IFVP & Pop!Tech

There is a whole lot of stuff going on this week in the realm of sharing big ideas and visual learning.

First, the International Forum of Visual Practitioners is gathered in Santa Fe, New Mexico to share insight, technology and techniques of graphic recording and facilitation.

So a big shout out to members of our network who are in attendance!

Second, there is a lots of mindblowing stuff being presented in Camden, Maine at Pop!Tech.

www.flickr.com

This year, the three-day big-ideas bonanza traverses "The Human Impact," digging deep into "some of the many ways human beings impact - and are impacted by - the world and each other." A rich and diverse group of speakers discusses each topic, from exploring the core source of ideas to the implementations and actual realization of ideas, and ultimately, how new and novel ideas and bottom-up thinking can and will change the world we live in.

Topics include the health of the world's oceans, mapping emotions, the pursuit of happiness, plus remarkable social innovations in lighting, health care and sustainable cities (in China!).

As "house artist", I am perched in the box seat (stage left) working in a mobile painting studio, and producing a painting for each presenter. You can see a Flickr slideshow fo the behind the scenes action here.

Most interesting, you can see real-time videos uploaded by participants using Nokia video phones here. Inclduing a tour of the secret Alphachimp Mobile Paint Studio set up in the Camden Opera House. see video >>

You can peruse all the videos being uploaded by the intriguing characters who make up the sudience and speakers at this incredible event here.

By far, the best on-line capture is being done by bloggers like Ethan Zuckerman.

Photographer Chris Jordan Says "Stats Ain't Cutting It"

clipped from www.treehugger.com Chris Jordan with an image depicting 8 million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees harvested in the US every month to make the paper for mail order catalogs. Coming atcha from Pop!Tech. Catch it live -- hundreds of brainiacs eagerly consuming world-changing ideas over three days in Camden, Maine. Seattle-based photographer and photographic artist Chris Jordan gave a great presentation today. He's vibrant, well-spoken and, despite saying all sorts of do-gooder stuff, still somehow comes across as cool. We think he rules and we've covered his stuff here and here, but let's give you a few highlights from his talk.

Or you can see his interview of the master of social probation--and candidate for president--Steven Cobert. see interview >>

Pop!Tech Live

clipped from www.core77.com This year, the three-day big-ideas bonanza will traverse "The Human Impact," digging deep into "some of the many ways human beings impact - and are impacted by - the world and each other." A rich and diverse group of speakers will discuss the topic, from exploring the core source of ideas to the implementations and actual realization of ideas, and ultimately, how new and novel ideas and bottom-up thinking can and will change the world we live in. We'll be tapping our keys furiously alongside other live-blogging sites BoingBoing, TreeHugger, NextBillion, and AM Global, with international coverage in native languages by Tiagodoria (Portuguese), Jacky Peng (Chinese), Medeamaterial (Spanish), Global Voices Online (Arabic), This Iranian American Life (Farsi), and Jikimboe (Swahili). On top of blog coverage-o-plenty, you can sign up to watch and participate in Pop!Tech, streaming live, wherever you are, hanging out in your underwear, given you have a decent connection.

Coaching the Alpha Male

By Kate Ludeman & Eddie Erlandson | May 1, 2004

The best treatise on taming the successful, chest-beating leader we all love to fear!

clipped from harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu Highly intelligent, confident, and successful, alpha males represent about 70% of all senior executives. Natural leaders, they willingly take on levels of responsibility most rational people would find overwhelming. But many of their quintessential strengths can also make alphas difficult to work with. Their self-confidence can appear domineering. Their high expectations can make them excessively critical. Their unemotional style can keep them from inspiring their teams. That's why alphas need coaching to broaden their interpersonal tool kits while preserving their strengths. Drawing from their experience coaching more than 1,000 senior executives, the authors outline an approach tailored specifically for the alpha. Coaches get the alpha's attention by inundating him with data from 360-degree feedback presented in ways he will find compelling.Such an assessment is a wake-up call for most alphas, providing undeniable proof that their behavior doesn't work nearly as well as they think it does. That paves the way for a genuine commitment to change. To change, the alpha must admit vulnerability, accept accountability not just for his own work but for others', connect with his underlying emotions, learn to motivate through a balance of criticism and validation, and become aware of unproductive behavior patterns. The goal of executive coaching is not simply to treat the alpha as an individual problem, but to improve the entire team dynamic.

