Funny Corporate Games (collect, company, interest, claim)

[gerula]

Hello evrybody,

This is my first post so please be gentle

Our department has an all day 2009 Kickoff meeting.

Usually these are extremely dry (read: boring) meetings where the VP/AVP/Director crowd talks about plans for 2009.

I am one of them "suits" in charge of the "ice-breaker" - I need to come up with a "corporate" game that is HILARIOUS and will put everybody at ease; I have between 30 to 45 minutes for that.

This is a team of about 30 people, mostly researchers and scientists (read mathematicians and statisticians) with very diverse cultural backgrounds(Chinese, Eastern Europeans, Indians and obviously Americans).

I don't have a theme or anything - I just want it to be as interactive as possible and make everybody laugh.

Can you please help me with some ideas?
Thanks!

[BagongBuhay]

I haven't really poked at the games here but perhaps you could. See if there are ones close to your corporate theme...

American Mensa | Games

[Rakhi]

I organized this once in my ex-company. I took this from google.

Setup and Gameplay for Who Done It (Whodunit?)
This game can be played individually or with two teams. For extremely large groups, choose ten volunteers and split them into two teams of five. To set up the game, pass out an index card and a pen for each participant. Ask each person to write down something interesting they have done. Examples include the following:

• I went skydiving once.
• I got arrested before.
• I once drank a gallon of milk.
• I lived in seven different states.
• I ate bugs before.

Try to instruct people to write a fact that most people don’t already know - the sillier (or more unbelievable) the better. Collect all the cards (separate them into two piles if two teams are playing). Shuffle the cards and then pass them back out. Each person (or team) takes turns reading aloud their card and then the reader must guess whose fact he or she read. After he or she guesses, the guessed person simply says “yes” or “no”. If the person guesses correctly, the guessed person can briefly explain what they wrote (if desired). The guessing continues until all cards are exhausted. Everyone reveals who wrote which card at the end.
The Who Done It? game is a good, simple get-to-know-you game that is especially good for groups with new people, or for whenever you wish to help people get to know each other better to break the ice. Sometimes humorous facts can be revealed, leading people to exclaim, “You did WHAT?”

[Job-Seekers-Edge]

Each person (or team) takes turns reading aloud their card and then the reader must guess whose fact he or she read. After he or she guesses, the guessed person simply says “yes” or “no”. If the person guesses correctly, the guessed person can briefly explain what they wrote (if desired). The guessing continues until all cards are exhausted. Everyone reveals who wrote which card at the end.
The Who Done It? game is a good, simple get-to-know-you game that is especially good for groups with new people, or for whenever you wish to help people get to know each other better to break the ice. Sometimes humorous facts can be revealed, leading people to exclaim, “You did WHAT?”

I've used a variation on the above game where the cards were handed out and the group had a set amount of time to find the person who had 'done it'. (Instead of reading out loud and then guessing.) During that time the people in the room spoke with each other one-on-one moving from person to person until they found who they were looking for. The moderator calls time and then asks people who were very surprised by the 'who' or the 'done it' to share what they had learned.

This version allows you to have a little more control over how much time is spent on the exercise.

[Job-Seekers-Edge]

Oops! I forgot to mention. At the end of time, if anyone did not match their 'done it' with the person who wrote it, the group tried together to guess who it was.