For the edition 2024 of the Inktober challenge, I decided to complete the task by drawing each prompt with one continuous line, then to draw and post every day despite the demanding professional commitments. I made it! I thank all my contacts, known and unknown, for their support, positive comments of appreciation and all their likes on Instagram. It’s great to be part of this sketchers community!
The Inktober 2024 prompt list and my posts on Instagram
This is a follow-up post to the one with my takeaways from the 2024 International Sketchnote Camp (ISC24TX). Here I share my thoughts on how we could evolve as a community of sketchnoters. I am very interested in your opinion, please share it.
The challenges to develop our global community of sketchnoters are numerous. It grew organically, without a clear common purpose, structure or resources. Shared values are implicitly but not explicitly recognised by members such as sharing is caring, experimentation, everyone is a learner, no perfection (ideas, not art), and some others. Evolving as a community can be a delicate process, but not impossible. Here is an approach in a few points, based on my experience with communities of practice, that I propose.
Shared vision and values
We should establish what are our community’s vision, purpose and values. What is the energy that draws sketchnoters in? What draws them in and keeps them coming back? It will be our collective identity, our sense of belonging, our common purpose, and our core values. We could start thinking about this during discussions at our annual ISC meeting and/or throughout the year at online meetings. We could use surveys or online collaborative platforms to engage members who cannot attend those meetings. We should then document the shared vision and values so that new members can understand and align with them.
As a starting point I thought of this quote heard during an ISC “Changing the world one sketchnote at a time”.
A central online platform
We should have a dedicated online platform for our community that serves as a common space for our members to connect, share, and learn from each other. The platform should be accessible and user-friendly. It should accommodate the diverse needs of our community like having sub-spaces by continent or by country, by visual thinking practices, etc. Members should be encouraged to use this platform as their primary means of communication and sharing.
Leadership and governance
Identify and empower a group of volunteers who are passionate about sketchnoting and want to contribute to the growth of the community by joining its core team. Not to lead the community but rather to serve it, by listening to its needs, building bridges, and proposing activities. As is the case in other communities, there could be a roles rotation of core team members to maintain fresh perspectives and co-ownership. A transparent governance structure would define roles, responsibilities, decision-making processes, guidelines and membership.
As has always been the case, the community would be open to all members with different backgrounds, skill levels and perspectives, so that we foster diversity. Community guidelines would promote respect, constructive discussions, openness and trust, sharing with all by default (because sharing is caring), and support for beginners to help them integrate the community.
Gatherings, events, networking
At the moment, we have the ISC as the annual and official meeting time for our community members. If these gatherings are great, it is not enough (for plenty of obvious reasons). We should organise regular online events and encourage local gatherings and networking. A few countries organise such meetings, in presence and online, at national/regional level (to my knowledge, in Germany and in Belgium where I am involved). Great initiatives such as meetups, sketchnoting sessions, workshops, webinars, are already being organised locally and online. But only those close to you or those who are well informed are aware of them. These initiatives would benefit from being known by more members of the community, and above all could inspire others to host similar initiatives locally. This is where having a central platform to share information about local events would help members find and join them. The more we are aware of events, the more we can connect with others, learn, co-create together, discuss, and have fun.
Resources and learning opportunities
The central platform would also serve as a repository for all community material. How many guides, web addresses, tutorials, best practices, books, templates and so on are exchanged bilaterally or locally during a webinar and are then lost in our emails or social media private messages? And what about the difficulty of exchanging our best photos after an event? I feel the lack of a central platform after each ISC to collect the most beautiful photos and selfies.
Communication
Again, the central platform would help enhancing the community communication by keeping members informed about its news and events. Organisers of upcoming ISC events would no longer need to create a new website themselves, the central platform would host their information pages (no more need to have different web addresses each year). Using a newsletter and/or social media would allow messages to trickle down to members while respecting their preferences.
Celebrations
There is always something to celebrate in a community: the great or small accomplishments of community members, the collective progress of the community, the contributions or help of individuals or groups, etc. Let’s never forget to celebrate together whether in person or online, or just a kudo with a sketchnote.
Experiment, evaluate and adapt
I said at the beginning that evolving as a global community can be a delicate process. Let’s consider a strategy of small steps, without setting unrealistic goals. Let’s experiment (following the same advice given by Mike Rohde for the sketchnoting practice) and evaluate what works or does not work, and adapt our strategy. We can do it by gathering regularly feedback from our members on the community’s direction and needs, and make the necessary adjustments.
