ATLANTA, May 14, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Apogee Interactive's Chief Software Architect and Co-Founder, Joel Gilbert, P.E., has been chosen to conduct his workshop "Gamification: The Latest Tool in Your Customer Engagement Portfolio", during Conferences Connect's Social Media for Utilities conference. Southern Company will host the event June 24th and 25th at their headquarters in Atlanta, GA. The conference, now in its 8th year, expects to draw communications and marketing professionals from 60 utilities nationwide.
During the session, attendees will learn to build a successful game platform, create curriculum, negotiate incentives, and market their game. Gilbert will also explain the role of social media and the impact of emotional involvement when engaging in competition.
According to Gilbert, "Games can be tailored to help a utility meet its energy efficiency and demand response goals." He continued, "The social element of gaming is a key driver to getting people off the sidelines. It's not only about winning but about building bonds with other gamers."
In 2010, Mr. Gilbert gained national recognition from the American Public Power Association for his school competition called Save-A-Watt. Working with the City of Marietta and local schools the program saved an astounding 27% in electric consumption the first year then, holding that baseline, saved an additional 18% the following year.
"Using gaming mechanisms can trigger positive responses in the brain. By tapping into this natural cycle, energy games can change the player's response to energy use and lead to permanent behavior changes," Gilbert explained. "Energy bills must be the basis of currency in the game not just promises or pledges, a successful energy game platform should produce real dollar savings as a direct impact of the player's behavior."
Joel Gilbert, an energy industry visionary, has used gamification techniques in training and behavior change for more than 2 decades. In 1996, Gilbert used his concept, Deregulation, "The game you play when you are no longer a monopoly," as a training tool to introduce more than 125,000 utility professionals to deregulation in the energy industry.
APOGEE Interactive, Inc. (www.apogee.net ) is the leading provider of online energy analysis applications to 650 electric and gas utilities across the US, reaching more than 56 million customers. Founded in 1993, Apogee pioneered electronic applications designed to increase a utility's customer engagement and today its predictive software consistently earns high marks for accuracy and ease of use. Clients include investor-owned, municipals and cooperative energy companies including Con Edison (ED), American Electric Power (AEP), Entergy (ETR), Southern Company (SO), NSTAR (NST), Salt River Project, and Jackson EMC.
Conferences Connect (www.conferencesconnect.com ) is the leading provider of energy conferences, webinars and workshops. Founded in 2005, Conferences Connect produces and hosts conferences that feature a single focus topic critical to the energy industry. Conferences Connect features utility case study presentations and networking that ensures participants can effectively benchmark against each other and learn collaboratively.