VIZCONF: THE CONFERENCE FOR AUSTRALIA'S VISUAL PRACTITIONERS
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How to make the most of VizConf 2018

26/9/2018

 
New to conference-going? Feeling apprehensive by the thought of being in the presence of so many talented visual thinkers? Fear not! We've produced this handy guide on how to make the most of your VizConf 2018 experience.

​I present to you: 10 tips on how to have an amazing VizConf 2018:
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  1. Come with a smile
    When you arrive, you'll immediately get the sense that the organising crew are genuinely excited about bringing so many visual practitioners together into one room. We hope you share that excitement too—and we want you to show it! We'll bring the coffee, and you can bring your positive energy, your boundless enthusiasm, and your passion for visual thinking. Your optimism will infect others and make a better day for everyone!
  2. Bring business cards
    You will meet people at VizConf that you will want to see again—to learn from, to work with, to work for ... so come prepared. Bring a stack of business cards and don't be shy about handing them to people you connect with! Of course, doing so will require you to ...
  3. Be brave
    There may be multiple occasions throughout the day when you will be required to be brave. Take comfort in knowing that you will be in a safe space, surrounded by people who are probably feeling just as out of their depth or intimidated or uncertain. Take a deep breath and lean into the experience—you'll get more out of it. Here are just a few ways that you can be brave on the day ...
  4. Introduce yourself to someone new
    Make sure you leave the day with at least five new friends. There will be people attending who don't know anyone, so go out of your way to make them feel welcome, included, and supported. Some people are travelling from interstate to attend the conference; make it your mission to make them feel like they've gotten a huge amount of value out of the day, and you'll see it returned in spades.
  5. Host a session
    There's a topic that you know well, and we'd love for you to share it. It could be a cool technique you've learned when working as a graphic recorder; or it could be a question you have that you would like input from others on. Take the initiative to propose a session on this topic during the Open Spaces period; your fellow attendees will thank you for it, and you'll learn plenty from playing the host role, regardless of your level of expertise.
  6. Get sketching!
    Every attendee will receive a sketchbook and a range of pens for taking sketchnotes, as part of their conference bag. Use them! And if you're feeling extra brave, you could even try large-scale graphic recording. We genuinely want VizConf to be a place where current or aspiring graphic recorders feel supported to step up and practice capturing a real-time presentation. There will be additional markers and large sheets of paper provided on the day for anyone wanting to step up and capture any of the sessions. It might feel intimidating but practicing is the only way you can improve!
  7. Chat to the sponsors
    Some of our sponsors will have stands set up, with representatives on hand eager to chat about the work they do, and find out about you. There will also be a pop-up store selling markers, books, and other visual tools. Take advantage of these moments to connect with our sponsors—they are organisations doing great things and are very aligned with our community.
  8. Fuel up!
    Talking, listening, connecting, sketching ... it will be a long day and you may feel drained. There will be a coffee cart serving up free espresso coffee, and there will be loads of yummy food on hand throughout the day. Be sure to give your body the fuel it needs! 
  9. Get posting on social media
    We want VizConf to be bigger and better each year that we run it. Help us generate FOMO for those people who aren't attending by posting like crazy to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or some other social media platform of your choosing. Post photos of presenters, sketchnotes, the food—whatever you like! Don't forget the hashtag #vizconf2018.
  10. Enjoy yourself!
    Yes, there will be lots of people to meet, things to learn, tips to write down ... but ultimately, we want everyone to enjoy their day. So be sure to allow yourself to have some fun. Part of that will be joining us for drinks at the bar afterwards. We hope to see you there.
Have any tips for making the most of VizConf 2018? Post them in the comments below!

