fbpx

Автор: Jana Gofman

The main advantages of gamification

Everyone loves to play games, and it doesn’t matter how old they are. Even the most serious boss will gladly plunge into a fantasy world, inspired by an unusual storyline and setting.

To defuse the atmosphere, give the event a team spirit, stimulate the participants  — gamification will cope with all these things. This modern method will make your event truly memorable.

Your real assistant in that is MULTIEVENT application. Its functionality allows you to implement:

Contests

For active participation, participants are awarded points, which can later be exchanged for any bonuses (branded pens with a logo, a cocktail in a bar, etc.). Or you can get the chance to earn a solid amount of points and win the opportunity to dine with the CEO of the company.

Quests

Load maps and send participants to complete various tasks and overcome obstacles in order to guess the next item.

Polls

Conduct polls to encourage comments and feedback. By the way, you can also give a few points for this.

Quizzes

There is no longer any need to yell from the audience or reach out to intercept the microphone. We just answer the questions in the application itself and decide who is the most erudite participant this time.

It’s no secret that many activities are voluntary but compulsory at the same time. If the boss has set the event in the plan, it means that all employees must come. In this case, the game format with the accrual of points and the recording of actions will make it possible to turn passive listeners into active participants. Few people want to stay on the sidelines, especially when an interesting prize is at stake.

Another sphere of ​​application for gamification is educational programs. It is necessary to evaluate and award points, but how to do it and not go down to the banal twos and fives?

The chief engineer will definitely not want to feel like a schoolboy again. Using individual QR codes, the application can automatically award points for attendance at lectures, for questions to speakers, for messages in online discussions, for successful passing of tests and completed assignments. Learning efficiency is increased.

The possibilities of gamification are limited only by the organizer’s imagination. It can be a pirate quest to find a buried treasure, with riddles and virtual notes right on the map. Or escape from a villain, where each master key is another test. Everything is real.

Decide for yourself what your event should be. And implement your solution together with MULTIEVENT.

Technologies to get along well with

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to give a short lecture in a co-working space in Prague. In my presentation, I decided to add a slide with a list of technologies that our developers use daily for work. I put the word out and asked them to send me the names of services, programming languages, and frameworks (development environments) which they use for work every single day.

I also found it to be useful: there are some that I’ve never come across and some that I only heard of. I personally have only worked with few services from this long list.

So, I will share several tools that we use to make our service:

Back-end

This is the core of our service. It has two parts: a data storage server (we use the Google Firebase platform) and dedicated servers on Apache for data processing (like the one where the service admin panel is located).

We use SSL protocols for data security, but I believe a lot of people use them.

Hundreds and thousands of new code lines appear on the server every day. To keep our eyes on the ball, we installed special software on the servers that helps our big team of programmers to have up-to-date files at hand in order to make edits and improvements to the system.

Admin Panel

Our admin panel is powered by PHP and JavaScript. It is developed in Laravel + Vue.js environment.

This is where my knowledge ends because I have never come across this toolkit.

We use VPS servers for our admin panel; we actually have two of them for the administrative part: «production» with working files and «sandbox» — for debugging new functions. This distributed system helps you test your code before it hits production so you can check it out.

We also use regular hosting to store our «showcase» service on it: the main site with a description of the service, this blog, the Academy site, and the User Support Center. Such a system ensures that you will have access to reference information any time even if everything is down (but we believe this will never happen).

Mobile app

What I can tell here is that our mobile application is built in the ionic environment using Angular and Cordova. The application is written in Swift for both platforms at once: Android and Apple, which allows releasing updates almost simultaneously.

The mobile app is built in such a way that it works solely with Google servers that have a popular safety margin and fault tolerance. Lack of communication with Apache servers ensures reliable downloading of files. For instance, ten thousand participants of your forum can simultaneously query for a photo of a speaker or a file of his presentation and our service will easily handle this load.

According to our estimation, we can easily handle up to 100 thousand application users, i.e. participants of several events working with our service in one day. But there is one condition: in order to ensure a high level of service, we ask you to inform about the date of your event; this way we can plan the service load and be on the safe side (you need to specify the date of the event in the event settings, no other notifications needed).

