We do in fact, need badges.

The overall business goal for our clients is to drive awareness and participation in the their campaigns. The website goal is to convert inactive and spectator users into joiners, commenters and event creators. Our interactive websites include uploading photos and videos, commenting, rating, checking in via mobile devices, creating events and many other activities. The game mechanics, meant to increase engagement will include awarding badges for performing actions and completing goals within the community.

Our approach is to not award points, which is different than most current game systems.

Why not points?

Points are generally used to maintain motivation to perform mundane tasks. Also, points are much more interesting and valuable if they can be exchanged for virtual goods. In a role-playing game, an example would be sending your peons to dig for gold so that you can buy a shiny new sword.

In the case of our UGC applications, we are not trying to reward mundane tasks. We are trying to encourage high-value behaviour such as uploading content and sharing. Since many of our clients award real-world prizes for participation in the campaign, we much be wary of people gaming the game.

In a recent campaign, our client is encouraging people to host their own events and post them to the website and therefore, this is high-value behaviour. If we were to clearly show that the user was awarded a high number of points, users will quickly learn that the best way to get large point values is to create more events. This likely will result in many fake events. Moderators will filter out the clearly fake events (maybe), but this is more work for moderators for little value. As events are denied, gamers will move on to other “gold” – commenting, and sharing. Also subject to moderation, but harder to judge, the result will be a flood of superfluous comments such as “I like this!” and “Awesome!”. This is not the behaviour we are trying to encourage.

Another example of this type of bad behaviour is a contest where the vote counts are visible. I always implore our clients to hide the actual vote counts. If a user realizes they can log fraudulent votes (via fake emails for example) and immediately see they are successful, this encourages the cheater to continue. Although the contest rules expressly permit the contest host to choose a winner, the damage is done through people complaining via social media and other channels.

Badges?

Our approach is to base the game on earning badges for a variety of combined actions. This will keep people interested and facilitate more high-value activities. To continue the example of real-world events across the country, here are some potential “challenges” that require several game activities to be completed to gain an award:

• Comment on your own event
• Comment on another event
• Comment on 5 events, 10 events
• Upload to your own event
• Upload a photo, a video and an audio file
• Upload to 5 events
• Check into event
• Check into 2 events in 2 cities
• Check into 2 events in 2 states
• Create events in 2 cities
• Attend an event with 100 people
• Etc…

The first three examples may sound the same as simply awarding points for commenting, but the key difference is that the user doesn’t know what it takes to get badges. If the user is simply awarded 5 points for commenting, he can assume that commenting 100 times will give him 500 points and the resulting real-world prize. If he receives a badge for commenting once on his own event and then a second for commenting on another event, but no reward for commenting repeatedly, the correct behaviour is driven: find more stuff to do.

Another element of rewarding badges for many different accomplishments is the element of surprise. Our community members aren’t explicitly told what badges can be won, so when a badge is presented, a little bit of endorphin goes a long way to keeping that user engaged.

Via the leaderboard and user profiles, newer users can explore the types of badges that are available. While the specific action that earned the badge isn’t exposed, the name of the badge suggests what was accomplished. For example, a badge might be called “National Promoter”, but the actual accomplishment (created event in every province) is a secret.

Tip: Since many of these awards are based on actions that are subject to moderation, if the item associated with earning the badge is denied, that badge will be removed. Moderation emails should include this information.

I originally wrote this article back in August of 2010 for The Mark News as part of their series on obsolescence. I’ve decided to repost, but wanted to add 2011′s biggest buzword: Cloud!

This week Apple announced their latest cloud product iCloud that brings much of what I talk about here to a more tangible reality. I figured with the new appetite for all things cloud, this article may be interesting as a current affairs article than as a futurist piece. Feel free to substitute Apple for Facebook. Cloud, cloud, cloudy cloud.

I am Jack’s Facebook Profile

In the near future, the notion of a single company holding your online identity, photos, and videos will seem quite strange and unnecessary. This, of course, is the monumental goal of Facebook. And they’ve had some success. Not long ago, it was unthinkable to use our real names on the internet, but Facebook has made this commonplace. Soon though, neither Facebook nor any other sole entity will be the exclusive host of our digital identities, our photos and videos, or information about our personal relationships. They won’t let it go without a fight however…

Identity

Your digital identity is made up of several parts: authentication, identification, and associated information (your stuff). Authentication is your login. You enter a user name and password, and you’re granted access to manage your identification and associated information.

Authentication is one of the more irritating aspects of online life. Creating new accounts and remembering user names and passwords at dozens of sites is a pain. To solve this problem, Facebook has created a portable authentication mechanism called Facebook Login that is now used on thousands of web sites. It allows you to register for and log in to any website that has adopted Facebook Login, simply by using your Facebook credentials.

The key benefit to Facebook of the broad adoption of this technology is that they get to know everywhere you go on the internet. Further, by hosting your identification (your real name, residence, family members, favourite movies, and even vacation plans) they have quite a powerful marketing platform.

