I Just Can’t Wait: Eight Great Ideas to Celebrate!

Hey mate, ConverSketch is 8! Building my business as a graphic recorder has felt like fate, and I want to state a few of the most influential ideas I’ve been reflecting on as of late.

Okay, okay, I’ll quit with the rhyming…for now. Here are eight of my top insights over eight years in business that can be applied to creative work, or living in a fulfilling way no matter what you do.

1.       Follow what feels right: Do what feels right to you, not because everyone says that's what you should do.  And listen to that intuition (this is a biggie for me)!

2.       Say Yes: To new opportunities to learn, co-create, and feel a little uncomfortable. Those moments are often the most memorable or lead to bigger shifts. For me, this has meant investing in professional development toward digital graphic recording, marketing, video editing, and deepening my scribing practice. It’s also okay and very important to say No to some things.

3.       Focus on what you want: I love the saying “Energy flows where attention goes”. Focus your energy on what you want to accomplish, develop, or nurture, and watch how those ripples of energy come back to you!

4.       Have fun! Need I say more?

5.       It’s okay to do “nothing”: More and more I’m seeing research on how important it is to walk, stare, let your mind wander, doodle, and do “nothing”. This unscripted time is sometimes challenging for me to wrap my head around, but taking time away from a project often leads to breakthroughs or a different, more creative approach.

6.       Also working at it every day: No matter what your “it” is, build time to practice something you want to improve or cultivate. Marie Forleo calls it “hugging the slog”, and Hugh McLeod says “Creativity is not a talent, creativity is a drive.”

7.       Authenticity shines: We all know the Comparison Game is deadly, however I’ve found surrounding myself with a Brain Trust of colleague-friends I can ask for advice or look to for inspiration has been a game-changer! I’ve also practiced knowing my value…and over-delivering!

8.       Find Your Passion: Figuring out what you’re most excited about can help set you apart from other people who offer similar services. I am LOVING building creative partnerships with my clients where we can learn, reflect, iterate, and improve how visuals support processes and outcomes before, during, and after events.

BONUS: The more you give, the more you get: Be generous, over-deliver, and share. Blue oceans are more fun than red ones.

If you’ve been here a while, some of these might seem familiar. There are beautiful patterns in life and having the privilege of being in business for a longer period means some of those patterns are beginning to reveal themselves. If you want to dig into the archives, here are links to…

7th Anniversary

6th Anniversary

5th Anniversary

4th Anniversary

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place. Woo-diggity!

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch? Here’s what I have on my plate while turning eight:

New Video Release! The Drawing Connections series for the National Park Service is back! This time, let’s take a trip down to Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve in the bayous of Louisiana to get a taste of the culture, landscapes, and proud history of the area!

Dallas, Texas: With a corporate leadership group redefining their future and roadmap! I can’t share the full drawings with you, so here’s a closeup of a little friend on the journey.

The San Juan Mountains: We just got back from a couple nights in the backcountry with great friends, some powder snow, and lots of laughs. Here’s to wild places, wild friends, and keeping a little balance (literally and figuratively, when you’re on a splitboard!).

Sustainability Research 2.0: How They’re Using Graphics After Workshops. Here’s what Future Earth did with visuals and photos from our systems thinking workshops last year focusing on the future of sustainability science and research!

A Finished Watercolor Commission! Now that it’s with its new owner, I can share this watercolor painting I’ve been working on over the past few months. Redwood Magic | 16x20 inches

Nail these 2020 Event Trends by Partnering with a Graphic Facilitator

Many of you amazing people know what it takes to put on an event, and I tip my hat to every single one of you!

When I read this list of trends for events in 2020 from top event planners, I couldn’t help but come back to how graphic facilitation fits and enhances almost every one!

For example, an Experience Wall where the graphic recorder is gathering stories and responses to key questions over the course of the event provides “Experiential, focused not only on traditional objectives such as education and networking, but also on making attendees part of the event and providing them with unique activities to participate in and share on social media.”

