by Lisa | Sep 21, 2016 | Graphic Recording, Visual Thinking
Graphic recording is the art of capturing conversations with hand drawn pictures so that meetings and events come alive! Check out this time lapse video from one of our projects, to see the visual summary come to life.
Here is a quick video that outlines just a few of the reasons why you should use graphic recording for your next meeting, workshop, conference, or leadership retreat.
The benefits of graphic recording:
- Supports the Facilitator. Graphic recording supports the facilitator by making ideas visible so the group can get on the same page. That’s a good thing.
- Validates Participants. The graphic recorder listens to the conversation during report outs, brainstorming, focus groups and other group discussions. Participants can actually see their input being captured and visualized with illustrations and text.
- Better Decision Making. Ideas are clarified and visible to everyone in the room. “Once the facts are clear, decisions jump out at you”- Peter Drucker.
- Increases Memory and Comprehension. Graphic recording creates a “visual memory” for attendees and it can increase retention up to 30%.
- Helps the Group to Maintain Focus. It’s easy for participants and attendees to get distracted, especially after lunch. Before you know it, someone is yawning and someone is looking at their cell phones. Having a graphic recorder in the room gives participants a way to bring their attention back to the discussion, catch up and stay focused. It’s also great for people who did not attend the meeting or conference. I often hear people say “I felt like I was there” after seeing the completed charts.
- Promotes Creativity. As soon as participants enter the room, they realize this is no ordinary meeting or conference. Big paper means BIG ideas. Graphic recording sets the stage for conversation and creativity.
Learn how you can use the power of graphic recording at your next event, click here.
Please comment below, I’d love to hear what you think about the benefits of graphic recording.
by Lisa | Aug 10, 2016 | Event Planning
Last Wednesday I attended the annual BizBash Elevate Conference. Bizbash is an idea and resource hub for event planners. The conference was held at the illustrious Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC.
I pay attention to detail and let me tell you, I was so impressed to walk thru the auditorium and there was David Adler, the founder of BizBash reaching out to shake my hand and thank me for attending. In a time when we are heads down in our phones – texting and tweeting, it was a pleasant surprise for him to offer a smile and a handshake. That will always stand out in my book!
Our day kicked off with a keynote from Ben Parr, the author of Captivology. He shared some gold nuggets about attention triggers and memory. All critical things to know if you want to captivate your audience, your attendees, or your client. Here is my sketchnote from his talk.
After the keynote, I went to the AOL breakout session where they gave us an inside look at how they leverage branding. Their ideas were high tech and high touch, with an emphasis on multiple touch points. For example for Cannes Lions 2016, AOL used creative branding in their catering, elevator doors, and in the swimming pool
Check out dessert, tasty and a beautiful presentation.
Next up, time for the luncheon. During our lunch, I learned so much about the PIC. No, I don’t mean PIC as in picture. I mean PIC as in the Presidential Inauguration Committee. Learning the ins and outs of planning for the inauguration was amazing.
After lunch, I attended 5 Ways to Crush Every Event Challenge, presented by Univision. Paulina Tapia’s gave some great ideas on how to save money and be creative in re-using your marketing and promo items.
The closing session was all about trends and the best ideas from coast to coast. The editors shared tons of unique ideas to shake it up for attendees to return to your event. One of my favorite ideas was using coloring books at events. If it has to do with coloring and drawing, I’m all in!
I want to give a shout-out to some of the great people I met like Nicole Gallub at Pelonkey, Vinh Nguyen and Corey Frank at FoundryCrew, Stacey Powell Williams, Kea Taylor at Imagine Photography, Joe Felperin at CadmiumCD, Ghana Odet Wilson at Film Life, ilana Moreno at Linder Global, Khadija Campbell and Vanessa Gibson at AUSA, Angelique Agutter at dimarva events, Sarah Peterson at Woolly Mammoth, Brittney Lanni at O’Keefe Communications, Craig Weisbaum and Kaitlyn McNaney at Talkingtree Creative, Veronica Carter at GBTA, and Latoya Lewis at Envent U.
