Let’s be honest, either you love them or you hate them. But the fact is, when successfully facilitated, ice breakers work. Warm-up games (which we sometimes call “stokes”) are a shortcut for turning meetings into collaborations. The very reason they make us uncomfortable is the reason they work: they quickly break down barriers and help us connect with each other in new ways. Athletic coaches never send their players out onto the field without a warm-up. It should be the same for meetings and classrooms.

In this interactive session, we’ll walk through “stokes” for different situations and talk about when, why and how to execute successful icebreakers with confidence. You’ll lead more effective meetings with more creative outcomes.

• SPEAKER
• Kate Canales, Department Chair and Distinguished Senior Lecturer, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Design
• Kate Canales is a Distinguished Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Department of Design in the School of Design and Creative Technologies at the University of Texas at Austin. Previously Canales was a clinical professor and the director of Design and Innovation Programs at the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University. She is the founder and director of SMU’s pioneering Master of Arts degree in Design and Innovation (MADI) which trains students of all backgrounds in human-centered design as a method for innovating in any field. Kate has a background in mechanical engineering, product design and design research, and much of her recent work has focused on building creative capacity inside organizations.

• Prior to SMU, Kate worked as a designer and design researcher at IDEO and as a creative director at frog design, both internationally recognized leaders in the field of design and innovation.