September 16, 2026
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Ivan Kuo

wow in school - lucas gillispe

WoWinSchool: How to use WoW and MMORPGs to Engage Students

Ivan Kuo31 mins

What happens in the classroom when learning becomes a heroic journey?  Rather than desks and chalkboards, what if students had quests and guilds?  Going beyond simply swapping grades with badges and achievements, Lucas Gillispie, founder of the WoWinSchool Project, will share the journey he and other adventurous educators have begun using World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs to engage students in a playful approach to practicing reading and writing skills.  Along the way student-heroes are becoming better communicators, leaders, and connecting with a global audience.

Watch Lucas’ full GSummit SF 2013 talk below! Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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gamification consulting panel

Consulting on Gamification: Strategy, Tactics and Trends

Ivan Kuo12 mins

For all you gamification advocates pushing to implement more fun into your organization, this video is for you.

This past GSummit, we gathered Thomas Hsu, Social Collaboration and Gamification Manager at Accenture, Sascha Goto, Senior Program Associate at McKinsey,  Naureen Meraj, Senior Global Director of Gamification & Strategy at NTT Data, and Bart Briers, Director of Services and Solutions at CTG to all discuss their experiences consulting and implementing gamification at their organization.

These three individuals have been heralds for the gamification cause at each of their respective organizations and have good advice for those looking to take on that role for their own company as well. Watch the full video below to see what they had to say.

Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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Andrea Kuszewski gsummit

Andrea Kuszewski on The Science of Motivation: Neurology, Psychology, Gamification

Ivan Kuo42 mins

Gamification has proven to be a powerful tool in driving change across nearly all environments—business, personal goals, even education. What is it about gamification that makes it so successful in changing behavior? It isn’t just about points or badges, or earning little gold stars. The best gamification strategies are all about engagement, driven by motivation.

Science tells us that motivation is the single most important factor when it comes to learning and changing behavior—far more important than breadth of skill, or even innate talent. Increase motivation, and you will increase learning—surpassing limits in ways you never imagined—no matter the subject, domain, or context.

Join cognition expert Andrea Kuszewski for a lively, non-technical discussion of the science of motivation, dissecting that ‘magical’ process going on in the brain that is such a critical factor in engagement and learning in this GSummit SF 2013 talk. Watch the full video below!

Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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ryan mizusaki delta

Delta Gamifies Employee Training with Ready, Set, Jet!

Ivan Kuo22 mins

The Gamification Revolution is the only live gamification webcast featuring Gabe Zichermann and fellow gamification experts every week. Be sure to catch our next episode on Thursday, October 31 at 1PM ET/1800 GMT, where we will feature GSummit Global speaker and author of the new book Play at Work: How Games Inspire Breakthrough Thinking, Adam Penenberg.

Remember you can participate in the show if you sign-in and RSVP! Signing in will allow you to receive show reminders, ask questions, and even join Gabe and our guest for a live question.

In this episode, Ryan Mizusaki, GM of Learning at Delta, shares the full story on how Delta arrived at a gamified training solution and its development process to make learning about flight culture get adopted by 98% of Delta’s trainees. Watch the full video below and if you want even more information on this story, visit GSummit Global for Ryan’s full length talk.



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dementia simulator in austrailia

New Australian Facility is Teaching Dementia-Care By Simulating It

Ivan Kuo23 mins

Alzheimer’s Australia Vic has opened up Australia’s first dementia learning center to educate people about the effects of dementia through virtual-reality simulations, according to Australian Ageing Agenda.

The simulation’s primary goal is allow students to envision the cognitive and perceptual difficulties that dementia sufferers deal with in their daily life routines.

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kevin werbach on teaching gamification at coursera - gsummit sf 2013

Kevin Werbach on Teaching Gamification at Coursera

Ivan Kuo42 mins

Surely you must’ve heard of Kevin Werbach’s Coursera Course on gamification? (The next Coursera semester starts Jan 27th 2014)

Gamification is a hot growth industry, with billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of new jobs set to be created in the next decade. To accomplish this, organizations of all kinds will need to train and educate leaders of tomorrow on this critical discipline. But how do you teach a topic where core concepts are in a state of flux, examples and patterns are evolving rapidly and learners expect the entire experience to be fun and rewarding? Join Professor Werbach, teacher of the massively successful #Gamification12 MOOC as he discusses the hard-won lessons of teaching Gamification — and how this understanding can make any training, education or development process more successful for your organization. In this GSummit 2013 video expect to learn

  • Opportunities and dangers in the gamification of learning.
  • Techniques for effective gamification in educational settings.
  • How game thinking produced the highest engagement rates of any course on the Coursera massive online platform. (It’s not what you think!)

Watch the full video below! Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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amstel

Amstel Wants to Reward You with Beer for Ignoring Your Phone

Ivan Kuo44 mins

My very first post at Gamification Co involved a DIY-gamification project to retain etiquette at the dinner table. The premise was simple: everyone gathers their smartphone in the middle of the table at the start of a meal. If anyone checks their phone in that time, they’re forced to pay for everyone’s meal. I’m amazed that nobody else has taken this concept of cellphone abstination and turned it into an app (that I know of) until Amstel released their new iOS app to actually reward users for doing this.