As a graphic facilitator partnering with my client to co-design processes for meetings, another trend matches: “Events will make greater use of non-traditional meeting formats, flexible seating arrangements and the innovative use of space, in order to provide more opportunities to connect and interact (not just “network”).”

One of my favorite things about making meetings visual is the deeper connections across seemingly different­­ people. This human hunger to find connection ripples through another trend that can be achieved through graphic recording -- “Greater diversity, building bridges between cultures and sparking new ideas.”

And of course, when leveraged to their full potential, graphics can provide “Value and content before, during, and after events”.

Are you making the most of your next event? Let’s brainstorm how to set yours above and beyond!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Washington, DC: With the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) annual conference. Over 600 professionals working on using science to promote sound policy decision-making gathered and I got to work digitally AND create a massive Experience Wall based on participants’ ideas, synthesizing while everyone was in breakout sessions.

A digital graphic recording of a panel on diversity and climate change from NCSE 2020

The Biggest Mistake I See Conference Planners Make and How You Can Avoid It

How many times have you signed up for a conference and been psyched for the opportunity to network with other people in your field, thought leaders, and share ideas on the future together…Only to find yourself slipping out early because your brain is full and you don’t want to sit through another panel presentation?

As a graphic recorder, I get to attend events across sectors, from federal agencies to corporate events and everything in between. And working with the event planning team ahead of time, I know how much work goes into pulling off an event of any size, and how deeply those event planners care about the success of the meeting.

And YET…I still see this mistake over and over again. Even if the planning conversations seek to avoid it.

What’s the biggest missed opportunity I see?

Not planning enough time for people to actually CONNECT with one another face-to-face and have the time to WORK on solving a problem together.

Let’s think about it. If you’re hosting an event, you’ve spent heaps of money on doing it right. You’ve brought important, smart people together into the same room…think of what the time of every individual in the room is worth taking a day away from other work to be there!

So, how can you make the most of their time? How can you work to move the field or think of a new solution or build deeper relationships with this group?

It’s tempting to stick with the status quo of panel after panel of people sharing top ideas. And there’s certainly a time and a place for that. I challenge you to think outside the box, and schedule in more time than you think you might want for interactive processes that will leave your participants feeling heard, energized, enthusiastic about their contributions, and creatively fueled by the end!

Ready to work with a graphic facilitator to create a process your participants won’t forget?

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.


Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Fort Worth, Texas

With an eyecare corporation building relationships and co-creating a strategic path forward. So, what is strategy you ask? These pups can tell you!

Loveland, Colorado

Sharing tips and trick for visual communication with teachers at Bill Reed Middle School!

The Art of Reimagining the Report Out

Workshops with breakouts mean unending report outs, right? Maybe not!

Here are three tips I learned this summer at IFVP from Anthony Weeks on ways to ensure stellar report-backs that can be visually captured for useful synthesis and follow-up:

-          ONE Big Idea: Each group can ONLY share one big idea (it’s okay to share the same thing as another group)

-          Once Upon A Time: Ask each group to create a story arc of their idea to engage the audience

-          The Pitch: Each group gets a short time – one minute or less -- to persuade the rest of the group their ideas are best. Bonus: Offer prizes!

Over the report back? Here are a few other ways to approach visual capture of group work:

-          Visual templates for every group to work through and share, or post for a gallery walk.

-          Experience Walls: Pre-built walls with visuals and key questions that participants can interact with on breaks or built into the agenda.

-          Ask the graphic recorder to focus on creating one illustration summarizing the full day.

If you’re not reporting back but want everyone to hear the main story of what’s evolving, it’s important to still build in time or a strategy for the entire group to hear what others are speaking about. You can invite your graphic recorder to walk the entire group through a quick summary of what they captured.

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Middlebury, Vermont: With the Institute for Ecological Civilization partnering with citizens in Vermont to support them as they co-created a vision across urban and rural communities in the state.

