Why do this stuff anyway?

If you're new to the idea of graphic recording, you might wonder what the point of it is. Sure, it looks pretty and colourful – but is there really anything to be gained by recording information and ideas this way, rather than just jotting notes down in bulleted lists on a good old flip chart?

Well, yes, actually, there is.

For one thing, in graphic recording, information is organized differently. Instead of the standard list format, which sets up the appearance of linear relationships between ideas, this process organizes ideas in a more organic way. Which is how ideas relate to each other in real life, if you think about it. Far from lining up one, two, three, four, they arrive in clouds…or branch out from each other…or veer off on tangents…or orbit around each other…and so on. With graphic recording, all this is depicted on the page, so you get a more accurate representation of how ideas actually relate to each other than you'd get from

• the usual
• bulleted
• list
• (yawn)
  

...and you can SEE those relationships on the page. It also seems to more closely resemble how people actually think; one person, seeing this process for the first time, said: "Your drawing looks like how the thoughts look in my head!" I thought that was pretty cool.

Then, of course, there's the old saw about one picture being worth a thousand words. Now, I happen to be just as verbal as I am visual (as anyone who knows me will attest!), but it's really true that you can often capture in a single image something that would take a couple of pages to describe in writing. And there's nothing to stop you from combining images from a graphic recording session with a "wordy" report of the proceedings, like a book with illustrations. Double your pleasure, double your fun, I say.

Another thing about graphic recording is that the visuals help people remember details of a meeting much better than a written report alone can do. And certainly better than those cryptic flip chart notes that are often almost unintelligible later…

And last but not least, graphic recording is dynamic, energizing and fun! Not just for the person doing it, but for everyone present. I've found that creating a real-time visual representation of people's ideas generates a level of involvement and interaction that I haven't seen in other settings, and unleashes people's own creativity and imagination. Plus it seems to loosen folks up and put them in a good mood. Because, along with everything else, graphic recording is pretty darn entertaining.

OK, disclaimer time. Not everyone twigs to this stuff. Some people just think better in words and think pictures, like Trix, are for kids. That's OK too. There is really no one method or process that works equally well for everyone. But sticking to just one way of capturing info and ideas is like living in black & white when you could have access to a full range of colour. The more senses you can engage, the richer your experience of the world - and the more likely you are to retain, enjoy, and learn from that experience.

That's how I see it, anyway. And I guess I would, eh - otherwise I wouldn't be doing this work!

Back to the visuals

As you know, Vancouver and Whistler are hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. But the Olympics aren't just about sports - there's also a lot of planning going into the cultural and artistic events that will accompany the Games. Last week a group of disability arts organizations met to discuss ways they could collaborate on an agenda for disability artists' involvement in the 2010 cultural events – as well as potential legacies thereafter. I was invited to graphically record the meeting, and have gotten permission to post the photos here. Here are a couple of them.













It's too bad they didn't take a picture of my hands after I was finished - I think there was more marker ink on my hands than there was on the pages! I guess it's one of the occupational hazards of this profession...

Reflections of a non-graphic sort

I know that in the wide world of blogdom we're supposed to post often to keep our avid readers up to date on what we're thinking and/or doing. It's hard for me to imagine that the world is waiting with bated breath for my latest pronouncements, especially since I'm not really using this blog to pronounce on anything – it's mainly meant as a public portfolio of my work in graphic recording and facilitation. So when I haven't done any new work, I haven't got anything new to post.

But just so you know I haven't simply been slacking off, I will let you know what else I've been up to in the past couple of weeks. As you can probably tell from the links in the sidebar, I have a big interest in dialogue. And I have a particular interest in dialogue around difficult issues, like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I am avid to learn about ways that we can use dialogue to achieve mutual understanding, respect and trust – and ultimately to find ways we can work together to resolve our differences. That doesn't mean we will necessarily come to see things the same way! But I believe that dialogue allows us to learn from and accept our differences, and to find the common ground on which we can build. And I believe that peace depends, among other things, on entering into dialogue with those with whom we disagree, and finding new ways to engage with – and appreciate! – each other.

So I was delighted to be invited to attend the Oseh Shalom~Sanea al-Salam Peacemakers Camp in California at the beginning of September. Its organizers are Len and Libby Traubman, who have been pioneers in Jewish-Palestinian dialogue and who have led the way for many others to follow. The camp ran for 3.5 days, followed by a public presentation in San Francisco the following evening. It was an electrifying and inspiring experience that would take me hours to describe here. Suffice to say that it taught me new lessons in dialogue, introduced me to many new friends, and cemented my commitment to work for peace between our two peoples. If you're interested in reading more about the camp, you can find several articles on the camp website. They've added some photos from the presentation, and you can also see the lovely graphic recording done by Nancy Margulies, whom I wrote about in an earlier post, and her equally talented daughter, Mariah Howard.

