The Gamification Quest Monica Cornetti

In the case of the project that is the topic of today’s podcast, Jim Piechocki woke up a dreadfully dull IT classification process training with a post-apocalyptic superhero story he had pitched years ago to Marvel about The Technicals, an alien race that takes over and outsources Earth. The gameplay:  You must learn how to create a keyword class to rescue Amazon and save the planet.
About our Guest:
Jim is a member of a small but growing breed of ATD-licensed developers who start with the acting talent, the humor, the broadcast-quality imagery, and entertainment value. He worked as a gag-writer for comic Tim Allen in Detroit, who taught him how to pare down physical comedy and dialog for maximum impact. His writing teachers Harlan Ellison and Walter Hill (The Terminator, 48 Hours) drilled into him the importance of getting it right in the first draft. Working on staff for Filmation on the He-Man and The Masters of the Universe cartoon TV series, he learned the writer actually directs the animation. And he has found that everything from Greek, Roman, Viking and Indian mythology, can provide ongoing inspiration for gamified learning.

Walt Disney assembled a new category of designers, engineers, and artisans called Imagineers. These daring creators continue to balance their technical design chops with imagination, storytelling, and insatiable curiosity. Their blue-sky thinking has resulted in parks, shows, rides, cruise ships, and resorts that don’t just contain stories like a stage in a theater but actively tell those stories. Not a bad goal for your next training program.  How can you use the imagineering pyramid in your course design and delivery?

As part of a bigger effort to offer an asynchronous, summer faculty development program, the Center for Instructional Innovation at Augusta University developed a 2-part, 6-week program on Multimedia and Motivation in Student Learning. The first half of the program was a 3-week course on the Science of Motivation and Game-Based Learning. The course was NASCAR or stock car race themed with 68 faculty members being divided into “pit crews” of 5 members. Each week (lap) presented the Pit Crews with content and “driving missions” that supported broader learning objectives.
About our Guest:
Jeff Mastromonico has been teaching, developing multimedia, and working in instructional design in the higher ed space for over 20 years. He currently is the Director of the Center for Instructional Innovation at Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia. He has a Masters of Education in Educational Technology from the University of South Carolina and a second-level certification in Gamification from Sententia.
Lynsey Steinberg is one of the 300 board-certified medical illustrators. Lynsey graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a Masters of Science degree from the Medical College of Georgia and earned her board certification in 2016. Lynsey has been able to experience hands-on surgery in the operating room, develop virtual reality, 3D printing, animation, gamification, and graphic design while working directly with students, faculty, and staff. As a team member, she believes in creating engaging work with a passion for creative problem solving through collaboration, inspiration, and innovation.

Paycor wanted an exciting experience to enhance their new hire program. Tracey created a wildly popular escape room game to review their day’s content and promote teamwork. 
Her first version was an in-person pop-up escape room but when COVID hit, she had to pivot to rethink and redesign it to be a virtual escape room but preserve the most fun parts.
About our Guest:
Tracey Stokely is the principal instructional designer at Paycor in Cincinnati, Ohio. Paycor is an HR technology company that provides business leaders with the HCM software tools, expert advice, and responsive service so they can make a difference in their organizations. She specializes in eLearning design and development. Tracey’s learning and development experience includes the software, contact center, and electronics industries.
Tracey is a member of the Learning Guild, won Best Mobile Solution at DemoFest at the 2019 DevLearn Conference, and has been a speaker at several conferences.

With the pandemic, facilitator-led corporate training was pushed to virtual platforms and many companies and freelances were not equipped to deliver experiential learning online.
Gaminar.net is a platform that enables educators to deliver serious games involving business and soft skills simulations online providing a seamless experience both for Facilitators and Participants.
Gaminar.net now has over 800 users who deliver their gaminars/simulations to their clients taking their virtual sessions to a higher level of engagement and training effectiveness.
About our guest: 
Fernando Mendes is a highly motivated and enthusiastic learning and development professional with over 20 years of experience in Organizational Development projects across Africa, North America, Europe, and the UAE.
Passionate about learning, he is the author of the book Start IUPI, a manual for teachers and parents on how to leverage entrepreneurial skills using simple and pragmatic games and exercises.
He is a trained standup comedian, and he brings his art of storytelling and performing into his training sessions, thereby making the sessions highly interactive and enabling higher learning retention.

Many GamiCon participants care about awards and would like to have the prestige that comes with winning an award. But how do you know if your gamified learning solution is award-worthy? 
How do you articulate the value your solution(s) delivered to the organization? Can you describe the problem your training solution helped solve?
Our panel of judges is also award-winning designers who will share their secret sauce for success with you!