"The Gamification Game" will be a vendor-neutral look at these engagement and contest models, with an eye to how they are applied to learning activities.  Conference participants will use high-tech, low-tech, and even a few games aimed at the introverts in the community to explore the role that gaming can play in increasing engagement for some people on some tasks. 

Masie says, "Many conferences are using functions in a mobile app that provide points for people talking to suppliers or networking with others.  We wanted to go deeper and explore what works or doesn’t work with gamification, exploring a wider set of games, gamification packages, and methods."

According to Masie, games and gamification are cousins, but quite different.  Some see gamification as a lower-cost, easy-to-implement "layer" added on top of a learning activity that will increase participation and excitement, leading to better experiences and outcomes.  Some see gamification as a layer without the power or impact of game theory with a lower and less-sustainable result.

Gamification software is popping up, often targeted at customer engagement or participant engagement in a corporate collaborative space.  Gamification is often linked to "badges" or public awards for degrees of involvement.  Furthermore, many companies are experimenting with gamification wrapped around internal social networks or innovation contests.

Throughout the Conference, The MASIE Center will provide multiple options, experiences, and discussions for participants to use, evaluate, and discuss different gamification approaches. The "Game" part of this will explore what is real, what is hype, what is not yet, and what is tomorrow in this world.

Learning 2014 will be held in Orlando, Florida, 26 - 29 October.