Podcast interview with Sunni Brown

25/9/2018

 
Ever since I started the bikablo® radio podcast I have been dreaming of the idea that one day I might have Sunni Brown on the show and record an interview with her. Well, things have moved much quicker than I expected, and I am very happy to announce that we will not only have Sunni Brown speaking at VizConf this year, but we also recorded a podcast episode last week with her:

In this bikablo® radio podcast episode, you will learn a lot about Sunni Brown’s life and her early years as an entrepreneur, from struggling to make a living to being one of the top speakers and best-selling authors in her field.
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For example, when Sunni was quite young she wrote a letter to her mother and told her that she either wanted to become a doctor or, if that didn't work out, the President of the United States. This might seem like just a funny letter from a young child but this letter has guided Sunni through her life. Not growing up in a privileged family she had to believe in herself and work hard for her success. This guiding principle actually led Sunni to her upcoming book,  Deep Self Design™, which is based on the idea that you are in control of your own life. In fact, our mind is often the biggest obstacle to why we don’t reach our full life potential.
We follow her journey step-by-step, from working for The Grove, one of the first visual thinking consultancies on the planet before she moved to Austin, Texas where she started her own business. We find out more about her work as an author and why writing a book is much like riding a dragon. We talk about her serendipitous invitation to TED 2011 and how she spent 4 months preparing for the 6-minute talk that has inspired more than 1.4 million people. We compare the skill of graphic recording with sketch noting, do a round of “speed questions” and brainstorm together about the upcoming keynote at VizConf. By the way, the conference is on the 13th of October and tickets are selling fast!

Our chat lasted more than 90 minutes, so we therefore cut this recording into two episodes. The first episode covers her childhood up until the release of her first book, Gamestorming, and her second book, The Doodle Revolution. It's full of inspiration for anyone who is creative or entrepreneurial.
In the second episode, we hear about her experience at TED, her keynote at VizConf, and her work on the upcoming book, Deep Self Design™​, which is all about helping you to reach your goals in life.

Enjoy this episode with Sunni Brown, recorded on the 18th of September 2018.

If you'd like to hear more episodes, please subscribe to the ​bikablo® radio podcast on iTunes or Soundcloud, or check out the Visual Friends podcast website. 

New to the Open Space Technology Format? Read this!

24/9/2018

 
We talked with the facilitator of the VizConf Open Spaces sessions, Michelle Walker, about what people can expect from the day.​
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Michelle, please share a few words about yourself.

I’ve been facilitating for 20 years, and one of the great things about doing the facilitation role is helping participants and groups make connections, share their knowledge and establish collaborations. And what's possible is so much greater than the sum of the individuals!

Through my company, Curious Minds Co. I have been specialising in visual facilitation, graphic recording, animated explainer videos, and providing training in these specialty areas.

So I’ve experienced firsthand the power of working visually, and have been an active member of the International Forum for Visual Practitioners—our global professional community—since 2011.

What is the Open Space Technology method?

Open Space Technology (OST) is an approach to conferences and gatherings where the people attending set the agenda. So it’s very liberating (and maybe a little daunting for some). The power of this format is that it leverages the energy in the room and what people who are present have a passion to discuss.

At the start of the day, as facilitator, I will call for people from the audience to come up to the front and name a topic that they want to host. It might be something they know something about and want to share, or maybe they have a question and want to get the wisdom and input from the group. You don't have to know all the answers to be a host!

Whatever the topic, you will announce it to the group and we will put it on the agenda for the day. In this way, we build the marketplace for the audience. When all the sessions have been declared, (and we can leave space for sessions that emerge throughout the day), the audience will then peruse the marketplace of sessions and decide which ones they wish to attend.

I remember the first 3-day event that I attended about 14 yrs ago in Hobart that was entirely Open Space, and it was exhilarating as a participant. All of the newness—actively contributing to ideas, relationships, and connections—really had an impact.

I ran my first large-scale (120+ people, 5 days) Open Space conference about 10 years ago, and the feedback from participants was so positive. Most had never experienced Open Space before, and they found it really gave them room to do the creative thinking and have the formative conversations that they needed to have in their community. After that, I was completely hooked!

Why is Open Space a good fit for this conference?

I love Open Space Technology for conferences and am so excited to be using it for VizConf in October. It really is so well suited for exploring creative topics like visual thinking.

One of the great things about what we have planned for the day is the combination of outstanding keynotes, from Sunni Brown and Jessamy Gee, with the Open Space sessions.

Why should people come to VizConf?

