TURN STRANGERS INTO
FRIENDS COLLABORATORS STRONG TEAMS
A searchable, sortable and filterable (is that a word?) collection of group activities that increase engagement and foster deep connections.
Get it for now for only $129 USD / year
Regular Price: $199 USD / year
You’re designing a new virtual experience and want your participants to engage and connect, but you’re struggling to find new ideas.
😐
You’re tired of scouring the internet, asking in Facebook groups or flicking through activity books, only to find an activity that your participants have already played over and over.
😭
Or maybe you even have a PDF of activities that you’ve downloaded a while ago… but you can’t find it anymore on your computer.
😤
And when you do find a promising activity you’re not sure if it will work for your group size, timing or how to adapt it to work on Zoom.
And you’ll spend hours of time and energy trying to find that PERFECT activity and you still have doubts when you facilitate it, because you’re not sure it will engage and connect your participants…
That is why I started creating my own Connection Activity Database in 2019 – and why now I am making it available to you!
With this collection of extensively tested activities you will instantly expand your repertoire of meaningful exercises (with numerous activities from Unofficial Starts and Ice Melters to Debriefs and Closing Ceremonies), plus you’ll have instant access to the searchable database 24/7 through your browser or a mobile app.
”"I used the "Because of that" opening exercise from the database with my core team, a group of leaders who plan our workshops and events. It was GREAT!
We each know each other well and the leadership team tend to be very open and reflective, but this got us quickly to a deeper level of understanding and inspired us to put this on the agenda for our September meeting because we have a lot of new folks joining us and we want to quickly set a precedent for truly caring about the stories of individuals who join us."
Meghan RafteryChief Design Officer
IMAGINE IF YOU COULD…
All by simply searching and filtering for the perfect activity in the database in less than 1 minute.
Subscribe for $129USD / Year
HERE IS HOW THE DATABASE WORKS
1. Choose a Category
In this database you will find a range of activities and games that increase engagement and facilitate deep connections. The best way to find the activity that best fits your experience is to start by choosing a category:
🌞 Unofficial Start: Engage participants with these games and activities for the first 5-10 minutes of a session until everyone has arrived.
📍 Check-in: Because it’s hard to “read the room” on Zoom, you can use one of these activities to check how participants are feeling.
😀 Introduction: These activities are ideal for strangers to learn each other's names, backgrounds and interests, values.
🧊Ice Melter: These fun activity help your participants to open up and are ideally facilitated at the start of a session.
🤗 Deep Connection: These activities facilitate new & deeper relationships and build trust with a group.
🎉 Party Game: A fun game that will liven up your gathering – and might even lead to people ROFL and LOL-ing.
⚡️ Energizer: Move the energy in the room with these activities when you feel participants are dozing off.
🧘♀️ Grounding: These meditative activities help ground the energy of a group if you feel they are too distracted.
💗 Debrief: After a meaningful activity or at the end of a session you can use these prompts to deepen the learning and connections of your participants.
🙏 Closing: These “ceremonial” activities will help “close the container” and support participants as they integrate back into their lives after your event.
2. Search for Keywords
Quickly search the library to find the perfect activity for your purpose, context or theme.
This is how I use this database most often because every text, tag and detail is searchable. It’s also great if you remember details of an activity but can’t remember the exact name.
3. Create Dynamic Filters
Quickly filter activities by category, group size, duration and more so you only see the activities relevant to you.
Some of the filter options include:
- 👥 Group Size: From pairs to extra large groups of 100+
- ⏱ Length: From 1 min to 60 min+
- 🔥 Depth: From “curious” (perfect for strangers) to “vulnerable” (ideal once psychological safety is established)
- … and more
4. Follow Detailed Instructions
Once you have selected your activity you can follow its step-by-step instructions that include:
- ❤️ Intention: A short description of the activity and the goal / intended outcome
- 📋 Instructions + Debrief: Step-by-step instructions to use this activity with your groups. Sometimes this also includes “Copy-Paste for Chat” that you can easily share in the Zoom Chat.
- 🧙♂️ Facilitator Tips: Sometimes there are nuances and reminders when facilitating an activity, so it doesn’t go over time and participants get the most out of it.
- ♻️ Variations: If you don’t have access to a certain tool or have less time, this section will offer different versions of the same activity, including adaptations for in-person experiences.
