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Ways to amuse 30 or 40 strangers?

baudattitudebaudattitude Registered User regular
edited October 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
All right, so I have no experience in setting up group events and yet I've volunteered to do just that, find fun group outings for 30 or 40 college students, mostly foreign exchange students so there may be a bit of a language barrier, and for preference find something that lets me break them into small groups to encourage meeting people outside their comfort zone.

Right now, I've got, uh, a bowling night as the first and pretty much only idea, and that is good enough for a start, but I need to do six of these total over the school year.


Hence I'm in dire need of suggestions and advice on crowd wrangling. :)

baudattitude on

Posts

  • 28682868 Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Private room Karaoke. Reserve 5-8 rooms and break em out by genre. This is hair metal room, 90s pop, etc.

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  • NylonathetepNylonathetep Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    30-40 strangers? The only thing that will unify them is multiple TV, pool table, and free beer.

    Nylonathetep on
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  • AwkAwk Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Plan a trip to a few local museums. Museums are fun, right?

    Awk on
  • noir_bloodnoir_blood Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Rock band?

    noir_blood on
  • Chases Street DemonsChases Street Demons Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Movie night at the school? Projectors and popcorn?

    Some kind of touristy thing, if they're foreign students. The museum idea isn't half bad, most of them give free admission to students.

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  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Kayaking.

    Darkewolfe on
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  • NappuccinoNappuccino Surveyor of Things and Stuff Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Bowling?

    Nappuccino on
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  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Mini-golf, set them up in 4somes.

    Bowling, as has been mentioned.

    Some kind of day hike trip?

    A city tour, architectural, historical etc, if you live in a city that does something like that, obviously.

    Scavenger hunt maybe?

    Sporting event?

    matt has a problem on
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  • Fizban140Fizban140 Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited October 2010
    What countries could make a huge difference.

    Fizban140 on
  • dlinfinitidlinfiniti Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    casino night

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  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    You could always pass out paper and pencils at the first event and ask everyone for suggestions for things they'd like to do.

    matt has a problem on
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  • MetroidZoidMetroidZoid Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I was going to say a giant rousing game of Commando but then you've gone and lost about 1/5th of them somewhere and the city and whoops.

    Movie night? Find something that's almost out of theaters. Maybe see if you can get a group rate?

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  • baudattitudebaudattitude Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    These are all really good ideas, thank you all and keep them coming. :)

    About half the group is Japanese, the other half is English speakers from Australia and various places around the US. Very few of them are local, so the town is more-or-less new to all and a scavenger hunt would be a good way to teach them about the campus and area.

    baudattitude on
  • AsiinaAsiina ... WaterlooRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I'd definitely second karaoke then.

    Asiina on
  • Fizban140Fizban140 Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited October 2010
    Karaoke should be popular and have very little language barriers. Although lots of people don't like karaoke, everyone loves watching people fail at karaoke. Maybe that is just with drinks involved though? Is alcohol an option?

    Fizban140 on
  • strebaliciousstrebalicious Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Go karting. Nothing brings a group of people together like a little friendly competition.

    strebalicious on
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  • FiggyFiggy Fighter of the night man Champion of the sunRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Bowling has been suggested far too many times considering the OP said that's what he's doing for the first outing.

    How about a team-based scavenger hunt? Go throughout the city and hide caches with a code word on it around the city/campus/whatever. Write down the GPS coords of each one, and put those GPS coords on a list for the teams.

    Kind of like competitive, team-based geo-caching. There are mobile phone apps to help with this process where you enter the longitude/latitude and it points the way. Car GPSs may work too, if they have the feature.

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  • delphinusdelphinus Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    what town are you in?

    delphinus on
  • DirtmuncherDirtmuncher Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    paintball

    karting

    indoor/outdoor climbing

    sailing (small boats)

    hiking/biking

    swimming

    Dirtmuncher on
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  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    If you want something that will force them to talk and get to know each other in small groups... amusement park if there is one nearby. Most rides let about 4 people sit side by side or in the same cart, so they should split up into groups of 4, then they'll have to talk to decide what they want to ride on, etc, and then after each ride the "THAT WAS SO AWESOME" will bring them closer together.

    May be a bit far away/higher budget than other ideas though, but it'd be a good 'grand finale', or it'd be good to use to break the ice initially and then let them get closer through other events.

    Wezoin on
  • VisionOfClarityVisionOfClarity Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Knowing where you are would help a lot too.

    VisionOfClarity on
  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I suggest alcohol and singing as well.

    RoyceSraphim on
  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I'd advise against anything overtly physical unless you know they're all up to it - being the one person scared of water or with mobility issues would suck on a kayaking day out.

    Are there any famous landmarks near where you are? Might make for a fun day out, with a singalong on the bus ride there.

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  • Fizban140Fizban140 Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited October 2010
    Sightseeing would be good, even a park. I am sure the Japanese students would love to make fun of all the fatty americans dressed like slobs.

    Fizban140 on
  • baudattitudebaudattitude Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I'm in central Oregon, so no amusement parks, but I think I can work with everything else that's been mentioned here, and I'm feeling a lot more confident that I'll be able to manage this. :)

    Thanks, everyone, for the advice.

    baudattitude on
  • DisrupterDisrupter Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    As mentioned...

    senor-chang-paintball.jpg

    Disrupter on
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  • MetroidZoidMetroidZoid Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I'm in central Oregon, so no amusement parks, but I think I can work with everything else that's been mentioned here, and I'm feeling a lot more confident that I'll be able to manage this. :)

    Thanks, everyone, for the advice.

    Isn't there that one place, Enchanted Forest or something, just south of Salem? Not that I know if it's any good or if it actually has any rides but it's there. I think. I drive by it occasionally.

    Also: Malls!

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  • baudattitudebaudattitude Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I'm in central Oregon, so no amusement parks, but I think I can work with everything else that's been mentioned here, and I'm feeling a lot more confident that I'll be able to manage this. :)

    Thanks, everyone, for the advice.

    Isn't there that one place, Enchanted Forest or something, just south of Salem? Not that I know if it's any good or if it actually has any rides but it's there. I think. I drive by it occasionally.

    Also: Malls!

    Holy cow, I forgot about that place. I don't remember whether it's any GOOD or not but it would definitely be a piece of Americana. :)

    Turns out it's closed until March, but now you've given me drive to go and find out if we have any other tourist trap kinds of places I've forgotten.

    baudattitude on
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    edited October 2010
    Laser tag.

    Scavenger hunt/geocaching is a good idea.

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  • MetroidZoidMetroidZoid Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I'm in central Oregon, so no amusement parks, but I think I can work with everything else that's been mentioned here, and I'm feeling a lot more confident that I'll be able to manage this. :)

    Thanks, everyone, for the advice.

    Isn't there that one place, Enchanted Forest or something, just south of Salem? Not that I know if it's any good or if it actually has any rides but it's there. I think. I drive by it occasionally.

    Also: Malls!

    Holy cow, I forgot about that place. I don't remember whether it's any GOOD or not but it would definitely be a piece of Americana. :)

    Turns out it's closed until March, but now you've given me drive to go and find out if we have any other tourist trap kinds of places I've forgotten.

    Oregon Caves, but that's Southern Oregon and I think tours are limited to 20 at a time. Still fun though. But the cave tours are smaller this time of year I think ... or longer. Whenever the damn bats are hibernating.

    There's also the Oregon coast. Coos Bay, Bandon, Brookings. Bandon's got a cool wild animal park just south of it, Brookings has an awesome campground. Weather should still be good enough this time of year.

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