Smart Ways Your Visual Notes Can Have Lasting Value

Screenshot of a ConverSketch illustration embedded in a post from USFWS Permits website.

When you bring a graphic recorder into your event, you’re making an investment financially, in your time, and in the success and impact of your event.

So, when I saw the way the Fish and Wildlife Service Permits team was using their visual notes from last summer, I knew I had to share it with you! Months later, they’re still creating engaging content chock full of visuals to maintain momentum and tell their stories.

What’s the secret to maximizing their investment in visuals?

We thought about it early in the process.

It’s that simple. In our initial discovery calls together, clarifying the Purpose, Outcomes and Process (POP) was step one. We made sure to not only discuss how visuals might best support the group on-site, but what their goals were for the charts after the workshop.

In these conversations, it became clear that capturing all the details of every session was less important, and creating more detailed illustrations of key ideas that could be used in digital content for months afterward was a priority.

Here are three questions you can ask yourself before any meeting to make sure you’re maximizing your time, whether you have a graphic recorder with you or not:

• What is our POP?

• What stories do we want people telling after the meeting?

• How can the graphics/follow up communication support this?

Thank you for your collaboration, humor, and what you do to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Children with Medical Complexity: You may recognize this project – I’ve had the pleasure of supporting Boston University’s research on family-centered care since 2020. This year, they’re building on the initial pilot and digging deeper into what those preliminary findings mean. Here’s one of the digital graphics from this year.

Video Series: Individualized Education Programs. In partnership with High Quality IEPs walks educators and administrators through the IEP process and shares WHY they matter and how they can make a positive difference in the lives of children with disabilities.

Join In Celebrating…Karina is a 40 Under 40 Honoree!

Karina and Spencer at the 40 under 40 Celebration.

Please join in celebrating with us: Karina is one of Northern Colorado’s 40 Under 40 this year! Hosted by BizWest, the event “celebrates young professionals shaping the future of Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado who are making a mark on their communities through professional success and volunteer activities”.

Founding and owning ConverSketch has been a core piece of who I am, and running a business that gives back to the community has always been part of my core values. That’s why I choose to give back in a variety of ways:

• Prioritizing work with organizations and teams that align with my values.

• Donating a portion of my proceeds each year to organizations that are working in conservation, climate resilience, and supporting women and girls in business and education.

• Offering a limited number of scholarships for discounted graphic recording each year.

• Volunteering supporting women in rural Kenya: I have been a co-leader for service-learning program through Colorado State University taking students to Samburu, Kenya, since 2013.

Thank you all for being my co-collaborators and, truly, for being the reason I get to do this work! And a special thank you to Rebecca Everette, who nominated me for this award. You are an inspiration and lift up the women in your life!

Thank you for your collaboration, humor, and what you do to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

It’s been a busy year! Here are select highlights from this summer to give a peek into what I’ve been up to. I’ll be sharing a new video series soon as well! Stay tuned.

Wisconsin, Texas, and Michigan: Hosting a series of workshops for the National Parks Conservation Association focused on building connections and place-specific strategies to support visitors to Parks in electric vehicles.

Workshop participants in Munising, Michigan discuss how to support EV infrastructure in their community and park.

West Virginia: Graphic recording with the US Fish and Wildlife Service ePermits program as they built connections and a shared understanding of how to more effectively modernize the permit process. We also created an illustrated video together earlier this year.

Permit process modernization with fish and wildlife is always a good excuse to draw animals.

The wall of visuals extended behind and in front of participants as the week progressed!

Aspen: At the annual Technology Policy Institute Aspen Forum discussing the leading edge on AI policy, safety and moderation, antitrust, and broadband.

Denver and Fort Collins: Apoyando el trabajo de La Cocina, un organización escuchando de la comunidad sobre desarollando un app sobre la salúd mental.

Supporting the work of La Cocina as they learned from the community what they’d like to see in a mental health app for the Latine community. Sessions were in Spanish and English and I translated key ideas to English for the summary illustrations to be used in future grant writing.

Cheers to 12 Years!

ConverSketch is twelve!

