An interesting workshop offered by Sarah Clark of Clear Thinking – Clear Communication:

Visual language and graphic facilitation

Maison de la Communication, Lausanne, Wednesday 29 & Thursday 30 January 2014

An introduction to the techniques of using hand-drawn visuals in a range of professional contexts, including group facilitation, coaching and training.

You will learn the basics of visual language and how to use a mix of simple drawings, colour, words and metaphors to develop and share ideas, record presentations and meetings, and engage and energize groups.

Thinking that you can draw is absolutely not a prerequisite— if the techniques interest you and you’re prepared to experiment, please join us. We will spend a large proportion of the time each day practising and sharing within the group.

Engage both your right and your left brain and have fun!

Details are attached. Space is limited, so reserve your place now! The deadline for registration is 6 January.

Summary agenda
Day 1
§ The power of visual thinking
§ Materials — markers, paper, pastels
§ Basics of visual language
Lettering
Basic icons
Simple solutions for representing people
Connectors and graphic organizers
§ Colour
§ Preparing for a visual meeting
§ Individual projects

Day 2
§ Organizing visual space
Different formats, different functions
Visual metaphors
Working with templates
§ Communicating visually
Creating a visual vocabulary
Listening and recording: words to pictures
Presentations and training
Working one on one
§ Individual projects

Cost: CHF 690 for two days

View the flyer (pdf)>>

Contact: sarah@clearthinking-clearcommunication.ch

World Usability Day will take place on Thursday 14 November this year.- Telono,  a Geneva-based usability consultancy,  is organising an event on this day.

The event will take place on Thursday 14 November at 5.30pm at Swissôtel Métropole in Geneva.

This year, it will be focusing on usability and user experience in healthcare, with the following presentations:

Rolf Wipfli, PhD (Geneva University Hospitals): “Usability in the Hospital”
Virginia Lang, PhD (HirLan): “User Centered Participatory Design and Medical Devices: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”
Florian Egger, PhD (Telono): “Mapping the User Experience of Smart Blood Pressure Monitors: International Findings from the User Experience Alliance (UXa)
The presentations will be followed by our traditional networking apéro, sponsored by Telono, a Geneva-based user experience research and design agency.

Register & join!
The event is FREE but places are limited. Please register via the link below:
http://www.telono.com/en/about/world-usability-day-2013/

Andrew Johnston is holding a worskhop on writing for international organisations on 25 November 2013 in Geneva:

This workshop is designed to help you transform documents into lively
narratives that engage, inform and convince the non-specialist reader.
It is aimed at communications staff, researchers and others who write for
international organisations.

The workshop covers a wide range of writing situations, from reports and press
releases to web pages and social media. It includes hands-on editing practice.
The group is limited to 15 people to give all participants a chance to share their
needs, questions and experiences.

More details and registration information (pdf) >>

  The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies invites the public to come discover their new home – at the Maison de la paix on Saturday 5 and Saturday 19 October.

A presentation of the building, designed by Eric Ott, from IPAS in Neuchatel, will take place from 11:00 to 14:00. A guided tour of the library will be held at 12:00 and 15:00.

The public will be able to tour the building and view the commissioned art works by Peter Kogler, Monika Sosnowska, and Franz Gertsch.

More information>>

The CDAC Network is  organising its first ‘101’ Seminar outside of the UK on Lifeline Communications for Emergencies. The seminar will be led by BBC Media Action’s Jacqueline Dalton (Senior Humanitarian Producer) and Robert Powell (Senior Adviser for Resilience and Humanitarian Response) and is being hosted in Geneva by the ICRC.

The Lifeline Communications for Emergencies seminar will cover how to share information effectively with crisis-affected people, including a particular emphasis on working with the media to achieve this. Among other challenges, attendees will be invited to develop a communications strategy and produce a short radio bulletin for an imaginary crisis-affected audience. The seminar will be of particular benefit to emergency operations managers who are keen to find ways of delivering  the most appropriate aid faster, more effectively and more securely to those who need it most.

For more information regarding directions to the venue, please click here. 

If you have any further questions, please contact: Philippe Marc Stoll, Tel: +41 22 730 3140, Mobile: +41 79 536 92 49, Email: pstoll@icrc.org.

Visual language and graphic facilitation with Sarah Clark

Location: Maison de la Communication, Lausanne, Wednesday 18 & Thursday 19 September

• An introduction to the techniques of using hand-drawn visuals in a range of professional contexts, including group facilitation, coaching and training.
• You will learn the basics of visual language and how to use a mix of simple drawings, colour, words and metaphors to develop and share ideas, record presentations and meetings, and engage and energize groups.|
• Thinking that you can draw is absolutely not a prerequisite— if the techniques interest you and you’re prepared to experiment, please join us. We will spend a large proportion of the time each day practising and sharing within the group.

Engage both your right and your left brain and have fun!

Space is limited, so reserve your place now!  Further information (pdf)>>

AidEx is a leading international humanitarian and development aid event held annually in Brussels, which brings together the many crucial organisations working in aid delivery, to discuss the efficient and sustainable delivery of aid. Whilst the number and scale of crises has increased – budgets for humanitarian aid sector are shrinking – resulting in traditional donors opening up to the commercial world, seeking new partnerships and assistance from business.

AidEx includes a conference, exhibition and programme of practical workshops to help professionals within the community. Over 2,000 professionals from the aid community sector will network with peers and engage directly with more than 200 suppliers of essential equipment and services for humanitarian disaster relief and longer-term development aid.

AidEx is free to attend, on both days. To receive a free entry badge to the event, please register at http://www.aid-expo.com/en/registration.aspx