Category: graphic facilitation

Blog comments that make you say “wow!” | BlogHer

Read the comments on this post Blog comments that make you say “wow!” | BlogHer (which of course, I found because Denise linked to me otherwise I would not have seen it because there are not enough hours in the day.) How do you feel about comments?

People ask me if comments in blogs are important. If you want to connect to others, and hear what they think, then they are. There are also terrific blogs that either have comments turned off, or create an experience where we don’t feel compelled to comment. For instance, people who post things that are just so darned complete and full cause me to simply take it in. And shut up!

Comments, like linking to other people, is an act of reciprocity. Give and get. So if you want comments and links, go forth and comment on things that others post – things the inspire, move you, make you want to offer a different perspective or just thank them for something they wrote that matters to you. And link, link, link to the beautiful work of others. Even ones that haven’t fully emerged yet – keep them on your radar screen!

Photo Credit:

http://www.linkbacklove.org/

(And grr, now all my right aligned photos are not right-aligning!)

Deborah Koff-Chapin’s Touch Drawing at Seeds of Compassion

By Deborah Koff-Chapin used with permissionOn Tuesday, while I was doing small scale graphic recording of the Interfaith Panel at Seeds of Compassion (and deeply enjoying the humor and humanity between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu!), I had the good fortune to be sitting right behind Deborah Koff-Chapin. Deborah does Touch Drawing and on Tuesday, she was using it to evoke what she was experiencing during the panel. Page after page of her work appeared, like magic. All the press photographers (we were sitting in the press section) kept coming over, taking pictures and asking her about her work. I have been reading about Deborah’s work, so it was a great chance to watch her in action.

She has allowed me to share a set of photos of the work she did that day on my Flickr site. I encourage you to check them out –> Deborah Koff-Chapin’s Touch Drawing at Seeds of Compassion – a set on Flickr.

Deborah wrote about the experience:

By Deborah Koff-Chapin used with permission

It was an honor to do Interpretive Touch Drawing at Seeds of Compassion. Touch Drawing is a simple yet profound process. Images are created through the touch of fingertips on paper. The process allows for direct expression of the soul, and can be used for deep therapeutic and spiritual purposes.

In the conference setting, I use Touch Drawing to visually portray the content and energetic qualities of the lectures and musical performances. Through the immediacy of the process, I can create 7- 8 drawings per hour. These drawing were created during the Tuesday event; ‘Inspiring Compassion
in Our Youth; Youth and Spiritual Connection Dialogue’. If you attended the day or are watching it online, you can use these images to enhance the feeling-tone of the presentations. Think of them as notes from the soul.

All these images will be posted soon on the CONFERENCE ART page at www.touchdrawing.com. Go there if you would like to order a signed, archival fine art print. Contact center@touchdrawing.com if you are interested in purchasing an original or receiving permission to reproduce an image. Drawings can be enhanced with color. A percentage of any income generated by these images will be donated to support the ongoing work of Seeds of Compassion.

As I reflect back on the day, we had Steven and Patti’s large scale 4×8 foot charts on paper, my 8×11 inch sketch book images and Deborah’s Touch Drawings. All four of use were capturing at many levels – at the literal capture of ideas through words and images, of the sense and spirit of the gathering and, of what was triggered within us as participants in the gathering. It was heart, mind and soul. I am preparing some collage images for each of the other graphic recorders for a subsequent post. I want to reflect on our process as a group of graphic recorders (and impromptu singing group. “The Magic Markers”) and capture some learnings going forward for visual harvesting of F2F events.

All images © 2008 Deborah Koff-Chapin.

Seeds of Compassion Begins in Seattle

Seeds of ChangeI awoke before dawn to many birds singing, then a beautiful sunrise. An auspicious start for Seeds of Compassion , a 5-Day Gathering in Seattle with his Holiness, the Dalai Lama and a huge community of people who care about the role of compassion in the lives of children. This morning I attended the session on the Science of Compassion, and am currently listening to the live stream of this afternoon’s second science day. Archived materials are being translated into 24 languages. That is a mind-blowing, bridge-building commitment. (The image to the right is a close up of Tim Corey’s work)

Experiencing the Dalai Lama
You hear about this remarkable human being — of his warmth, humility and compassion. Even from high in the stadium stands, I felt this. Such humor too… his twinkle twinkled across the stadium. He spoke without pretension, took his time and radiated calm. While I was intellectually engaged with the offering of the panelists (and they came across very compassionate themselves), I found myself just experiencing his Holiness. Sometimes I could not understand with the amplification and echoes, but that didn’t seem to matter. It mattered that I was able to just be there.

Graphic Facilitation at the Seeds of Compassion
I’m also a Seeds volunteer over the next 5 days, helping with the graphic recording of many of the events and welcoming people to put their mark on paper in the Conversation Cafe room where people can debrief and talk with each other about their experiences over the 5 days. Today Patti Dobrowolski and Timothy Corey recorded. You can see photos here. Our full team also includes Keith McCandless, and Steven Wright. I am thrilled to be able to watch and learn from them, as well as provide a contribution to the event WITH them.

Today after the morning event ended, I hung out while Tim and Patti completed their charts. It was wonderful to see people look at them, remark at how it helps them remember what they heard, and their amazement that “they drew this DURING the presentation!” For me as a newbie practitioner of this art, it was immensely useful to see their two different styles and watch their final additions.

I’m looking forward to five days of learning, community and compassion. It seems a fitting entry point to my 50th birthday on April 15th.

Arts at Nexus For Change 2

Last week at Nexus for Change 2 we had an evening of the arts for change. We had Playback Theatre from our full arts team (who recruited me – that was fun! You can see some video clips here, here and here), juggling from the amazing Tom Sparough and song from Timothy C. Van Ness and we even drew together. Taking an idea from Johnnie Moore, we did a pairs drawing exercise, continuing on my inquiry into visual expression as a mode of interaction and learning together. Here is a short video of one pair drawing together.

YouTube – Drawing Together Exercise

Here are some of the beautiful faces they drew together:
Drawing Together
You can see the pictures more clearly in the Nexus set on Flickr.

And some stills from Playback Theatre
Playback Theatre

Peter Block made an observation on Tuesday that really hit home for me. He said something to the effect that we resist change done unto us, but we embrace change that helps us stay who we are. Somewhat paradoxically, it is in the preservation of self that we embrace change.

So does change always have to be serious and gut wrenching? Or can we play, singe and draw our way through transformation? I think we can. And perhaps we MUST!

For more on Nexus, see our wiki.
More videos here.

Honaria Starbuck Paints the SXSW Experience

Watercolor by Honaria StarbuckI’m not in Austin for the perennial geek culture fest that is SXSW. But via Twitter and blogs, I’m getting some vibes all the way up here in the northland.

My friend and artist Honaria Starbuck is doing some on the spot paintings of the panels she is attending. She is also including some short poetry. It is an evocative way to share what is going on, very personally filtered through Honaria. Here is an example from Andy Beal’s panel (her picture to the right). You can see all of her painting posts here.

This is yet another example of visual conference capture. Low tech, unlike the work of David Sibbet at TED I blogged about earlier this week. When we think about “harvesting” and “sharing” what is going on at a F2F event, the options are widening. No longer are we limited to text live-blogging, or photo streams. These artistic endeavors capture a “sense” and, for me, enhance the more literal text and audio captures.