Thank you for being the reason for many years of discovery, creativity, fun, and making meaning together.  Am I proud of what we’ve done together? You bet I am!

If you asked me when I picked up my first chisel tip marker where I thought this would take me, I probably would have said something like “I don’t know, but this just feels like what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Through creativity, strategy, and deep listening, we've co-created to bring your visions to life and spark new possibilities. Each project has been a unique opportunity to learn, stretch our minds, and explore diverse perspectives.

Here's to another twelve years (and beyond!) of cultivating imaginative solutions and drawing your meaningful ideas together.

Thank you for your collaboration, humor, and what you do to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Virtual Global Driving K-12 Innovation Summit: Working with Laura at PumpkinBerry Consulting is always a delight, and collaborating on this Summit was no different. Our job was to bring educators and IT professionals together across the US and world to hold space for connection, creative problem-solving, and celebrating the work they do every day.

Sunrise, Florida: I joined the City of Sunrise to digitally graphically facilitate the community’s vision for the future of their city. I visualized what was most important to community members including parks, recreation, good government, safety, and multiple transportation options. After hearing more via surveys, the County Commissioners will add their ideas too!

Colorado State University: As part of a larger retreat for the Climate Adaptation and Management Planning Program, I graphically facilitated a visioning session with the Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML). These folks are passionate about our planet and wildly smart – it was a treat to be in the room with them.

Collectively & Creatively Reinventing Expectations

Have you felt it?

During and as the pandemic has evolved, I’ve heard and felt the same thing you probably have.

“I’m so busy…”

“It’s crazy these days.”

“Parenting and working is just…a lot right now.” (Understatement)

The burnout is real. So is the creative reinvention.

What can we do to dial the intensity of expectations down together, collectively and creatively?

If you work with people, here are some suggestions I’ve see and heard lately:

• Establish communication norms. Is there a platform where instant replies are/aren’t expected? One group I recently graphic facilitated articulated that a Teams message could be sent any time, and the recipient would respond when they were able. More urgent matters were direct phone calls.

• Practice a monthly Deepening Day. This team also imagined a once-a-month day dedicated to any sort of personal or professional development the person felt would best serve them. Ideas ranged from attending events to making time for extended lunches with partners or colleagues to setting an away message from email to focus on deep work.

• Live the values: Whether you’re a leader or a co-worker, shifting culture starts with each person on the team. Demonstrating by not responding immediately to every email, or sharing insights from your Deepening Day, or taking those vacation days can all contribute to shifting the pace and expectations we hold each other to.

And really, take that time off to breathe.

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: Working on video storyboards, synthesis illustrations, and preparing to facilitate a workshop here in Fort Collins next week. Here’s a close-up of one of 11 regional local food gatherings around the state of Colorado I’m visually distilling for display at a Summit happening this winter.

Back from the River: There’s nothing like six days completely offline to refresh and reset. Here’s a painting of the stunning canyon created from camp one evening.

How to Scale Your Work Up, Even When Once Size Doesn’t Fit All

Have you ever been wildly proud of something you or your team accomplished, but then wondered…Can this scale?

One of my favorite things about being a graphic recorder is that I get to work across sectors and pick up on patterns and shifts. For example, right now, three of my clients are all figuring out how to scale across the country in very different areas:

• Supporting children with medical complexity and their families in hospitals and clinics

• Helping communities become more resilient in the face of large-scale wildfires

• And creating a national community of practice around community-led conservation

While there is not one path forward, some real gems became clear last week with the team working with children with medical complexity. I thought these ideas deserved a little airtime, and maybe YOU are working on scaling too…perhaps there’s a keeper in here for you!

• Take an iterative approach - start small, test an idea, and learn and grow from there. Remember: It doesn’t have to be perfect!

• Scaling complex work takes time. In a world of instant gratification and grant-makers wanting results, this may be tricky…and also imperative.

• Relationships are key to building trust, which is key to being able to move quickly or be patient when needed.

• Facilitate communication across teams regularly, in-person if you can, to build those relationships and cross-pollinate ideas.

