Event planners are constantly seeking innovative ways to capture the attention and enthusiasm of participants. One strategy that has gained considerable attraction is event gamification.
A 2019 research showed that using gamification increased the efficiency of the organizations that used it by more than 50%. Another study found that gamification made 81% of the participants feel more connected socially at work.
But what exactly is event gamification, and why does it matter? Read on to find out how to gamify your next event and boost your event engagement.
What is Event Gamification? Why Does it Matter?
Event gamification transforms an event into a game, adding elements that make it enjoyable and captivating. Whether the event is in person, virtual, or a combination of both, it incorporates game-like features such as challenges, rewards, and interactive experiences.
Event gamification aims to encourage attendee participation, foster connections among participants, and create a more engaging and dynamic event experience. The ultimate goal is to enhance overall satisfaction and accomplish specific event objectives, mimicking the enjoyable and dynamic nature of playing a game.
Let’s categorize each gamification idea into its suitability for in-person events, virtual events, and hybrid events.
Event Gamification Ideas for In-person Event
Storytelling
Storytelling adds vibrancy to your event by creating narratives around your theme, speakers, or sponsors. Engage your audience by featuring storytellers on stage or encouraging attendees to share their own stories with prompts, props, or tools.
Storytelling fosters connection and creativity among participants and contributes to the event’s story. Also, use storytelling to connect different sessions or activities and create a smooth and memorable event.
Graffiti Wall
Invite your attendees to unleash their artistic side and express themselves on a graffiti wall. Arrange a sizable wall or digital screen where attendees can craft and exhibit their graffiti artwork using spray cans, markers, or digital mediums. You can also have a theme or a challenge for the graffiti space, such as expressing their opinions, feelings, or ideas about the event topic.
Graffiti walls can help you create a colorful and collaborative visual experience that showcases your attendees’ creativity and engagement.
Live Trivia Stations
Test and enhance participants’ knowledge of event-related topics by incorporating trivia games. Trivia games can be done through dedicated sessions, interactive polls, or even spontaneous trivia questions during presentations. Award points for correct answers, and consider incorporating themed trivia to align with your event’s focus or industry trends. Trivia games not only entertain but also serve as an effective way to have a memorable experience.
QR Code Challenges
As event planners, get imaginative by adding fun challenges for your attendees using QR codes. Place these QR codes strategically around your event space or cleverly include them on things like badges, flyers, or posters. When participants scan these QR codes, they’ll easily access different content like videos, surveys, interactive games, or special websites. By incorporating a QR code, you’ll boost the overall event experience, adding a lively and interactive element that keeps event attendees engaged and having a good time.
Augmented Reality Booths
Bring a new level of fun to your event by adding augmented reality booths. These booths let attendees use their smartphones, tablets, or AR glasses to explore cool digital stuff overlaid in the real world. AR booths don’t just add excitement. AR booths open up opportunities to improve presentations, provide engaging entertainment, and offer educational experiences to your attendees.
Escape Room Experience
For your future event, you can craft an engaging Escape Room experience that motivates attendees to collaborate and tap into their competitive nature. In this interactive setting, participants work together to unravel puzzles, discover clues, and successfully navigate their way out of a locked room or scenario.
Boost your event experience by using event gamification apps, whether you’re organizing a physical escape room, a virtual one, or a clever mix of both. Customize the escape room challenges to match your event’s theme, industry, or speakers, adding a personal touch.
Escape room activity not only brings an extra layer of excitement to in-person gatherings but also encourages teamwork and gives participants a sense of accomplishment.
Virtual Event Gamification Ideas
Avatar Customization Contest
For virtual event gamification ideas, consider adding a dash of excitement with an Avatar Customization Contest. Offer attendees a fun opportunity to design and personalize their avatars, selecting from a variety of features, accessories, and outfits. Add excitement to your event by organizing a contest that prompts audience engagement, allowing them to vote for the most creative avatars.
Reward the winners with prizes or recognition, providing a playful opportunity for everyone to showcase their creativity and be celebrated during the event.
Avatar customization contest not only brings in-game elements but also encourages user-generated content, adding an interactive dimension to your events. It’s a dynamic way to involve participants and infuse a feeling of celebration into your virtual event.
Emoji Scavenger Hunt
Make your virtual events an exciting time with an Emoji Scavenger Hunt. Challenge attendees to explore and collect emojis hidden across your virtual event platform or content, and offer clues or hints for a little extra fun.
For example, award badges to active participants who visit booths related to the event’s theme, creating an exciting and interactive networking game. Motivate attendees to share the highlights in a blog post as a great example for future events.
Virtual World Exploration
Take your attendees on an adventure with virtual world exploration. Craft a digital environment where participants can freely explore and engage with various elements like locations, objects, or characters. Introduce quests or missions that challenge attendees to accomplish specific tasks or overcome challenges within this virtual world for an immersive and interactive experience.
Board Games
Add a dose of fun to your virtual event with board games. Use online tools to set up games like chess, scrabble, monopoly, or trivia games for your attendees. Let teams or groups face off in a friendly competition, and reward the winners with cool prizes or public shout-outs.
