Patent ID: 8914373

Claim:
A method of grouping participants in an activity, the participants each having a handheld device, the method comprising: defining a grouping policy; storing, in a database, participant records each comprising a participant identifier, an identifier for the participant's handheld device, and at least one characteristic associated with the participant, wherein the at least one characteristic of the participants is weighted by: selecting a training set of individuals, the training set being larger than or equal to a number of the participants to be grouped, the individuals in the training set being related to the participants based on criteria relevant to the activity; and computationally estimating a functional relationship between the at least one characteristic and a grouping success likelihood based on the training set; defining groupings based on the grouping policy and characteristics of the participants relating to the grouping policy and to the activity; and communicating the groupings in a communication to the participants' handheld devices, wherein the communication identifies at least a first participant of the groupings to a recipient of the communication, wherein the recipient is a second participant of the groupings.