After 6 editions organised in Europe (*), the 2024 International Sketchnote Camp (ISC) crossed the Atlantic to be held in San Antonio, Texas, and was tagged with ISC24TX. The venue and the location (the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio – Texas, close to Mexico but still in the United States), and of course the majority of participants coming from the American continent influenced the three days of the ISC with an American-Tex-Mex touch; “Howdy, Claudio! :-)”. But this was also the case at the last ISCs with their own national touch.
The group photo from the ISC24TX organisers – See my ISC24TX photo album on Flickr
It took me some time to put down on paper my deepest takeaways from the ISC24TX. Here they are.
The gratitude feeling
I have a great feeling of gratitude towards all those who allowed me to live the ISC experience. First the organisers who gave their heart and soul to welcome us and created this caring environment where sharing could take place, Prof Clayton, Mike Rohde, Steve Silbert and Ben Norris. Then to all participants, those present in the rooms of the university and those online, for the gifts they gave me (see next takeaway). I am immensely grateful to my family who helped and supported me to participate in this event far from home.
The intangible gifts
As a participant, I could already be satisfied with the goodie bag we received. It was full of items that make any sketchnoting geek crazy. What I learnt from the workshops may also have satisfied me. But the most precious gifts I’ve received are the intangible ones, the ones that participants give each other, at least to me: an incredible recharge of energy, inspiration, creating together, the care and kindness, and the joy of being there.
The precious connections
The connections I make at a sketchnote camp, and again at the ISC24TX, are precious. Whether it was:
reconnecting with old friends I hadn’t seen in real life for a long time (Mike Rohde, Prof Clayton, Rob Dimeo, Lorraine Kasyan, Ania Staśkiewicz, Peter Schmitt, Nathalie Grob, Joanna Redzimska)
connecting with new people, all interesting and beautiful persons (Alejo Porras, Emily Mills, Ben Norris, Ximena Vila Ferral, Cote Soerens, Ari Alvarez, Gabriela Borowczyk, Ola Krawczyk, Georgina Dean, Sarah Pressler, Omar Lopez, Shelaine, Raj Solanki, who else am I forgetting?),
thinking of all the visual thinkers friends who couldn’t be there but with whom I had a virtual connection in my heart (the list would be far too long to mention them all, so just Steve Silbert, Mauro Toselli, Sabine Soeder, and my Belgian friends with whom I organised ISC21BE).
I also really appreciated the connections between people and knowledge that are made through sharing skills and experience in workshops and informal conversations, such as on metaphors, mindful sketchnoting, archetypes, sketchnotes in presentations, hatching, and the business of graphic recording.
And what about the connection with San Antonio’s Tex-Mex culture? Thanks to my walks in the city, the fantastic night on a barge along the River Walk tasting typical Tex-Mex dishes, the great presentation of the city and its culture by Prof Clayton during his opening speech, the sketchnote loteria led by Ximena, and “El Marko” Neuland markers.
The sketchnoting community
This is probably my most biased takeaway because the sketchnoting community means a lot to me. At the European Commission, I work on building communities of practice. Therefore, I see the potential of our community and the great challenges we face. That gives me a mixture of feelings. On the one hand, it was a real joy to see our global community of sketchnoters come alive during the three days of ISC24TX, with a multicultural group of diverse backgrounds and practices in the room, with new members meeting the old, and everyone sharing, caring and learning from others. That’s what a community of practice is all about. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel that our community is still in its early stages, and there’s much more to do to make it strong and sustainable.
These are my takeaways from the 2024 International Sketchnote Camp. The next post is a follow-up to this one with my thoughts on how we could evolve as a community of sketchnoters. I am very interested in your opinion, please feel free to share it.
(*) Previous ISC editions
ISC24TX – 7th International Sketchnote Camp, San Antonio, Texas [Learn more]
ISC23NL – 6th International Sketchnote Camp, Leiden, the Netherlands [Learn more]
ISC22PL – 5th International Sketchnote Camp, Szczecin, Poland [Learn more]
ISC21BE – 4th International Sketchnote Camp, Brussels, Belgium (full online due to the Covid pandemic) [Learn more]
ISC20BE – No ISC in Brussels, Belgium, as planned due to the Covid pandemic
ISC19FR – 3th International Sketchnote Camp, Paris, France
ISC18LX – 2nd International Sketchnote Camp, Lisboa, Portugal [Learn more]
ISC17HH – The first International Sketchnote Camp, Hamburg, Germany
As I sorted through my collection of event badges, dating back to 2005, I noticed an interesting pattern.