• Take what you’ve learned in each place and weave it together for solutions that are greater than the sum of the parts. You may already have a solution!

• Ask those you’re serving to be part of the process (and compensate them for their expertise and participation!).

• You already know enough. While it’s almost always tempting to want/NEED more data, you probably already know enough to take the first steps.

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?

Chicago, Illinois: After working together remotely in 2020-2021, it was an absolute joy to get to meet the convening team and state teams working together to improve the lives of children with medical complexity and their families. Closing this multi-year pilot in a flawless hybrid meeting, the teams shared their key insights, discussed what’s next, and how to sustain the work moving forward.

Albuquerque, New Mexico: Graphically facilitating for a leadership team at US Fish and Wildlife Service to craft a visual metaphor telling the story of equity, inclusion, and creating a welcoming organization for all employees.

Virtual with Adobe Creative Campuses: Sharing and learning with Creative Campuses across the globe, these quarterly gatherings are always lively, a lovely way to build community virtually, and thoughtfully curated to create welcoming and informative spaces! The sessions start today, so here’s a graphic from the spring!

POP It!

Having a clear purpose in a meeting is something you’ve heard from me before – whether it’s a 15-minute check in or a 2-day off-site, when the organizers and the participants are extremely clear on the purpose of why they’re being asked to be there, engagement and the ability to measure if the outcomes were successful follow.

And, thanks to this excellent blog from Drawing Change, I just learned about a super handy, straightforward tool to make the meeting planning even better. It’s called POP, which stands for: 

Purpose, Outcome, Process

Developed by the Rockwood Institute, beyond defining the Purpose, or your why for convening the meeting, you add two more simple ideas. Your Outcome “speaks to what – the vision of what success will look and feel like when you “arrive.” And finally, your Process outlines the “how – the specific steps involved in getting there.”

It’s easy to jump straight to the process design, but if you’re clear on why you’re there and what it will look and feel like to be successful, that enormous investment of time, energy, resources, thinking, good food, and space together will be easier to measure and follow through on. 

So, here’s a graphic facilitator style worksheet you can use to help your group work through your POP for your next meeting – I hope you enjoy it!

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 Virtual World is ConverSketch?

River Investigators Action Guide is Out in the World! I’ve had the joy of collaborating with watershed researchers at Colorado State University to illustrate an activity guide for children to explore our local river, the Cache la Poudre. Here’s a snapshot, and you can see a video of me flipping through pages on Instagram.

ShapingEDU Mini-Summit: Emerging Credentials Standards: Convening educators, industry professionals, and folks in K-12 education to discuss the future, power, and challenges of badges and credentials in addition to or in place of a traditional 4-year college degree. 

Learner Perspectives on Career-Connected Education Symposium: In another event focused on students, this symposium centered learners as speakers and panelists to guide the conversation and offer suggestions to make it easier to navigate the higher education system for successful career paths.

In-Person, Remote, Hybrid…What to Center No Matter the Method for Meeting

Why do we create? Why do we meet? What drives much of our action as humans? Expressing our ideas and connecting with others in different ways is core to who we are. 

Stating the obvious here, this connection has been shaken up the past two years, and as we begin navigating in-person and hybrid situations professionally or personally, we’re rediscovering how to be with each other in meaningful ways. 

“Whether your team is in-person, remote, or hybrid, one thing is true in any form: Connection doesn't happen on its own. You need to design for it.”  – Priya Parker

As a graphic facilitator, I get to co-design for connection with clients. How do we do this, even…especially in the virtual environment?  A few of the seeds we can cultivate toward connection include:

• Building in time for participants to share experiences outside of the work goals of the meeting

• Creating opportunities for small and large group conversations

• Thoughtful questions that support vulnerability

• Creating visuals that highlight connections, shared ideas and values, or intentional visual metaphors deepen the opportunities to connect

If you’re curious to read more, here’s a post on why human connection is so important. 

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 Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Invasive Species Video: Watch the fresh digitally hand-illustrated video here to learn about the difference between native, non-native, invasive species, and pests from the National Park Service!

