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
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.
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.
As member of the JRC and as visual thinker, I was invited to capture visually the main insights of the JRC senior management seminar. During two days, I listened to a few hundred managers taking stock after one year of the launch of an innovative way of working in transversal modes in our organisation, the so-called JRC portfolios. The program was a fair balance between keynotes, informative presentations, exchanges, and conversations in world café mode. My challenge was to create the graphic recording of all this in order to provide a visual but also emotional memory that would be useful to the participants and those who were not present.
On the substance
Overall, the results after one year are positive. There is a deeper understanding among the managers of the benefits of collaborating and working together on cross-cutting themes to “do even better science to support EU policies”. There are of course issues to resolve, while navigating a complex organisation and world, but by working together, everyone agreed that we would be able to overcome it all.
How I worked
Aware that I would not have been able to capture the essence of extremely technical, dense and tense conversations over two days, I put together a small team of volunteers to help me. They were instructed to write down points and insights that were important to them on post-its (when they wanted and if they could) and bring them to me. This is how dozens of post-its arrived at me at the end of each intervention. Thanks to them I was able to refine my live visual notes by confirming or correcting my own notes, or by covering what I had missed.
Personal take-aways
The intensity of the program spread over three days, and the exhausting trips to and from the hotel which was very far away, should not have impacted my concentration and my ability to listen. So I relied on a few small moments of meditation during the days, whether it’s a walk outside the conference center or stacking stones in balance inside. This is really what allowed me to keep my concentration and manage my mental fatigue.
I was moved when some of the colleagues who helped me with the harvesting said at the end that they had listened to the speeches with much deeper attention than usual. They experienced the basics of harvesting, this technique in the art of hosting which first consists of listening at different levels. Without them I would not have been able to create such rich and deep visual notes. Harvesting important events can only be done correctly with and as a team.
I want to express them my gratitude and to the other colleagues with whom I had the privilege of working closely, for their support, their help, their kindness, for the coffees brought, their smiles, for their comforting looks, for who they are. Beautiful people.
The importance of harnessing the power and benefits of visual thinking has never been more evident. It’s a valuable skill for enhancing our listening abilities, concentration, memory retention, and visually reimagining information processing by summarising and filtering it. As a colleague told me recently, “you do knowledge synthesis in its most practical form!“. Moreover, visual thinking is a critical tool for gaining clarity in the face of complexity, helping us tackle intricate subjects.
It had been over a decade since Catherine Focant and I rekindled our discussion on introducing visual thinking and sketchnoting within the European institutions. In October 2023, we achieved a significant milestone by delivering the first-ever internally offered course on sketchnoting and visual thinking at the European Commission. The initial 20 spots filled up rapidly, and we were pleasantly surprised to find the waiting list for future sessions grow daily, eventually reaching over 350 eager colleagues.
For the enthusiastic participants, it was a transformative journey. Many of them began with the misconception that “I cannot draw“, but they left the course with newfound confidence, now able to create simple visuals combined with lettering. They also discovered that drawing skills are closely linked to active and deep listening.
The overwhelmingly positive feedback and their commitment to practicing visual thinking were the most cherished gifts for us. Starting tomorrow, we invite them to join a newly established community of practice on Sketchnoting within the European institutions, and we encourage them to explore the global community of practitioners worldwide. If our motto is “Draw and share,” I genuinely believe that I received far more from them than what I imparted during the course.
