“That’s a word. We want an image!”
Going back in history… is this one of the first uses of graphic facilitation/ video scribing?
How would meetings go if all participants repeat and repeat until I finished drawing and scribing? Probably less information overload :-)
Still some New Year receptions in offices, then agenda’s start to fill with meetings…and meetings. 21 ways for colourful and productive meetings in 2013!
Watch out this blog for more background on these… Coming soon: why’s, how-to’s, links,… your guide to extraordinary meetings.
Last year, same date I could never imagine my Visual Harvesting year would be so exciting, challenging, full of experiences, meeting incredibly nice people and had so much fun!
So key themes: travel, workshops and classes, wide variety of assignments, working in special locations and building a Visual Harvesting team.
Travel
Beside my work in Belgium, I worked in The Netherlands (Amsterdam, Wageningen, Culemborg,…) and maybe I need to think about subscribing to a frequent flyer program. I’ve been invited to work in Turkey (Istanbul), Estionia (Tallinn), UAE (Dubai), Sudan (Karthoum) and I travelled to the US (Pittsburgh and NYC) to reconnect with my tribe at the IFVP-conference.
Unusual, interesting places and an unexpected experience
I had the chance to work in some unusual places, like the European Parliament (yes, in the same room that welcomed Angela Merkel a few days before I worked there at a conference about agroecology), on a ship - Badboot - and in a big movie complex where my work was projected on the big screen… As my work is about engagement and participation, there is a lot of interaction with the participants of meetings and conferences. The most memorable and unexpected was a lady coming to my wall during a break…she gave me a big hug, telling how wonderful and useful my work was and then disappeared.
Classes and workshops
Spreading the word in different countries, lot’s of enthusiast participants and I’m happy to see their results in the field. So nice to see great work of Edwin, Fréderic, Geertrui, Ewoud, Veerle, … and many more. Looking forward to have more workshops Visual Changemaking in collaboration with Manuel and Oscar from Modelminds. And we are planning some advanced workshops together…to be continued.
As one of my clients said: Our interactive, visual leadership trainings have been successfully conducted and 72 attendees in four different workshops have been trained on how to make use of their creative potential.The participants expressed their deep interest in the content of the course and showed great enthusiasm. As the energy filled the training room, it was clear to SUDIA’s staff that a lot of buried talents have emerged while Martine Vanremoortele was igniting those timed bombs. Receiving many requests, SUDIA is now considering another round of creativity training programs and Martine seems happy about the idea of coming back sometime and work with brilliant minds and creative potentials.
A variety of assignments
I worked in small groups and for big groups, short meetings up to three-day conferences, Appreciative Inquiries, strategy sessions, Open Space, World Café, custom made processes…, worked on large paper and sometimes on small paper with projection on a screen, made some pre-charts and templates, illustrated some business reports… in English, French and Dutch. Every day was different.
Visual Harvesting Team
New kids on the block… to be able to respond to all client request and especially because it’s more fun to work in a team, Els and Axelle joined Visual Harvesting. Together we are ready for a great and surprising 2013!
Imagine you could do the impossible? Can you? How far can you imagine? Do you give up? And what about resistance and fear? Do you know your saboteurs?
And imagine someone would give you a yes-cheque. This cheque means that person will do the possible and impossible to fulfil your request. What would you ask… and who are you willing to give such a yes-cheque?
A lot of food for thought in this interesting keynote (Dutch) from Karl Raats at Accio.
While this interesting speech was going on I was in for an experiment: duoscribing. I saw this once at the International Forum of Visual Practitioners and knew I would like to try it. Together with Els Vrints we captured the whole story while Karl was challenging the audience.
Last week I was a member of the WAIC 2012 Media Crew (World Appreciative Inquiry Conference in Ghent, Belgium) It was an interesting and intensive week. I made a visual harvest of keynotes and some workshops. Right after the presentations the harvest was scanned, so it could be posted immediately on the WAIC blog. Together with the live streaming, the bloggers, Twitter, the WAIC radio,… this was a way of sharing what was happening with all AI practitioners over the world who couldn’t be in Ghent.
