Introduction

EventStream Engage is your comprehensive gamification platform to encourage interactions and engagement for attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors.

Gamification is all about finding activities, games, quests and goals to encourage your attendees to take actions such as:

• Installing the Attendee App
• Connecting with other attendees
• Visiting exhibitors
• Taking part in social networking (using the private social network EventStream)
• Responding to Live Polls
• Answering trivia questions
• Checking into sessions and functions

It all begins with thinking about what specific actions you want to see happen, then setting goals related to these. You add incentives and rewards in the form of points, badges, prizes and ‘coins’ which can be redeemed to purchase items and gifts.

All of this can be as simple or complex as you wish. EventStream Engage comes with a library of suggested goals, badges and prizes to help spark ideas, and there are more in this document.

 

Summary and definitions

• Gamification – adding game-like elements (activities, challenges or quests) to encourage attendees to participate.
• Goals – specific objectives tied to actions, such as checking in with an exhibitor, attending a session, participating in social media and more. Usually, points are awarded when a goal is achieved.
• Badges – often used to recognize completion of multiple goals (for example, you might earn a Handshake Hunter badge after achieving the goal of setting up a meeting three times). Usually a fun element with no extrinsic reward.
• Prizes – items such as food, beverages, clothing, merchandise etc. Attendees use accumulated points (coins) to purchase (redeem) items, or win them via a random prize draw.
• Points – you set up your own ‘points economy’ and decide how many points each goal will earn, and whether these are simply for fun or can be used to buy or win prizes.
• Mystery Points – hide the number of points attached to a goal until it’s been achieved.
• Coins – 10 points equate to 1 coin (this can’t be changed). You don’t have to use this feature, but it makes sense to add in some material rewards and allow attendees to redeem coins for gifts and prizes. Do some simple calculations beforehand to make goals, points, and coins realistic. For example, if a cup of coffee costs $5 cash, you might make it 500 coins, which equates to 5000 points. Then set your points accordingly by working out how many goals you could reasonably expect an attendee to achieve to earn a free cup of coffee, and so on.
• Beacons – small battery-powered devices which transmit a Bluetooth signal to nearby smart phones and tablets. You can use these to automate check-in to different locations such as functions, sessions or even exhibition stands as part of achieving a goal.
• QR codes – used to instantly check-in to various locations or sessions in a similar way to using beacons. The attendee uses their attendee app to scan the QR code to record their check-in.
• Display Time – lets you set the date and time that a specific goal is visible in the Attendee App.
• Active Time – defines when a specific goal can be achieved. This setting works in tandem with the one above, so you could have goal that’s visible, but not yet available; or you could keep a goal invisible and only reveal it when it becomes available. You can use these settings to entice people to attend particular sessions or functions at certain times.
  
  The EventStream Manager feature is mentioned often throughout this article. You can find this in the Communications panel - look on the right-hand "Actions" menu button, and the icon of a paper plane inside a speech bubble:  Alternatively, you can see a list of all options shown in the EventStream Manager here.

Creating goals

The image shows how goals look in the Attendee App.  When you define a Goal, you also define important settings such as: Goal Type Points/Mystery Points Display and Active Time Inventory and Personal Limits Descriptions and Additional Instructions

Goal Library

The Goal Library offers a list of sample goals, and includes important settings such as goal types, points and personal limits. You can always modify a goal later.

Creating a Goal (except for Trivia Questions)

Here are the settings you define when setting up a new goal:

• Name – enter the name of your new goal.
• Description – this appears in the EventStream Engage section of the Attendee App (which you’d call something like “Win Points” in the app itself).
• Type – choose your goal type here (there’s more information later in this document).
• Icon – You can use the default icon, choose one from the many available options, or import your own custom icon here. Imported icons must be 144x144 pixels in size.
• Points – Here’s where you set how many points a goal earns.  Accumulated points are displayed in the Attendee App.
• Mystery Points Check Box – when checked, the number of points attached to this goal are hidden until it’s been achieved.
• Goal Order – you can nominate which goals appear first in the Attendee App. Zero (0) puts the goal at the top of the list, 1 will be second, 2 third etc.
• Restrict Display Time – control when a specific goal is visible in the attendee app.
• Restrict Active Time – control when the goal becomes available/can be achieved. If you enable these settings, you can also set a reminder alert.
• Inventory – lets you nominate how many times this goal can be achieved at your event. When an inventory is used up, the goal will disappear from the Attendee App.
• Personal Limit – lets you set how many times each attendee can earn points from this specific goal.
• Additional Instructions – will appear in the Attendee App.
• Make Inactive – when checked, makes the goal inactive. You can return later to undo this.

