How Utah Valley Supercharged Their Summer Bucket List

A summer bucket list sounds simple enough, but Explore Utah Valley wanted theirs to actually move the needle. As Utah County’s official destination marketing organization, they had run a Summer Bucket List Challenge before, but low engagement and a lacklustre digital experience were holding it back.

When they rebuilt the challenge on Seeker XP, the results were immediate: over 400 participants and 245 community-contributed photos in the first two weeks alone — putting them on track to more than triple the total participation from the year before.

Overview

Explore Utah Valley’s Summer Bucket List Challenge is designed to drive local tourism and deepen community engagement by turning the region’s top attractions into a gamified, shareable experience. Built for both residents and visitors, the program aims to showcase the full breadth of Utah Valley. Participants complete curated activities — from outdoor adventures to local events — earning check-ins, badges, and rewards along the way.

What Explore Utah Valley needed was an experience that matched the energy of the destination itself: beautiful, easy to use, and built for sharing. They also wanted something that would generate first-party data (email addresses, photos, behavioral insights) to fuel future marketing efforts.

After discovering Seeker XP, Utah Valley’s Digital Content Specialist Bethany Bee was quickly impressed. “The platform is beautiful and easy to use, and we knew our residents would enjoy the experience,” she said.

The team set up the challenge themselves, promoted it across social media, email, local billboards, and influencer partnerships, and launched with a dedicated landing page to drive traffic.

At a Glance

Interactive Bucket List to Drive Summer Engagement
Utah Valley, UT
Timeline: Summer seasonal activation
Audience: Local residents, families, and visitors
Use Cases: Destination Marketing, Community Engagement, Tourism Activation
Experience Type: Digital Passport, Photo Challenge,
Scavenger Hunt, Leaderboard Competition
Key Features: Photo Check-ins, Digital Badges, Interactive Map, Leaderboard, UGC Collection, Email Lead Capture
Platform: Seeker XP
Results: 3000+ Community contributed photos
Participants: 2290Rewards Earned: 154

About the Organization

Explore Utah Valley is the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Utah County, dedicated to showcasing the region’s remarkable range of experiences — from thrilling outdoor adventures in Provo Canyon and American Fork Canyon to vibrant city culture across Provo, Orem, and Lehi.

With a marketing philosophy rooted in local ambassadorship, Explore Utah Valley builds authentic connections between the region and the people who live in and visit it. They work closely with community partners, local influencers, and businesses to turn everyday exploration into something worth celebrating and sharing. Their digital passport initiatives, including the Summer Bucket List Challenge, reflect that philosophy: gamified, community-powered experiences that spotlight what makes Utah Valley worth discovering.

How it Worked

Explore Utah Valley used Seeker XP to transform their Summer Bucket List from a flat checklist into a dynamic, gamified digital experience — one that gave participants real reasons to explore, compete, and share.

Using Seeker XP, the team launched a digital passport that:

Rewarded participation with custom-branded digital badges and tangible prizes at three milestone levels
Guided participants with a mobile-first interactive map showing check-in locations across the valley
Built community momentum through a live leaderboard, fostering friendly competition among locals and visitors alike

The setup was quick and self-managed. “It was super easy for me to do on my own. The support from the Seeker team was quick and helpful,” Bethany shared. To keep the experience accessible, the team focused on free and low-cost check-in spots — a deliberate choice to make the challenge welcoming for their primary audience of young families.

Once participants unlocked a badge, they received in-app and email notifications optimized for social sharing, extending the campaign’s reach organically. And by asking participants to claim prizes in person at the visitor center, Explore Utah Valley turned digital engagement into real-world connections and a valuable feedback loop.

Seeker XP helped extend the life of the campaign, spark social sharing, and turn a milestone celebration into an ongoing, community-powered experience—one that lived far beyond a single moment or event.

We had the best time in 2024 summer, making our summer count thanks to the bucket list challenge.

Virginia

Summer Bucket List Participant

At 76, Virginia didn’t just participate in Utah Valley’s Summer Bucket List Challenge, she redefined what participation looks like. With 142 check-ins and every badge earned twice, her experience was motivated by earning the top spot on the leaderboard. Virginia’s story highlights how Seeker XP creates truly accessible experiences that invite people of all ages and abilities to explore, engage, and feel a sense of accomplishment.

Activities

69 Photo Check-in Locations

Curated spots across Utah Valley, each with a photo check-in to capture the experience and earn progress toward the next badge level.

Free and affordable check-in spots

Exhilarating hikes and vibrant cultural festivals combined with gamified exploration to celebrate the region’s diverse offerings.

Leaderboard Competition

A live leaderboard tracking check-ins in real time, letting participants see where they stand against others. The top spot at the end of the summer won the Grand Prize Staycation package.

Badges

Rewards

Prizes included candy, small souvenirs, tickets to local attractions and a Grand Prize Staycation package to the person at the top of the leaderboard.

Additionally, another Grand Prize Staycation package was awarded to a randomly selected raffle winner.

The platform is beautiful and easy to use, and we knew our audience would enjoy the experience.

Bethany Bee

Digital Content Specialist, Explore Utah Valley

Why We Love It

A Familiar Format, Supercharged

The Summer Bucket List is a concept people already understand — but Explore Utah Valley leveled it up with photo check-ins, a live leaderboard, and tiered badge rewards, turning a passive checklist into a competitive, community-driven adventure that kept participants coming back all summer long.
Built for Families, Designed for Everyone

By intentionally curating free and low-cost check-in spots, Explore Utah Valley made the challenge genuinely accessible. Young families — their primary audience — could participate without barriers, and the result was broad, organic community buy-in from locals and visitors alike.
Massive Community Participation

Every photo check-in became a piece of authentic, community-generated content. Within just two weeks, participants had submitted over 245 photos — a growing library of real moments that Explore Utah Valley can use across their marketing channels long after the summer ends.