Business Events – new ice breaker idea!

A number of businesses in Savannah, GA look for off-site places to host events, conferences, corporate retreats, team building practices, corporate training, and other such events.   Because we want to be more than a venue, we want to be your event planner; we try to keep up on the latest in event ideas.

We ran across this ice breaker that we had to share – it’s too much fun and really helped the group to get better acquainted – and can help your group get to know fellow co-workers or conference attendees when you’re hosting such an event!

Almost Isolated:

Time – 30 minutes (depending on the number of participants, roughly 2-3 minutes per person)
Items – bean bag, stress ball, something to toss at the next person to discuss their thoughts
Presenter – your ice breaking presenter needs to be authoritative, excitable, and funny because they have to start the discussion

Beginning – Your presenter announces to the group, “as of this moment, you have been placed on a deserted island, untouched by humans, isolated, and alone; however, because you have been a positive influence on your co-workers, the universe has felt obligated to allow you three (3) people of your choosing.  They can be living or deceased – not deceased when you ask for them of course – who would you choose to be on the island with you and why?”

Next
– give your group a minute or so to come up with an answer – your presenter should then announce that they will start.

Example – “my name is Jennifer and I would choose my husband because he’s retired military and his survival skills would be necessary, and I love him.  I would also choose my friend George who grows local produce for XYZ Farms because he would need to help us forage for food.  And Leonardo da Vinci because he could invent anything we needed and his hi-jinks would give us something to talk about.”

Start – once the group settles from your presenter’s answer (make it funny), give the group another couple of seconds, ask who wants to go next.  If someone volunteers great, toss them the bean bag/stress ball/toss-y thing, OR toss it to a random participant and ask them to tell you who they’d choose and why.  Once they finish, they get to toss the item to the person they want to hear from and so on.

 

What we really liked about this exercise was that it makes your group think on their feet, gives an opportunity for creative answers, allows connections with others in the room, and there’s really no wrong answer, plus it gives them something to talk later on!  Let us know what you think…or who you’d pick if you were stranded.

The Mackey House is one of the premier Savannah wedding venues, located just minutes from Downtown. For more information, please visit our Savannah wedding page, as well as join our conversation on Facebook and Twitter