Creating a Trivia Question goal

Trivia Question goals have a different format, and you need to set the following. The answers will appear in random order to attendees.

• Trivia Question (The actual question)
• Correct Answer
• Incorrect Answer 1
• Incorrect Answer 2
• Incorrect Answer 3

You can create as many trivia questions as you need.

Some example goals

Every event planner and every event will have different objectives and requirements, so spend time bouncing around ideas with your team to set objectives that are uniquely suited to your needs.

Example 1 – Trivia Questions and the Trivia Master Badge

Your trivia questions can be about your organization: Who founded the company, how many countries do you have offices in, and more.

You create a series of five trivia questions, and have them appear in the Attendee App at random times throughout the event. You also create the Trivia Master Badge, which recognizes attendees who answer all five trivia questions correctly.

Example 2 – Morning Exercise Check-In

Let’s say you’ve introduced morning exercise sessions as a way for attendees to connect with each other and start the day on positive note. Since this is a new addition to your event, you want to encourage participation. You can add beacons or a QR code at the entrance, and award 5,000 points for every day that an attendee participates. Because your event runs over three days, you give everyone a personal inventory of 3 so they can earn points for each morning’s exercise session. You also create a Superstar Badge to recognize attendees who attend at least two of the exercise sessions.

Example 3 – Encourage Attendee Networking

Your annual conference always begins with an evening networking event. Even though attendee surveys tell you that your delegates enjoy this event, it can take a while for attendees to warm up and start talking to one another. So, you create an attendee networking goal that encourages people to swap contact details using the Attendee App Contact Exchange. Using the Contact Exchange goal type, you attach 1000 points to every contact exchange. You also create two badges: Silver Handshake (one contact exchange) and Gold Handshake (five exchanges).

Example 4 – EventStream posting

Along with EventStream Engage, you’ll be using the EventStream Private Social Network at your event, and to encourage participation, you set up goals to reward posting photos and commenting on posts:

• Image Expert
• EventStream Rockstar

Image Expert is achieved after an attendee posts five photos in EventStream. EventStream Rockstar is achieved after commenting on five posts. You can set event inventories and personal inventories for these, depending on the number of attendees and the size of your event. Of course, in addition to points, you decide to create corresponding badges to recognize your attendees for their efforts! 

Goal types

Each Goal type can have points assigned, and you can use goal types more than once.

The following Goal types are available:

• Check-In - Event
• Check-In - Function
• Check-In – Any Session
• Complete Session Survey
• Contact Exchange – Exchange Contact Information
• EventStream – Comment on Post
• EventStream – Post
• EventStream – Post with Photo
• EventStream – Post with Video
• EventStream – Others Comment on Your Post
• Exhibitor Lead Scan
• Exhibitor Stand Visit
• External API
• Install and Log into Attendee App
• Live Poll Feedback
• Live Poll Participation
• Location (scan QR code)
• Location (using beacon)
• Trivia Question
• Upload Photo

Badges

While you don’t have to create badges, they can be a fun and entertaining addition to any event or program. When you think about it, most online games include visual ‘rewards’ like this, so it really is “gamification”. You define each badge based on the goals you’ve set. Think about what really motivates your attendees and how the extra recognition of a badge (including this being shown in EventStream) will add value or enjoyment. EventsAir includes a library of sample badges you can modify to suit your needs. These example badges encourage social networking, trivia question answers, participation in EventStream and exhibitor stand visits.

