The Biggest Ideas of 2017

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A Moment of Reflection: Graphic Recording Highlights of 2017

As graphic recorders, the team at ImageThink has a window into industries and events to which we might otherwise have no access. We feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to support some of the most influential events of 2017, around the world and across industries. 

As we get ready to welcome 2018, we wanted to take a moment to review some of our favorite engagements from this past year; events where our graphic recording generated buzz, captured key insights, and kept attendees engaged with inspiring themes and concepts. Here are just a few:

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ImageThink graphic recorders Nora Herting and Derrick Dent facilitated discussion at Cannes Lions Health, 2017.

Cannes Lions Health

Since 1954, Cannes Lions has been a platform for thought leaders to embrace creativity, and sow the seeds of the next big thing in their industry. This June, ImageThink partnered with Cannes Lions Health to host an interactive Unconference Zone exploring the impact of cognitive computing on the healthcare industry.

Over two days, used we graphic facilitation to help participants uncover key themes, to ignite meaningful discussion, and to capture tangible insights that popped off the page.  

The event culminated with the Visual Thinking in HealthCare workshop lead by ImageThink co-founder Nora Herting and graphic recorder Derrick Dent. Attendees learned to use simple visuals to collaborate, create visual stories, communicate, and brainstorm.

Not to mention some pretty nice beaches, too!

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ImageThink co-founder and principal Heather Willems led a session on visual thinking at the Texas Conference for Women.

Texas Conference for Women

The Texas Conference for Women provides connection, motivation, networking, inspiration and skill building for thousands of Texas women each year. Keynote speakers this year included Anita Hill, Sheryl Sandberg and Viola Davis with the mission to promote, communicate and amplify the influence of women in the workplace and beyond.

ImageThink principal and co-founder Heather Willems spoke and lead a workshop showcasing how visual thinking can be an effective leadership tool. Pulling concepts from her and ImageThink co-founder Nora Herting’s book Draw Your Big Idea, Heather led participants through exercises to unleash creative problem solving, overcome barriers, and turn ideas into action… all by simply picking up a pen. 

 Afterward, she met with conference attendees in the book signing space, where she answered more questions about how to use the templates and visual frameworks in Draw Your Big Idea to brainstorm and problem solve.

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The ImageThink team strikes a pose at Pencil’s fall gala.

Pencil Gala 2017

Pencil works to create intersections between business and education for students in New York City public schools by offering tailored student centered collaborative sessions, as well as internship programs. 

Volunteer support and charitable contributions are absolutely critical, and Pencil’s yearly gala is their way of sharing the stories of the students who benefitted from their effort, to inspire attendees to join in the mission to make sure students reach their full potential.

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One of several table-top infographics, featuring student and teacher stories.

ImageThink collaborated with Pencil to bring these stories to life, in the form of engaging time lapse videosinfographics that adorned the tables at the gala, and large scale murals that activated the event space, making the history and impact of Pencil and their Principal for a Day program larger than life.

The end result was an engaging experience, with voices of former students amplified, and Pencil’s story clearly illustrated for guests at the Gotham Hall venue. The ImageThink team was honored to not only provide visuals for the event, but also attend and hear firsthand how the stories we visualized impacted the people closest to them. 

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We asked attendees what inspired them to build their website and tweeted their answers back out to them igniting conversation at the WordPress booth and online.

Netroots Nation

Netroots Nation is a leading conference for progressives that has been active for over a decade. As a forum for free speech, WordPress brought ImageThink into their booth to ask conference attendees to describe their vision of a more accepting, positive online community; as well as capturing inspiring keynote sessions that explored disability within the progressive movement, and the importance of increasing the presence of women in politics.

The social listening mural we created sparked meaningful conversation at the WordPress booth, and online in the WordPress social community. It was inspiring to see such a large online presence dedicated to social good, and wonderful to have supported it.

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Heather Willems graphic records panelists at Constellation Connected 2017.

Constellation’s Connected Enterprise

Constellation Connected is the innovation summit for leaders in the AI and digital experience world. For the past 6 years, ImageThink has partnered with Constellation to capture the biggest concepts from an event with ideas of inestimable impact on our world. Constellation is unique in its egalitarian nature, where nearly every attendee is also a speaker. Combined with ImageThink’s graphic recording, the impact is an atmosphere of creative exploration, collaboration, and inspired energy.

Headliners included Kim Scott, author of best seller book Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity.

Mark Tempest, the magician who uses tech like AI and Drones to create illusions and has captivated audiences at TEDGlobal and World Economic Forum.

And Tricia Wang, a global technology ethnographer and co-founder of Sudden Compass, a consultancy that helps companies understand people with data.

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Our graphic recording covered the walls of IBM’s booth at Oracle Open World.

Oracle OpenWorld

This fall, ImageThink supported IBM’s booth at Oracle OpenWorld, an event exploring the power and impact of cloud systems for business organizations.

Our mission- to help communicate the benefits of IBM’s cognitive capabilities, as well as the transformative potential for cloud technology in an enterprise setting. Using colorful, engaging graphics, we captured key insights from both flash presentations and trade show floor attendees. The visual summaries were displayed in a gallery adjacent to the presentation space, drawing attendees into the IBM space and encouraging engagement with the IBM staff.

Our social listening images were perfect for the booth’s social media team, and the images during the 3 day conference are still being used in IBM’s Oracle consulting blog.

ImageThink graphic recording from Million Dollar Women Summit.
Key insights from Million Dollar Women, captured in graphic recording.

Million Dollar Women Summit

Founded by Julia Pimsleur, The Million Dollar Women Summit brought together 150 women entrepreneurs, 25 female founder coaches, and 5 compelling panelists, all with one mission: to help bring one million women to one million dollars in revenue by 2020.

Not only did Heather Willems speak on a panel but ImageThink was also there to capture the kickoff remarks and the summit’s opening keynote, illuminating the big ideas from some of the most innovative minds in entrepreneurship.

Learn more about Julia Pimsleur’s mission in her book, Million Dollar Women. (Illustration by Heather Willems.)

Want to learn more about how ImageThink can bring excitement and impact to your 2018 events? Our team is ready to keep you top of mind, and ahead of the curve, with our conference services.

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