Visual Meetings: Creative Tools for Virtual & Face-to-Face Productivity

On September 27th, David Sibbet and Rachel Smith conducted the first workshop in a series based on Sibbet’s bestselling book, Visual Meetings. Held at Fort Mason in San Francisco, this six-hour immersive workshop covered a range of topics from graphic templates and visual models to virtual work and new media. More than one-hundred people were in attendance.

“Visual meetings are effective because they engage people more and involve people with what’s going on,” explains Smith, director of digital facilitation at The Grove.

Participants were treated to simulations of visual virtual meetings and learned how to apply the techniques of visual meetings. They also received a copy of the book Visual Meetings, and had a chance to personally plan ways to take advantage of these creative new methods. The workshop included both large- and small-group activities that helped attendees develop skills in idea mapping, drawing and using Graphic Guides® (wall-size templates) to support visual thinking and implementation.

“The techniques (from) The Grove ultimately get everybody on board in a group. They inspire a lot of innovation and creativity,” said workshop participant Carla Silver, executive director, Santa Fe Leadership Center.