About half of these badges are from events where I was involved in the organisation – unsurprising, given my 20+ years in communication units at the European Commission. The other half, however, are from events where I served as a graphic recorder, harvester, facilitator, or sketchnoter – in essence, as a visual thinker.
Despite the evident demand for visual thinking skills, this role has never been officially recognised within the institution. Each time I transition to a new position or hierarchy, I advocate for this competence to be formally acknowledged in my job description. The necessity and utility of visual thinking in the EU institutions are clear, and I believe it should be developed and recognised across all EU institutions.
This conviction led me to create, with a couple of friends visual thinkers like me, a course on visual thinking for my colleagues, sharing the basics of sketchnoting to empower others with these essential skills. I dream of a future where the role of visual thinker is officially recognised within the EU institutions, enabling us to better serve our colleagues, European citizens and meet the growing demand for these capabilities.
I recently had the opportunity to bring together three diverse groups of people for a workshop, and the experience was truly inspiring. Mario Scharfbillig, a colleague at the Joint Research Centre EU Science, Research and Innovation of the EC, reached out to me for assistance with a workshop on the ValuesML project he was organising.
The workshop brought together experts on values from universities and research centres around the world (the first group) to brainstorm research project ideas that would contribute to a future algorithm identifying values in datasets. The ultimate goal of the ValuesML project is to provide policymakers in the EC (the second group) with a deeper understanding of citizens’ values, identities, and aspirations in order to better shape policies. To facilitate the workshop, I enlisted the help of my facilitator friends in Art of Hosting (the third group), Myrto Tsoukia and Maria Samuel Madureira Pinto. We did an outstanding job offering a ProAction Café and adapted the script live during the workshop.
My main role was to take visual notes, capturing the outcomes of the participants’ conversations through graphic harvesting. What I noticed beyond the tangible outcomes of the workshop was the impact it had on all of us.
Mario gained a better understanding of participatory methods for facilitating meaningful conversations
My fellow facilitators working within European institutions recognised the importance of considering citizens’ values and identities in policy design
Additionally, the researchers in the room had the opportunity to experiment with a participatory method for discussing their ideas.
Researchers’ curiosity and eagerness to see my graphic recording filled me with joy. For many, it was the first time they had seen visual notes taken live. What they saw were just the rough sketches on paper of their conversations. I sometimes had difficulty understanding their scientific jargon and I had to confirm with them my correct understanding or correct my approximations. The final result arrived a few hours later with a digital version reproducing my raw sketches on the iPad. I like to share here both versions in order to show that the live capture is not very far from the final version, certainly more beautiful and colorful, but the ideas are the same.
I hope that these visual notes will serve as a reminder of the richness of the conversations and the power of summarising complexity in a simple and elegant way.
It was a truly rewarding experience, and I look forward to future opportunities to facilitate and bring diverse groups of people together for meaningful conversations. And of course…to capture visually their conversations.
To better understand the ValuesML initiative and the purpose of the workshop you may read Mario’s post on Linkedin.
Reflecting on my past, I once believed multitasking was the key to productivity and efficiency. It took a burnout to realise the harmful effects of multitasking on my mental health. Asana’s enlightening article delves into the neuroscience behind multitasking myths, revealing how it drains our mental resources and hinders efficiency. Embracing single-tasking has been a game changer for me. By focusing on one task at a time I’ve unlocked higher productivity and improved concentration.
Dive into the Asana article for six actionable tips on mastering the “art of single-tasking”, empowering you to stay focused and achieving your daily goals. Plus, check out my attached sketchnotes capturing the essence of the article.
In the quaint village of Merate, just a stone’s throw from Milan, Italy, the year 2016 witnessed the inception of an unusual tale. Mauro Toselli, with a craftsman’s touch, conjured a rugged, handcrafted notebook – 112 pages of uncharted potential, encased in a shield of his own making. This was no ordinary notebook, it was destined for a global rendez-vous, passing through the hands and markers of the sketchnoting community.