In the future, however, a technology similar to OpenID will be standard, ubiquitous, and deeply integrated into everything we do. The devices we use to access the internet will simply require a biometric pass-code such as a thumb print or voice command. We will be instantly logged into all of our favourite websites and online services. Our personal information will be stored ”in the cloud,” on no particular server owned by any particular corporation. Our profile will be linked to our government files, Air Miles, and medical records.

Decentralized Data

Most people’s photo and video workflow goes something like this: we take a picture, upload it to our computer, and then, if we want to share it, upload it somewhere else. Sharing can still be done by email but it’s much more practical to upload to Facebook. Many of our fancy phones let us upload directly to Facebook, which is often also our camera. The problem is that now there are multiple copies of that photo, and more importantly, one of the copies is sitting on a closed system owned by a corporation.

Accessing your content is also a challenge. On our mobile devices, we can use the Facebook app to see and post some of our pictures, and we can buy music from the iTunes store and download it to the phone, but not play it elsewhere. What about all the music and movies on my computer at home? In the near future, connectivity will be fast enough that when I take a picture or video with my phone, it is added to my online photo library instantly. That repository will be linked with my identity, via my authentication. Technologies such as OAuth and OData are already being developed to service this need. The end result is that all my devices – my phone, my television, my tablet, my laptop – can access all my stuff, all the time, automatically, from anywhere.

Decentralized Relationships

Not only does Facebook have all your personal details, your browsing habits, and your media, it also stores (and uses) your personal relationships. Once we have open communications technologies such as StatusNet and OStatus in place, we start to see a completely decentralized, open social network for connecting and sharing with the people we trust. Again, no single entity needs to store your personal information. One group that is attempting to put it all together is Diaspora, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

Why not now?

It would seem that everything we need to create this digital utopia has been developed, so what’s the hold-up? The low-level technology will simply enable new products to be created for the general public. The biggest challenge with standards and new products is adoption. All the providers of these services need to buy into all the standards before they can interoperate. Even if that happens, there must be a critical mass of consumers using the services to draw them away from their 500 million friends on Facebook. Nobody’s doing it, because nobody’s doing it. The future isn’t so far-fetched though. I mean, how hard could it be to digitize medical records, right?

Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe that there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything. ‘Cause no mystical energy field controls my destiny. It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.

April 5th, 2011, Toronto – With version 3 of Media Factory, we continue our commitment to being the best user-generated content management platform. We’ve listened to our users and are proud to launch this next major version with more streamlined workflows, better navigation and powerful new media management features.

Read more at http://www.filemobile.com/blogpost/4201075-Media-Factory-3-Launch

I recently wrote an article for a series called “Twelve Things That Will Be Obsolete in 10 Years” on the The Mark News.

In the near future, the notion of a single company holding your online identity, photos, and videos will seem quite strange and unnecessary. This, of course, is the monumental goal of Facebook. And they’ve had some success. Not long ago, it was unthinkable to use our real names on the internet, but Facebook has made this commonplace. However, by 2020, neither Facebook nor any other sole entity will be the exclusive host of our digital identities, our photos and videos, or information about our personal relationships.

Please visit The Mark News to read the entire article.

During the keynote unveiling of the iPad, Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously exposes the Achilles heel of the “magical” device. While demonstrating the power of the tablet Mac computer, Jobs clearly shows the New York Times #FAILing miserably to show video. This was one of this year’s more blogged about gaffes. But was it a gaffe?

Please visit The Mark News to read the entire article.

Experiential and luxury prizes

While a huge cash prize can bring in a tonne of submissions, you are also going to attract pros and cheaters.  Professional contesters scour the net for fast, easy contests and know every trick in the book to stuff the ballet box.  A large cash prize is sufficient motivation for a good developer to build software to exploit your user-friendly entry process.

Branded contests and communities should be more interested in attracting their core fans and getting them excited and involved.  Music fans will sing into their webcam, remix a video or create an original tour poster if it gives them a chance to meet their favourite band, get the limited edition box set or win an autographed guitar.

Make it Easy

Don’t make me think, don’t make me work.  If at all possible, don’t even make me get up: let me say / sing / yell something into my webcam.  Got a digital camera?  Capture the everyday everyman: “Show us your backyard and win a patio set” or “Show us why you need a new car”.

Because most users need an imagination kick-start, one of the most critical elements for a successful campaign is seeded content.  Nothing causes a high page bounce rate like the message, “Be the first to enter!”

Reach out to your internal network and get them to submit a video or photo.

When all else fails, have people upload a picture of their pet!  Canadian Living has blown the doors off the UGC contest standard with two massively successful editions of Most Lovable Pet 2009 and this years 2010 campaign.

Attractive Association

I don’t want to be perceived as evil or a sell-out for participating.  For example, “Show us how you club, and win a trip to Baby Seal Island” or “Tell us why you love Telecom Customer Service” are bad ideas and should be avoided.

Facebook Connect

When I upload my video, a link is automatically posted to my Facebook stream.  When someone comments or votes, they can instantly tell all their friends.  We have seen huge referral numbers from Facebook on our UGC campaigns.  Campbell’s Chunky Most Valuable Coach in particular is a great example of getting the most out of Facebook Connect.

