Conference Ice Breaker and Energiser Ideas for 2024

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Whether it’s for business, trade or education, conferences play a vital role in networking, professional development and knowledge sharing. But let’s face it, conferences have earned a reputation of being a little boring. With 2024 just around the corner, it’s time to do enhance your next conference to ensure the best engagement and success. This blog article gives you 7 ideas of conference ice breakers and energisers to incorporate in your conference. Book any of these conference activities to shake up your conference and deliver the best experience for your attendees yet!

7 Conference Ice Breaker and Energiser Ideas You Can Plan in 2024

Conference energiser activities are the best way to maintain engagement and enthusiasm throughout your conference. When your audience takes part in a unique or dynamic activity such as Boomwhakers or The Haka, they become more involved and invested in your conference. Here are our favourite conference activities for the 2024 season:

1. Boomwhakers

Boomwhakers musical tubes at conference energiser or ice breaker
  • Event type: Musical
  • Audience size: 5-1000 people
  • Duration: 1-3 hours
  • Venue: We travel to your own conference venue, anywhere in the UK

Boomwhakers is a conference energiser that involves creating music with the unique musical instruments called Boomwhakers. Boomwhakers are percussion tubes which can be struck together or against a surface to create musical notes. The tubes are lightweight and colour-coded to represent all the musical notes. When played in unison, they create musical magic!

Guided by a Boomwhaker expert, your conference attendees will learn how to play these fun and simple instruments. The result? Your conference is instantly transformed into sea of colour whilst teams work in perfect harmony to create a musical masterpiece.

Making music together through Boomwhakers creates a shared goal, inspires creativity and provides a fun music lesson that is guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on your participants’ memories. This entertaining conference ice breaker or energiser is suitable for any conference, no matter the size or seating arrangements and is sure to delight your guests and invigorate your conference. Get in touch with our team to incorporate Boomwhakers into your next conference!

2. Junk Funk

Junk Funk music at conference energiser or ice breaker
  • Event type: Musical
  • Audience size: 5-1000 people
  • Duration: 1-3 hours
  • Venue: We travel to your own conference venue, anywhere in the UK

Dustbins, car wheels and drainpipes – some may call this junk, but we call it Junk Funk. Junk Funk is a unique conference team building experience which involves creating rhythms and music using random scrap objects as instruments such as saucepans, dustbins and hard hats. Choosing Junk Funk as your conference energiser will not only uplift and motivate your participants but will boost creativity, self-expression and networking.

As your participants join forces, the junk orchestra will quickly come to life in the collaborative act of drumming. If you want to create your own Junk Funk orchestra at your next conference, get in touch with our team for a professional and engaging experience.

3. The Haka

the haka dance at conference energiser or ice breaker
  • Event type: Active
  • Audience size: 5-1000 people
  • Duration: 1-3 hours
  • Venue: We travel to your own conference venue, anywhere in the UK

If you’re looking for a high-energy conference activity which will push your participants out of their comfort zone, the Haka is the perfect choice! The Haka is a unique group performance which involves rhythmic movements like feet stomping and chest slapping, aggressive facial expressions and load chanting. This vigorous dance originates from the ceremonial Māori traditions which were performed by the tribe people when going to war. Nowadays, the Haka is famously performed before rugby matches in New Zealand.

As a conference energiser, the Haka fosters confidence, motivation and solidarity. Our Haka team building activity fits any conference type and size and is run by Māori descent performers, so you know you are getting a 100% authenticity. Alongside a powerful Haka performance which is guaranteed to energise your audience, the session also includes an informative walk-through of what Haka truly is and its history that will leave your guests with an appreciation for another culture. Get in touch to find out more about this conference activity and to request a quote.

4. Yoga Class

yoga class at conference energiser or ice breaker
  • Event type: Wellbeing
  • Audience size: 5-1000 people
  • Duration: 1-3 hours
  • Venue: We travel to your own conference venue, anywhere in the UK

If your conference has a fully-packed schedule, consider giving your guests the opportunity to pause and unwind. Yoga is a great conference ice breaker or energiser because it provides a holistic approach to rejuvenating your guests and encourages them to be fully present and immersed in your conference. With a combination of meditation and breath control techniques, it promotes mental clarity and relaxation. This is also a shared experience, so it’s able to create a positive atmosphere, break down barriers and enhance the dynamic of the event.

A Yoga Class is a highly adaptable conference activity which can suit any group size and can even be practiced on theatre style seating. It’s also a fully inclusive activity which can be tailored to any ability, so your conference Yoga Class can focus on breathwork only or can include stretching and movement too. With a dedicated and certified yoga instructor and fully customisable packages, GOTO Events can help you harness the benefits of mindfulness and yoga, to ensure an effective conference ice breaker or energiser!

5. Drumming Workshop

drumming at conference energiser or ice breaker
  • Event type: Musical
  • Audience size: 5-1000 people
  • Duration: 1-3 hours
  • Venue: We travel to your own conference venue, anywhere in the UK

Another musical conference activity, a Drumming Workshop is a great way to energise and bring your audience together through the creation of music. Suitable for both smaller and larger groups, a Drumming Workshop requires participants to beat their own drum by following the rhythm played by our expert. This fun conference activity encourages active listening, collaboration and communication.

A Drumming Workshop is ideal for an internationally diverse audience as it transcends language barriers and promotes teamwork while creating a unique, tribal atmosphere which is guaranteed to resonate long after the conference concludes. If a Drumming Workshop sounds like the perfect energiser for your conference, we are here to help you bring the rhythm into your event!

