Christmas Ice Breaker

I was asked to come up with an activity for a holiday party at work. There were going to be around a dozen people in attendance.  So the 12 Days of Christmas seems like a logical solution. Here are the questions I developed (I work at UB which is why there are a few work related questions included):

• On the first day…. Tell us about any memorable first day…. Of work, of school, at UB? 
• On the second day…. What is your favorite duo? Batman & Robin, PB&J? 
• On the third day…. Since “tri” means 3, tell us your favorite food or place to eat and why we should “tri” it. 
• On the fourth day…. Imagine it’s the 4th of July. Where are the best fireworks? 
• On the fifth day…. What’s your favorite memory of a golden summer day? 
• On the sixth day… There are 6 foreign campuses affiliated with UB (Singapore, Japan, Canada, Poland, China and India). Which one would you want to visit? 
• On the seventh day…. What’s a perfect weekend like? 
• On the eighth day … 8 looks like infinity…. If you had all the free time in the world where/what would you do with it? 
• On the ninth day… The niners are in San Francisco. How far west have you traveled in the US? 
• On the tenth day… Remember 5&10 stores? What’s your favorite candy? 
• On the eleventh day… Honors (and hobbits) enjoy elevenses…. Are you a coffee or tea drinker (and if tea what kind)? 
• On the twelfth day … What is your favorite part of December and why? 

Here is how I presented the questions:

 

I wrote the questions in the font Harrington, printed them to be the size of the holiday themed tape, taped the question around a candy cane and added the number. We went in the order of how they were selected. It sparked a lot of conversation among staff ranging from their teens to adults with over 30 years experience at UB.

I thought it went well anyway :)

If you decide to use this idea, please let me know. I'd love to know if it got used someday!

Roswell Thoughts

Another Ride for Roswell is over. It is always my anniversary weekend and I've been involved I think in all 17 of the events. I used to work for the Alliance Foundation as a freelancer (started late 1993) and joined the Institute as a medical writer in 1998. Stayed for almost 11 years before heading over to UB. Since UB hosts the event, I still help out the event creating social media updates and telling stories. It is a major part of my life and maybe someday I'll actually get on a bike and ride!



This photo sums up a lot for me. Everyone involved has a story to tell. My story, aside from having been a member of the team, is that my Mom was a nurse at Roswell Park, my son volunteered there and my mother-in-law died of breast cancer. We are all touched by cancer and need to remember that every day is precious.

Ride For Roswell

Last Saturday the University at Buffalo hosted the 16th annual Ride for Roswell event. The estimates were 7,500 riders, 1,500 volunteers and over $3 million dollars raised for Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

The most amazing part of the day... that everyone showed up even with rain clouds threatening....I'll be honest it did not rain during the main events (10 different routes ranging from 3 miles to 62 miles) or when people were queuing up to eat lunch. It misted right after the main event (a bit) but didn't dampen the spirits of the people listening to the band. No one seemed concerned and everyone was ready to deal with it.

That's one of the reasons I love Buffalo... you make plans, you stick to them. No matter the weather, no matter the crowd, we just come together regularly to make a difference. I was proud to be a part of the day.