In the Studio: I’m working on several projects from graphic facilitation design to more videos to a guide for children to explore our local river. Here’s a snapshot of what River Investigators might observe about their watershed! This booklet will be available this spring for visitors along the Cache La Poudre River.

How to Say No When it’s Right

Saying yes to opportunities, professionally or personally, can lead to some adventures you’ll never forget, or an opportunity to push your comfort zone and learn something new. 

Sometimes though, it’s important to say no – working on a priority where you need to focus your creative juices, or holding space for family or self-care. If you’re like me, saying no can sometimes feel like hurling yourself off a precipice into the unknown – will they be angry? Will this burn a bridge I’ll regret? Will there be NO RETURN? (Spoiler: no.)

I’m always glad I declined something if there was a reason not to – even if it was simply a feeling. Especially if I can do so in a way that feels honest and explains the why behind my decision. 

Recently, an interview I read with Ashley C. Ford that succinctly brought together some reminders about saying no, as well as how to do it gracefully. Here’s what stuck with me most: 

• Be kind – just because you’re saying no doesn’t mean you have to be rude or cold

• Being honest is better for everyone to avoid frustration and false expectations

• Be clear on your priority/goals, and use that as a guiderail to be able to say no to things that aren’t working toward that, or don’t serve that

• Turns of phrase I have already used when struggling with the right way to say no: 

  • I’m sorry. I don’t have the bandwidth for this. (So simple. So honest.)

  • This is an amazing opportunity. I hope you’ll keep me in mind for something in the future, but if I do this, I want to do it 100% and there’s no way I would be able to give you 100% right now. Or…

  • I want to do the best possible work for my clients that I’m wildly proud of. Right now I don’t have the capacity to give you that high quality collaboration. 

  • I can work on this, but I’ll have to let go of this other project. Which do you want me to prioritize?

Do you have guidelines for how to choose what to say yes or no to? How do you say no in a way that feels authentic and with integrity?

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 Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Climate Change, Media, & Kids: A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of supporting a workshop hosted by NSF about how to leverage media platforms to tell stories and educate children on climate change. It was AWESOME and I can’t wait to see where this goes!

ShapingEDU Pente Challenge: ShapingEDU was back for another innovative virtual event – a pitch challenge for teams working to improve the future of education in the digital age…with real cash as the prize! I got to support teams as they practiced “yes, and…” improv thinking for their pitches, and was an expert resource to help them create custom visuals for the pitch or work through complexity. I love that ShapingEDU always includes student voices!

Arizona HIV/AIDS Leadership Academy: Another cohort wrapped up by reflecting on leadership values and key takeaways to be better leaders working to End the Epidemic. I’m always floored by the vulnerability and support the facilitators hold for each cohort. 

10 Things about Creativity that Are Still True 10 Years Later

ConverSketch is officially 10 years old today! 

Thank you. You’re the reason I get to write this!

Anniversaries are a great excuse to celebrate and taking time to recognize milestones feels especially important right now as time is simultaneously flying, blurring, interpretive dancing - whatever it’s doing - during covid. 

Every year I like to share things that have resonated or I’ve learned as a self-employed creative. My hope is that you find something useful to try, or that validates what feels true to you, or might push your comfort zone a little bit, in the best way possible. 

10 is a nice number and feels like a big deal! So, here is my list of 10 Things about Creativity that Are Still True 10 Years Later:

1. Creativity is Not a Talent... I often come back to this quote from Hugh Mcleod: “Creativity is not a talent. Creativity is a drive,” because it moves creativity from the pedestal of Something Only Some People Have to a Skill Anyone Can Cultivate. Do the work, do it to the best of your ability, ask how to get better, embrace the practice of what you get to do every day.

2. Creativity Requires Rest. Sometimes it’s important to do “nothing”, to move in your body and integrate information, make connections, to disconnect, to rest well, to be kind and gentle with yourself. 

3. Creativity is Authentic. Be yourself, your unique way of being and perceiving in the world is incredibly valuable and may inspire or make sense to someone in a way nothing else has. 

