Evangelizing Gamification in Big Corporations with Thomas Hsu

The Gamification Revolution is the only live gamification webcast featuring Gabe Zichermann and fellow gamification experts every week. Join us and have all of your gamification questions answered by these experts.

Our next episode is taking place Thursday –  June 27th at 1PM EST, featuring Mark Koerner – VP or Product at Keas. 

This past week’s guest was Thomas Hsu, Social Collaboration and Gamification, Accenture. Gabe and Thomas talk about how Accenture first was able to adopt gamification into their collaborative sphere and what Thomas had to go through as an early gamification evangelist into the company. If you’re in a similar position as Thomas in wanting to bring gamification into a large company, this will be a good video to see:

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How Aikido Taught me Games and Gamification will Change the World

The world is full of issues that we ought to solve. For decades, we have tried to fight hunger, eradicate polio as well as HIV/AIDS, protect the environment and our ecosystem – but somehow final victory always seems to get further and further away. Why is it that in 2013, with all the knowledge, technologies and resources that we possess, we are still struggling to create a better place for the whole world?

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top influencers at GSummit SF 2013

How to Drive Repeat Traffic to Your Blog with a Monthly Top Influencer Leaderboard

For most gamifiers, a social media presence is a must-have to promote gamification skills and your services in particular.

Whether offering a software as a service or consulting (check out the list of vendors in the GCo buyers guide), a blog is a must have.

We all know that getting people to read our blogs and keep coming back for more is a tricky behavior to encourage but as with many desired behaviors, gamification certainly can help.

I’ve been using a few simple gamification mechanics for nearly two years to drive repeat, valuable, VIP traffic to my personal blog (GOW). In this post I want to share the approach and learnings with other gamification.co readers.

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Mandatory Fun: New Gamification Research from Wharton

One of the questions I’m asked most frequently is: “What are the biggest mistakes/risks/pitfalls of Gamification?” My answer almost always includes a cautionary note about the risks of compelling people to “play” gamified experiences, because using force reduces a sense of agency. This is a trap many companies fall into when they gamify an employee process. No matter how much money they spend building an amazing, engaging system, many HR folks fail to consider how they’ll get users to participate beyond “they have to”, or “this is the new process.”

New gamification research out this week from UPenn’s Wharton Business School puts a spotlight on this thorny question, looking at the efficacy of sales team gamification when it’s optional vs compulsory through a primary research project at a high-growth tech startup. The results indicate that gamification is effective at improving employee satisfaction, but if its compulsory it may actually reduce their overall affect.

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The Strategy Behind Gamification Consulting in Europe with Bart Briers

The Gamification Revolution is the only live gamification webcast featuring Gabe Zichermann and fellow gamification experts every week. Join us and have all of your gamification questions answered by these experts.

Our next episode is taking place Thursday –  June 20th at 1PM EST, featuring Thomas Hsu of Accenture. 

This past week’s guest was Bart Briers, Director of Services and Solutions at CTG Belgium. Gabe and Bart talk about Bart’s approach to gamification consulting, what clients expect from Bart’s services, and even a story about training on a…train. Watch the full interview below to learn more:

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7 Ways to Royally Mess Up Your Gamification Campaign

There’s already an entire library of information about game mechanics and how startups have successfully implemented gamification. If you’re considering gamifying an experience, however, you should probably know the ways you can reduce its efficacy. That way you can either choose differently, or if you really want to test social experiences you can see how well people respond to gamification that simply doesn’t work.

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7 Reasons Why Apple’s Enterprise Bread and Circuses Fail in iOS 7

Yesterday Apple revealed iOS 7, the latest version of its operating system for mobile devices. The update was greeted – as usual – by thunderous applause from the company’s legions of fanboys and with vocal derision from pro-Android bigots. In the midst of all the hoopla and traded social media barbs, one thing seems glaringly obvious: Apple is out of ideas, particularly for business users.

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How Not to Make a Point (and Earn that Badge)

Yesterday, Steve Bocska opined here on Gamification.co about what was to be – ostensibly – a discussion of designing gamification without using poins and badges. Instead, what he wrote was a screed that questioned the ethics of many gamifiers, assailed social games (really? is this 2011 again?) and reached its climax with the oh-so-powerful suggestion that you “think very carefully about what you’re trying to accomplish.” In the process of trying to lecture this growing community on its ills, I think Steve has made the point of one of our most prolific experts, Rajat Paharia, very clear: game designers – in general – just don’t understand gamification.

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One Player’s Journey of Gaming Memecube at GSummit SF 2013

Maybe you noticed my Twitter feed blowing up over 2 days in the middle of April. I didn’t count but I’m told there were well over 100 tweets in that brief period of time. While my followers should be used to booms when I hit a conference, this was definitely another level.

The reason for my tweet-binge was Memecube. Memecube is an interesting twist on the usual session hashtags; a conference exclusive Twitter tool. Only attendees were told the URL needed to access the system; in it was the conference schedule. After checking in to a session, you only see tweets from others who are also using Memecube and have checked in and new tweets auto-populated with the speakers’ Twitter handle & the GSummit hashtag. This meant, despite GSummit becoming the #1 trending hashtag on twitter during the conference, we did not see the usual assault of the bimbots. Additionally we didn’t have to try to separate our session from all the others to tweet or retweet something relevant, and the overall system was just easier to use. I cannot think of something the DreamForce Conference needed more.

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Ross Smith on Engaging Quality Assurance Teams at Microsoft

The Gamification Revolution is the only live gamification webcast featuring Gabe Zichermann and fellow gamification experts every week. Join us and have all of your gamification questions answered by these experts.

This past week’s guest was Ross Smith, Director of Test at Microsoft. Ross Smith was responsible for the creation of the language quality assurance game, making the process significantly faster and more effective. Learn more about Ross’ current projects as a part of 42projects‘ management innovation team by watching Gabe Zichermann’s full interview with Ross.


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The 10th Annual Games for Change Festival Launches in NYC from June 17 – 19

Do you like gaming? Do you enjoy new and innovative ideas that can better our world? Of course you do! It’s time to check out the 10th Anniversary Games for Change Festival at New World Stages in New York City June 17th – 19th.

The event is created and hosted by Games for Change (G4C) with the mission to promote social change through gaming. This international conference unites gaming professionals of different backgrounds from around the world ranging from commercial gaming to academia with the shared goal of bettering tomorrow. “The story of the Games for Change Festival is the story of how digital games have evolved, growing from an audience of 40 in 2004 to more than 10,000 attendees on-site and online,” said Michelle Byrd and Asi Burak, Co-Presidents of Games for Change. This year’s event aims to be the biggest and best one yet.

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