Some of the best community events start with a little friendly competition before diving into the deep work. That was the exact approach for a recent masterclass hosted by Builders in FinTech, a community of professionals and innovators building the future of financial technology across Africa.
The event focused on the tradeoffs between local and global KYC providers, with Abdulrasaq Folorunsho, Senior Manager of Compliance at Moniepoint, as the featured speaker. The topic was highly technical, covering onboarding speed, compliance costs, and customer conversion, and Betty, one of the community managers, knew she needed an engaging icebreaker first. She wanted to get remote attendees energised and talkative before the heavy teaching segment began. She decided to try Neegma to bring the virtual room to life.
Building a Custom FinTech Experience
For Betty, the key was not just playing a game. It was playing a game that felt tailor-made for her specific audience of builders. She chose Neegma's Unscramble game, but she wanted questions that directly tested the attendees' industry knowledge rather than pulling from a generic word pool.
Using the Neegma Playground, the setup was seamless. Betty downloaded our CSV template, used ChatGPT to generate custom FinTech-related terms, answers, and hints, and uploaded the file straight back to the platform. Within minutes, her custom "Builders in FinTech" Unscramble deck was ready. No back-and-forth, no technical setup, no waiting.
This is one of the most underrated things about building on Neegma: you can use any tool you like to generate your content, and the CSV import gets it into the platform in a single step. The game engine takes care of everything else.
When the Virtual Room Came Alive
As attendees trickled into the Google Meet, Betty briefly introduced the icebreaker and shared the Neegma QR code on screen.
Players joined straight from their phones, no app download required and no account needed. Because Neegma lets players drop in and rejoin at any point in the session, latecomers were able to scan the code and jump into the live game without missing their place. As long as they used the same player name, their scores were automatically carried forward.
Once everyone was settled, Betty hit "Let's Play," selected her custom FinTech Unscramble deck, and the energy in the room shifted immediately. Professionals who had been quietly waiting for the masterclass to start were suddenly racing against the clock and each other to unscramble industry terms. When a word stumped the room, Betty could publish a hint directly from the host screen, sending a clue to every player's device at once without interrupting the flow of the game.
The live leaderboard kept the pressure on. Positions changed with every submission, and the chat started filling with reactions.
The Perfect Pivot
The game did not just provide laughs. It effectively broke the digital ice. After the final leaderboard was revealed and the winner was celebrated, the attendees were energised, talkative, and perfectly primed to engage with the realities of KYC compliance in Africa. Betty handed the stage over to Abdulrasaq and the masterclass began with a room that was already switched on.
That transition, from competitive play to focused learning, is exactly what a well-placed icebreaker is supposed to do. And the whole thing, from Betty's CSV upload to the first round of gameplay, took a matter of minutes to set up.
This is why Neegma exists for event facilitators. Not just for parties or brand activations, but for professional community builders who want to create a room worth being in before the real work starts.
Do you host community events, workshops, or masterclasses? Learn how to create custom, high-energy experiences on our Facilitators use case page.