6. Circus Skills

circus skills plate spinning at conference energiser or ice breaker
  • Event type: Active
  • Audience size: 5-1000 people
  • Duration: 1-2 hours
  • Venue: We travel to your own conference venue, anywhere in the UK

If you’re looking for a hands-on conference activity to make your event truly fun and memorable, a Circus Skills workshop could help you amplify the success of your event. Many of us dreamed of being circus performers when we were young, so this conference activity is sure to put a large smile on your participants’ faces!

From juggling and plate spinning to more thrilling activities such as tightrope walking and stilt walking, we can customise your Circus Skills workshop to perfectly fit your conference goals, audience size and venue. Bring all the fun of the circus to your conference and create an interactive and unforgettable experience that will transform your event with the help of GOTO Events!

7. Bollywood Workshop

bollywood dance at conference energiser or ice breaker
  • Event type: Active
  • Audience size: 5-1000 people
  • Duration: 1-2 hours
  • Venue: We travel to your own conference venue, anywhere in the UK

Conferences often involve long hours of sitting still and listening. By adding a physical activity into your itinerary gives your participants a break, helping them re-energise and become more focused for the rest of your sessions. For this reason, a Bollywood Workshop with vibrant dance and rhythmic music creates cultural excitement and a dynamic atmosphere into your conference.

Infusing energy into any room and fostering a sense of unity and collaboration amongst participants, a Bollywood Workshop can be great as a conference ice breaker at the beginning of the day to make your audience more comfortable or as a midday energiser to combat fatigue and reinvigorate participants. Through this conference activity, your participants will learn a new skill and will connect with others in a unique and memorable way.

All our Bollywood Workshops are run by a dedicated expert team including a Bollywood choreographer and we can customise the activity to any ability. Enquire now about the Bollywood Workshop.

How Can I Create a Better Conference in 2024?

For a successful and unforgettable conference in 2024, organisers have to focus on inclusivity, sustainability, hybrid experiences and gamification.

Prioritise inclusivity

Investing in accessibility arrangements is crucial, especially if you are holding a large-scale event. From ensuring you have great wheelchair access to on-screen captions, sign language interpreters and pre-sending out agendas, you create a welcoming environment for everyone, even those who may be reluctant to request them.

Embrace emerging technologies to improve the inclusivity of your conference. For example, an anonymous chat functionality could encourage even those participants who don’t like asking questions in front of a large crowd. This will also ensure that you don’t miss out on any questions which is common in large crowds.

Another way of promoting inclusivity within your conference is by having a diverse range of content, speakers and performers. Speakers with varied backgrounds and experiences can provide fresh perspectives, reflect a range of cultures, challenge conventional thinking and inspire problem solving.

Implement sustainable practices

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now at the forefront of global discussions and companies need to understand the importance of not only adopting sustainable practices into how they conduct their business but extending these to their corporate events. During the planning process of your next conference, you must ask yourself: “How can I make my conference more sustainable?”. This can be achieved by minimising waste, reducing energy consumption, using eco-friendly materials and promoting the use of public transport to your event instead of private vehicles. By adopting sustainable practices at your next conference, you will not only reduce your environmental impact, but will gain a positive brand image and set expectation for other companies.

Hybrid experiences

In 2024, participants will expect conferences to adopt a hybrid model with both in-person and virtual sessions so they can benefit from more flexibility and accessibility, saving them time and money on travel, accommodation and other expenses. This approach also provides valuable benefits for organisers such as:

  • Wider audience reach
  • Increased engagement
  • Reduced environmental impact
  • Easier access to event analytics

Incorporate gamification

Gamifying your conference experience can boost engagement and satisfaction. The popularity of unique conference activities and energisers will continue to grow in 2024. You can incorporate gamification into your conference by actively encouraging your audience to participate in activities such as:

  • Conference ice breakers
  • Quizzes
  • Competitions
  • Conference energisers

Here are our top conference ice breakers and energisers trends in 2024.

FAQs

What is a conference energiser?

A conference energiser is a short interactive session strategically included in a conference agenda to break up the day, regain the focus of your audience and motivate them to keep engaged for the rest of the day. A conference energiser doesn’t have to be directly linked to the topics of your conference and it can be a simple activity such as a team building activity or a quick game. There are many different types of conference energisers.

What is a conference ice breaker?

A conference ice breaker is a short activity at the beginning of a conference session designed to open the atmosphere, help participants build connections and break down social barriers. A conference ice braker is an effective strategy to encourage engagement throughout the rest of the conference.

Why plan a conference ice breaker or energiser activity in 2024?

Having a conference ice breaker or energiser as part of your conference schedule in 2024 is a great way to boost engagement, improve information retention and increase satisfaction. Participating in a ice breaker or energiser at a conference can reduce participants’ stress level, facilitates networking and enhances their creativity and communication skills.

What are the key conference trends in 2024?

Some of the key conference trends event organisers should pay attention to in 2024 include offering more inclusive and accessible events through harnessing technology, AI and the hybrid conference model; prioritising sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of the event; and enhancing engagement through gamification elements such as quizzes and conference energisers.

How can I make my conference environmentally friendly?

Adopting sustainable practices for your corporate events is crucial in 2024. You can do this by choosing eco-friendly materials, reducing waste, or reducing carbon emissions.

What are some ideas of conference activities for large groups?

If you are looking for conference activity ideas suitable for large groups, we recommend Boomwhakers, a fun activity in which your participants create music using special musical tubes; the Haka, a highly-energising performance involving confident movements and load chanting; and Yoga Class , an activity which promotes wellbeing and mindfulness and can easily be practices from a theatre-style seating layout.

How do you improve engagement in a conference?

Conferences are often packed with information and lengthy sessions. To avoid the risk of your participants becoming unengaged, you can strategically incorporate a conference energiser activity either at the start of a session or in the middle. Some fun conference activities are Boomwahers, Junk Funk, the Haka, Drumming or Circus Skills.