Month: April 2012

Getting to Graphically Record Locally for Stephanie West Allen

thought balloons

Lately I’m more on the road than home. I’ve been incorporating visual methods into all my work (see here and here) but it will be fun to do some local graphico stuff. Tonight our local informal group of visual practitioners joins for conversation, snacks, and of course, drawing. Then in a week, I get to record Stephanie West Allen’s presentation at the NR Dispute Resolution conference. I’ve known Stephanie online for quite some time, and finally, face to face! (Thanks to neighbor Rina Goodman!) Here are the deets:

I spoke at this annual conference two years ago and found the people—organizers, presenters, and attendees— to be warm, curious, skillful, and farsighted. They are also a brainy gang, paying attention to neuroscience. For the second year in a row, Dr. John Medina is speaking!

I am very happy to be returning to Seattle, and look forward to seeing old faces and meeting new conflict resolution pros. Below is the description of my program. Click to see the full brochure and read the program and to register.

Exciting news: My program will be graphically recordedby Nancy White, an international leader among graphic recorders. (She’s in Zambia right now.)

My presentation:

Total-Brain Mediation: The Whole Brain and Nothing but the Truth

Presenter: Stephanie West Allen, Allen & Nichols Productions, Inc., Denver, CO
The field of conflict resolution is now filled with neuroscience myths, fiction and urban legends. We will look at what we REALLY know right now and how we can use that valid and accurate knowledge to move forward in the field. The best way to resolve conflict and to serve our clients is to make sure that we are using the complete brain, not just bits and pieces. Unfortunately much of mediation today is half-brained, at best. We neglect those parts of our brain that contain genuine, sustaining creativity and wisdom. This seminar will be mind-changing. Attendees will learn how to use the whole brain and nothing but the truth. Based on the latest in the neuroscience of learning, the seminar will be interactive, novel, fun … and maybe a bit messy.

via idealawg: Join us in Seattle May 4-5? 19th Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference.

Graphic Facilitation Early Bird Deadlines Approacheth!

I’m bumping this post back up so it can get on the radar screen. We extended the early bird price to April 30th. I know, I know… it is hard to plan this far in advance. Michelle and I know this — and of course, we worry a bit with location deposits, etc. But we TRUST THE UNIVERSE. Besides, I find this workshop so much fun, I told Michelle I’m willing to work for free if we only have a small group.  I learned new things this year I want to share. I want to learn for y’all. So I am sure more of you will turn up. That’s part of how the ‘ole universe works, right?

So, once again, here are the details:

Michelle Laurie and I are excited to announce the 3rd annual graphic facilitation workshop (aka Rosviz!) in beautiful Rossland, BC, Canada, July 18-20th, 2012. We had so much fun at #1 and #2, we are going for #3! (See Sylvia’s great video from #2 here.)

Drawing on Walls at the 2011 Graphic Facilitation Workshop in Rossland, B.C.

You are invited to this experiential workshop which takes place almost entirely at the drawing surface!

We’ll start the evening of July18th by warming up our drawing muscles and silencing those pesky inner censors. The second day, we’ll build into the basic practices of graphic facilitation and recording. We will pay attention to preparation, the actual visual work, and follow up including digital capture of paper based images. Our third day will be devoted to participatory graphic approaches, practicing and giving peer feedback. You can expect to go away with icons, ideas and approaches which you can use immediately, as well as ideas about how to hone your practice.

When might we use this practice?

Sometimes our imaginations are sparked by a visual where words fail us. Think about when communities plan and imagine their futures, when teams consider the possible outcomes for their projects, when groups create maps to track their progress.  These are all opportunities to use visuals to engage and deepen community dialogue. You can use visual thinking to improve teamwork, communications, meetings, build engagement and to plan work. Step out of the PowerPoint rut!

Who should attend?
Facilitators, project managers, team leaders and members, town planners, teachers and anyone who would like to engage others beyond words.

Please Note: You do NOT need previous experience or have to consider yourself an artist. At some level, we can all draw and use visuals to enhance our communications and engage diverse audiences.

Quick details: Michelle will be hosting and we’ll both be co-facilitating. This 2.5 day workshop begins the evening of Wednesday, July 18th and ends mid-afternoon on Friday, July 20th.  Early bird pricing before April 30th is CA $690.00 and is CA $840.00 thereafter. (US Friends — it is about the same in dollars! If you have/want to pay in dollars, I can take those. NW)  Email Michelle to register: michelle.k.laurie(@)gmail.com.

via Workshop Alert – Rosviz is back! | Michelle Laurie rants and raves.

Random Sunday Thoughts: Identity/Ghosts

For some reason today my blog software noted a pingback from an old post from 2008 as noted by Patti Anklam. So I followed the link back to my original post and was once again struck by Bill Anderson’s Haiku. Here is the text from the post. 

Bill Anderson adds to the repetoire of conference capture techniques with Haiku Notes from SXSW with PRAXIS101: SXSW 2008 Reflection: Free association as a note-taking practice.

Your social footprint.
Or your ghost on the network.
You have to choose one.

Of course, to complement the text, I’ll grab one of Bill’s colleague’s visual efforts, an image from Honoria Starbuck

via Haiku as Conference Capture | Full Circle Associates.

You have to choose. Bill was and IS still so right. Our digital traces are everywhere. How do we choose to leave our footprints?

Something to think about. But the sun is out. Now back to the garden after an old trace reawaked Bill’s Haiku! (And Bill, blog, will ya!)

The Four Fold Practice via Chris Corrigan

The Four Fold Practice « Chris Corrigan is a great bit of advice for how to mindfully work and be together. Take a look. Here are a few snippets that I really appreciated:

“None of us are smart enough to have the answers. To co-create something is to benefit from diversity and to stay in the relationship…even when you don’t know where things are going.”

“Pay equal attention to work and relationships.”

 

Digital Habitats now in eBook format!

Yay! A kindle edition of  Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities is now available!

As John wrote on the book blog,

It has been a while in coming! People have been asking about an e-book version of Digital Habitats since it was published almost 3 years ago!  It seems logical, given that technology is a central theme of the book.  Especially when it’s been assigned as reading in a class or workshop and people have scruples about using paper.

Now Digital Habitats is now available in a Kindle edition for $9.99:

It turns out that all those tables and pictures that make the book a practical handbook made it take a lot longer to put it in an electronic format.  And it took us a while to get to it.

Eventually it will be available on other platforms, but we’re starting with Kindle since free Kindle apps are available on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Android and Windows Phone 7!

The electronic version goes with the other resources we’ve provided online, such as: