Networking games for large business groups

This will challenge preconceptions and bring people together in an unpredictable way. The engagement of the audience significantly increases during sessions where they can provide their input or get asked questions. For this game, give everyone a piece of paper, and have them write a sentence or a word on it before passing it on to the person next to them.

Games like this get people thinking creatively and can prompt a few laughs, too. Unstructured Time : Make sure your event leaves plenty of time for non-structured networking. In virtual events, it can be used to allow users to hop into rooms with different purposes, not to mention event apps that allow you to add gamification elements and live forums to the mix.

Enable Networking Apps : Help event-goers tap into the cloud to figure out who they want to connect with on the ground. Apps like Presdo Match allow event attendees to embed their LinkedIn profiles, making it easy for attendees to check each other out. Sometimes, these types of conversation starters can help your attendees feel more at ease and relaxed.

And that positive, authentic energy is more likely to carry over to other sessions. This is a quick, easy-to-set-up networking game. Simply have your attendees find a partner anyone in the room and give them 1 minute to fire off questions. To make it easier, consider displaying sample questions on a screen in the area in case they run out of ideas. This type of networking is also fast-paced, without any of the pressure to force a conversation or to keep it going longer than necessary.

We often hear from participants that one of their biggest complaints about mix and mingle events is getting stuck talking to the wrong person. Questions could include things like: What is your job title? What company do you work for? How would you describe it in one sentence? Is this your first time attending? What types of people do you want to network with?

What is your number one networking goal? This is a great way to group attendees together who have similar backgrounds and shared interests. To start, have your attendees stand in a big group together. And then have them organize into smaller groups based on specific criteria. For example, by position title, work history, job specialty, favorite sports team, etc. Your attendees will be able to see exactly who they need to be approaching for further conversation.

And it helps to give them a visual representation of the types of people who are attending the event. For this one, split your attendees into two groups. For example, I work in the Midwest. I have belonged to this association for more than 2 years. The company I work for has more than employees. I have been to Italy. We hope these networking games help jump-start your event planning process!

Luckily, a lot of these networking solutions offer technology that greatly reduces the administrative time it takes to plan a networking session, which allows you to focus on other areas of event planning.

So, next time you feel stuck and unsure of how to more creatively connect attendees, consider using one of the options from this list. Next year, you can try speed networking. Or maybe you did speed networking this year and everyone loved it.

Now you know to keep offering that session. You can find thousands of event networking manuals out there which teach you how to approach a potential partner, kickstart a dialogue, or showcase your company. But what many of these lessons miss, is the fun. Networking games can make attendance experiences not only productive but also a jolly occasion. The fundamental objective of using such activities is leveling up the atmosphere, elevating teamwork, and creating non-boring, memorable networking experiences.

Event gaming has to be strategic. Based on the goals of networking, the format of an event, or the general atmosphere, you can build custom gaming experiences to help your audience network effectively:.

The capabilities of wearable event technology allow spotting like-minders in few clicks. Encourage attendees to find 5 people of the same profession or background using smart badges at the venue. This will not only create a funny rush, but also help event guests find those who have similar interests to generate meaningful connections. Encourage attendees to give each of their new friends 60 seconds for saying whatever they want. If they find a conversation interesting, they can start a dialogue.

Split participants into groups and give each group 20 minutes for solving a problem or discussing a specific theme. Once the time is up, give a signal for people to switch and find another group. Do you want to turn an event into a treasure hunt? Provide secret instructions to every attendee before the event asking them to wear specific things. At the event, everyone will get the task to find a person based on a specific profile description.

Present each of your event guests with a cake as they arrive and tell them that they should find something important inside. Use this game to divide a large group into small groups at random. Upon entering your meeting space, each person is given a candy bar. Make sure they know they cannot eat it yet! They can either draw it out of a bag without looking, or you can have a staff member hand it to them.

At some point during your meeting, ask everyone to find their fellow candy bars. Later call for all the Snickers group together, all the Milky Ways, etc. Once all groups are formed, proceed with a game or icebreaker to help these strangers get to know each other. Ask attendees to bring a stash of business cards to your event.

You can always ask them to tell the group a detail about one person they met that stood out to them. Split into groups of about , have them form a circle, and give each group a ball. On the ball are written icebreaker questions. The ball is tossed back and forth across the circle. When someone catches the ball, they answer the question that their right hand index finger is touching.

For this ice breaker idea, give everyone a piece of paper with a question on it. Everyone will answer the question and sign their name to the paper. Then, fold their paper into an airplane. On the count of three, everyone will stand and throw their airplanes as far as they can, in any direction.

Being careful not to poke anyone in the eye! Then, they are to pick up one of the airplanes near them. Have them open up the airplane, read the name and answer to the question, and seek out that person in the room. When they find the owner of the paper plane, they should introduce themselves and also answer the icebreaker question about themselves. This get-to-know-you game is best played by a small group of people sitting or standing in a circle or around a table.