Social Media Challenges
As event planners, encourage your attendees to share their event experience on social media using a specific hashtag or handle. Create different challenges or prompts for them to post, such as photos, videos, or stories. Increase audience engagement by giving rewards to those who post the most or the best content with prizes or recognition. It’s a lively way to make your event more interactive and let attendees showcase their experiences on social media.
Event Gamification For Hybrid Events
Puzzle Hunt
Set up a fun puzzle hunt at your event. Participants get to solve cool puzzles or riddles to discover clues or locations within the venue. The puzzles can be a mix of physical and digital challenges, all themed around your event’s vibe, industry, or speakers. It’s like a treasure hunt that adds a fun and engaging twist to the event – perfect for exciting, brain-teasing entertainment.
Bingo
Conceptualize your hybrid event in a more fun and interactive bingo game using an event app. Create bingo cards with tasks like asking questions, joining breakout sessions, or giving feedback, and utilizing the event app to mix up tasks and assign unique cards to each attendee.
Incorporate attendee engagement and foster networking by offering rewards or badges for completing a row, column, or diagonal task.
Bingo game not only encourages networking but also adds a lively and inclusive vibe to your event, making it enjoyable for everyone, whether they’re joining virtually or in person.
Photo Contest
To make your hybrid events more engaging, why not host a photo contest? Encourage attendees to snap and share pictures related to your event theme, speakers, or sponsors. Use social media platforms to gather and showcase these photos. Additionally, create a contest where attendees can vote for the best or most creative pictures. It’s a fun way to capture the essence of your event and celebrate the creativity of your participants.
Leaderboard
Keep your attendees in the loop with a leaderboard of their rankings based on engagement, participation, or performance. Track metrics like points, badges, feedback, or referrals to determine standings. Keep the leaderboards up to date in real-time and give shout-out prizes to the high achievers while recognizing top performers during your event.
Inclusive Polling and Surveys
Utilize polling and survey tools to gather and showcase your attendees’ opinions, preferences, or satisfaction. Platforms like Kahoot or Mentimeter can help you create engaging quizzes, surveys, or word clouds. Display the results in real-time to spark discussions, gain insights, and prompt actionable steps based on attendee feedback.
Hybrid Team Challenges
Encourage teamwork and a bit of friendly rivalry by introducing hybrid team challenges that bring together participants from both in-person and virtual setups. Use online tools to create various challenges, like scavenger hunts, puzzles, trivia, or competitions.
These are some of the event gamification ideas you can try for your next hybrid event. You can also mix and match different ideas or create your own. The key is to align your gamification strategy with your event objectives, audience, and theme.
Tips and Tricks to Gamify Your Next Event
As you plan your next event, consider the following strategies to successfully incorporate gamification:
Define Clear Objectives
Identify specific goals you aim to achieve through gamification, such as increased attendee interaction, better networking, or enhanced learning.
Understand Your Audience
Customize the game features to align with what your audience likes. Take into account the age, interests, and preferences of your attendees to make the experience more tailored and enjoyable for them.
Choose Appropriate Game Elements
Select game elements that align with your event’s theme and objectives. Choosing game elements could include point systems, badges, leaderboard rankings, or interactive challenges.
Promote Healthy Competition
Add a touch of friendly competition to increase excitement to your event. Include leaderboards, team challenges, or individual accomplishments to inspire participants to get involved and aim for success.
Encourage Collaboration
Encourage collaboration by designing games that promote teamwork. The implementation of collaborative activities not only enhances the sense of community among participants but also fosters a positive and inclusive event atmosphere of your event.
Provide Incentives
Motivate active participation by giving enticing incentives. Whether it’s exclusive access, discounts, or recognition, offering rewards encourages attendees to fully engage with the gamification aspects of your event.
Maintain Simplicity
Keep the gamification mechanics straightforward and easy to understand. Moreover, use a simple and intuitive design, to ensure that participants can quickly catch the rules, making the experience more enjoyable.
Facilitate Networking Opportunities
Enhance networking opportunities in your event by incorporating engaging features. Implement collaborative challenges, interactive icebreaker games, and virtual spaces to create a platform where participants can easily connect, interact, and forge meaningful connections throughout the event.
Evaluate and Adapt
To improve your event gamification strategy, regularly evaluate how well it is working. Therefore, gather feedback, analyze data, and be open to adjusting the game elements to better suit the participants and achieve the event goals.
By applying the tips and tricks, you can make your event gamification more enjoyable and effective.
Conclusion
Event gamification is a powerful tool that can breathe life into your next event, whether virtual, in-person, or hybrid. By understanding its principles, overcoming challenges, and implementing tips and tricks, you can create an engaging and memorable event experience.
Yet, implementing gamification alone is not sufficient, a robust event management software is equally essential, and that’s why Event Smart came in.
Event Smart is a powerful event management solution, which not only facilitates ticket sales but also empowers event organizers to customize their event website by selecting a theme that aligns seamlessly with the event’s vibe and purpose. With Event Smart, you can elevate your event planning seamlessly.
So, as you plan your next event, supercharge your event planning with Event Smart! Don’t just host an event, make it exceptional. Start your 14-day trial today!
Leave a Reply