Creating badges

There are four steps to creating a badge:

• Naming
• Connecting to a goal (or goals)
• Set goal targets
• Creating the icon

Naming 

Try to create a fun and interesting name for your badge. It should make the meaning of the badge obvious to the attendee. You can make it unique and memorable by linking to your event theme, an appropriate pop culture reference, or something else of particular interest and relevance to your attendees.

Connecting to goals

A badge recognizes an attendee for completing certain goals. Sometimes, a combination of multiple goals is appropriate. For example, a Social Star badge might be linked to two different goals: posting photos and posting videos (to EventStream).

Setting goal targets

This is where you define the number of goal completions needed to earn the badge. You can even create a badge series: e.g., 3 completions earns a bronze badge, 5 completions earns a silver badge, and 10 completions earns a gold badge.

Creating the badge icon

EventsAir’s built-in library of icons and choice of background colors lets you quickly and easily set up professional looking badges:

However, you can also import your own artwork, as long as the image is 144 x 144 pixels in size. EventsAir will place the badge name below your icon.

Awarding prizes and redeeming coins

We all like recognition, but actual rewards are often the best way to motivate people to take action! You can set up prizes and rewards however you wish, offering one or both of the following:

• Prize Draws (using points) – These are a bit like a lottery or lucky door prize. You can set them up on the basis that each attendee gets a certain number of tickets per ‘point’. You can nominate anywhere from 1 ticket per point to 1 ticket for every 10,000 points, and you can award large or small prizes. You can also award more than one prize from the same pool of tickets. Prizes can be ‘drawn’ using this feature in the EventStream Engage Analytics portal. You could also use a physical ticket draw if you wanted to.

• Coin redemptions – Attendees earn coins (based on a fixed rate of 1 coin per ten points). Depending on what you decide to set up, coins can be used to ‘purchase’ items such as t-shirts, food items, or even larger value items such as complimentary event registrations. In effect, you’re giving these items away, and creating your own form of ‘currency’ based on points earned to work out who’ll get these items.

Setting up your points and tickets structure

While we suggest points in our Goals library, it’s completely up to you to determine the points value you want to assign to different goals. Obviously, you should rank and value your goals based on importance / complexity. Consider also how your points system interrelates with tickets and coins.

More about coins

Because points are automatically converted to coins at a ratio of 10 to 1 (for example, 10,000 points would equal 1,000 coins), you need to do your calculations when setting up redemptions. Check that, for example, the number of ‘event coins’ needed to ‘buy’ a t-shirt compared to the number needed for a coffee equates roughly to their relative value in the real world. Consider also how many of each item you have to ‘sell’ (give away), and what attendees need to do (and are likely/willing to do) to ‘earn’ coins. A spreadsheet can be useful here.

How to set up a prize draw

To set up a prize draw, go to the Communications panel, and select “Manage EventStream” from Quick Tools (right-hand panel).

Under the Engage tab, there are three headings: Goals, Badges, Prizes.

Under Prize, select “Add Prize”.

For Type, choose Prize Draw from the drop-down.

• You need to fill out name and description.
• You should supply an image (maximum 1440 pixels wide – test images to make sure they appear correctly in smart devices).
• Nominate how many points are needed to get 1 ticket.(Enter this number in the “Attendees Receive 1 Ticket for Every (Ticket to Points Earned)” field.
• Order – you can set the order that prizes appear in the Attendee App. (Zero will be 1^st, 1 will appear second, and so on.) You can also leave this blank.
• Filter Potential Winners – You can use this option to filter for the allowed attendees to participate in the prize draw. For example, you may wish to exclude staff, speakers or exhibitors – or previous winners - from a prize draw. Be sure to follow any laws and regulations for your region in relation to running prize draws.
• You can also add more information, and make the prize draw inactive for a time if needed (and reactivate it later).

To draw the prize, use the EventStream Engage Analytics app, under Prize Draw. You can connect your device to a screen to display the “Pick Winner” animation as the winner is drawn.

Setting up coin redemptions

To set up a prize draw, go to the Communications panel, and select “Manage EventStream” from Quick Tools (right-hand panel) - the icon is a paper plane inside a speech bubble:

Under the Engage tab, there are three headings: Goals, Badges, Prizes.

Under Prize, select “Add Prize”, but under Type, choose Redemption.

