Gametize a Hackathon

"Community Engagement,Gametized.
Motivate & reward your audiences with the world's simplest enterprise-grade gamification platform.
Beat Chronic Disengagement with Gametize"

Those were the 1st few lines I saw on its website. For the Leadership Incubator I wrote about in my previous post, my team and I hired a vendor which used the 'Gametize' app as part of its plan to engage our youth participants. The app is apparently made in Singapore and I thought that it would be interesting to have a complementing digital platform for the participants to access as they go through the workshops and dialogues. I was personally intrigued and I wondered if it would work well. After downloading the app and trying it out I realised I had actually used it once as a participant myself in a mini-networking session for MClub's Graduate Tea. However, I do not really remember making full use of the app then.

My organising team for MClub's Leadership Incubator 2019 had to find a way to incentivise the participants to come for our weekly sessions and after some discussions we decided to 'monetize' the gametize points which the participants could earn by completing small tasks or simple quizzes related to the themes being discussed. Getting points through answering open-ended or close-ended quiz questions were expected but it was quite amazing that varying amount of points could be earned by taking selfies with specific groups of people or taking photos of or with observable things outdoors. We planned it such that the persons or teams with the highest points would have an advantage for the hackathon itself.

 I tried out the challenges myself and managed to get a decent placing on the leaderboard. I suppose if the questions and missions were crafted and curated creatively enough, most participants regardless of age would actively participate and try to secure for themselves points which may give them an edge or bragging rights even.

Seeing that the app is rather useful, I went to explore the site further and was glad to see that there was a free plan available. I guess companies like the vendor we hired would benefit from a paid plan even if it was the 'Light Plan' as there's some value-add to having such an app and customisable gametisation could really boost the engagement levels of the participants as I have observed.

Social Footprints Race

For LI'19 Workshops & Hackathon