If you don’t want to read what follows but just discover the stages of the book’s extraordinary journey then see the visualisation I made of it.
Mauro unveiled his project in a blog post, imparting instructions to those future recipients who would guide the Sketchnoting Army Traveling Book through its global pilgrimage. Mauro poured his heart into this project, unleashing it into the world with a mission to return home by 2018. With emotions and a longing to release his creation into the unknown, Mauro sent it across 12.450 kilometers to Pastor Gary Lau on Hawaii Island. Perhaps a destination nearer than the ends of the world would have made the parting more arduous.
Nevertheless, from that day forth, the notebook assumed an existence shaped by the destinations, moods, and decisions of the sketchnoters yet to encounter its pages. Its journey unfolded, chronicled by sketchnoters proudly displaying their contributions with the #SABookjourney hashtag on the ever-scrolling tapestry of social media.
Yet, as the days unfolded, Mauro’s initial script began to blur. The one-week tenure prescribed for each sketchnoter’s custody stretched, and the once-vivid digital traces on social platforms dimmed. The notebook, akin the mythical Loch Ness denizen or a phoenix reborn from the ashes, would appear and vanish from the tapestry of time, adorned with new sketchnotes.
Two years waltzed by, and the notebook, a wayfarer with a mind of its own, resisted the call to return to Milan. It traversed short distances and quantum-leapts, like the 16.600-kilometer leap from Claire in the Netherlands to James in Australia in July 2017.
As time wore on, the apparitions of the notebook grew rarer, and, on occasions, it seemed lost. Then came the unforeseen twist – the advent of the Covid pandemic in 2020. Stranded in France during the lockdown, the notebook, alongside sketchnoters, confronted the indiscriminate virus. Yet, some, bound by an unyielding resolve, launched appeals across social networks, seeking tidings of the elusive book. Amid whispers of the notebook’s demise, a few tenacious seekers tracked it down, compelling it back on its journey. But the world had changed, and the notebook navigated a less conspicuous route, eluding the notice of the old guard.
Emerging from the labyrinth of the Internet, the notebook resurfaced in 2022 in the possession of my comrade Valentine in the realm of Belgium. In Belgium, where I reside. From that moment forth, my gaze remained steadfast upon it until, at last, it rested within the cradle of my own hands.
After much research, the Sketchnote Army Traveling book emerged from the corridors of internet, time and countries. It reappeared at my friend @Valanciaux in Belgium. The #SAbookjourney will now tour the #sketchnotes Belgium community before continuing its international journey. pic.twitter.com/DXoqJAMvjB
The prologue to the notebook’s homeward journey had commenced, unbeknownst to Mauro, its father. Before orchestrating its clandestine return, some sacred duties still beckoned. In the company of my confidants organisers of the International Sketchnote Camp of 2021, we bestowed our collective sketchnotes upon its pages. And, in due course, I, too, inscribed my own sketchnotes upon it.
The #Sketchnote Army Travelling Book #sabookjourney is ready to travel to Leiden where #ISC23NL will take place soon. New entries have been added to the book. One is from the #ISC21BE organisers, the other one is mine. I feel so happy and privileged. pic.twitter.com/xg6QcHKyon
For its final sojourn to encounter new sketchnoters, the tome accompanied me to Leiden in the Netherlands for the International Sketchnote Camp 2023. The elder members of our sketchnote community found themselves stirred at the revelation of the notebook’s presence at the camp, and for some, it marked a reunion after the passage of many a year.
As for the fledgling members, their enthusiasm knew no bounds upon encountering this roving tome, bearing the signatures of numerous sketchnoters. Mike Rohde radiated joy as he cradled the notebook once more, a book he had adorned with his signature six years prior in the confines of his abode in Wisconsin, US.
In hushed tones, I confided in Mike, unveiling my covert plan to reunite the notebook with Mauro in the coming weeks. A clandestine pact to keep silent, letting the illusion persist that the notebook had rekindled its worldwide trip after its Leiden escapade.
Amidst the camaraderie, on a sunlit Sunday in October 2023, after a day exploring Lake Como, I surprised Mauro with a package from my bag, marking the poignant end to the notebook’s odyssey. See what he said about this moment on his blog.
This was the Return of the Sketchnote Army Traveling Book.
