Nearly 50k free tickets earned by Global Citizen Festival 2014 attendees.
The Global Citizen Festival, now in its third year, was host to nearly 60,000 total attendees and influencers ranging from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to American hip hop stars Jay Z and Beyonce to neo-soul band, The Roots. The mission of the festival and its organizing body, The Global Poverty Project, is to eliminate extreme poverty by the year 2030, and to help do so by spreading awareness of issues on global poverty. One of the ways they help build awareness, raise money, and promote measurable action is with their Global Citizen Festival.
Flying above the @GlblCtzn concert in Central Park with @NYonAir. #NYC #GlobalCitizenFestival @msnbc @NBCNews. pic.twitter.com/sfCDIIJGmQ
— Anthony Quintano (@AnthonyQuintano) September 27, 2014
So, how did nearly 50k people from around the world get free tickets to the Global Citizen Festival?
They earned it. Hugh Evans, CEO of the Global Poverty Project, has turned the standard event ticketing process into an engaging, action-oriented process based on the principles of gamification. Potential attendees earned their free spot at the festival by taking action through the Global Citizen platform.
The process is simple. First, sign up to become a Global Citizen. Next, take actions to earn points. These actions include things like reviewing and taking quizzes on topics such as “food security,” as well as signing petitions, sharing links on social media, or just simply volunteering. Next, these actions turn into rewards (sporting events and concerts). The more measurable actions you complete, the more points you get, and the more chances you have to win those rewards.
The result? “Global Citizens” completed a total of 305,000 actions to earn their tickets this year alone. In just one example, 100,000 of these actions were for universal education, and these actions resulted in $20 million in commitments from Denmark that will affect the lives of nearly 1.3 million children.
#GlobalCitizenFestival commitments set to affect 259 MILLION lives – thanks to your campaigning. Full run down at http://t.co/W2TgMnxYPc
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) September 28, 2014
Gamification, a concept and practice that is second nature to us here at Crowdster, is a valuable and engaging tool that educates and incentivizes. By providing a call to action and gamifying the process of event ticketing, The Global Citizen Festival was able to provide an engaging experience and make an impact. This process empowered an audience to get behind a cause and work for that cause by taking measurable actions.
Top 10 favorite tweeted quotes from the Global Citizen Festival:
“May the force be with you!” – Prime Minister Modi of India #GlobalCitizenFestival pic.twitter.com/VwdQts0a1l
— Lindsay Weiss (@lindsalexandra) September 27, 2014
“The opposite of poverty is Justice.” Beautifully said @aliciakeys at the @GlblCtzn Festival yesterday! #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/ecK9DNK5Lj
— Sebastian Short-Cruz (@Seb_ShortCruz) September 28, 2014
“I challenge all developing countries to put into action national plans to end extreme poverty by 2030″—Jim Yong Kim #GlobalCitizenFestival
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) September 28, 2014
“The UN has heard your voices here tonight. You are a generation that wants to see an end to extreme poverty by 2030”-Ban Ki-moon
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) September 28, 2014
You must be active to be an activist. #GlobalCitizenFestival #globalcitizen
— Nicholas A. Ferroni (@NicholasFerroni) September 27, 2014
“Today’s young people are a powerful force, individually & collectively—all 1.8 billion of them”
— #involveyouth (@InvolveYouth) September 28, 2014
“The rights & voices of young people must be the center of creating a world without extreme poverty”- @DiannaAgron #showyourselfie
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) September 27, 2014
“10 yrs ago, less than 1M kids in Afghanistan attended school—Almost none were girls. Now 9M kids attend school 41% are girls” @borgebrende
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) September 27, 2014
“@GlblCtzn: “These commitments will affect the lives of more than 50 million people”-@ChrisHayesTV”#impactninjas
— Abi Hiscock (@Ahiscock) September 27, 2014
“We have seen progress before, it is possible” – @erna_solberg. We are #inspired here at the #GlobalCitizenFestival
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) September 27, 2014
Hugh Evans and the Global Citizen Festival have helped to shape the future of gamification in the event ticketing process. Would you like to spread awareness and generate support for global issues through the use of social media, gamification, and online engagement? Please ask us about how we use gamification and social media incentivization to propel peer-to-peer social fundraising and how we provide assistance for Cause Marketing campaigns.
(image sources: breakingnews.com, globalcitizen.org)