Fill out the Name and Description fields, supply a suitable image, and set the display Order if you wish. (Just as you would for a prize draw).

• Coins Required –the number of coins needed to redeem the listed item
• Just as you would for Goals, you can limit the Display time and Active time, and set a reminder alert.
• And just like with Goals, you can limit the event inventory and personal inventory, and use the checkbox to make this item Inactive if you want to. 

Engagement in the Attendee App

Installing EventStream Engage in the Attendee App takes just a few seconds. Drag and drop the EventStream Engage component into the Attendee App builder. You may want to rename it something like “Win Points” and you can also set the icon and visibility. Once installed, it will automatically synchronize with the attendee’s Engage points and goals whenever they log into the app. Your attendees can use EventStream Engage to see: Points Goals Badges Prizes

Points

The opening view displays the following information:

• Points Earned
• Goals Achieved
• Leaderboard Ranking
• Top Ten Attendees (based on points earned in Engage)
• Scan Now Bar (used to scan QR codes to earn Goals)

Goals

This view displays all available Goals. Attendees can see an overview of all currently available goals. Completed goals are indicated with a green check mark.

Selecting a goal (clicking the arrow on the right) opens up more detail and allows for QR code scanning if needed. 

Badges

This view displays all available badges (whether or not they’ve been earned).

• Earned badges will be fully visible with a green check mark underneath it.
• Unearned badges will be dimmed and show a number indicating how many goals are required and how many have been earned to date

Prizes

This shows all available prize draws and items that can be redeemed with event coins.

Managing Gamification during your event

EventStream Engage Analytics App

Event Organizers can easily see a wide range of both broad and detailed information using this app.

The default names for the tabs on this app are:

Dashboard

Goals

Badges

Prize Draw

Redemptions

Search

Dashboard tab

The dashboard shows the following analytics as horizontal bar graphs:

• Attendee Statistics – how many attendees have achieved goals.
• Points Statistics – total points earned per goal.
• Goals Completed – how many times each goal has been earned.

There’s also a pie chart showing Points Distribution - how all points are distributed across your group of attendees:

• The top 25%
• Those in the 50-75% range
• The 25-50% range
• The bottom 25% (which may be the majority of your attendees, especially at first).

Goals tab

Displays details of all goals in a table, showing:

• Number of points assigned to each goal
• Image and name – based on what appears in the Attendee App
• Bar graph icon – if you click this icon, you’ll see a pie chart showing the percentage of attendees who’ve earned and haven’t yet earned this goal.
• Points Earned – total number of points earned for each goal.
• Attendees – the number of attendees who’ve earned points via this goal.
• Total – how many times this goal has been achieved across your event.

For each of the last three columns, you can click on the number in the column to see an exportable list of all attendees who’ve achieved this goal, their points earned from this goal, and how many times they’ve achieved this goal. 

Even without exporting, these lists can be sorted onscreen by Attendee ID, Last Name, First Name, Points, and number of times they’ve achieved that goal. 

Badge tab

Displays details of all badges in a table, showing:

• Badge Image & name – based on what’s shown in the Attendee App
• Target – how many of the relevant goal must be achieved to earn this badge
• Total – how many times this badge has been earned across your event. Clicking this number shows an exportable list of each attendee who’s earned this badge.

Prize Draw tab

Displays Prize Draw items in a table, showing:

• Image and name of prize
• The number of points needed to earn a ticket in this prize draw
• Attendees – total number of attendees who have tickets for this prize draw. In a similar way to other tabs in the app, clicking on the number will display an exportable table of data.
• Tickets – total number of tickets generated for this prize draw. (Click to see how many tickets per attendee).
   

Prize Draw tab - Pick Winner button (animation)

Clicking on Pick Winner will display an animated Prize Draw that can be projected in real time onto a large screen connected to your device. When you click on Pick Winner, you’ll see a spinning circle and underneath, all names in the prize draw will display in rapid rotation. When the wheel stops, it will announce the winner.

 

Redemption tab

Redemption items are displayed in a table showing:

• Name & image 
• Available inventory if applicable
• Attendees – the total number of attendees who have redeemed this item (click on the number for detailed data).
• Redemptions – the total number of times this item’s been redeemed for ‘event coins’ (click on the number for detailed data).