Chautauqua at Boulder, Colorado: As a participant/recorder with a group of leaders in the systems thinking sharing tools, building relationships, and deepening a network of practitioners working for social good from carbon neutrality to housing to equity and justice.

In the Studio: Filming the latest Drawing Connections video for the National Park Service, and a video for a team of cross-boundary wildfire and social scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research Station!

What’s Best for Your Event – A Graphic Summary or Chart for Every Session?

Often graphic recorders come prepared to capture every session in detail. However, sometimes we can be of greater service to the group by producing a single summary illustration of the high-level content of the entire day.

How do you decide which is the best approach for you? Here are a few ideas based on how I’ve partnered with clients to create the best outcomes for their specific needs.

Capturing in more detail is helpful when:

-          It’s important to capture many different perspectives and viewpoints to show all voices are heard and/or begin drafting a map of the landscape the group is working in.

-          Part of the event will be knowledge downloads, and part of the event will be tapping the wisdom of the room to address a challenge or problem. Having the information presented posted around as charts helps participants build on and remember what was shared as they develop solutions and next steps.

-          There are juicy keynotes or panels you want to capture and post as a gallery during and after the event to maintain momentum and inspire action with the group.

-          Groups will be taking ideas from plenary and developing them further in breakouts and need details to work with.

One chart for one hour of content from a panel — this was one of many graphics created over the day.

A summary graphic can be more useful if:

-          You’ve got concurrent sessions and only one graphic recorder. I often work with clients to design processes for staff or participants to capture key ideas and help me integrate them into the summary.

-          There is small group work without reporting back every time.

-          You want a slightly more polished piece to share during and after the event in reports, etc.

-          The content is sensitive but capturing the overall process and high-level ideas is valuable for participants. Sensing and holding the energy in the room is important for the process. I become part of the container for the group to move through their path, and the graphic summary can also hold that energy.

An example of a two day summary of back-to-back presentations for Houston Methodist Neuroregeneration Summit.

There are many ways to leverage a graphic recorder to best support your group. I love working with my clients leading up to the event to make sure the graphics are tailored to your needs and help move you toward your goals.

And sometimes, this is a “yes, and” situation – it’s important to capture content from each session, then after the event, I’ll work with clients to co-create a visual summary of the key messages to share moving forward.

Have an event coming up? Let’s connect and brainstorm the best ways to leverage visuals for lasting impact and engagement!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Denver, CO: For the closing session of Regis University’s Orientation Forum. New students reflected on a day experiencing different parts of the Denver community, and shared what kind of community THEY wanted to create together over the next year…and beyond!

Washington, DC: With the Democracy Fund to begin creating a systems map of our country’s democracy. It was complex, challenging, thought-provoking, and the hearts and minds of the people in the room are extraordinary! And another example of a summary of content from the entire day.

Newest Watercolor Video is…Heat Illness: Fun for everyone, right? Here’s a video from the National Park Service on how to safely prepare for fun outdoors even in the heat of the summer.

Tales from New Jersey Part 2: What I Decided to Step Into and How It Went

Have you ever shared something that seemed like second nature to you, but when you shared it, people were delighted and learned something new?

Last month I got to surround myself and learn from others in my professional field at the International Forum of Visual Practitioners (IFVP) conference. Here’s part two of my reflections from the event on where the field is headed and where I’m showing up.

For the first time, I presented a breakout workshop during the conference. At IFVP, I’ve always seen myself as a newbie, even though I’ve been a graphic recorder and facilitator for more than 8 years. I love teaching and facilitating, and I thought it was about time I offered something from my perspective back to my community. The topic? Email marketing that feels authentic AND builds your business.

Stepping into my expertise felt GREAT. People had a blast and applied what they learned. I may have flossed (the dance move, not the dental hygiene…At least not during my workshop). Sharing things that seemed obvious to me were revelations for my audience, and it was a treat to get to share more of my quirks and winning humor with my captive audience ;).

So I encourage you to consider: How might you stepping into ownership of your knowledge? How are you giving back to your community? Whether it’s volunteering or simply offering smiles to strangers, you can have an impact far greater than you know!

