The Center for Graphic Facilitation

Sunny Side of the Brain

Graphic facilitation lights up the brain. Literally. As a facilitator or participant, the process engages multiple areas of the brain, specifically, the ACC.

The anterior cingulate cortex can be divided anatomically based on attributed functions into executive, evaluative, cognitive, and emotional components. The ACC is connected with the prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex as well as the motor system and the frontal eye fields making it a central station for processing top-down and bottom-up stimuli and assigning appropriate control to other areas in the brain.

It is also a key tool in controlling pain and positive thinking.

Top 10 Tasks: Quick Start Your Neighborhood Disaster Recovery

"Top 10 Tasks - Quick Start Your Neighborhood Disaster Recovery" is a simple and proven approach to a do-it-yourself relief center. This is useful for anyone dealing with hurricane, fire, or other disaster recovery. (from Joe and Rita Sterling of Sterling Insights)

Joe Sterling is a facilitator, strategist, graphic recorder and community organizer in the San Diego area. In 2003, his community outside Alpine, California was devastated by wildfires.

IFVP 2007 Reflections: Leah Silverman

Leah Silverman has been supporting facilitated events that use graphic facilitation since 2003.

But it was not until Fall of '07 that she strapped on the markers herself and stepped out as a Graphic Recorder. These are her reflections on her first International Forum of Visual Practitioners Conference:

I had a wonderful time and felt welcomed into this generous community. I also had the great privilege of looking over the shoulders of some amazing graphic recorders. I primarily went to learn more about graphically documenting, and the Graphics 101 course led by Brandy Agerbeck and Lynn Carruthers was very helpful with the basics. I now have a good head start on this new phase of my work path. Next year I'd like to see a possible follow-up course with more emphasis on hands-on practice and more concentration on listening skills and clustering information.

(ABOVE: photo of Leah by Sunpanther. More photos and slideshow on Flickr, tag: IFVP2007 )

BAG WORKS Marker Roll-Up

From Leah Silverman at  http://www.designbyleah.com/

A favorite tool that I picked up was actually something that I found a week before the 2008 IFVP Conference and brought with me.

Made from durable synthetic material, it's a compartmentalized marker pouch that you can use for travel and also fashion into a little stand for your pens.

It's made by BagWorks and I've only seen it on Mister Art and Texas Art Supply (who ships under Mister Art but is a little cheaper -- $5.09).

Shipping of course will get you but I took the opportunity to buy lots of other stuff. The roll-up isn't quite as large as advertised but seems to be very handy. It can also be easily fashioned into an apron if you work that way.

IFVP 2007 Conference

Thanks to Nancy White of Full Circle who did a fantastic job blogging the 2007 International Forum of Visual Practitioners Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

... I have been immersed in a new tribe: the Visual Practitioners. People who listen with amazing depth and bring peoples words into a new life in images on the wall. Some are graphic recorders who focus on accurate capture of conversations. Some are graphic facilitators who use images as part of a group process. Some, like me, recognize and thirst for the ability to use image in our work - regardless of that work.

Read more of her reflections on the presenters and rich conversations on the Onfac Blog.

Visit Nancy's Flickr account where you can see photos and a slideshow of the talented participants and the mindmaps, illustrations and wall maps they created.

Freelancers Need Universal Health Care Too

Words By Daniel Brook | Illustrations By Ted McGrath

clipped from www.goodmagazine.com As heartening as it is to see universal health care back on the national agenda, it’s puzzling that when the presidential candidates talk about their health-care proposals, they only talk about poor kids and Wal-Mart workers. This doesn’t square with my experience of the health-care crisis. I know plenty of people who are sweating health-care coverage. None of them are poor kids. And they don’t work at Wal-Mart. The people I know who are worried sick about coverage work for themselves, many in creative fields. Most of these freelancers and entrepreneurs are in the cross hairs of our health-care crisis—and you wouldn’t know it from watching the presidential campaign. “I know plenty of people who are sweating health-care coverage. None of them are poor kids.” As a freelance writer, I buy my own insurance. My premium went up 25 percent this year and I didn’t even get the pleasure of taking up smoking or skydiving.

MissingLink: Beyond an Event's Home Page

The browser-based software for graphic facilitators was profiled by MeetingSource (http://www.meetingsource.com), a website for meeting planners to search for tools, destinations, facilities, and industry events.

clipped from travmar.com “Everybody remembers how they felt during the meeting, but the actual content is often lost,” said Peter Durand, Alphachimp Studio of Pittsburgh. "I said in frustration that there has to be an easy way to use browser based software to document what is going on at events and capture the inspiration.” Enter Jason Simmons at gradientlabs.com of Pittsburgh, a software developer with experience in building online applications. The result is MissingLink. This browser-based software allows you to manage events; organize breakout teams; track participant profile information; and upload content like images, files, white boards, flip charts, audio-visual and even video. “We were not able to find anything like this," Durand said, "so we have been building this over the last two years. At the very least it gives that one spot where everyone can find what they are looking for.”

VizThink '08

This conference has a great roster of visual thinkers, including David Sibbet of Grove, Scott McCloud, Bob Horn, David Gray of Xplane, and more.

clipped from www.vizthink.com Our goal at VizThink is to bring together a broad cross section of the visual thinking community. We're bringing content from each of the visual arts disciplines together to create a unique mix of content. Here's just a small sampling of some of the topics you'll find at VizThink '08: Moving beyond bullet points...using storytelling for presentations Aligning individuals using visualization Visualization in 3D? When does it matter Facilitation using photographs Designing compelling and effective information graphics Virtual worlds: future or fad Creating a global visual language Organizing your world with visuals Using visuals for powerful presentations Storytelling through comics and graphic novels Visual techniques for analyzing data Visualization principles for software design Facilitation through live sketching Can there be a true language with grammar and structure that uses visuals? Visualization as a brainstorming tool