Listen for SharePoint Events from a Windows Forms Applicatio

Question

I'm using SharePoint 2013 Enterprise and Nintex Workflow 2013. We are not using the App Model, opting instead for farm solutions when needed.

 

I have approximately 100 Host Named Site Collections that create tasks for various users internal to my company (claims based authentication). Currently users have to periodically check a web page for tasks, which is time consuming and leads to a delay in  processing them. Additionally, I want to phase out the reliance on emails for task notification. 

 

I would like to create a small windows forms app that would display a flashing light in the system tray of the users machine and when clicked present a link to the tasks that are assigned to them.

 

I know that I can do this by querying the various lists on a schedule but it would be much preferable if I could listen for the arrival of new tasks in SharePoint.

 

Does SharePoint 2013 have anything like this (Push notifications maybe) or is there a technology I could leverage to facilitate this?