Interface design

This is the part of the work that is not about programming but has a direct impact on it. We create the initial design in Axure (it’s easy to create prototypes of new modules and extensions in this desktop application). But all its improvements such as appearance fixes are performed in Figma, which is a professional service for rendering the interfaces of websites and mobile applications.

This, perhaps, a brief list of tools that our programmers work with (or worked when I held my lecture in the co-working space).

Do we need to understand how all these programming languages and tools work? Most likely not. After all, for you and me it’s important that everything works as it should and doesn’t fail. Although sometimes curiosity gets in the way and makes you look “under the hood” to self-develop.

Next time I’ll tell you how we plan our work and set tasks.

One of the founders, Alexander 🙂

Frequent mistakes when organizing events

Everyone in this world makes mistakes, and event managers could not be an exception to the rule. Once, the American writer W. Channing said, «Mistakes are the science that helps us move forward.» And if we want to succeed in our business, we just need to take a look at the experience of our colleagues, understand what causes their failures, and try not to «step on someone else’s heist», and even more so on our own. Let’s figure it out:

1. Teamwork

Everything is simple here – you should not take too much on yourself, hale everything for everyone, it is important to trust your partners and subordinates, respect the opinion and work of everyone, you can use the «pipeline method», when each project participant will be responsible only for their «small detail» of the common goal, learn to delegate responsibilities. Trust and professionalism are two components of a team’s success.

2. Planning

Not only the availability of a work plan, but also its quality plays an important role. You should take into account every little detail, even if it may not be relevant to the case. Find a pessimistic employee who will deny everything that is planned, for example, «And if it rains…», «And if someone is late…», «And if the host is ill…» , etc. In your event algorithm, take into account all its «IFS» and all negative scenarios.

3. Time

This concept is multi-faceted. Be punctual and demand the same from the team. Do not take up «last-minute» orders  –  work on burning yourself out does not cost any profit, and quick projects are definitely not insured against mistakes. And mistakes in our business are fraught with a damaged reputation and a small number of orders. And never change anything at the last minute. The concept was not developed yesterday, all participants are ready, and a momentary desire to «fix something» will only harm.

4. Me

A lot depends on the personality of the organizer. Yes, I am an active, confident, sociable, responsible, creative, experienced professional. But any person sometimes gets carried away: self-confidence turns into over estimated self-confidence, activity — into excessive fussiness, sociability — into chatter, experience regresses, and creativity and professionalism are covered with a touch of templates and stereotypes. How to avoid this? Listen to the comments and advice of colleagues and clients, constantly develop yourself by attending trainings, master classes and open events. Keep up with the times and don’t be afraid of innovations in the event industry. Be flexible and dynamic, ready to adapt to any situation. Don’t lose your head and sense of humor. Be calm, say «no» to worry and stress. You are a Professional in your field.

And the most important thing – do not be afraid to make a mistake, experience is that’ll come with time, there is always time to work on mistakes, find out the reasons for their appearance, and most importantly – try never to allow them or repeat them.

How does the MULTIEVENT app save your time and simplify any event arrangements?

Making preparations for an event is not an easy task. You not only need to meet the needs of the audience but also to quickly implement them. But besides this bunch of tasks, you need to get accommodation ready before inviting speakers and guests. And also people that you need to interact with, expecting a prompt response.

Even professional event managers resort to the help of available means at hand. Needless to say about an ordinary employee who was appointed responsible for the event. Of course, you can write everything down in a notebook like in good old days, and then do a bulk mailing in social networks, watching if they will answer right away or it’s just another day wasted. However, this is not the only way out.

The MULTIEVENT mobile app will step in and save the day. The benefits and advantages of using it at the events will be appreciated not only by professional organizers. The application allows you to manage and conduct business conferences, master classes, open lessons, weddings and exhibitions, etc., more efficiently. Besides the set of useful and handy features, let’s consider the main advantages this application has.  

Why the MULTIEVENT app can be helpful?

 ‎• You no longer need to keep separate lists for each topic; the application will arrange itself and clearly show the entire progress in the preparation. All you have to do is simply fill it with content, including attendee lists, speakers, library, and other materials. The chance to miss something important tends to zero.