Search tab

Use the search box on this tab to search for attendees who’ve achieved goals, earned points/badges/coins/tickets. You can search by ID or Name. [ID will only find an exact match, but searching for “James” will find anyone with either the first name or surname James). 

When you locate an attendee, click Select to see a detailed report of their EventStream activities including remaining coin and points totals.

EventStream Engage Redemption App

To help you manage coin redemption onsite, you can use the EventStream Engage Redemption App to search and see statistics

Search

• Search for attendees by name, then see their photo and details.
• See “Coins Available” and “Coins Remaining”. Both amounts will be the same when you first look at this page, however if you select an item to redeem on behalf of the attendee, you’ll see the “Coins Remaining” amount change to reflect what will happen if this item is redeemed.
• If there aren’t enough coins to redeem the selected item, the “Coins Remaining” amount will be shown as a negative number with a red background.
• If an item has a limited inventory and/or a limited personal inventory, these will also be shown. (In green if there is remaining inventory, and in red if there’s no remaining inventory.)

Statistics

This will show you all items available for redemption, showing how many coins are needed to redeem the item, and any of the following which apply: inventory, number of redemptions, remaining inventory, personal limits and display/active times.

Setting up the Engage Redemption App:

Follow the normal process to set up an app from the Online Panel, creating an Alias and live dates.

Users Tab

To add a new user, click the plus sign + next to "App Users", and complete the fields below.  

Then click Add User, and then Save.

Details

• Email Address - the unique email address of this user is used to sign into the Portal.
• Password - it is recommended to always use a strong password, with a combination of upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols.
• First Name - the First Name of the App user.
• Last Name - the Last Name of the App user.
• Organization - the Organization of the App user.
• User Type - select the Basic option
• Is Disabled - check this box to turn off Portal access for this user.
• Last Logon - the date and time that this user last signed into the Portal.

Content Tab

Remember, this app is not for attendees so you can keep the content fairly basic.

• Login –  edit the heading and add any extra content needed.
• Search – edit the search page name here
• Statistics – edit the statistics page name here

Adding points manually

If you want to kickstart engagement or get people more involved, you can add points in bulk via the Express Actions panel.

• In Express Actions, select Bulk Add Engage Points.
• Choose a goal, then filter for a specific Target Group if desired. 
• You can also select the option to Send Push Notifications to the Attendee App/OnAIR portal.
•  Before clicking “Start”, you can also use the Selected Records tab to check you’ve filtered correctly, and remove one or more records from the list if you don’t want to add points for them.  

You can also add (and even remove) points via the Organizer App, under Engage Points (as long as this has been added to your Organizer App). If points have accidentally been added, use a negative amount (-500 for example) to remove them.

Displaying Leader Boards 

EventStream Leader Board App

The EventStream Leader Board App offers a way to project onto a large screen display the following Leader Boards:

• EventStream Contributors
• EventStream Mentions
• EventStream Tags
• EventStream Commenters
• EventStream Engage Points

 

Each category displays both the Overall leaders for that category as well as Today’s leaders for the current category.

Note: Only the photo of the Attendee in the number 1 position will be displayed in the Leader Board.

Firstly, enable all the leader boards you’d like displayed Leader Boards by going to Communications > Event Stream Manager > Settings and looking under the Leader Boards tab.

Here you can nominate which items you want to track and measure for your Leader Boards.

Go to the Online Panel and install the EventStream Leader Board App.

All settings are made in the Leaderboard section. Options you can modify include:

• Background Image
• Heading
• Subheading
• Text Color
• Leader Board Heading Background Color
• Rank 1-3 Background Color
• Display Time (in seconds)
  
  

The EventStream Wall & Album Apps

The two apps below aren't really used for gamification as such, but they do add to your attendee's engagement and enjoyment of the event experience. 

• The EventStream Wall App lets your project your EventStream onto a screen at your event. Read more here.  
• The EventStream Album App is an easy way to compile your best event photos into a closing montage towards the end of your event. Read more here.