Looking forward to Berkeley 2020!

Why I choose to go to (another) IFVP conference

• Cool people doing very progressive stuff
• Feeling of community
• I’m a facilitator who loves drawing and teaching people to draw
• I’m curious about the connection between drawing and creativity

This will be my third conference. I started close to home in 2018, when the IFVP conference came to Denmark, and then journeyed to Montclair in New Jersey in 2019. I’m now saving so that I can go to San Francisco this summer (see comments below). My two first conferences were completely awesome and overwhelming - so many cool people doing such cool things. Yay! In the past 5 years I’ve learned that drawing is fun, creative, meaningful and adds value to meetings. And all the people at the IFVP conferences agree! I’ve met loads of people who felt like kindred spirits and who helped me understand what visual practice is for them. I’ll be reconnecting with some of these beautiful folks - and also know that I’ll be meeting new people who are awesome and inspiring.

At the very first conference I felt a great sense of “coming home” and yearning to belong to a progressive and creative community. I’m now beginning to see the various ways people use drawing, and as I grow as a visual practitioner, I’m also learning that I’m a process facilitator first - and that drawing comes second. I’m not a “graphic recorder” although I have done about 25 live recordings in my 5 years as a practitioner; and I’m not a “graphic facilitator” although I very often draw and write in the moment when I teach and facilitate.  I’m a facilitator who uses visual thinking (I facilitate volunteer communities and teach social innovation at community colleges). I love to teach people to draw so that they can become visual thinkers. And I am fascinated by how drawing can enhance creativity in groups. That’s my next goal: I want to become a master of unleashing group creativity through drawing.

Why I registered for the IFVP conference 2020 as soon as registration opened in December...

Not a whole lot of what I do as an independent consultant and facilitator involves long-term planning - I often find myself saying yes to gigs with little time to prepare. The IFVP conference in August was 8 months away when I registered - and at the moment I have a full 6 months to prepare myself. It’s a big expense for me - I’m a solo-entrepreneur and need to save up for events like this - so I also wanted to commit in good time, so I’d have some months to put aside money for the trip and plenty of time to plan a great workshop on creativity and drawing that I hope to make happen in August.

#IFVP2020, #IFVPmember, #weareIFVP, #IFVP25thAnniversary