Archive | September, 2011

BizReport: Four Questions with BigDoor

Today our friends at AppStoreHQ launched a new product that aims to help people find apps they love with the promise to “Never Install a sh*tty app again!” The 100% rearchitected version of AppESP is now available. The guys at AppStoreHQ are using BigDoor behind the scenes to connect with Facebook, invite friends to use AppESP as well as provide feedback on user actions, including rating and sharing apps with friends. Additionally they designed a custom set of badges and a virtual economy, “AppBucks” that users can accumulate as they interact with the app. Cheers to Scott and team!

Here is some gamification news you may have missed this past week. Angry Birds to fly into Starbucks? CNET 9/20/11 Angry Birds creator Rovio is moving towards a deal that would bring Angry Birds in-store promotions, leader boards and virtual currency into Starbucks locations. Rovio senior vice president Wibe Wageman tells Bloomberg, “It’s tying in the real world with the virtual world.” Gamification: Games Businesses Play Financial Post 9/20/2011 An interesting look at gamification from Mitchell Osak discussing the benefits of gamification. Using Wharton School examples of great gamification from Nike, USA cable network and SAP, Osak discusses how gamification can be successfully implemented, and points out that “truly successful games are designed around a business need.” Interview with Yoav Lurie, SimpleEnergy TechRockies 9/22/2011 This is a great read on how gamification is being implemented by SimpleEnergy to encourage users to use less energy while competing with friends and family. Yoav Lurie Founder and CEO of SimpleEnergy discusses the importance of competition and sociality in driving human behavior stating, “long before you ever had this [gamification] on web site, it has worked in real life.”

The Seattle Times: Perks at work: Unconventional benefits can attract and keep employees

An advance look today at a story that will run in Sunday’s Seattle Times.  The story is about unusual work perks and features local companies including BigFish Games, REI, Artitudes Design and tech startup BigDoor!  Our COO Ring Nishioka took some time to talk to Karyn Johnson about a few BigDoor perks – including Sennheiser headphones as standard issue for all of our Developers as well as our close proximity to the hotbed of Seattle’s startup community and Techstars. We’re looking for a few more developers, including Full Stack Product Python Developer & Sr. Full Stack Product Python Developer;  Operations Software Dev; Experienced Test Developer; Black Box Tester  - check it out!

If you’re a marketer get a jump on next week and start planning to attend this webinar: Crowdsourcing Solutions for SMB Marketers on Thursday, 9/29 at 3:15pm. EST. The Webinar features six thought leaders in the crowdsourcing industry, including our very own Bryan Estes! CrowdFlower, Wooshii, crowdSPRING and GeniusRocket will weigh in on leveraging the power of a crowd, managing expectations/results, and best practices for integrating crowdsourcing into a digital marketing strategy. Bryan will focus on our concept of Directed User Engagement and how gamification can really engage a community. We hope to have a lively discussion and look forward to your questions! To sign up for the webinar click here.

Columnist David F. Carr wrote this piece for “Brainyard News” on Informationweek.com. Carr interviewed BigDoor co-founder and CEO as well as Dell’s executive director of online marketing for public and large enterprise at Dell, Rishi Dave and Red Method’s CEO Matt Walton.  An excerpt below – read the entire article here: “Dell will use a mobile app and gamification techniques to encourage attendees to get the most out of its upcoming Dell World conference…At Dell World, which will be held October 12 to 14 in Austin, Dell will use a mobile application linked to BigDoor Media‘s gamification system to guide conference goers through the event program, while recognizing the most active participants…The application uses BigDoor’s gamification engine on the back end to track and score attendee activities at the show, together with a custom mobile application from Red Method that runs natively on iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7, as well as in HTML5 for BlackBerry. BigDoor provides the gamification logic, and Red Method’s app provides the user interface, including the icons displayed for achievement.”

