferred breakfast of MapQuest employees.  Crews took a break and enjoyed some the treats from local bakery/dessert shop, Happy Cakes.

MapQuest visits Fox News for its 15th anniversary

Tonight more than 240 guests will arrive at MapQuest’s new headquarters for an event including a press conference with AOL’s Huffington Media Post Group key executives Arianna Huffington and Jon Brod.  Joining them will be some of Denver’s key business elite and local influencers including Denver Mayor Bill Vidal.   Following the press conference, guests will able to explore the new space, network and relax with a MapQuest branded beverage.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to get real-time updates and photos of this week’s festivities and more!