Seth Godin had a post on better ways to organize a retreat that had these as good points:

Create a dossier on each attendee in advance, with a photo and a non-humble CV of who they are and what they do and what their goals are

Never (never) have people go around a circle and say their name and what they do and their favorite kind of vegetable or whatever. The problem? People spend the whole time trying to think of what to say, not listening to those in front of them (I once had to witness 600 people do this!!)

I think the going around the room thing is really spot on.  I am here by banishing that from any gathering I’ve got.  Time to invest in more name tags.