Danny is a Certified Professional Scrum Master, Agile Team Facilitator and Visual Facilitation Trainer who is a strong believer in using visual language to capture and convey meaning. He uses Bikablo as a powerful way to engage Team Members and Stakeholders in his work. Danny enjoys Snow Skiing, Mountain Biking and Travelling. In his spare time, he instructs in Kung Fu / Tai Chi and coaches Junior Rugby Union Teams. He lives in Brisbane, Australia.
Here’s everything you wanted to know but haven’t had a chance to ask about Visual Friends‘ new training – Bikablo® Advanced.
For years our students have been asking us “what next?” after leaving bikablo® fundamentals sessions with their brilliant celebration posters.
Now you can continue your visualisation journey with Bikablo® Advanced.
In this interview with our Brisbane based trainer Danny Low, we talk about why Global Bikablo® has created this brand new worldwide curriculum, what you’ll learn, who it will be most useful for and how the first trial class went at last year’s VizConf.
Natalia has always loved words and talking to people. She has put that passion to good use and has been sharing people’s stories in the community radio, TV and print media for the last 10 years. Natalia is also a big fan of true storytelling events and regularly volunteers at the most famous one – The Moth, interviewing the winner. You can hear her own story of moving to Australia from Russia in 1999 here. She lives in Melbourne with her husband John and their two daughters and the whole family enjoys visualising and storytelling. Natalia believes Bikablo is a magic skill of today and she is thrilled to be involved telling Visual Friends stories. Please contact her if you would like to share your story!
Graphic Recorder and Partner at Visual Friends
In this episode we are talking to a talented graphic scribe, an illustrator and visual facilitator Alice Edy about courage.
Alice dared greatly and ended up scribing for Brene Brown herself. She tells us how overcoming fear has helped her create important career opportunities for herself, shares her advice about preparing emotionally for a scribing session and gives us her tips about failing publicly and how you can’t grow creatively without making mistakes.
We loved talking to Alice about how stepping outside of the comfort zone allows you to direct and shape your career in an exciting and unique way.
Podcast notes: during our interview conversation Alice mentions Brene Brown, Heather Martinez, Kelvy Bird and Jessamy Gee.
The article was written by Natalia Tsygankova. Natalia has always loved words and talking to people. She has put that passion to good use and has been sharing people’s stories in the community radio, TV and print media for the last 10 years. Natalia is also a big fan of true storytelling events and regularly volunteers at the most famous one – The Moth, interviewing the winner. You can hear her own story of moving to Australia from Russia in 1999 here. Natalia believes that everyone has a story – So what’s yours? Contact her today to share your story.
Kate is a recognised expert within the global community of visual practitioners, with a specialism and passion for digital mediums of capture. With over 7 years experience globally as a graphic facilitator, scribing sessions across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, New York, Houston, Delhi, Barcelona and London.
In the latest episode of Visual Friends podcast, we interview talented and fabulous Kate Baxter – a recognised expert in the global community of visual practitioners and an amazing graphic facilitator with a passion for all things digital.
Learn about how Kate, a reluctant and shy scribe with a background in fine art, went from thinking she can’t do it to successfully scribing for big clients all around the world. Find out what helped her transition from scribing on a whiteboard to nailing it as a digital graphic facilitator. Kate shares advice on how to develop your own style and deal with difficult topics talks about the challenges of this profession and what you need to succeed in this job.
We hope you’ll find it as interesting as we did. Enjoy!
The article was written by Natalia Tsygankova. Natalia has always loved words and talking to people. She has put that passion to good use and has been sharing people’s stories in the community radio, TV and print media for the last 10 years. Natalia is also a big fan of true storytelling events and regularly volunteers at the most famous one – The Moth, interviewing the winner. You can hear her own story of moving to Australia from Russia in 1999 here. Natalia believes that everyone has a story – So what’s yours? Contact her today to share your story.
Primary school teacher and now a part-time graphic scribe
Anyone can learn visualisation. Once you learn basic icons, fill your page and get a grasp on shading, the world is your oyster.
Matt loves his work. “I’ve always been creative and being a primary school teacher provides a creative outlet.”
Now that Matt knows bikablo®, his work has become even more interesting. And not just for Matt but also for his colleagues.
Like many of our students, Matt saw bikablo® in action when someone was scribing at a meeting. Matt always enjoyed taking notes, but this seemed to be next level. Curious, he began researching visualisation skills and came across Visual Friends.
“I saw what people can do, it’s quite inspiring. I thought it would be great to take my knowledge to the next level.”
With the support of his principal, who understood the great benefit of bringing such applicable skill to the school, Matt enrolled in bikablo® fundamentals training.
