My CalSAE colleague Shelly Alcorn writes a great blog called Association Subculture. She recently posted a great “back of the napkin” story sketch about association membership. So I decided I needed to draw mine! (Click on the thumbnail to see a bigger image.) When I went to library school in the 90s I joined a [...]
Tag Archives: Community Building
Getting to the Core
As a facilitator, I have often worked with groups in the process of clarifying their common values. Inevitably, there is someone in the group who questions the value of this exercise. It is true that there are a lot of generic, meaningless values statements gathering dust in drawers across the nation. So how do we [...]
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A New Venue for Collaboration: Coworking
Since I began my journey into self-employment, I have been working out of our spare bedroom. While the ten-foot commute has certainly been convenient, it also has come with some unanticipated challenges. Time management and motivation has been one of the biggest issues for me. It is oh-so-easy to wander out of the office and [...]
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More toys!
I am a big believer in the power of play. Children aren’t the only ones who benefit – we all are able to learn and create more effectively when we approach our tasks in a spirit of playful inquiry. I frequently use graphic and manipulative tools with my clients – one group in particular has [...]
Business Lessons from Improv
I was really tickled to come across this list of Improv Tricks That Will Make You a Better Business Person. One of my declarations – “Don’t work at it, play with it!” – comes from the life lessons I’ve learned from years of studying, practicing, performing,and teaching improv. Stop for a moment and think of [...]
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Great Expectations
Whether or not we are satisfied with an experience or event depends a great deal upon what our expectations were ahead of time. If the experience meets or exceeds our expectations, we are happy; if it does not, we are disappointed. In my life and work with intentional communities, I have noticed that those who [...]
>Sketch Crawl
> Those of you who followed my Art Every Day doodles may be interested in Saturday’s world-wide Sketch Crawl! A bunch of folks going out to draw and then gathering afterward to share. (Kinda like a pub crawl but with less beer.) I joined folks in Santa Rosa, but you can look up your part [...]
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>DO Talk to Strangers
>I’ve been trying to spend time practicing drawing the things that I’m NOT good at (animals, vehicles) and less time drawing the things I’m pretty good at (people, buildings, household objects). Today, sitting in Peet’s Coffee looking out the window, I drew bicycles and cars. This led to a conversation with the gentleman sitting next [...]