So that's what I've been busy with, and it's occupied my mind a lot. But today I did another graphic gig, and as soon as I get pix I'll post the best ones. I think I'm getting a bit better each time! Oh yeah: yesterday I bought a digital camera, so I'll be able to take my own pictures instead of depending on the kindness of strangers! Now all I have to do is figure out how to use it....

Learning the craft

One of the first things I did when I realized I was really interested in getting into this field was to look for a workshop I could take. There seem to be a lot of things going on in California, but not much in this neck of the woods - so I was delighted to learn that there was a pro closer to home who was willing to share her knowledge. And so it was that on a lovely day in early June, I found myself in Christina Merkley's workshop at Royal Roads University, scribbling madly away on big sheets of paper and having a whale of a time. It was really exhilarating, and seeing my drawings up on the wall gave me a big boost of confidence. I thought, "I can do this stuff!"

Christina is offering another intro workshop in October, and she's talking about a Graphic Recording Boot Camp in 2007 for those who want to take their skills to the next level. Sounds like too much fun to resist!

The photo above was taken at the NCDD conference. Yep, that's me, showing off one of the pages from my sketchbook. (You can see that page and a few others in a larger size in the post just below...)

Conference sketches

One of the highlights of this past month was attending the NCDD (National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation) conference in San Francisco. It was a brilliant conference – well-organized, exciting, thought-provoking, inspiring – chock-full of excellent workshops and presentations, amazing people, and of course, great conversation from dawn to dusk! I'd be hard pressed to pinpoint what I liked best, since I felt like a kid in a candy shop the whole time. But some highlights were: a day-long training in Compassionate Listening, a soulful and moving workshop on "Story" as an entry to sustained dialogue, and a D&D Methods Showcase featuring, among other things, a session on Graphic Capture by two of the stars in the field, Nancy Margulies and Christine Valenza.

I was thrilled to meet Nancy and Christine because I've admired their work for a long time. I wondered what they would think of my efforts – so I decided to ask them. You see, instead of bringing a notebook to the conference, I decided I'd take visual notes, as though I were doing graphic recording for a meeting. So I sketched madly away whenever I could, and thought my drawings were not too bad. But would they measure up in the eyes of the masters?

I spotted Christine and Nancy in the foyer during a quiet moment and asked them if they would look at – and comment on – my sketchbook. They graciously agreed, and after their session was over I presented myself with my sketchbook and waited for their response. Much to my delight, their response was great! They were most encouraging of my efforts, and told me I was well on my way and could declare myself as a practitioner in the field without hesitation.

So without further delay, I, Avril Orloff, officially declare myself as a graphic facilitator/graphic recorder – no longer "I want to be", but "I am"! Here are a few pages from my sketchbook.

Mapping innovations

One of my favourite people to work with is John Talbot. John is one of the gurus of the community development field, and a great mentor to me and many others. I met John last January when he approached me about doing some graphic recording at a meeting he was facilitating. I didn't think I was quite ready for prime time at that point. But John encouraged me to develop my skills — and even more: he invited me to try my hand at a workshop on community development a few weeks later! This speaks volumes for John's qualities as a mentor, since neither he nor I had any idea what I'd be able to do. But he trusted that I'd produce, and apparently I did, since we've continued to team up on various projects.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of that session — but here are a couple of shots from the next meeting John and I worked together on for the Innovations Network at Community Living BC (CLBC). As is always the case when working with John, it was highly collaborative, lots of fun, and a great learning experience. Thanks, JT!

Starting out on a new PATH...

This was my first graphic job – creating a PATH for the 5-year strategic plan for BACI (Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion).

The folks at BACI decided that instead of doing a standard, linear strategic plan, they wanted something that was more 'organic' this time around. As Tanya Sather, BACI's Executive Director, explained, "We wanted something that was a lot more creative, free-flowing and inclusive, even in the way it looked. We wanted something that was beautiful to look at – something inspiring that would take us to the next level as an organization." They thought the PATH was a good fit with the organization, because they've often used it to help people with their personal planning – so why not use the same tool to plan for the organization?

We didn't have big enough paper for the PATH, so we just taped together a whole bunch of 18x24" pages. But the good folks at BACI reproduced the whole thing onto a big canvas, which they then framed and hung in their big meeting room. They liked the process so much that they hired me to graphically record a series of "hopes & dreams" visioning sessions with their staff and the folks they serve. This is one of them.

I had great fun doing this job for BACI and look forward to refining my PATH-making skills. This was my first taste of graphic recording, and it gave me the impetus to take things further...