‎• This is a new alternative to printed booklets. The participants can get access to all event details by scanning the QR code. If something has changed in the event materials (event’s agenda, participants, event location), it instantly changes in the app with a single click.

‎• You no longer need to think about how to get feedback. MULTIEVENT allows you to conduct a survey where you can ask whatever you want. You must always consider the opinion of the event participants because it was for them that the event was made.

Also, you can carry out a vote and quickly get feedback from all participants at any time.

• Participants networking. The app has a list of all the event participants. You can text anyone, ask a question, or make an appointment. This is a kind of short-life social network.

• You will no longer need to reach out to ask your question to speakers or look for the organizers in the hall to ask them. All participants can do this right from the app. You can drag the featured chats to the main screen.

• Special mention should be made of the list of partners and sponsors. Previously, you could find information about them on a large banner, where it was very difficult to make out where whose logo was, or you could find the details in booklets, which were often used as a fan rather than for reading.

Now we can place information about sponsors and partners right in the app to get participants familiar with the services or products offered.

The sponsor can clearly see how many participants visited his page in the app and how many visited the site by clicking on the link. A lot more people will want to collaborate with you.

• PUSH notifications
Thanks to Push-notifications about agenda changes or news that is constantly updated, your participants will be up-to-date and won’t miss anything. Many people practice sending notifications the day before the event or even a few hours to attract those who are still in doubt.

The timely sent Push-notification adds up to 1.5-3% of participants.

The whole world strives for interactivity. Don’t miss your opportunity to adjust your business to the modern framework model.

MULTIEVENT changes the format of events itself saving your time and money.

Teambuilding: what do you need to know before carrying it out?

The main task of team building is considered to be the rallying of this team. With the help of various games, contests and tasks, the participants of the team increase the team spirit, unite, and, as practice shows, strengthen their relations. To complete this task successfully, you must remember the basic principles of organizing the team building. Following the principles set out below, you can be sure that the team building technique will bring the desired result.

So let’s look at six principles of successful team building.

1. Follow the plan

  Since team building is carried out in stages, it is necessary to clearly formulate the plan for this event and adhere to it. Work out the plan to welcome all the participants, the team building program itself and its end. It’s not enough to work out the plan itself, you also need to schedule the event. Calculate the optimal amount of time for all points in the plan, preferably with a small reserve of time. Then you will not have to rush and urge everyone, and most importantly, you yourself will not have to panic that everything doesn’t go according to the plan.

2. Pay attention to details

A successful result depends a lot on the little things. Attention to every detail is an additional coin to the treasury of team building success. Everything is important: transfers, dishes, branding and music. Select quality equipment for your event. It is also important to have a technician on hand, equipment installation is unpredictable business. Well thought out details will ensure your success in the end.

3. Choose a professional host

The main role in team building, of course, is given to the leader. It should be a bright personality capable of giving the team a positive and cheerful mood. Add a little creativity to the program, because no one will like the contests and tasks that everyone has known for a long time.

4. Involve all participants

It is very important that all participants are active in the event. Try to involve everyone as much as possible, this is the whole point of this event. Nobody should be left out. Everyone needs to feel their role and the importance of participation.

5. Work out the menu carefully

Most often, team building lasts the greater part of the day, right up to the evening. The event can be held at the highest level, but an ill-conceived menu will negate the whole impression. It is very important to provide meals for the team. Do not forget to coordinate the menu with each participant, what if someone is allergic to your proposed dish? Choose the best gastronomic combinations so that the participant is not hungry and out of humor all day. A professional chef will advise you on this delicate matter.

6. Collect feedback

Feedback is always needed. Participants can share their impressions at any time, it is not necessary to do it right after the end of the team building and make everyone share their feedback. Employees can express their opinion already in the office after the team building. It is important to listen to everyone. It is possible that they will also criticize. Criticism is also good. It is necessary to treat it with understanding and be sure to take the mistakes into account for the future. After all, it is the work over the mistakes that will make your next event much better and will raise it to a higher level.

By adhering to the above rules, the likelihood of your team building being successful increases significantly. Follow your plan, concentrate on the details, be in a good mood and everything will definitely work out!

© 2003-2022 Все материалы на сайте принадлежат команде Тимбилдинг.Москва.
Все торговые знаки принадлежат их правообладателям.