Have you attended a BizBash event? Tell me about it. Please comment and share 🙂
by Lisa | Jul 13, 2016 | Education, Visual Thinking
What if teachers could see learning through the eyes of their students?
On Monday, July 11th I had the chance to hear John Hattie and several other speakers answer that question at the Annual Visible Learning Conference hosted by Corwin Press. During this conference I created visual maps of the keynotes throughout the day. The completed charts were displayed in the Exhibit Hall so attendees could get a closer look at take photos. I spoke with so many educators who shared with me how they want to use more visuals in their classrooms. YES! The power of visual thinking is really amazing.
John Hattie Keynote on The Current State of Visible Learning Research
Viviane Robinson Keynote on Building Trust While Doing the Tough Work of Improvement
Pedro Noguera Keynote on Equity and Deeper Learning
Lisa Nelson….Hey, that’s me 🙂
1,000 Attendees at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
by Lisa | Jun 28, 2016 | Community
On June 25th the Child Poverty Collaborative hosted a Community Summit in Cincinnati, Ohio. This event was built around community conversation to take on poverty by working together to improve the lives of children in Cincinnati. I was a member of the 6 person team hired by Greg Whicker to bring the power of visuals to over 700 attendees.
Over 700 attendees at the Community Summit #cincytakesonpoverty
Each team member worked on a different portion of the 3-D display to capture the harvest.
Working on my portion of the 3-D chart that represents “What’s missing” from the solution to childhood poverty.
The final visual summary, our Gigantic 3-D display was a hit!
Checkout WLWT to see my drawing in action during the news segment.
This was a day of listening, learning, sharing and community. I am so glad that I was able to be a part of this important work. Please leave a comment below.
by Lisa | Apr 29, 2014 | Productivity, Social Media, Technology
Hashtags are popping up everywhere. #hashtagsaretakingover. Okay, I just had to do that, because creating a hashtag is just that simple.
A hashtag is composed of a single word or phrase beginning with a “#” and with no spaces or punctuation. Hashtags were originally created by Twitter users and have now been adapted across all of social media.
You can start to leverage the power of hashtags when planning your next conference.
Before the conference:
- Include the hashtag in all of your printed and online materials. For example, the event program, handouts, sponsor package, and PowerPoint slides.
- Update the social media profile for the organization or event to include the hashtag in the profile description.
- Use social media to bring awareness about the event and include the hashtag in all posts. Remind your event team, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers to spread the word using the hashtag.
- Promote your events using hashtags by having contests and give-aways. Partner with sponsors for a win-win on both sides. This will generate interest and buzz around your event.
During the conference
- Remind attendees from the stage (during breaks, before lunch, etc) to tweet or post their pictures and favorite moments of the conference using the hashtag.
- Display posts and tweets from attendees with the hashtag during breaks.
- I always include the hashtag of the event when I am graphic recording. For example, here is an image I created real time at a Small Business Think Tank hosted by Dell. I included the hashtag #smallbizphilyy. If you are using a Graphic Recorder, ask them to include the hashtag in all the visual summaries for your event.
#thatisall… Of course, I have to end this post with a hashtag.
Please share and comment below.
by Lisa | Apr 28, 2014 | Business, Entrepreneur
The George Washington Women in Business recently held their annual Spring Conference #DrivingVision and I was the official Graphic Recorder for all the keynotes. This day long event focused on real world business advice and fostering relationships. This event included over 300 students from George Washington University and 80 professionals across the country.
The first keynote was from Marne Levine, VP, Global Public Policy, Facebook. Below is an action shot of me graphic recording real-time at the conference during her speech.
These visual summaries help participants retain more of what they heard at the conference so they can stay engaged to take action. Here are the completed images from the graphic recording of all the keynote speeches
For a larger view, click the image to expand.
For a larger view, click the image to expand.
For a larger view, click the image to expand.
I love Marla Beck’s tip to always “Be Scrappy.” What was your biggest takaway? Please comment below.
