Apps are everywhere. I struggle to recall the time when they first became popular. They are now so integrated into our everyday culture that common practice when listening to a dilemma is to respond with “there’s an app for that”. How do digital badges fit in? In the world of gaming apps, especially my personal favourites Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, as a player, the purpose of playing is to either collect points to upgrade your tools within the game or to move level to level by gaining trophies and medals- these are your digital badges.

You may be reading this thinking, who does this? Who relishes virtual accomplishments? Well to be completely honest, almost everyone. I’m afraid you’re the exception. We relish digital accomplishments or gaming apps wouldn’t bother offering the chance to win the ruby sapphire trophy you get if you reach level 342, having logged 37 hours of gameplay. The same craze is sweeping the event industry. With the rise of gamification increasing considerably at events (read my blog about that here), the idea of digital badges is not that much of a leap. There’s a company called Rise, that specialise in creating top 100 leaderboards that can integrate with Twitter lists to establish out of your list who is the top social media influencer.

This creates a sense of competition between your chosen 100 and forces them to see themselves ranked among their competitors. This could easily be embedded into an event website or presentation, with each attendee given a ranking and the chance to increase themselves to the top spot by interacting on social media during your event. This gives you 100 plus people tweeting, tagging, posting, and checking in at your event, creating a buzz just to be rewarded with that coveted digital badge of honour that is the number 1 position.

This practice can be adapted and used to engage audiences and gather feedback. Should you require data from your audience, offer them certain level tophies or medals for how many questions they answer or how in depth their answers are. If you are using an interactive presentation software, like Glisser, you can take advantage of live polling and gamify your event getting your audience to answer questions based on the event, more like a pop quiz than a feedback session allowing you to measure how much they’ve taken in and how effective your event is at engagement. You can then crown a winner, bestowing upon them some outrageous title or trophy, such as the golden emperor badge, which of course comes with the prize of 12,000 republican credits.

Never fear, digital badges are not in fact a product of the dark side, they’re a force for good. With the benefits of increased audience engagement, an added buzz around your events and of course the potential of your audience socialising your event for you, there is no downside. Gamification and the concept of digital badges are becoming more and more popular, and with the rise of the interactive presentation and electronic audience Q&A the addition of virtual accomplishments is just another way to retain your audience's attention and keep them coming back for more.