The Gathering in a Nutshell

You can find detailed information about the what, why and how of The Gathering here and here, but here’s the basic overview of how to use it:

Joining or Creating a Gathering

• Join a Gathering by scanning another user’s QR code on your mobile device, which opens the Gathering in a new browser window. Alternately, you can create a new Gathering at gthr.io — then share your QR code with others to build the Gathering.

• Fill out your contact info by writing your name (or handle if you prefer), adding a profile pic, and including whatever contact information you wish to share with those you connect with in the Gathering. You may edit this information at any time.
• Add some affinities to let your connections know what makes you tick. You can choose from the affinities that others have already added or add your own. Click Update when you are done.

Connecting

• Connect with another person in the Gathering by either scanning his or her QR code (available by clicking the connect button in the top right) or by entering his or her code name, which is uniquely generated for each Gathering to prevent spam connection requests. Both people have to approve the connection.

The connect button

• By connecting with someone, your contact information is swapped. You can download a connection’s contact info in VCF format to your address book by clicking the cloud download icon in your connection’s profile.

Click this to download a connection’s contact information to your address book

• Because our memories aren’t perfect, you can make notes for yourself about a particular connection by clicking their profile and entering text in the Notes field. Your connection notes will not be shared with anyone else, but will be downloaded into the Notes field of your address book along with the contact info as described above. You’ll also download that person’s affinities and which specific Gathering you connected at.

Matchmaking

• You can recommend a match when you meet someone who should talk to one of your connections. To do this, click Send Recommendation under a connection’s profile and then click the recommended connection.

Type notes about a connection for your eyes only in the box above. Send a connection recommendation by clicking the purple button. Delete a contact with the red button.

• The recipient will get the recommended match’s name, profile pic and organization info along with the notification that you sent the recommendation. From there, he or she will have to find and connect with the recommendation match in real life to be able to discuss what they have in common and exchange contact info. It’s like a scavenger hunt, with the prize being a new connection.

Alice Bob sent a recommendation to this user to connect with Player Two of Games Inc.

Scoring

• You score points in The Gathering for doing things to help knit the community closer together. You are awarded one point for each accepted connection, receive a point for each recommendation that you make, and two more points if and when one of your recommended matches is made.

Expiration

• Each Gathering has an expiration time, which is set by the creator of the Gathering. It should cover the length of the community event, but it could run a little longer or shorter. After the Gathering’s expiration time, you don’t lose access to your connection’s contact data (unless you delete your browser data) but no one may join, make new connections or tally points in that Gathering anymore.

Blockchain Trophies

• A blockchain-based incentive layer may be used with The Gathering, minting and awarding unique descriptive trophies (built on the ERC721 standard) to the user who gathered the most points. One example for those curious about how to do this is the contract deployed here.

That’s The Gathering in a nutshell. If you have questions, reach out on Twitter to @twoirtter or @JustMaier.