Hello, Everyone đ
We hope you had a great past year, full of all things community and we wish you much success in the coming year. The last month of the year was eventful for us as well, we hosted Tina Hilck in the 3rd episode of âChronicles of Community Buildersâ and our community catchup, âWhen RETRO Meets METROâ.
On the more exciting news, many new and amazing people joined us this month.
We are here to keep you updated on all things community, to keep you in the know about the events that are being hosted, the jobs that are open.
So, scroll down to see the complete picture.
Happy Scrolling!
Gamification-
What is Gamification -
Gamification is the skill of understanding what game-based motivators may drive community members and how to use those motivators to help members get value out of the community that they may not initially recognize. Oftentimes gamification efforts appear in the form of points, badges, or âgamesâ that encourage gentle competition around engagement.
While gamification needs to be embedded into your community strategy, there are a few things to keep in mind when looking to implement your gamification elements.
Keep your users in mind -
What do your users look for in your community? Who are most of your community members? Are they gaming fanatics? Are they fashionistas? Think about what type of badges, or ranks, for example, would resonate best with your community base.
RapidMiner notes that one of the game-changing features that they implemented into their community was the customizable gamification system, which actually played a huge role in increasing their engagement levels.Â
Provide Relevant Incentives -
Remember that your community members are likely fans, if not, avid users, of your brand. Given this fact, you might want to offer some real tangible goods as incentives to participate and engage.Â
For Acer, this strategy is part of their brand advocate program.
Reward Exemplary Behavior -
In any community, you're sure to find trolls, or those who aren't too kind to others. Luckily for you, toxic behavior can be mitigated, or at the very least, curbed, by gamification.
Gamification, much like a video game or a certain experiment with a bell and a dog, should reward the behaviors and activities you want to encourage, and discourage the behaviors you donât.
Gamification works because it's in our blood.
Competition is something that resonates with everyone. The desire to compete and achieve is an innately human response, even if itâs in a small way.
Must Check Out -
Podcasts -
In Before the Lock - This weekâs podcast of In Before the Lock brings Erica and Brian, where they close out 2021 by talking about their favorite happenings in the community industry.
Listen to it here: Top 10ish
Masters of Community with David Spinks - In this episode, David Spinks, the VP of Community at Bevy and the Co-Founder of CMX, joins the Seed Club DAO Podcast. They discuss consumer empowerment and how the role of a community has evolved as consumers have grown in power.
Listen to it here: Delivering Belonging with David Spinks
Articles
We know itâs very hard to pick from so many amazing articles that get published every month but we have tried and here are the best articles of the month for you.
The Broken See-Saw: Work-Life Balance in a Community Professionalâs World- Holly Firestone writes about work-life balance as a Community Professional.
Checklist for Event/Community Cross-Promotion - This is a resource that Jenny Weigle has prepared that any community professional who plans in-person events will find helpful. The checklist linked below is a series of tasks you can do to promote your event ON your community, as well as promote your community DURING your event.
Throwback TimeđŻ
Events this month-
We hosted the 2nd episode of our series Chronicles of Community Builders with Tina Hilck on 3rd December where we touched upon various topics in the industry.
You can watch the session recording here.
We hosted our fourth When RETRO Meets METRO on the 29th of December and one thing we would all agree on is that a meeting of community builders never ends on time(Good for us). We played games, we talked about the amazing things that this year has given us and how we can support each other.
Upcoming Events -
We are excited to announce that we are going to be hosting Venessa Paech on 12th January in the next episode of Chronicles of Community Builders. Where our very own Varalakshmi Dwaraknath will be the host. You can register here.
Till Next Time!
Have a suggestion for a piece of content we should include in our next edition? Email us and let us know!
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