How Bingo Breaks the Ice and Drives Event Engagement

From pre-event networking to a mid-event scavenger hunt, gamification has the power to change an event experience from start to finish. Event apps are the perfect tool to create a game and stir motivation, communication and collaboration. Gamification can be a system of rewards for basic activities, like networking or visiting a sponsor booth. You can also create a custom game, which can be either be completely unique to your event or as simple and familiar as bingo.

Bingo breaks the ice

At events, bingo is mostly used for networking. Using Stova apps, we’ve created personal virtual bingo boards for each attendee that we then pair with our networking algorithm to create a game. For example, an attendee’s professional title might serve as one of the boxes on another attendee’s virtual bingo card.

Checking off boxes is gratifying, and telling a peer that they’re on your bingo board acts as an easy icebreaker. It’s an instant conversation starter, and because networking can be daunting at times, it works wonders at events. Incorporating prizes or rewards is the cherry on top!

Conversations lead to connections

Bingo gamification is especially effective at making the right kind of match. For example, rather than a buyer-to-buyer or seller-to-seller connection, you can create a bingo game that connects buyers to sellers, and vice versa.

In addition to a more traditional game of bingo, we’ve also created bingo scavenger hunts. For example, you can use augmented reality by having an attendee scan another’s badge and watch an image appear that offers more information. The attendees hometown might be a bingo square; another might be a quiz or poll question. Event check-in and posting photos to the social feed can also serve as bingo squares to check off.

At first glance, bingo may seem like superficial fun. But when we develop gamification with Stova apps, each reward and action is designed with strategy and your event goals in mind. An interactive bingo game makes it easy and fun for your attendees to participate and connect with others, and it’s one of the best icebreakers for networking at events in our arsenal. For you the planner, each bingo square can lead to valuable connections and higher levels of engagement for your event.

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How can Stova help?

We’ve developed apps and games for thousands of events, and along the way, we’ve learned what works (and what doesn’t). If you’d like more event gamification ideas, we’d love to talk with you! Don’t hesitate to schedule a free demo.