"Girls Just Wanna Have Fuuunn..."
--Cyndi Lauper

Not only do "girls just wanna have fun," most meeting participants also want to have fun--both male and female. Unfortunately, many meeting presenters forget this fact in their desire to impart knowledge to a passive audience.

A "Shoe" comic strip I use during my creativity training sessions shows the large bird character, "Shoe," sitting in an easy chair. He is watching a television set and quips, "The guy at the video store said this Jane Fonda workout tape was guaranteed to help me lose weight. Its been two weeks now and it hasnt helped a bit!"

Subject matter knowledge usually is more easily understood and retained if the participants have fun and assume an active role in their learning. One way to do this is to create an atmosphere conducive to self-learning. Such an atmosphere can be created with a number of experiential activities I call, "Meeting Sparklers."

A number of resources have been produced over the years involving such exercises. This session will provide participants with experience in using a number of activities from my recent book, 101 Great Games & Activities (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass / Pfeiffer, 1998). Here are some examples of the types of exercises that will be used during the session (names of exercise contributors are shown in parentheses):

Rumperstickers--Each participant is given a rectangle (approximately 3" x 1l") made from medium weight cardboard such as a file folder. They write a humorous message on their rumperstickers, punch holes in the ends, tie strings to the holes, and tie the rumperstickers to their rear ends. Everyone walks around reading each others rumperstickers and then vote on the best ones. Useful for exercises involving climate setting, getting acquainted, or as an energizer (A. D. Robinson).

Sweeping Changes--Participants use a broomstick to experience the effects of "driving" and "restraining" forces on any type of change. Two groups of three participants each face each other while holding a broomstick. One group represents "driving" forces for some change; the other group represents "restraining" forces. A strip of masking tape on the floor is used as the desired future state. The driving forces first push toward the tape while the restraining forces resist. Then, one of the restraining forces is removed and everyone notices the progress made toward the goal. Finally, the restraining force that was removed is added to the driving forces to demonstrate how easier it is to achieve the desired change. Useful for change management and team building exercises (M. K. Key, B. Nickle, and C. Portis).

Belt It Out--Write down the word "BELT" in capital letters so it is visible to everyone. Participants form into groups and generate different uses for an unlimited supply of belts. Everyone gradually realizes that there are many different types of belts (e.g., Bible belt, magnetic belt, fan belt). Demonstrates how a failure to test assumptions often results in faulty outcomes. Useful for creative thinking and problem solving exercises (R. Syverson).

Comic Relief--Cut cartoon strips into individual panels and mix them up. At the beginning of a meeting, give each participant one panel. Have everyone mill around and find others with the related panels. The groups with panels from the same cartoon then introduce themselves and read their cartoon aloud to the other participants. A handy get-acquainted exercise (M. Morris).

Corporate Jester--Small groups list corporate success factors or best practices such as "pay for performance." They then reverse each statement and try to think of supporting arguments for the reversals. For instance, the reversal "non-pay for performance" might suggest that managers will make more money and do less work the higher they go and there will be less time spent on performance reviews. Finally, the groups see if they can turn the reversed statements into practical ideas for improving the workplace. This exercise can be used as an icebreaker, for teambuilding, or for creative thinking and problem solving (D. Gunby).