I just had my first TED experience. I worked with the visionary- Ian Bryan of Sensible City as the graphic facilitator of the event (more on that later). It was an amazing experience from all aspects. I feel particularly close to this topic because I am guiding my son through his learning journey. HOPE and Innovation feels paramount to the current state of education so it meets the needs we have in this 21st century
The day before this TEDxDenverED event on June 28th, I headed over to the convention center to learn how to use the PolyVision eno. This is an electronic white board used in classrooms. A pen and magnetic strip was all I had. I spent 2.5 hours working and reworking and asking lots of questions… “What might go wrong, what can I do to crash the system, is there anything I can do to really mess up?” It worked out pretty well!
Tomorrow, I will be graphically recording a TED talk here in Denver.
Today, I worked hard to learn how to do the mapping on a PolyVision eno. It was a full day! I think I have a handle on it, but tomorrow will prove it to be true.
The so much more is the idea that this event falls in the middle of a program I am teaching through the Dawson Center. Kevin Cloud, the Executive Director believes deeply in visual learning/Graphic Recording in education. I feel very blessed to explore how the work I have been doing for almost 13 years intersects. I am able to bring 5 of my students to TED with a job to do. They will be supporting Dafna Michealson- a presenter at TED by heading the tops of the RAISE your HAND towers we are building.
Bill McKibbon was in Boulder for an event later in the evening on May 10th, but an opportunity developed to gather leaders in sustainability for a more intimate conversation inspring response to climate change. The gathering was designed, developed and organized by Seleyn DeYarus- the President of Boulders Best Organics and hosted by the Sterling Rice Group.
Seleyn introduces Bill Image by Sterling Rice
In a very tight space, I mapped the conversation. Bill spent approx. 25 minutes talking to the group and the remainder of the time answering questions.
Bill McKibben Image by Sterling Rice
If you refer to the map, you will be able to see where Bill addressed the group at the top 1/3 of the map and the Q & A was on the bottom. The box that says “HOW ARE WE DOING” on the left hand side is where the conversation with the audience began. All of the boxes with blue writing are the questions the audience asked and the responses are linked to each. Some big points landed at the top of the map giving you an idea of the tenor of the conversation.
Graphic Record- At the Epicenter with Bill McKibbon by Janine Underhill
This mapping technique is called Graphic Facilitation and it is a Visual Learning technique. I listen to the conversation and capture it graphically and it happens…real time. This conversation spanned a one and half hour time frame. Often times when I am coaching a group on how to use GRAPHIC FACILITATION, I introduce the WHAT AND HOW questions. What are YOU curious about, what do YOU want to know more about, and HOW might you integrate these ideas? Give this concept a go as you look at the map.
The evening was unique in the fact that Bill brought his deep understanding of the magnitude of the problems and the issues and this very experienced and engaged audience brought theirs. Boulder is not a place of inaction.
Bill pointed out the 2 ACTIONS that need to be taken.
1. LOCAL AND COMMUNITY ACTION. As a rule of thumb, Bill noted that 80% of our time should be spent on local/community issues and 20% at the National level.
Imagine we live on a planet. Not our cozy, taken-for-granted earth, but a planet, a real one, with darkpoles and belching volcanoes and a heaving, corrosive sea, raked by winds, strafed by storms, scorched by heat. An inhospitable place. It’s a different place. A different planet. It needs a new name.
Bill and 350 Image by Sterling Rice
You will also see the number 350 prominently illustrated. Here is a video that will shed more light to the work at www.350.org. Find out what 10 10 10 means!
If you would like a digital file of the map, please email me at janine@idea-360.com
You can read an article in the Huffington Post by Bob Wells about the event that happened later that evening.
Do you ever see something and just say “YEEEEESSSSSSSS, amen, would THEY please pay attention”?
I am on strike. I can not do another document that is presented in Times Roman (it is the MS Office default). I can not see another story rich experience depicted in bullet points because it is as far from human as I can tolerate
I worked with MARS (M&M Mars) earlier this week and the key stakeholders in the meeting… missed the meeting and traveled all over Europe hoping to find a flight that would bring them back to the US. It is different when you know someone who is stuck. They said that the hotel where they were staying in Brussels would happily extend their stay but the room rate was going to go from $200/nightUS to $550/nightUS. What happens to the folks who are not traveling for business and have saved for their dream trip…or the backpack traveler who has spent a year in Europe and has $50 to get back home. I am sure the stories are all over the map.
ANYWAY…I found this interesting info graphic while checking out the work of Stefanie Posavec here
Besides looking really cool, I am pretty curious about the power of information when it is presented as a visual. I think it helps us understand the world, cut through the rhetoric and show hidden connections, patterns and the stories that lives underneath.