Information Week: Dell Hopes to Score with Gamification

We’re back from a week of travel but didn’t forget about the news recap – enjoy! Gamification gets down to business Forbes 9/15/11 SAP’s Ed Tech Conference tackles gamification with keynote speaker Jane McGonigal.  McGonigal shares some great stats during her talk including by 2016, 70% of Global 2,000 businesses will have a gamified app and employee disengagement costs the workplace USD 300 billion per year. Gamification in the age of distraction Games Beat 9/16/11 An interesting sponsored post from FunMobility’s VP of Marketing, Daniel Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer points out that companies and brands need to “rethink how they will help their mobile customers search, stream, shop and share. They need to create a new generation of applications that use rich media, user generated content, and location-based services to engage and serve consumers on the go wherever their busy lives might take them.” Zyrtec turns YouTube into a gaming platform ZD Net 9/9/11 Not sure how we missed this one from the previous week but this is an interesting article that takes a closer look at a “choose your own adventure style interactive video clip” from Zyrtec. As the article points out this is interesting to see YouTube used as an interactive game feature.

Dell Selects BigDoor to Drive Attendee Engagement through Gamification SEATTLE, WA – September 15th, 2011 – BigDoor, the most widely used gamification and loyalty platform, today announced it was selected by Dell to power gamification of the mobile solution for the first-ever Dell World conference, taking place on October 12-14 in Austin, TX. Dell World 2011 — Unlocking Innovation in the Virtual Era — brings together the most influential leaders and visionaries in the technology industry today to discuss key issues shaping the IT landscape: consumerization and the cloud, social networking, virtualization, and data deluge. BigDoor was selected by Dell to create and power a gamified experience for conferences goers using the Dell World Mobile app. “BigDoor has created a gamified loyalty program that truly engages users in a wide variety of sites and verticals. Dell’s selection of our platform further validates our leadership in the industry,” said Keith Smith, BigDoor co-founder and CEO. “Dell World 2011 will provide the ideal showcase for the impact that content consumption and social amplification has on user engagement and participation. Dell clearly understands both the innovative nature of gamification and the additional layer of insight the technology provides. It is an honor to be selected by Dell for their conference and to play an integral role in the success of the event.” Throughout the conference, attendees will find hundreds of QR codes to scan with the Dell World mobile app at various booths, panels, and in all presentations. BigDoor has created multiple ways to engage attendees through Journeys, allowing Dell to see in real-time which exhibits, sessions and even food trucks are the most popular and heavily trafficked. Each Journey is customized to a specific conference track including Cloud, Social Media, Data Center, Workforce Productivity and Data Management. Attendees are rewarded with achievements for every scanned QR code and completed Journey. Additionally, BigDoor and Dell have ensured that the attendee engagement doesn’t stop when the conference hall closes. “Dell World is an event where public and mid-to-large enterprise customers come together to share what’s next and best practices in the rapidly evolving technology landscape,” said Rishi Dave, Executive Director, Online Marketing, Public and Large Enterprise at Dell. “We are using new, innovative technology, such as BigDoor’s game mechanics, to help attendees to optimize and really personalize their Dell World experience, so they can get the most out of their time at the event.” In a rapidly growing industry, BigDoor has established itself as the leading gamification platform with over 300 active partnerships, including Major League Baseball’s MLB.com, DevHub, Spartz and BuddyTV. BigDoor works with online community owners and publishers to rapidly deploy integrated and gamified loyalty programs. BigDoor’s technology is open and flexible and able to integrate into any product as well as with any digital agency. To date, 260 million users have been rewarded through badges and virtual goods through the BigDoor platform. About Dell World Join us at Dell World 2011 — Unlocking Innovation in a Virtual Era. Bringing together top IT visionaries, leaders and experts, Dell World attendees will learn about and share some of the most innovative strategies and techniques taking place in IT today. Learn more at www.DellWorld.com or follow #DellWorld on Twitter. About BigDoor BigDoor’s patent-pending, gamified loyalty platform helps companies increase their traffic and revenue through social rewards. The BigDoor platform is currently used by over 300 companies to increase user engagement and monetization. Investors include Foundry Group and Founder’s Co-Op. For more information, visit www.bigdoor.com or follow us on Twitter @BigDoor and @ChiefDoorman. ### Contact: Carrie Peters, BigDoor 206-579-3804 carrie@bigdoor.com