The Realist Idealist

My programmatic highlight of SXSW Interactive a few weeks ago, by far, was the keynote address given by Jane McGonigal - a noted game designer and games researcher, specializing in pervasive games and alternate reality games.

In all honesty, before the speech, I wasn’t in any way interested in games or what Jane had to say. About the only gaming I do these days is sing for Rock Band.

Crazy enough though, when I walked out of Jane’s session, I was inspired, refreshed, and fascinated by all the possibilities put forward in McGonigal’s approach to her work - which essentially boils down to incorporating all the best parts of things gamers love about games into real life.

I certainly wasn’t the only one inspired. One of those possibilities for using McGonigal’s approach has already been brought to (alpha) reality by my friend Clay Johnson who recently launched PlusOneMe.com - or what is a much more fun and interesting way to give “gold stars for grown ups.”

Somewhere in the middle of her keynote (before or after mentioning that she can do the Soulja Boy dance), McGonigal talked about the great satisfaction that comes from the instantaneous positive feedback gamers get from gaming. I.e. If I complete a level, defeat an opponent, solve a challenge, etc I get in-game points, money, level up, or other such rewards. Her question and comment was then, “Wouldn’t it be great if someone could give me a +1 for speaking points for being up here? I would love that.”

A few days later, Clay (who was sitting next to me) decided to make that +1 possible in PlusOneMe.com.

As more people give someone points, those ratings accumulate in that persons profile reflecting their strengths and the traits that their friends and/or colleagues appreciate about them. You can also insert reasons for the +1’s that you give.

I think it’s a remarkable new tool to recognize those you care about, work with, or want to acknowledge for any number of reasons and I can see it expanding with new features and being integrated into other sites (e.g. Facebook) in the near future. I suspect Clay will also soon make it possible to +1 from your mobile device so that Jane really could have received several hundred +1’s for her extraordinary speech instantaneously.

When it comes to making good things (actually) happen, there is perhaps no greater tool than positive personal reinforcement.