Want your meetings to have a greater impact? Let’s talk about how visuals can elevate engagement, understanding, and action at your event!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

CU Boulder: Teaching a short-course on basics of visual communication and graphic recording for the Master of the Environment summer program. These students got it right away and immediately jumped in with two feet to re-design infographics on agriculture in Boulder County.

Albuquerque, New Mexico: Back with the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force to support a Summit on Maternity and Infant Care for professionals across the state. A favorite session and graphic recording chart was on Mindfulness Meditation as a tool for self care. Namaste!

Aspen, Colorado: For the 10th annual Tech Policy Institute Aspen Forum! I learned about and scribed everything from “tech-lash” to cryptocurrency regulation to AI and machine learning and the role policy plays

Crossing the Divide – How to Find Common Ground Among Diverse Perspectives

Whether it’s national politics or internal to your organization, we all hear stories about polarized viewpoints, and the challenge of working across silos.

At the same time, we know that diversity is not only healthy, but also builds resilience when things don’t go as planned.

So how do you harness the inherent tension that bringing diverse perspectives, and potentially combative ones, together to build a strong, shared path forward?

Here are four suggestions for finding common ground from my experience as a graphic facilitator:

-          Create space for context setting and relationship building. Often overlooked or dismissed as “wasting time”, building in time at the beginning of the event, as well as throughout, to clearly outline the “why” of the meeting and for participants to get to know one another allows for more ease when conversations get difficult.

-          Put more time than you think into developing questions to surface shared values, such as “What is important about the work we do?” can provide a window into the group. Having a few open-ended questions like “What should we do about __________?” provide space for participants to surface concerns or solutions the planning team might have missed, but are integral to moving forward successfully.

-          Build in less structured time. This is another piece that often feels like a “waste” of time, but is vitally important to cultivating trust and creativity. This is especially true if much of the agenda will be presentations or panels – you’ve invested in bringing all these important people together to work toward a goal, now give them the freedom to use those brains and hearts to do the work!

-          Draw it out with the intent of surfacing shared ground. Graphic facilitation or recording is a tool to leverage to literally show the group where they’re in agreement. Partnering with a graphic facilitator who can work with you to listen and capture through a particular “lens” to help surface shared values or tensions helps the group keep track of complex, moving parts to build a shared picture of what’s important.

Have you been looking for common ground on an issue? Click that button to explore how we can leverage visual tools for lasting success.

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

The Colorado Front Range: Working with a public health team and their partners as they evaluate an assessment to use the data to support the community, and hospital managers to think more deeply about building trust in their teams.

In the Studio: Painting up another explainer video for the US Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS). This video will be available in October, but for now, here’s another look at a video created for the RMRS last year.

Want Everyone in Your Org to Understand Your Strategic Plan? Try This!

Your Strategic Plan. Can you remember it off the top of your head? What is your vision, and what are the goals that will get you there? What makes up your organizational culture? When was the last time you read your strategic plan?

Helping groups navigate strategic planning makes up a big chunk of the work I do as a graphic facilitator, and I want to help you avoid one of the most common mistakes I see: putting heaps of money, time, and effort into bringing your best minds together to come up with a strategy which gets written up and then sits on a shelf because that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?

Which results in:

• Confusion around priorities (which priority is the real priority?)

• Lackluster engagement because people don’t see how they fit into the bigger picture

• Reinforcement of silos because of the temptation to focus on what’s right in front of us, rather than the high-level strategic goals

It doesn’t have to be this way!

And it doesn’t need to be a huge deal to shift from status quo to status: whoa!

Whether you’re working on a new strategic plan or you already have one, engaging a graphic facilitator to support process design or synthesizing your current plan into a strategic illustration can help alleviate frustrating patterns and support a healthy organization.

