Aptify

Compared to many of you I am probably considered a Luddite, but that is simply not the case. Granted, I can’t code and terms like DRM, OLAP & IEEE 802.20 standards send me scrambling to Google or Wikipedia, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a great appreciation for technology and what it can do for associations.

I read practically everything I could get my hands on during the last month of 2011 hoping to glean some interesting concepts that would impact the association profession in 2012. I could bombard you with a list of fifty cool things to consider in 2012, but in an effort to achieve reasonableness I would like to suggest five concepts/strategies/ideas you may wish to consider for your organization in 2012. Over the course of the coming 4 weeks I’ll introduce the other topics, but for today’s post, I’m going to start with Gamification.

Frankly I had no idea what Gamification was when I first heard the word, but basically it is turning elements of running your business into a game. It can also be a tool to increase member engagement. Even for ‘noncompetitive types’ this has an appeal. Oh and by the way this isn’t a new concept, just an interesting word for something that has been around for millenniums.

Why games? Because most of us grew up playing games; maybe you started off with hide-and-seek with your friends and evolved to more formalized sports. We enjoy games because they challenge us. It also brings with it a sense of community – doing something with others who share your passion. What an ideal situation for associations. Associations represent a built-in community of like-minded individuals sharing the same interests; isn’t it a natural progression to add some excitement to the mix via gaming?

At its core, gamification is an engagement tool. Associations can use games or contests to award membership points. Maybe points are awarded for the number of times a member logs onto your web site or attends an educational session, purchases a product or serves on one of your committees. By utilizing your software to track points you can communicate standings (i.e. who has the most points), provide rewards and publically recognize star players. Consider Foursquare where you can track your friends, ‘save money & unlock rewards;’ or FaceBook, LinkedIn or Twitter where in essence you’re collecting friends; or Starbucks Rewards where you earn stars for a purchase.

Think about this from the perspective of your association. You create an environment to track, report and reward member engagement and its fun for your members! The goal is obviously to increase member participation within the organization, but the collateral benefits to the association include the ability to track member engagement data. Associations can identify their most active participants; the type of involvement, i.e. are they simply playing the game or are they now becoming more involved in the association? Using a game mentality, associations can entice members to become volunteers, content contributors and attend an annual event for the first time. Using games creates a different platform for connecting your members and the association serves as the community center. By collecting data over time you can track each member’s level of involvement: is it gaining or losing momentum? Either way tracking this information gives your association the power to take action at both the macro and micro level. You will have the information to identify your Power Members, those Up & Coming members; or your Stalwart members who are becoming less participatory in association business.

Gamification – it’s a strategy for increasing engagement, providing your association with crucial data elements and it can be fun.

Next week? I’ll take a look at Social Media from a tactical perspective.