Click at the right side of the picture to see them all…Enjoy!
A two-day learning journey with ModelMinds and Visual Harvesting
Register online: http://bit.ly/visualchangemaking
In times of change and uncertainty it is crucial to have conversations about what really matters: to communicate ideas clearly, to plan inclusively, and to get everybody on the same page. With Visual Changemaking one can do this: create a shared language and collective memory.
Visual Changemaking is a two-day Visual Thinking workshop on Graphic Facilitation and Harvesting. Based on action learning we tailor the workshop to the needs of the group. Understand how to use visuals, graphics, and images in meetings. Participants will leave with the feeling ‘Yes I can’ – plus have the tools and confidence to start right-away.
Download flyer for full information
Program
Day 1: Beyond Words and Text
Day 2: Using Visuals With Group Processes
Learning outcomes
• Get back in touch with your natural ability to say things with pictures
• Increase and build your confidence with a pen and marker
• Communicate ideas quickly with simple and powerful images
• Improve the quality of your communication by using visuals
• Create and use prepared templates on which to organize your information
• Learn simple visual techniques to better collaborate with others
• Use graphic facilitation to create more productive meetings and outcomes
• Get to know the right graphic facilitation tool for the right business challenge
• Practice hands-on story-telling, listening, neutral observing and reflecting
• Develop your unique style of visual practice and learn how to help others
• Learn tools, techniques and approaches that you can apply in your working practice today
Practical information
Program Fees : Early bird (register before May 15th): 595€ excl. VAT - Regular fee: 695€ excl. VAT
Fees include coffee breaks, lunch, materials and handouts
Dates and time
Dates: June 14th & 15th 2012, time: 9am to 5pm
Location: The Hub Amsterdam, Westerstraat 187, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Same program (in Dutch) will be held in Ghent on June 18 and June 19, 2012.
Register online: http://bit.ly/visualchangemaking
This program is also available for incompany training. Contact us for details and/or tailormade solutions.
Last week I was invited to record a two day conference in Istanbul. Participants from Eastern Europe and Asia discussed their vision for the future. I cannot go in detail (confidentiality) …what I can say, this is the ‘longest’ graphic recording I ever did. Listening, analysing, summarizing and drawing. I filled almost 25 metres of paper…and it was highly appreciated by the participants.
ACCIO is an initiative from Arteveldehogeschool ( Ghent,Belgium) to promote creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. In March and April some interesting lectures are scheduled. First in row was Dirk de Boe with Creashock and Edushock.
Visual Harvest in Dutch - lecture based on Dutch book Edushock.
Inspired by the NYT bestseller ‘One Life, 6 Words, What’s yours?’ I held a company meeting where we shared our six-word-stories about our company. It was fun and reveiling. And also a recommended team building activity.
In fact, all of my work is about synthesing and visualizing complex information. When I work live at a meeting or an event the result of one day meeting with a large group of participants is summarized and made visible in a large report of 1,2 x 3m.
As you’ve probably seen on my blog I also like to capture the key content of TED Talks in sketchnotes. There are over 1000 talks to watch on TED.com. Watching all of these ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ would take several weeks, …
Probably inspired by the same book and with a a budget of under $100, Sebastian Wernicke (TedX Zurich) took the amusing challenge to summarize and synthesize all the ideas. Have a look!
Ways to listen better
When I work as graphic recorder, it happens more than once people come to me and say ‘Great work, oh, I wish I could draw like you…’ The essence of my work is not the drawing part…it’s the listening part. Being fully focused, listening to what is said, synthesizing and structuring… are the key elements.
Want to be a better listener? Check the 5 ways in this visual summary of this TED Talk. And know: practice, practice, practice!