Here’s what making it visual can do for you:

• Clearly shows vision, mission, values, and priorities in one page

• Imagery can be used that employees see themselves in, which build buy-in

• It can easily be referenced to make sure day-to-day activities are in support of the larger strategic direction

• Create interest and something people will want to take time to look at, often, and remember

• Nuance can be shown in visuals you can’t easily communicate with words

• Provide a shared story outline leadership can easily share with their teams so the message is clear across the organization

If you have a plan you’d like brought to life or are in the midst of a strategic planning process, let’s talk about how visuals can add long-term value with a ripple effect!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Washington, DC: I just got back from the Funding Science for Sustainability forum, a gathering of entities that fund sustainability research around the world. Participants discussed the potential for strategic partnerships to better address gaps and challenges of supporting research around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Video Release! I often share that I’m in the studio working on videos and other projects. This week, I’m delighted to share a video for the Drawing Connections series for the National Park Service. Check out Yosemite National Park:

Crush Your Next Big Project…It Will Only Take 15 Minutes

Sometimes a project feels so big you don’t know where to begin. Or maybe it’s not so huge, but it feels easier to check your phone than starting what needs to get done.

Here’s a trick to shake off that paralysis of getting started:

Set yourself a timer for 15 minutes.

Really? 15 minutes? Yes, really.

I’m doing it right now – I’m using my own advice to get this newsletter out to you fantastic people!

I’ve found that 15 minutes is just a small enough chunk of time I can convince myself to just say no to one more cute cat video, put my head down, and start chipping away at what I need to do.

And, 15 minutes is just long enough to get into the groove and want to keep jamming out on what I’m working on. Maybe set that timer for another round and see if I can finish something faster than I expected!

Bonus tip: Set the timer, then hide your phone. Temptation? What temptation?

What takes less than 15 minutes? Getting in touch to bring your upcoming event to the next level with visuals and creative process design to facilitate lasting action.

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Dallas: Supporting a C-Level leadership retreat through reflective and challenging conversations around how to work together to be a better team.

Washington, DC: For Part 2 of the Future Earth Sustainability 2.0 workshops mapping the future of sustainability research.

Denver: Supporting a collaborative of emergency management partners as they tackled design thinking, priorities, and mapping their time line moving forward.

Northern Colorado: Capturing a leadership training on how to walk the talk to build and instill trust in teams at hospitals.

In the Studio: Working digitally and remotely for Visuality as their European-based team captured the Global Water Partnership Annual Meeting which “followed the sun” around the globe! Here’s a snipped from the discussion in China about the importance of working collectively.

One Simple Question You Can Use to Train Your Brain to Apply Systems Thinking to Any Challenge

I’m on a learning-about-systems-thinking-kick. Why? Because the challenges and questions I’m seeing across sectors with the clients I partner with are more complex, more dynamic, and require solutions that address root causes.

And I want you to have the skills to recognize systems at play and know how to look for creative solutions that lift your team to the next level.

My last post covered the basics of systems thinking and a few everyday places to observe systems in action.

Okay, so it’s easy to see how stocks and flows apply to a bathtub, or feedback loops are seen in bank account interest.  

But what about starting from scratch? Where to begin?

Here’s a gem from Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows. Ask yourself:

If A causes B, is it also possible that B causes A?

Alright Karina, bring it back down. What does that actually look like?

If perceived lack of control causes low employee engagement, is it also possible that low employee engagement causes perceived lack of control?

Or…If not having a shared vision causes a siloed organization, is it also possible that a siloed organization causes not having a shared vision?

And if you want to get even more cerebral, she also challenges readers to “Try to think of a human decision that occurs without a feedback loop.”

 Do you have a persistent challenge your organization keeps coming back to? If you think some visual strategizing could illuminate a new solution…

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

In the Studio: Filming a new illustrated video for the National Park Service Climate Change Response Program, creating digital illustrations, and prepping for a lot of travel next week.

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It's been a month since we've been back from rafting the Grand Canyon and I'm stoked to share this shot taken by my husband - that's me in the light blue rowing through a rapid called Upset! Click on the photo to see a larger version! Photo: Spencer Branson