5. Review Additional Resources
Not sure how to use an engagement tool or Zoom feature? If an activity requires any specific tools for an activity, you can find links, resources and tutorials in here to freshen up your skills.
This includes video tutorials and even copy-paste instructions that you can share with your participants.
6. Watch Videos + Download PDFs
Before your next experience, refresh your memory by watching how an activity is facilitated with live participants.
Or download each activity as a separate PDF that you can print out and take with you, so you have a cheatsheet with all key instructions on how to lead the activity.
7. Get rave reviews and results
If you breathe new life into your programming, workshops and trainings with these activities, your participants will thank you. Nobody wants to sit through an hour-long, boring PowerPoint anymore.
The research clearly shows programs that intentionally design moments of human connection will lead to greater participation, stronger relationships & overall increased performance. If you want to check out some of the research yourself, click here, here and here.
IN ADDITION TO THE DATABASE YOU’LL ALSO GET
”This is exactly what I've been wanting to create for myself! Thanks for saving me the effort Jan!
JEREMY ENNSCourse Creator
Subscribe for $129 USD / Year
Regular Price: $199 USD / year
Hey, I’m Jan 👋
I believe that we need to infuse more HUMAN CONNECTION into our virtual trainings, workshops and meetings.
For the last few years I have dedicated my time to support facilitators, trainers and course creators to re-imagine what their in-person experiences can look like on Zoom. And I learned that intentionally designed group games and activities are some of the most powerful ways to help our participants connect.
With participants interacting remotely it can easily feel lonely or isolating, so facilitating connection activities is shown to increase participation, build stronger relationships and increase performance.
Before I created this database for myself I would spend hours searching for the right activities, and if it was a new activity I was worried it would not work for my groups. When most of us went online in 2020 I started testing and experimenting with new activities for every session.
I now use this database every single time I design a new experience and it helped me go from a blank page to having to choose which activity will be the one that is most aligned with the purpose of my virtual gathering.
My work has been featured in
WHO IS THIS DATABASE FOR
I created this database for anyone who designs virtual group experiences. From workshops, trainings and cohort-based courses to networking events and social gatherings.
First Time Facilitators
You don’t have a lot of experience leading groups virtually yet.
You are hesitant to run a new activity because you’re not sure it will work.
You don’t want it to be awkward and weird.
Professional Trainers
You’re getting bored running the same old, same old activities with your groups.
You don’t want to waste your group’s time with something that doesn’t work.
You’re too busy to look through piles of books and PDFs.
”I already have the site bookmarked on my favorite bar and know I’ll will be using it frequently!
JASON MEUCCICorporate Trainer and Facilitator
GOT MORE QUESTIONS?
How do I access the Database?
When your order comes in someone from our team will send you a manual invite to our Notion workspace from where you can access the database. Currently, we can’t automate this process yet, so allow for about 24 hours to receive your link (most of the time much faster).
Once you accept the invitation, and create your Notion account, there are different ways you can access the activities in the database:
- Through your browser (desktop and mobile)
- On the Notion Desktop app
- On the Notion Mobile App (Android, iOS)
And once you have access you can also export activities as PDF files easily and print them out.
How many activities are in the Database?
Currently, there are about 50 activities (several with video walkthroughs). Over the next few months we will be adding about 10-15 activities per month to have 100 activities by the end of 2022.
Do you offer a Free Trial period?
Currently, there is no free trial, but you can access 5x free activity samples here.
Do you have activities that are suitable for in-person or hybrid events?
All activities that can be done without technology at an in-person event are tagged and can easily be filtered out. Often you will find instructions on how to run an activity in person under “Variations”.
For hybrid activities we suggest to also look at the in-person filter and then decide what is possible based on your hybrid setup (how many participants, what technology you have available, etc).
How easy is it to cancel?
All subscriptions renew automatically 1 year after you enroll, but you will be getting an automated reminder a few weeks before that which instructions on how to cancel your subscription. Or simply reach out to our team a week before your renewal date and we will do it manually for you.
Any other questions?
If you have any other questions about the Connection Activity Database, please reach out.
Get the only on-demand library of Connection Activities specifically designed for virtual experiences and breathe new life into your trainings, workshops and meetings.
Here’s everything that’s included:
- Connection Activity Database
- Virtual Event Flow Template
- Deep Connectors Community
- New Activities + Exclusive Events
