Get concrete outputs from your virtual meetings & events
Custom meetings & events to engage communities, spark action, and create outcomes people want to be a part of.
It can be challenging to create something meaningful in virtual committee meetings and events. Maybe you’re working with:
a group of experts with little spare time between meetings to produce content.
a community of thought leaders that has great ideas but can’t get organized.
an event that’s interactive and engaging, but hard to encapsulate afterward.
You want to engage attendees and have something tangible to show from the gathering, without increasing your workload. (And ideally have a little fun along the way.)
I’ve been there…and I can help.
I've sat in plenty of meetings throughout my career in which we had good discussions, but didn’t really move projects along – and certainly not in a fun, creative way.
So when I ran meetings and events, I did it differently. I focused on the people and the purpose: creating engaging gatherings designed to make concrete progress. And you know what? More people started attending. They were more engaged and contributed their ideas. And they had more fun.
In 2020, I first collaborated with Stephanie King, a storyteller with 20 years of experience and a passion for stakeholder inclusion. We've worked together ever since, showcasing this model of intentional collaboration and engagement, generating outputs that make the community proud. We can help you engage your stakeholder and get stuff done!
Graphic Facilitation
During the meeting/event, I – your graphic facilitator and (co)host – will visually map the group’s process and insights live to help them feel heard, support mental load & creativity, and leverage visual thinking.
You’ll get:
a graphic facilitation image or materials, delivered within 24 hours
a purposeful and engaging experience
Graphic Facilitation & Storytelling
for Virtual Meetings and Events
Collaboration design, graphic facilitation, and thought leadership storytelling to create concrete outputs from every gathering.
Your custom service packages includes:
Strategy & Purpose
Stephanie and I will collaborate with you to clarify the purpose of your meeting/event and identify relevant outputs that support it. Then, we’ll design the agenda to achieve the desired outcomes, create an engaging experience, and make the most of everyone’s time.
You’ll get:
custom meeting/event design and materials, such as an agenda or collaborative document
Output Creation
Based on insights, collaboration, and conversation from the meeting/event, Stephanie will write the planned output.
You’ll get:
a written output, such as a blog post for your organization’s website, thought leadership piece, meeting summary, or action plan
alt text for the graphic facilitation image to support accessibility and inclusivity
Ready to explore how this could work for you? Schedule a free discovery call!.
What would having 2 concrete outputs from the next committee meeting ultimately mean to you? How much easier (and more fun!) would it be to talk about the value of the initiative?
Portfolio
CoSN Driving K-12 Innovation
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CoSN’s Driving K-12 Innovation initiative convenes an international advisory board of 140+ education and edtech experts to surface, discuss, and select the top topics for innovation in K-12 for the coming year. As the project director, I guide the advisory board through the process of surfacing important topics, curating and discussing the most relevant ones, and voting to select the top 3 in each category: Hurdles (barriers), Accelerators (catalysts), and Tech Enablers (tools). Throughout the process, Stephanie works to keep the community informed and engaged through strategic communications.
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The findings are published in an annual trend report and launched at an interactive virtual summit. Stephanie writes and I do the graphic design for the publication, with an editorial review from CoSN staff and an advisory board sub-committee. The virtual summit is an informative and action-oriented celebration of the publication, the Advisory Board’s work, and the educators and edtech leaders striving to lead change in their schools and districts every day. Download the free report.
CoSN EdTech Innovation
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CoSN’s EdTech Innovation Committee – a volunteer group of 40+ educators and edtech leaders meets – monthly to develop resources related to timely topics for education and edtech innovation and change leadership. Stephanie and I work with CoSN staff and committee co-chairs to design and facilitate each meeting around a specific purpose or topic, and create a concrete output(s) from each gathering: typically, a thought leadership blog featuring examples and educator perspectives on a specific innovation topic.
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With one meeting, CoSN’s EdTech Innovation Committee created a 26-page action-oriented guide – Accelerating Innovation: A Guide to Leveraging the 2024 Driving K-12 Innovation Report. As the project director for the initiative, I designed the meeting and prepared the foundation that allowed the committee to complete the majority of the resource creation in a single 1-hour meeting. With some editing from Stephanie and I after the fact, the resource was ready to go in less than a month. Download the free innovation guide. Download the free innovation guide.
