CONFGAMES: Conference attendees engage and answer questions as they try to win prizes

German startup ConfGames is using NFC tags to add game mechanics to conferences with the aim of encouraging networking and interaction between visitors and sponsors.

"The game is based on an Android app," ConfGames' Stefan Queisser explains. "All conference visitors get an NFC tag and a little how-to guide attached to their badge when they register.

"All sponsors get a Nexus 7 tablet with the app pre-installed. The app is personalized for each sponsor and contains questions that deal with the sponsor's objectives," he says. "It is not a quiz but rather questions that lead to discussions about the company. Sometime it is more like a poll or questions that need explanation to engage a conversation even more."

Visitors can qualify to win prizes by visiting a certain number of sponsors, Queisser told NFC World. "If a conference has eight sponsors, the visitors need to visit four sponsors before they get a chance to win a prize."

The visitor taps their tag to the sponsor's tablet when they have answered all questions, with a record of their activity being linked to their NFC tag's ID.

"We used to store results right on the tag but that was a bit faulty," he explains. "For example, if someone removes the tag while writing to the tag errors occur. Now we just read the tag ID and store results on a server, which is super stable."

"Every time a visitor answers all questions at four sponsors the app will tell them if they have won or not right away."

Queisser says that so far interactions have seen a remarkable increase, especially when conference organisers promote the game from within the conference sessions.

WINNERS: A dashboard shows metrics including number of contacts shared and prizes won