Early Friday morning on my home from TechEd Las Vegas, I met SCN Community Manager jason.cao on the bus to the airport and we started discussing SCN gamification efforts. Jason provided some background on how new missions were created and defined.
I recalled playing games where you earned new items through active participation and then could really use these new items in the game. I tried to use the same metaphor regarding SCN gamification efforts. In the past, SDN gave out t-shirts based on acquired point level. I still have some of these shirts but they didn’t really leave a lasting impression on me. In today’s SCN, missions are fun but I can live without them.
Jason and I started brainstorming about what else might motivate more people to collaborate. We thought about different types of rewards which would not be based on points but on the completion of a series of related missions. In this manner, such rewards might be similar to the reward programs for credit cards.
I’m crowd-sourcing the brainstorming for these rewards - just as I did for my ideas for missions
Here are some ideas about potential rewards. What are your ideas?
| Reward | Description |
|---|
| Access to special SCN forums | What about having special forums where you have to earn access. In these forums, top experts from SAP and partners personally answer your questions. These would be the experts who speak at TechEds, write the books, etc. Of course, these individuals also participate in the normal SCN forums but in the restricted forums, the number of participants is less and the attention of top experts is better. The general public might be able to view the contents of such forums but couldn’t post questions. |
| Code Review from an expert | What about having a SAP expert review your code? The expert would spend an hour looking at your code and making suggestions. |
| Buddy coding from an expert | An expert does a personal one hour development session with the reward recipient. |
| A lunch with CTO Vishal Sikka | A winner could have a 30 minute lunch with Vishal Sikka and discuss technology |
| Getting your picture taken with one of SAP CEOs |
|
| Participating in a SAP Mentors webinar | Often SAP Mentors have special webinars with top executives, this winner would participate in one such SAP Mentor webinar. |
Getting early access to a new software product |
|
| A DemoJam mentor | This winner would get the support of a personal experienced Demo Jam winner to help create an excellent Demo Jam contribution |
| DemoJam spot | This winner would automatically get invited to the DemoJam without having to through the usual competition. |
| Interview with a coveted SAP SI | Often, it is difficult to get an interview with a popular SI. This reward provides the winner with an interview at such a company. |
| SAP Mentor Nomination | The winner will be automatically nominated as SAP Mentor |
To be interviewed by SAP TV at one of the events like SAP TechEd |
|
Receiving an offer to own an expert (networking) session at an event like SAP TechEd |
|
Feel free to add your own ideas to this list.