Come because you want to learn. Come because listening to Sunni Brown and Jessamy Gee will change your practice and the way you see your work. Come because you’ve got something to contribute—you want to share what you’ve learnt for the benefit of others. Come because you want to be a sponge and just soak up the people, ideas and juju of this tribe. Come because you want to be part of an emerging and growing field in this country.

Just come, and you’ll be delighted and surprised by what unfolds.

Our second keynote speaker: Sunni Brown

14/9/2018

 
OK, please excuse the fanboy exasperation (which I will attempt to rinse out of this post before I hit Publish, but is bound to make its way through anyway) but we have another keynote speaker to announce ...
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To say we're excited to have Sunni Brown presenting our opening keynote presentation at VizConf would not be doing justice to our ability to get excited. Sunni Brown! If you've spent any time exploring the world of visual thinking, then you're bound to have come across her amazing TED talk or leafed through one of her best-selling books. 

This will be Sunni's first visit to Australia, and Marcel and I are beyond proud to be bringing her to Melbourne to speak at VizConf. 
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Here's her bio, just to get you more excited before the event:
Sunni founded the SB Ink creative consultancy over 11 years ago and she continues to grow and lead it. She is an author, speaker, coach, and expert meeting facilitator. She was named one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business” and one of the “10 Most Creative People on Twitter” by Fast Company. 

Her team has designed and led hundreds of group experiences in diverse industries and she is a veteran public speaker, having delivered countless presentations and "playnotes" in environments around the world.

Sunni is the best-selling author of 
Gamestorming and The Doodle Revolution and she leads a worldwide campaign advocating for visual, game, design and improvisational thinking and deploys those techniques to teach sought-after leadership skills like empathy, emotional intelligence, effective communication and collaboration.

Her TED Talk on doodling has drawn more than 1.3 million views on 
TED.com and her work has been featured in every major U.S. publication including The New York Times, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, WIRED, and Entrepreneur, as well as being featured on Good Morning Canada, twice on CBS Sunday Morning and recently on the TODAY Show with Megyn Kelly. 

Sunni is an autodidact and she is trained in meditation, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and two mind-body practices called Hakomi and Internal Family Systems. Her forthcoming book currently titled 
Deep Self Design, uses visual and game thinking to teach self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
Don't miss your only chance to see Sunni speak in Australia! VizConf is a one-day conference on October 13 in Melbourne, Australia, for facilitators, graphic recorders, illustrators, and anyone interested in visual thinking. Register for VizConf 2018 now, before tickets are sold out!
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Our first keynote speaker: Jessamy Gee

14/9/2018

 
We're delighted to announce the first of our two keynote speakers at VizConf 2018: Jessamy Gee from Think in Colour.
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As one of Australia’s leading graphic recorders, Jessamy has developed a unique skill set in listening, synthesising, capturing and communicating information visually.

​Jessamy launched her business in 2011, providing a suite of creative communication services for her clients including video, illustration and resource creation alongside graphic recording.

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Internationally renowned for her work, Jessamy services a diverse range of clients across the corporate, community, education and government sectors to help leaders and teams communicate well, and communicate differently.
Here's what Ron Kaufman, NY Times Bestselling author and speaker, said about her:
“Jessamy does with colorful markers what Yo-Yo Ma does with a cello and Julia Childs did with butter.” 
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We're delighted to have Jessamy join the line-up for VizConf, and can't wait to hear what she has to say on the day.

VizConf is a one-day conference for facilitators, illustrators, graphic recorders, and visual thinkers of all walks of life. With only 100 tickets available, if you haven't registered for VizConf 2018 yet, you'd best hop to it! Secure your ticket now from www.vizconf.com.au/register.

    Authors

    Matt is the founder of Sketch Group and Graphic Gear, and part of the VizConf organising team.

    Marcel is the founder of the Visual Friends, the host of the Visual Friends podcast and part of the VizConf organising team.

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  • VizConf 2019
    • Program
    • Workshops
    • Speakers
    • Venue
    • Accommodation
    • Sponsors
  • Connect
    • Community
    • Contact us
    • Blog
  • About
    • What is VizConf?
    • Who are we?
    • FAQ