ASU ShapingEDU
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Maddie Shellgren (Director of Global Outreach at the Online Learning Consortium) and I created and hosted a live virtual escape room designed to delight attendees and engage them in the world of Wicked Problems at the 2021 ShapingEDU Unconference. Read more in Stephanie’s recap article.
Interested in virtual escape rooms for learning or professional development? Maddie and I can help.
FAQ
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It can be tough to know if new collaborators are right for your project. That’s why we offer a free discovery call before you book our services. This means that we can get started with the first step in the process – a conversation to surface the priorities and needs of this committee – before you officially decide to move forward with us. This is designed to give you the chance to assess how we’d work for your specific project and make a considered decision.
If you need to cancel or reschedule:
We know that plans can change and sometimes you may need to reschedule or cancel a meeting or event. Depending on the timing, we may charge a cancellation fee to cover the work already completed. Below is our standard policy. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to us!
Reschedule (if we’re available) for free 2+ weeks before the meeting/event.
Reschedule (if we’re available) 1 week or less week before the meeting/event: 10% rescheduling fee. By that point we will have done significant prep work that may not carry over to the rescheduled gathering.
Cancel more than 1 week before the meeting/event: 25% cancellation fee.
Cancel 1 week or less before the meeting/event: 50% cancellation fee. By that point, we’ll have done significant prep work. If you cancel at this point, we’ll provide you with the work we’ve done so you can reference it in the future and invoice 50% of our service package cost.
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At its core, graphic facilitation is about leveraging visual thinking* to support a group’s process: helping people interact with their ideas and make meaning.
For us, this typically involves drawing on a digital canvas during a virtual gathering or designing a collaborative digital whiteboard with flexible structures to guide and adapt to the group’s work. (Here are some examples.)
Graphic facilitation…
helps people feel heard. They can see their ideas, and so can everyone else.
supports mental load and creativity. It frees up mental space when you don’t have to hold everything inside your head.
lets you tap into the brain’s ability to absorb and process visual information, quickly.
helps a group focus (and be literally on the same page).
Graphic facilitators distill the most important parts of a conversation or process and map them visually – making often-nebulous ideas concrete and easier to work with.
*What is visual thinking?
Visual thinking is making ideas tangible and spatial to help you make sense of them. Putting ideas on paper gets them out of your head and helps you see relationships and possibilities between ideas. You’re probably already using visual thinking! Writing to-do lists, brainstorming on a white board, organizing thoughts on post-its, bullet journaling – all of this counts as visual thinking. Graphic facilitators specialize in using visual thinking to support a group’s process.
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In addition to the graphic facilitation image or materials, you’ll get a written post-meeting output. This could be a thought leadership piece, blog post, meeting summary, action plan, or other short document we decide on together. (See examples above).
We’ll work with you before the meeting/event to sketch out a desired output and design the gathering with this in mind.
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We’d love to help! Our skilled writers, editors, and graphic designers can help you put together a purposeful, branded report or publication. (Example: CoSN’s Driving K-12 Innovation: 2024 Hurdles, Accelerators, and Tech Enablers.)
Schedule a free discovery call to talk through possibilities and we’ll put together a quote for your consideration.
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Graphic facilitation images are delivered within 24 hours. Because the image is created live on-the-fly during the meeting, some clean-up is typically desirable afterward. (Adding color or sketches, spell checking, etc.) If, however, you prefer to have the image at the end of the meeting, we can share it right then!
The written output can take 1-2 weeks depending on the nature of the project, the availability of anyone who needs to review/approve, and alignment with other efforts you have going on. If you need it by a specific time, let us know, and we’ll prioritize.
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The earlier you book this service package, the more availability we’ll have. We’d hate to miss your meeting because we’re already booked at that time!
We recommend scheduling the initial planning meeting at least two weeks before the meeting or event. This gives us time to pinpoint the priority, draft and revise the agenda, and prepare for meeting facilitation. We know this isn’t always possible, and are happy to work with you to make this possible on shorter notice.