Teachers can be fussy students, but he found the course really useful. “It was hands on from the word go which is the best way to learn. I learnt to use the space in a smart way and it gave me confidence to work through a page.”
As a teacher, Matt also appreciated the research behind visualisation. “It engages all areas of a learner.” What also appealed was how easy it was to learn this skill and how much you could achieve once you understood the basic principles.
“It’s not that complicated. Once you learn basic icons, fill your page and get a grasp on shading, the world is your oyster. You can then go on and develop your own style.”
Writing as a Social Process
Matt Handley
Matt feels that’s an important part of learning visualisation or any other subject for that matter – to build on your skills and develop your way of doing things.
“I think the key is to be flexible and just draw things that stand out to you. It’s about making it your own, whether it’s using your own font or your favourite picture. It doesn’t have to be perfect. And of course, the more you practice, the better you get.”
That’s exactly what Matt has been doing.
Since completing the course, he has been giving back to his workplace, creating posters, helping with presentations and meetings. Matt’s three-meter canvas describing school’s self-improvement project journey was displayed at the school library and generated some interesting discussions.
“People have been looking at it and talking about it. Some say they wouldn’t be able to do something like that, but I assure them that with a bit of practice everyone can do it.”
Following his original interest, Matt also took his notetaking to the next level and tried live scribing at school events.
“It was stressful, but it also taught me to focus on the main points instead of trying to capture every word. Those key points are the ones that will trigger people’s memories and will facilitate the conversation.”
Matt is pleased with the feedback he’s received so far. “People comment on how easy it is to read and follow two hours worth of talking on one page.”
Journey of Learning – Matt Handley
The skills Matt has leant with Visual Friends are definitely making a difference at his workplace. Visualisation is now seeping in the way the school does things.
“In terms of transcribing and professional development, it’s been more than beneficial for our staff and school. Our principal is pleased with how it has turned out.”
Matt is pretty happy too. He has developed a long-term interest in visualisation and added a unique skill to his toolbox that will have a positive effect on his career.
“It’s definitely something I see myself using in the future, wherever my career takes me. It’s a great tool you can share with others.”
P.S. Since we’ve interviewed Matt, he has started his own business working as a graphic scribe in his spare time. You can find him on instagram @_highlyvisual.
The article was written by Natalia Tsygankova. Natalia has always loved words and talking to people. She has put that passion to good use and has been sharing people’s stories in the community radio, TV and print media for the last 10 years. Natalia is also a big fan of true storytelling events and regularly volunteers at the most famous one – The Moth, interviewing the winner. You can hear her own story of moving to Australia from Russia in 1999 here. Natalia believes that everyone has a story – So what’s yours? Contact her today to share your story.
Graphic Recorder Strategic Visualiser, Award-winning Cartoonist, Writer and Animator.
Sarah Firth is an award-winning comic artist and writer based in Melbourne. Since 2011, she has run a successful small business, offering graphic recording and facilitation, animation and event design. With the mission to help clients clarify, align, resolve, connect and communicate – through powerful visual modelling, storytelling and strategic mapping.
Sarah works across industries and sectors, with a particular interest in supporting clients navigating wicked problems, systemic change and high levels of complexity, environmental justice and social impact.
She has worked locally and internationally on projects and events with; Vienna Complexity Science Hub, Google, The Rockefeller Foundation, CSIRO, The Red Cross, Conservation Zoos Victoria, Melbourne Faculty of Business & Economics, Comedy Central, Environmental Justice Australia, SIEMENS, Vienna Complexity Science Hub, Not For Profit Law, ACMI, Aboriginal Victoria, KPMG, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Planning Institute of Australia, Ernst & Young, City of Melbourne, Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, Oxfam, PLAN International and many more.
Alongside her business Sarah maintains a professional art and writing practice. Some notable achievements have been; receiving the Talking Difference Fellowship with the Immigration Museum, being named one of Australia’s top 25 artists by Art & Australia Magazine, winning The People’s Choice Award in the Australian Shorts section of the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, performing at the Yogyakarta Biennale in Indonesia, the Lakes International Comic Festival in the UK, and the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.
Most recently, she was appointed deputy chair on the board of directors for the Cultural Development Network, she received a Frankie Magazine Good Stuff Award, was a finalist in the Incinerator Social Change Art Award, and her graphic essay on complexity was listed in The Conversation’s ten best literary comics in Australia.
Sarah has a new illustrated book Badass Mums out now with Affirm Press, along with comics in upcoming publications with Allen & Unwin, Abrams Books and Picador Australia. She is currently working on her debut graphic novel thanks to the support of the Creators Fund.
Marcel combines agile team coaching with visual thinking. Marcel believes that a group of people drawing together on a whiteboard can change the world. He loves high-performing teams and therefore coaches teams every day.