4. Appreciation Feeds the Creative Soul. When I’m frustrated or drained, taking a minute to brainstorm what I appreciate in that moment is an energy reset. I remind myself that I have the great privilege of doing this work with people who are making the world better.

5. Intuition Guides Creativity. In moments when I have felt something deep within, no matter how illogical it might seem, in those moments when I do listen to that inner feeling and go with it, I know in my bones it is the path to take in that time. Maybe not the easiest, but often ease emerges in ways I don’t expect.

6. Creativity is Fun! Playing, experimenting, laughing, imagining, dropping into flow state, sharing an idea you’re proud of, drawing something silly to tell a story. Creating and holding space for fun sows seeds of creativity.

7. Creativity is Curious. The more willing we are to ask questions and truly listen to the answer, the more delightfully rich an experience or conversation has the space to grow. What might happen if we say yes? What if I’m…not right? What might emerge if we let go of what we thought we knew and leaned into another way of thinking?

8. Creativity is Human. We are delightfully imperfect and are fed by connection with others. When designing graphics or the process or questions, remembering that above all else we are humans. Despite the tech, the pace, the everything else around us, we all share this humanness. 

9. Creativity can be Collaborative. Whether in person or remote, centering opportunities for meaningful connections and relationships and connections opens the way for sparks to ignite. 

10. Creativity is Generous. There is no limit to our creativity or how we use it. The more we give, the more we get. When I am working in a mindset of abundance and generosity, that often inspires more of the same, creating ripples and waves out into the world.

Thank you for being the reason for this reflection, the Why behind ConverSketch. It’s an honor to partner with you to bring more creativity into the world together! 

For even more reflections and some tips for how to implement them, here are my reflections throwing all the way back to 2016:

• 2016

• 2017

• 2018

• 2019

• 2020

• 2021

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 Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Filming the Latest NPS Drawing Connections to Climate Video: This video is all about Fort Matanzas National Monument in Florida, and how resilience to climate change is imperative for the unique habitat and wildlife species that call the area home. Stay tuned for the finished video later this year, and watch the  award-winning series here!

RespiraCon: How might we ensure everyone has access to important medical equipment, like ventilators, around the world? Experts explored the challenges and opportunities to leverage open-source technology and practice for more equitable, high-quality equipment on a global scale.

How to Train Your Brain to Be Just Fine when Things go “Wrong”

Well…that water doesn’t look like I wanted it to…

Can you remember a time that something went “wrong”? Trying a new recipe turned out…meh. A difficult conversation with a loved one. A creative project didn’t turn out perfectly on the first try.

How did you react? 

The sheer volume of curated feeds can make it easy to fall into a thought pattern that if something didn’t go perfectly right the first time, it failed. 

This is crazy talk. How can we expect ourselves to instantly be experts without practicing, experimenting, failing, pushing, learning, expanding, playing, falling…and getting back up? 

We’re human. We’re going to do things “wrong”. It’s beautiful! And, with practice, we can shift how we feel when things go sideways. Here are a few of my tried-and-true favorites:

• Bring the humor. Try not to take yourself so seriously – it’s okay to laugh at how ridiculous mistakes can be.

• Check your expectations. It’s fantastic to push yourself, and to expect that it will probably take a few tries to improve consistently. 

• Practice kind self-talk. Imagine a friend is telling you about whatever it is that happened – what would you tell them? Now, bring that same compassion to yourself. 

• Be curious. What can you learn from the situation if you let go of feeling like you need to defend what happened?  

• Take five. Give yourself the space and time to take a break – do something you love to reset yourself.

Ahhhh, yes. That’s what I was going for. Why don’t things turn out perfectly the first time?

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 Virtual World is ConverSketch?

An agenda slide designed for a remote graphic facilitation process.

Special Education System Improvement: Remote graphic facilitation with leaders of education systems to improve systems to better support students with differing abilities state-wide. 

A scene from a storyboard work in progress.

Videos: From invasive species to more (award winning!) Drawing Connections to vets and climate change, the ConverSketch studio is humming along in 2022. These videos are still in various stages but I’m excited to share them with you in the coming months!