Freelancers Need Universal Health Care Too

Words By Daniel Brook | Illustrations By Ted McGrath

clipped from www.goodmagazine.com As heartening as it is to see universal health care back on the national agenda, it’s puzzling that when the presidential candidates talk about their health-care proposals, they only talk about poor kids and Wal-Mart workers. This doesn’t square with my experience of the health-care crisis. I know plenty of people who are sweating health-care coverage. None of them are poor kids. And they don’t work at Wal-Mart. The people I know who are worried sick about coverage work for themselves, many in creative fields. Most of these freelancers and entrepreneurs are in the cross hairs of our health-care crisis—and you wouldn’t know it from watching the presidential campaign. As a freelance writer, I buy my own insurance. My premium went up 25 percent this year and I didn’t even get the pleasure of taking up smoking or skydiving. FULL ARTICLE >>

The Selfless Gene

by Olivia Judson | October 2007 | Atlantic Monthly

It’s easy to see how evolution can account for the dark streaks in human nature—the violence, treachery, and cruelty. But how does it produce kindness, generosity, and heroism?

(This is a nice call-and-response to Richard Dawkins' 1976 book on adaptation and natural selection, The Selfish Gene.)

clipped from www.theatlantic.com How does a propensity for self-sacrifice evolve? And what about the myriad lesser acts of daily kindness—helping a little old lady across the street, giving up a seat on the subway, returning a wallet that’s been lost? Are these impulses as primal as ferocity, lust, and greed? Or are they just a thin veneer over a savage nature? Answers come from creatures as diverse as amoebas and baboons, but the story starts in the county of Kent, in southern England.

MissingLink: Beyond an Event's Home Page

The browser-based software for graphic facilitators was profiled by MeetingSource (http://www.meetingsource.com), a website for meeting planners to search for tools, destinations, facilities, and industry events.

clipped from travmar.com “Everybody remembers how they felt during the meeting, but the actual content is often lost,” said Peter Durand, Alphachimp Studio of Pittsburgh. "I said in frustration that there has to be an easy way to use browser based software to document what is going on at events and capture the inspiration.” Enter Jason Simmons at gradientlabs.com of Pittsburgh, a software developer with experience in building online applications. The result is MissingLink. This browser-based software allows you to manage events; organize breakout teams; track participant profile information; and upload content like images, files, white boards, flip charts, audio-visual and even video. “We were not able to find anything like this," Durand said, "so we have been building this over the last two years. At the very least it gives that one spot where everyone can find what they are looking for.”

Alphachimp is a Katalyst!

Alphachimp graphic facilitator, Jim Nuttle, got a great shout out from speaker, author and agent for social change, Kevin Carroll.

clipped from www.kevincarrollkatalyst.com Novel Graphics October 09, 2007 | Posted by KC These amazing drawings of my presentation were done by a graphic facilitator, Jim Nuttle from Alphachimp Studio, Inc. He was a member of a team of artists who captured the entire Nursing Leadership Congress (in Chicago, IL) sponsored by McKesson Corporation, via illustration. Jim & the Alphachimp team created a wonderful way for the attendees to view their work/ideas in a much more dynamic manner - much better than reviewing "traditional" meeting notes. What an ARTIST! (Thanks for getting my "right" side too, Jim!) What's your Red Rubber Ball?!

Anthropologists help U.S. Army in Afghanistan and Iraq

By David Rohde | Published: October 4, 2007

clipped from www.iht.com SHABAK VALLEY, Afghanistan: In this isolated Taliban stronghold in eastern Afghanistan, American paratroopers are fielding what they consider a crucial new weapon in counterinsurgency operations here: a demure civilian anthropologist named Tracy. Colonel Martin Schweitzer, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division unit working with anthropologists here, said the unit's combat operations had been reduced by 60 percent since the anthropologists arrived this spring. He said the focus had shifted from combat to improving security, health care and education for the population. Yet criticism is emerging in academia. Citing the past misuse of social sciences in counterinsurgency campaigns, some denounce the program as "mercenary anthropology" that exploits social science for political gain. Opponents fear that, whatever their intention, the scholars who work with the military could inadvertently cause all anthropologists to be viewed as intelligence gatherers for the U.S. military.