Moderator, Byron Reeves from Stanford University engages panelists, Charlie Kim of NextJump, Obie Fernandez of Dueprops, Mario Herger of SAP, Kes Sampathar of Cynergy, and Maksim Ovsyannikov of Rypple on how large enterprises and innovative startups are constantly seeking ways to attract, retain, train and incentivize their top-performing employees. Increasingly, they are turning to Gamification…
Coca-Cola recently announced a multi-media, fully interactive, campaign. Coke Freestyle lets you select your own unique flavor combinations from all of their brands (which I guarantee you is more than you think) and enjoy Coke in a whole new way. First off there is the Freestyle Facebook app, which simulates a vending machine that lets you pick…
Last week, Google added Google News Badges to their news page. In line with other efforts to personalize your news feed through Google+ and +1, Google News Badges allows users to easily keep track of the different topics they follow within the daily newsfeed. There is still room for possibility, but Google News Badges does…
With gas prices finally coming down, it’s a great summer for a family road trip. Offering nearly 400 destinations across every state in the union, US National Parks not only provide an economical vacation option, they can also provide a fun and rewarding set of challenges for visitors. Collecting badges existed long before Foursquare came…
Eagle Feathers, Hoof-Prints and War Paint: The Achievements and Awards of the Indians of the Plains Vincent Carrella is the author of the novel Serpent Box (Harper/Perennial). He also writes Giphantia, a weekly blogazine. Imagine you live in a small community of interdependent people. Your very survival depends upon a single source of food and raw…
A lot of the conversation surrounding gamification tends to focus on how businesses can better engage and relate to customers. While it obviously can increase brand loyalty, gamification can also be used to better motivate and educate employees. In her recent blog post, Lauren Carlson over at Software Advice theorizes how game mechanics can be…
You can make a positive impact one step at a time. DailyFeats is a new site with the idea of getting people to do good through small actions. These actions can be for your own benefit, for your community or even the world. The point being: one person can make a significant difference in their…
Yahoo Research released a short study on what has become one of the most controversial mechanics in gamification: badges. Some people love ’em, some people hate ’em – but most of the arguments are based on speculation or personal preference. There hasn’t been much focused research done on their affect on people as a motivator…
When discussing gamification, especially with those not previously familiar, it’s hard not to bring up Foursquare. Their premise is so artfully simple, absolutely anyone with a computer or a mobile phone can understand. But just because it’s a basic idea doesn’t stop Foursquare from evolving. A new blog entry was posted Tuesday announcing the 3.0…
The new Zappos VIP , a tier added to the popular online shoe and apparel store, is definitely all about status. It was first launched back in 2008, touting “Free overnight shipping ’til the cows come home.” and “Bragging Rights! Make everyone else jealous, one order at a time.” VIP members are also privy to…
OMGPOP is a casual gaming and social networking site. We’ve previously written about meta games and gamified gaming, but OMGPOP deserves a little more atttention. The premise is simple: play games, earn coins. Use those coins to customize your profile, in-game characters and environments, earn coins by reading mailing list, winning games, answering survey questions…
Lose It! is a weight loss application available for free online and for the iPhone. As soon as you sign on, you’re prompted to supply basic info such as your current weight, age, height and sex, what weight you want to be and how many pounds you’d like to lose per week. Based on these…
Looking for work is usually a frustrating, arduous process. Sending resumes, filling out applications, making phone calls, hitting up your business contacts and sometimes getting no reply or any indication that you’re making progress can make anyone feel downtrodden. And that’s just how things usually are. Even more so now, people are getting reduced to…
Every election, tons of political groups come out to try to encourage young voters, which are a prime demographic. MTV tells us to “Rock the Vote” and one year I recall P. Diddy threatening my life, telling me to “Vote or Die”. I’ve been receiving tons of e-mails over the last week from different political…
If you watch Curb Your Enthusiasm you might remember a particularly hilarious episode in which Larry gets a sandwich named after him at a famous deli. He isn’t happy with the actual sandwich so he tries to trade (and eventually usurp) Ted Danson’s instead. Ungrateful? Maybe. Funny? Definitely. So yesterday I found out that I’ve…
