I’m going to be doing graphic recording for a Youth Suicide Prevention Community Forum, put on by NEED Crisis Line and UVic’s School of Child and Youth Care tonight. I thought I’d share my preparation process as a blog post, and then I can share the post-event process and the images. Doing this blog post gives you an idea of what I do for community forums like this, and helps me form a journal of my work.

Youth suicide prevention is such a moving topic; it’s almost hard to delve in deeper here because of the sadness surrounding the stories and reports. That’s why it’s so important that events like this happen, and as a graphic recorder I’m hoping my work will help the community come together in support of strategies that will help prevent more tragedies.

The event organizers (key staff from NEED) invited me to a meeting last week, where we discussed the meeting format. They have 2.5 hours and will be having a panel presentation and then a World Cafe-style discussion. I provided input for the World Cafe table questions, based on my background as a facilitator. In a nutshell, having a really clear idea of what information you want to get out of a community consultation is very important: if you’re not clear on what you want, you can get a lot of information but no knowledge. As a group we discussed how the questions would elicit useful knowledge for the organizers in their next steps.

Today is my preparation time. I have read the websites of a variety of involved organizations, and reviewed reports on the topic. I went through my Neuland Bikablo and put paper-clips on pages that have images that might come in handy. I’ve also done a walk-through of other graphic recording images online to see how other people have recorded topics related to mental health, and World Cafe work. After about 30 minutes of reviewing other people’s work, I force myself to stop and focus on what I’m going to be doing.

I’ve made a list of keywords that I can expect to come up during the session, and through my research I’ve learned that last year there was a World Suicide Prevention Day, and one of the images used in the materials supporting that day was “kites.” So I have been drawing a variety of kites and thinking about how I can use a kite as a “grounding theme” around which to record the information. I used my big 4×8′ whiteboard to test a few layouts in full size, and I know how I’m going to capture the World Cafe report-backs… or at least I have a loose concept in mind. I’ve also got some of those keywords drawn out in various types of lettering, and I’m putting together a “scratch page” where I’ve drawn a variety of icons, configurations of people-shapes, etc. which I can use as a crib sheet when I’m recording. Usually I don’t actually refer to these crib pages when I’m working, but it helps me to know that I’ve drawn these things at least once before so I can relax in the moment.

I know that the panel presentation has three speakers, each answering a key question from their own perspective. I have yet to settle on a strategy for how I’m going to record that presentation – I need to get one before I go in there, because it will be the first thing on the agenda and I may get the jitters when I first get up to the drawing board in front of all those people (almost 50 people have registered). I may plan to use a mandala with each speaker’s identity at the centre, and overlap the mandalas on the page… or I could do something that ties together common themes across what each person has said. Must think more about that.

My last step in preparation will be to go over the agenda carefully and note where I’m going to be moving a chart paper from my working space to another space. I think I’ll be working on a blackboard across the front of the room, so there should be space for about 3 charts to be up at the same time. I’ll also note on the agenda where there will be times that I’m just listening and gathering ideas, and when I can expect to be really bombarded with information to record. If this was going to be a longer event, I might even pencil in bathroom breaks and when to remember to drink water!

I have to re-assemble my recording kit because I’ve been snatching supplies from it for a variety of other projects. I like to know I have everything I need right in my kit. I have to test all the markers in that kit to make sure I’m not carrying around dead markers.

At our Visualocity meeting last night, Lisa (Get the Picture) mentioned another graphic facilitator who always includes the cost of markers and a roll of paper in her quotes for clients, and she leaves the markers and leftover paper with the client. That is a BRILLIANT idea which I intend to implement with my very next client, because worrying about whether my markers are fresh is just another distraction that I don’t need; also, leaving the markers and paper will encourage clients to take the pen into their own hands and use visuals in the future meetings.