Each year at the Gamification World Congress the submitted projects are judged by a panel of industry experts, in the past I have been a member of the panel. It is great to see the effort that goes into gamification and engagement projects rewarded. I would also say there is more scope to have more projects submitted and to make the competition a bit more challenging.
In any case I am in favour of showcasing the best in the industry and some of you may say, you would say that because you have had a a nomination 2 years running and this year one of our team members Andrzej Marczewski won the award for biggest contribution of 2016. He won it based on his body of work on player types, which was also validated by university researchers this year. (He started with player types well before ever joining Gamification Nation) I have always liked his methodology and used it in several projects.
Normally I am able to explain the winners of the other categories rather well, but by virtue of being an actual host together with last years winners Melanie De La Vega from Pernod Ricard and their wonderful app Ricardo for leadership development, I didn’t actually get to see most of the talks about the various projects. Hence I am simply going to give you the description also given on the GWC website and for you to do a bit of research on what these projects entailed.
The SEFH (Spanish Association of Hospital Pharmacy) was the winner of “GWC Best Customer Engagement Project 2016”, for their project that aimed to change the medical congress experience while educating. Jose Miguel Martinez (Head of Innovation and Strategic Solutions, AbbVie) received the award. The other finalists of this award were EVO Bank, Ad-Pure TV Sync and ‘La Petite Robe Noire Intense’ from Guerlain.
The winner of the “GWC Best Employee Engagement Project 2016” category was Belron for their project “The Belron Way of Fitting” that combines the virtual learning experience with real world training on the job on a global scale. Paul Cornelissen (Training & Development Manager at Belron) received the award. The other finalists of this award were KFC for their CSL QuizGame and Leroy Merlin.
The winner of “GWC Best Health & Wellness Project 2016” was Air4Life (by Hospital Vall d’Hebron & Chiesi). The patient is the protagonist of the App and he is challenged in the app to improve continuously by means of achievements and goals related to exercise and the right way to take their medication to improve their health and well-being. Julio Martínez Cutilla (Director of the Hospital Pharmacy Service of the Vall d’Hebron Hospital) and Emilio López Reyero (Product Manager at Chiesi) received the award. The other finalists of this category were Imperial College London, Brave Potions and Wellness City Project.
The winner of the “GWC Best Education Project 2016” was the Ball State Achievements project developed by University Ball State. Ball State Achievements has shown how to effectively use mobile gamification to increase engagement and retention rates in at-risk students. Scott Reinke (Coordinator for Ball State Achievements at Ball State University) and Brittanie Middleton (Budget & Finance) received the award. The other finalists of this category were Colegio San Andreu, Beaconing Project and The Group of Experts.