Multimedia Commenting

Text comments are great, but enabling comment attachments and webcam responses, you can increase the number of photos and videos on your site.  Start a discussion or set a community assignment that facilitates the use of photos and videos.  For example, a men’s forum might have a thread for the best hair style, while women might enjoy exchanging pictures of their gnarliest scars.

Community Management

As I’ve written before, community management is key.  These days, growing an online community organically can be challenging if not impossible.  Community management is the growth hormone and industrial pesticide of niche networks and brand-centric discussions.

Your niche community might be a resource for customers, such as a support forum or advice column.  Depending on the technographics of your target audience, your manager(s) may be the life of the party, getting people excited, loosening them up and letting them participate in a way that keeps them feeling comfortable.  The authors of Groundswell, a Forrester Research joint, provide the Consumer Technographic Profile Tool for figuring out what makes your audience tick.

Quality user-generated content, and multimedia in particular is not something that comes easy.  Applying some of these tips to your next campaign, contest or community discussion will help keep things fresh and unique.

I had the pleasure of leading a session entitled “Business Driven Product Management” where we discussed the finer points of taking the crazy out of the sales deck.  Luckily, I had Peter Hanschke, Al Huizenga, and Allan Neil in the room to back me up, and it was a great conversation.

The next session was “Power Tools for Product Managers” by Saxophonist Alan Armstrong.  In the short hour we had, Alan briefly described his approach to sales funnel win/loss analysis, which I found to be tremendously interesting.  I reckon this could have been a valuable four-hour session on its own.

Next was lunch.  Talk about value!  This was the second of three catered meals on the day!

The first session in the afternoon posed the question, “What is your favourite PM tool?” led by Barry Paquet of Quantum Whisper.  The group discussed experiences with different product management software packages, including the good, the bad and the useless.  Hakan Kilic of Ryma Technology and Kim Phelan of I Love Rewards added their valuable insights as well.  Conclusion: There is, and probably will never be one PM software to rule them all.

The final session of the day was “The strategic role of product management” led by Steve Johnson of Pragmatic Marketing.  This one hour session was just the tip of the iceberg that is the topic of The Pragmatic Marketing Framework – A Market-Driven Model for Managing and Marketing Technology Products.  I will hopefully have a chance to attend one of their three-day seminars soon.

The day closed with some booze, some jazz and some chat.

I highly recommend this event!

Join the ProductCamp Toronto LinkedIn group.

Apply at www.walrusmagazine.com/jobs

[Kate] Trgovac called this “the company I wish I had founded. White-label social media components that other companies can use: super smart.” [Michael] O’Connor Clarke called Filemobile a standout player in a crowded market because of its “breadth of solution offering, the flexibility of the UI, the quality of the analytics and the availability of functional APIs.” [Krista] Napier highlighted brand management: “Filemobile’s solution enables brand management with editing tools to let customers moderate their media services and approve and deny content, so they can protect their brands while simultaneously extending themselves to find and engage customers.”

Read the full article at backbonemag.com

Direct Referrers in Google Analytics

A direct referrer is usually meant to indicate that your website URL was pasted or typed directly into a browser address bar.  While this is a useful stat, the growth of Twitter has started to skew this data.

Many links that are clicked via desktop applications such as Tweetdeck and Mail, and browser plugins like TwitterFox show up as direct referrers in Google Analytics.

WebTrends Outsider has a good list of reasons for “Direct Traffic” in referrer reports.

Manually Adding Analytics Data to Link

You can manually add query strings to your URL that will provide referrer data to the Google Analytics code in a website page.

For example, when I broadcast a message on Twitter stating that I have a new blog post, I use the following:

New Blog Post: Vanity Analytics http://www.jambrose.ca/vanity-analytics/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=blog RT SVP

This pretty ugly, so I shorten the URL with bit.ly:

New Blog Post: Vanity Analytics http://bit.ly/QuWlH RT SVP

When someone clicks that link, the following is recorded in Google Analytics:

Creating a Vanalytics URL

Now that you have control over how your referrers are recorded in your Google Analytics, why not spam someone elses?

For example, when I retweet a great Twitter post, I use the following:

RT @TheOnion New Live Poll Allows Pundits To Pander To Viewers In Real Time http://www.theonion.com/content/video/new_live_poll_allows_pundits_to?utm_source=@jaysonambrose&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=retweet Super funny!

Shortened (check out the video, too):

RT @TheOnion New Live Poll Allows Pundits To Pander To Viewers In Real Time http://bit.ly/16kLMW Super funny!

This makes my name appear in Google Analyics for The Onion!

Since The Onion already adds their own query strings to their tweets, I would leave it as a matter of ettiquette.

But if you are just sharing a link with your Twitter followers, why not take some credit for spreading the word?

Of course, there is good chance no one will see your tag on a large website’s analytics, but it might get noticed on a bloggers list.

I admit this is a goofy idea, but I thought it would be fun to coin Vanalytics and Spamalytics!

Can you think of some funny, smart or easter-egg-style Spamalytics?