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andrew grauer course hero

Course Hero’s Knowledge Marketplaces and the Gamification of Education

Ivan Kuo12 mins

We’re reading more and more about online education portals incorporating sophisticated game mechanics into its applications. There’s no doubt that education is a space ripe for gamification and in classrooms—both virtual and walled—educators are shifting their approach to offer a more personalized, yet interactive and adaptive curriculum. Course Hero, an online education start-up, has been engaging college students in its online learning community by using game mechanics from Bunchball for more than a year to great success. Harnessing the motivational power of games and applying it to real-world problems, Course Hero’s gamification elements motivate students to learn in a more interactive manner and urge them to care more about what they’re learning.

In this GSummit SF 2013 talk, Course Hero CEO Andrew Grauer will share details on how participation on the site has increased by 25% since implementing gamified elements, as well as how the site has seen a 51% growth in badges awarded since February 2012. Watch the full video below.

Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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How Nissan Used Gran Turismo to Recruit Pro Drivers for GT Academy

Ivan Kuo22 mins

The Gamification Revolution is the only live gamification webcast featuring Gabe Zichermann and fellow gamification experts every week. Be sure to catch our next episode on Thursday, October 24 at 1PM ET/1800 GMT, where we will feature GSummit Global speaker, Ryan Mizusaki, GM of Reservations Learning at Delta.

Remember you can participate in the show if you sign-in and RSVP! Signing in will allow you to receive show reminders, ask questions, and even join Gabe and our guest for a live question.

In this episode, Karl Dunn, the Creative Director for Nissan at TBWA/Chiat/Day came on the show to discuss the story of GT Academy. I had the honor of talking to the man to learn about the origins of the concept, what the show produced for Nissan, and other general questions about his view about gamification from an advertising agency’s perspective. Watch the full episode below:



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If you liked Karl’s story and want to learn more about it, check out GSummit Global to gain access to his full story about Nissan’s GT Academy.

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charles coonradt

6 Principles for Making Work More Enjoyable From the Grandfather of Gamification

Ivan Kuo41 mins

Whether you think gamification was coined in 2011, 2007, or even in 2002, there has been one man by the name of Charles “Chuck” Coonradt who has been talking about making work more enjoyable with play since the writing of the his book, The Game of Work, in 1984. Chuck has since applied his findings into making work more gamified for organizations ever since .

This past GSummit, Chuck was able to make it to our main stage to discuss some of the principles he learned  that can be adapted for making work more enjoyable.Check out his full talk in the video below.

Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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gsx global sales event cisco

Innovative Disruption at Cisco’s Global Sales Experience (GSX)

Ivan Kuo12 mins

How can a huge company Cisco manage to engage with all their employees around the world?

GSX is Cisco’s annual sales conference, a globally distributed hybrid event experience that has been lauded for turning traditional event models on their head and pioneering new audience engagement formats. Learn how Cisco adapted social television engagement models to drive the most employee aware event in history from their GSummit SF 2013 talk

You can expect to learn:

  • Insight into the wildly successful GSX achievement program, over 200K awarded during GSX FY13.
  • Overview on the audience listening model applied during GSX FY13, including real time Trending Topics and audience sentiment broadcast injections.
  • Understanding of the transmedia tactics leveraged during GSX FY13, resulting in tens of thousands of supplementary video and downloadable content views.

Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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kenya

Global Challenge: RFP on Using Gamification to Counter Violent Extremism in Kenya

Ivan Kuo13 mins

We recently received an interesting email that requested our helping in finding possible gamification applications for countering violent extremism (CVE) under the Kenya Transition Initiative, a program dedicated to stabilizing Kenya’s political unrest and violence.

The RFP comes directly from the US Agency for International Development and seeks to empower youths before they are pulled into a culture of extremism.

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bigdoor gavin hewitt

Why Real Rewards Matter: BigDoor’s Approach to Loyalty

Ivan Kuo12 mins

Despite the overwhelming focus on badges in the gamification community, badge-only solutions have minimal impact on long term customerengagement. Big brands have discovered that the secret to driving customer loyalty is allowing customers to redeem points for tangible and intangible rewards.  Discover both why redeemable rewards work to build loyalty and engagement, as well as how to successfully integrate a rewards system into a gamified loyalty program. Using examples from the NFL, Yamaha Corporation and Adobe, find out what customers are looking for, and how rewards fit into the gamification puzzle in this talk by BigDoor’s VP of Sales, Gavin Hewitt.

Expect to learn:

  • Why are rewards important in a consumer facing gamified loyalty solution?
  • How are big brands embracing rewards and sweepstakes in their own loyalty programs?
  • What are some best practices for implementing a rewards program for your brand?`

Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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yu-kai chou gamification revolution

Yu-Kai Chou on Octalysis and Gamification Design Principles

Ivan Kuo11 mins

The Gamification Revolution is the only live gamification webcast featuring Gabe Zichermann and fellow gamification experts every week. Be sure to catch our next episode on Thursday, October 17 at 1PM ET/1800 GMT, where we will feature GSummit Global speaker and Nissan’s Creative Director of GT Academy, Karl Dunn

Remember you can participate in the show if you sign-in and RSVP! Signing in will allow you to receive show reminders, ask questions, and even join Gabe and our guest for a live question.

In last week’s show we had prominent gamification community figure, Yu-Kai Chou to join us on our show. They spoke about Yu-Kai’s Octalysis gamification framework, long-term effects of motivation with white hat vs black hat gamification, and a discussion into why “serious games suck”.

Watch the full interview below:



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