Zoom fatigue does not have to be the norm.

Online platforms like Miro and Mural have really boosted the interactive potential of virtual meetings.

Many proven group processes such as Gamestorming can easily be transferred into the online environment.

We had the pleasure of leading a session attended by Sunni Brown (founder of Gamestorming) to demonstrate how online meetings can really be just peachy!

Schill Insurance knows the secret to success is culture. Being a family-run company, Schill prides itself on maintaining that family feel.

As they’ve expanded their team, they’ve realized that maintaining a strong culture doesn’t happen by itself.

Drawing it Out lead their entire team through a multi-session engagement process that enabled everyone to voice their ideas and feel more connected to the organization than ever before.

We also threw snowballs and paper airplanes at each other with messages of appreciation. That was fun! #thepowerofplay

We are all taught to succeed and avoid failure at all costs. But the truth is that even the most talented of us will fail at some point – it’s just a matter of when.

Drawing it Out teamed up with Avril Orloff to facilitate this participatory workshop on failure for over 100 visual practitioners at the annual IFVP 2020 conference.

The positive response was overwhelming. It seems we tapped into something big. The workshop brought up a lot of emotion, vulnerability and strong sense of community. We thought a group face palm shot was a perfect end to this workshop.

We daresay the failure workshop was a success!

Situation: A big part of Nicola Wealth’s portfolio is education. They offer an array of engaging, relevant workshops for businesses at all stages of development. This workshop broke down the key aspects of mergers and acquisitions and, particularly, the art and science of “business valuation”.

Impact: Here graphic recording captured the key ideas that emerged from the workshop. Important questions and topics are highlighted by bold speech bubbles and clusters of ideas are clearly delineated. A clear path runs through the graphic to show that although the M &A process is complex, all of these ideas do contribute to the end goal of transitioning the business owner to the next stage.

Situation: Back in 2018 Drawing it Out was trail-blazing a way forward with digital graphic recording via Zoom – well before in the pandemic. There were issues with audio and the Zoom platform itself, as it was very much a new form of communication. Fast forward to today, virtual meetings are the norm! And the ability to visualize ideas in real-time, online has become much easier.

The BC Chamber of Commerce was holding its AGM in Kamloops, BC and wanted to have several key conversations graphically recorded. There were logistical preventing Drawing it Out from getting to Kamloops on time and and so we suggested doing it remotely, and it worked!

The topic of legalizing cannabis was a hot topic at the time and this panel discussion helped outline some of the key issues and concerns for both businesses and the public.

Interestingly, predictions by the panelists were right the “wheels haven’t fallen off the bus” completely and canna-business is a relatively normal part of the retail landscape.

Situation: Vela Wealth has a broad vision of the role of wealth management in the world: that businesses can and should be oriented toward realizing the most positive impact on individuals, community, and society.

Every year they host an event called Gravity to move this conversation forward within its diverse business networks. The evening consists of carefully curated content, inspirational speakers, and interactive thought exercises about the potential for positive change in the room.

In the end, participants leave energized and excited about new ideas and emergent partnerships formed together around a common vision of positive business impact on the world.

Impact: This graphic captured the inspirational story of Mandell Crawley’s journey to success and lessons learned along the way. The graphic formed a dramatic, live backdrop to the event. As Mandell spoke, participants could see his story come to life in the visual.

Situation: This exclusive SXSW event brought together thought leaders in technology and workplace innovation. We were excited to collaborate with Sunni Brown Ink, Samsung and Wired Magazine for this event.

This event really pushed our learning edge as we innovated a whole new graphic recording set-up to showcase Samsung’s latest tablet technology.

As always, Austin, TX was an inspiring place to be during SXSW.

Situation: Tom Palaia is an environmental engineer with a passion for science communication. One of his interests is in a highly technical, proven method of measuring bioremediation at contaminated sites called NSZD. But decision-making is not just based on great technology. Regulatory systems, policies and conventional practices all contribute to the effective uptake of technology. Tom wanted to situation NSZD within the bigger regulatory landscape and wanted his message to be memorable.

Impact: This was a 4’ x 3’ poster presented at a national conference. There is a lot of highly technical content here, but also a visceral sense of dynamism, complexity, organization and a clear path forward that the visuals lend to the messaging.

Situation: A cannabis start-up company held it’s first retreat for it’s partners. Each presenter was challenged to NOT give a regular old presentation. Each had to be unique, compelling and short!

Impact: Drawing it Out worked with each partner to curate a unique, memorable presentation based on their key messages. This graphic-novel style illustration presented Mandeep’s story in a fun, personalized way. It was delivered as a Prezi. Each attendee received a unique visual of their talk as well as a caricature of themselves!

Situation: Teslin is a small village located within Teslin Tlingit traditional territory, in the Yukon. Every 10 years, the community reviews where they’ve been and envisions where they want to go in the future. This vision is embodied in an Official Community Plan, which needs to be communicated with the whole community.

Impact: This custom graphic translated key aspects of the Teslin Official Community Plan into a lively visual to help communicate the plan to the community. These were used in various meetings with the community, Mayor and council, and other stakeholders to ensure the plan was shared widely.

The second graphic is an infographic that highlights the impact of Kinbrace, broken down by statistics and numbers in a fun, playful style. This graphic was also showcased at the 20th Anniversary party.

Situation: Kinbrace is a not-for-profit organization that does amazing work to support, protect, and provide temporary housing to refugee claimants. Kinbrace is much more than a place to stay, but a genuine place of welcome for people who have endured persecution and much hardship to get to Canada.

Kinbrace wanted to celebrate their stories of joy, sorrow, gratitude and humour in the form of large graphic to be displayed at their 20th Anniversary party.

Solution: This was a 6’ x 4’ mural that reflected a story sharing session facilitated by Anika Bauman. The graphic integrates the voices of past and present Kinbrace residents, staff, volunteers and neighbours and really captures the colourful, multisensory, multicultural vibe of Kinbrace at any given moment.