Not life in general, of course, but when it comes to updating this blog, I seem to be as slow as the proverbial molasses. I blame it on the 6 years I spent writing term papers when I went to university in my 40s — I did enough writing in those years to last me the rest of my life!So now I have to make up for lost time, since there's a lot to update since my last post. In between then and now, I attended two quite momentous events: the IFVP (International Forum of Visual Practitioners) conference in August, and in October, NCDD — the National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, in Austin, Texas (yee-ha). And work has been coming in thick & fast since mid-September too — but I'll leave that for another post. So starting with first things first…
IFVP: This was my first time attending IFVP, and what a delight it was! We graphic recorders are rather few and far between, so it's a rare treat to find oneself in a room full of other folks who are also engaged in this work. Imagine a place where you can say "I'm a graphic recorder" and not immediately see little question marks float up above people's heads! Plus it was in Chicago, which is really a splendid city. (That's a night-time shot of downtown Chicago at the beginning of this post.)
There were about 60 folks in attendance, from legendary veterans like David Sibbet and Nancy Margulies to total newbies. Most folks (like most visual practitioners) came from the U.S., but there was also representation from Australia, England, Brazil, Denmark, Japan — and of course, Canada (I think there were 6 of us!). Over the course of 3 days we were treated to a juicy variety of talks ranging from lessons we could learn from the ancient Greeks, to facilitating 3D image-making, to visual metaphors, to the latest emerging technologies, and much more. Participants were
invited to volunteer to graphically record the various sessions, and I wound up mapping a session called Growing Our Businesses by Appreciating Our Gifts. (That's me, at upper left, with Susan Kelly, who gave the talk, and scribbling away on my chart at right.)Besides the talks, there was also open space to chat with others about areas of mutual interest, and time for fun, including a kick-ass graphic jam, and an evening on the town. All in all, a terrific experience, and one I hope I will be able to repeat next year, wherever IFVP is held next!
Here is a picture of the chart I did for Susan's talk:
I got a lot of nice compliments on the drawing, but I wasn't completely satisfied with it. Not that I ever am — we are always our own worst critics, I suppose — but I still felt something was missing. Eventually I buttonholed David Sibbet to get his opinion, and he too was very kind, praising the level of artistry in my work. When I asked for further comment, he told me what I wanted to hear, which was that there were ways I could organize my material more coherently, and he gave me suggestions for how I might do so. Yes! And I do think that I've taken his suggestions to heart and that the work I've done post-IFVP reflects a level of improvement in that regard.Next up (but not tonight): NCDD! Which, due to the upside-down nature of blogs, will appear before this post. One day I will get a real website and my postings won't unfold in a long stream like a big roll of toilet paper!
