Salesforce.com‘s Reid Carlberg developed a new app using Force.com to create tournament brackets for events such as the NCAA Basketball championships, that annual March event starting next week that can stir any office into a frenzy of excitement.
Brackets is an app that creates brackets for a tournament that in turn becomes a point-based game based on participants predictions. Users can see how they are doing with their bets by checking the app leaderboard. It is available on AppExchange.
The app has two modes of play. You can make predictions for the overall tourney or if you choose, compete on a round-by-round basis, allowing less knowledgeable participants start fresh.
It includes a sample bracket for the NCAA Tournament, scheduled to start March 15. The tournament feed will be available in the app on the 14th. All teams have to be filled in to participate.
The apps will be kept up to date by the team at Model Metrics, who are working with the group who developed the app at the Force.com Labs:
We will be the ones keeping the brackets up to date 3 times per day (scores, teams, etc) so you could say we have a vested interest in the app. If you have any questions or suggestions, post them below or hit us up on Twitter @ModelMetricsInc using the #brackets hash tag.
This is an app fitting for any kind of tournament, It’s fun and demonstrates the kinds of activities that people know, want to do and participate in at work.
It’s good to have fun at work. It’s also good when an app is used that applies predictive game mechanics. That helps further show the value in games and the application they have in work and on a broader economic scale.
