End the Silence
Removing the Host's "Engagement Burden"
2012: How Can we Drive Real Results?
A typical large-scale university course was failing. Poor attendance, no engagement, and disappointing course evaluations. Townhall’s co-founder was exhausted trying to motivate learners to speak up and participate. Then had a spark! Why not restructure the course so it motivates attendees for me? After 6 months of planning, she completely redesigned the course using game mechanics. Attendance spiked to 95% and course satisfaction was boosted by 80%. The “engagement burden” was removed and real results were achieved!
What is Gamification?
It is the strategic application of psychological techniques utilized in game design (eg. scoring, rewards), to non-game environments. It transforms mundane training into energizing experiences, often resulting in increased participation and achievement.
2013: Building a Robust Foundation
Townhall’s co-founder experienced overwhelming demand for her techniques and secured over $7M in funding from esteemed partners such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the United States Army, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and Verizon to further her gamification research. For 10+ years she carefully planned engaging sessions and her work was validated in over 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals and books. Townhall’s techniques were proven to deliver statistically significant improvements in performance.
2021: Stressing over Silence
COVID hits and everyone is working remote. But, cameras are off. All the time. Zoom fatigue hits hard and large meetings are a complete waste of time and energy. The engagement burden returns in full force.
How Big is the Engagement Problem?
Stop the Meeting Madness, HBR 2017; Gallup State of the Global Workplace, 2022
71% of senior managers view meetings as unproductive, yet a 1000-person firm holding monthly all-hands meetings invests roughly $1M per year on this one meeting alone. This combination of poor, yet required meetings breeds disengaged employees, which costs the global economy $8.8 Trillion annually.
2023: No Camera. No Problem.
After two years of development, Beta testing and fine tuning, the powerful and elegant Townhall launches on the Zoom app marketplace. Townhall grabs attention to get off-camera attendees to speak up. But there’s still a gap… Hosts still need to plan for engagement. And no one has time to plan… Stress returns, but in a new form and the ‘engagement burden’ remains.
Today: Ending the Silence
Technology early adopters, Townhall leadership fully embraces AI /ML techniques to end the silence. How? Combining our experience energizing 200,000+ attendees and analyzing over 10 million engagement data points we built the Townhall Smart Agenda AI engine to plan epic meetings for you. What used to take months in planning, can be completed in a few minutes!
We’ve officially removed the ‘engagement burden’ and we’re excited for you to join us on our journey to end the silence.
Techniques that Deliver Statistically Significant Results
70% Increase
Adult learner participation increases 70% in a Financial Literacy course!
View All 30 Publications
Gamification:
Participatory Gamification Design: Navigating Diverse Perspectives (2022)
Game Research Trends at the Annual ASEE Conference: A 15-year Content Analysis (2021)
Gamification of Chemical Engineering Pathways: Evidence from Introductory Courses (2021)
Integration of Video Games To Support the FCS Education Food Production Standards (2021)
Examining the characteristics of game-based learning: A content analysis and design framework (2020)
Customizing Students’ Learning Experiences while Designing an Online Course (2017)
Student participation and achievement in a large lecture course with game-based learning (2016)
EPIC WIN: Designing for success with game-based learning (2016)
Designing for game-based learning: The effective integration of technology to support learning (2015)
Virtual Reality:
Practising conservation biology in a virtual rainforest world (2016)
In-World Behaviors and Learning in a Virtual World (2014)
SciEthics Interactive: science and ethics learning in a virtual environment (2013)
Ethics in Engineering Education Using Virtual Worlds (2013)
Poetry in the Raw: the use of avatar names in the development of identity in virtual worlds. (2011)
Augmented Reality:
Interactive print: The design of cognitive tasks in blended augmented reality and print documents (2017)
The impact of an augmented reality lesson on student achievement and motivation (2015)
Ed Tech (K-12):
Minecraft and elementary literacy learning: The perspectives and ideas of preservice teachers (2022)
Screening Bot: a Playground for Critical Algorithmic Literacy Engagement with Youth (2021)
Recommendations to support computational thinking in the elementary classroom (2017)
Designing with game-based learning: Game mechanics from middle school to higher education (2017)
Connecting future teachers with the teachers of today (2011)
EXTENDED LEARNING- Utilizing Social Spaces and Mixed Reality in Academic Environments (2011)
Implementation and outcomes of a laptop initiative in career and technical high school education (2008)
Technology:
Empathetic Play: Proposal of an Interactive Storytelling Game as an Intervention to Cyberbullying (2018)
Using coding apps to support literacy instruction and develop coding literacy (2016)
EXTENDED LEARNING (2011)
