Crush one fat clove garlic and a teaspoon salt together in a pestle and mortar to a creamy paste. Add a teaspoon mustard and some pepper. Keep whisking, and add a tablespoon balsamic vinegar, and then four tablespoons olive oil. Stir until the sauce thickens slightly.

(inspired by Delia’s Vegetarian Collection, image courtesy WordRidden)

No of people: any
Time needed: none
Objective: Break into groups without losing time

Preparation:
Assign a number or letter to each participant at registration (eg. on their name badges)

The task:
As people to find their groups according to their assigned number / letter.

No of people: 100
Time needed: 20 Mins
Objective: Breaking the ice, getting to know the group

Preparation:
Brainstorm for possible experiences and traits participants might have, and put many of them on a sheet of paper. Hand a copy to each participant.

The task:
Introduce yourself to as many people as possible and try to find out which of the experiences on the sheet they match. If you find one, let them sign. Winner is the person with most signatures on his/her sheet.

Lizzie, a colleague of mine at headquarters, has started a wonderful little blog on Learning and Social Conversations. A couple of days ago, she described how podcasts have started to enrich her daily commute.

“Much like a great radio show, these presented manageable amounts of info in a way that really came to life – so much so that I felt more-or-less party to a live conversation.”

I have made similar discoveries over the last couple of weeks, and even given up cycling to work this winter in order to have more quality learning time in the metro (Cycling in Brussels winters is not too much fun anyway).

As Lizzie asks for “more quality content providers”, here’s my current list of subscriptions:

• Social Innovation Conversations
• INSEAD Knowledge Casts
• Berkeley Lecture Webcasts
  I’m hooked up to ESPM 114: Wildlife Ecology, PACS 164B: Non-Violence today, History 5: European Civilisation from the Renaissance to the Present, and IAS 180: US Foreign Policy after 9/11.
• Carnegie Council Podcast
• Rookie Designer Podcast

The more I see the usefulness of podcasts in my daily life, the more I’m tempted to get myself some recording equipment and produce them myself. We’ll see where that leads to.