What you need to know 

This section contains important information about what is expected of facilitators, what facilitators should expect from VizThink as well as details of what makes a good VizThink session. We highly recommend that you review this content in detail prior to designing your session.  We look forward to seeing you in person at the conference!

What is the Event Location & Schedule?

• Crowne Plaza - Berlin, Germany
• Opening Reception (Evening of October 12)
• 2 day conference (October 13-14)
• Facilitators will be assigned a specific time slot by the VizThink Conference Team.
• Breakout sessions are 20, 40 or 90 minutes in duration. The length of each session will be determined by the VizThink Conference team based on the type of content, type of delivery, and mix with other sessions.
• Selected facilitators are expected to attend and participate in the entire conference including the opening reception.

What Do You Mean By Facilitator?

The term facilitator was chosen intentionally. Unlike other conferences, we want our sessions to practice the ideas that they are talking about through hands on activities, discussions, and practical examples. Running sessions like these require active facilitation not presentation. We would expect that at least 1/3 if not all of a session be dedicated to hands on practice, discussion, and examples rather than lecture or theory.

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Who is the Target Audience?

VizThink brings together a wide variety of people from across the globe who all believe in the power of using visuals for learning and communication. Some people are artists and some are business people. They come from a wide ranging set of backgrounds, disciplines, and levels of experience. This conference is for anyone involved in visual thinking regardless of...

• Actual job title.
• The tasks they perform.
• Whether they work in a corporate, government, academic, or independent setting.
• The visual style or application they are using or developing.
• The scope of responsibilities – whether as a specialist or a generalist.

The program of this conference targets the tools, technologies, techniques, and strategies for developing and implementing visual thinking regardless of the context in which they are applied. The simple fact that professionals attend from all the various groups listed above ensures that there is a robust flow of information and rich cross-fertilization of ideas across industry and functional boundaries.

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Are There Any Special Considerations For The Content?

• Sessions with practical, proven solutions are of special interest.
• Sessions that include real world examples and applied, hands-on activities will be given special preference.
• Sessions that address intermediate and advanced levels will get extra consideration.
• Absolutely NO marketing or self-promotion is allowed. Sessions must be educational and information in content.
• All proposals will be considered by a team of experts for inclusion in the program.

Conference ideas should include:

• Educational value
• Uniqueness to the program
• Appropriateness to the conference audience
• Use of visualization
• Use of real world examples and hands-on practice
• Appropriate level of content
• Facilitation skill and experience (i.e. does the speaker have the expertise, experience, etc. on the topic.)

What are Some Example Sessions Topics?

• Sessions should address the needs of beginning or experienced visual thinking professionals.
• Sessions should focus on the practical application of tools, technologies, strategies, and techniques.
• Be specific.
• General topics like “What is a mind map?” are too broad.

Sample topics could be:

• The Pros and Cons of 3D and Virtual Environments for Visualization
• 10 Tips for Creating Effective Charts and Graphs
• Implementing Visual Thinking in Your Organization
• How to Critique Your Own Work
• Mind Mapping Rules and When to Break Them
• The Disappearing User Interface: Real Usability
• Designing and Delivering Presentations with Lasting Impact
• Telling Stories with Comics
• Introduction to Drawing
• Choosing Art Styles: from Rough Sketches to 3D
• Debate: Will we ever achieve a single, global, visual language?
• Panel: Life in the Real World - Stories from the Front Lines of Graphic Facilitation
• Post Mortem: How My Project Failed in 5 Easy Steps and What I Learned
• Gathering Empirical Results from Visual Intermediations

More ideas from a previous conference can be seen from VizThink '08 on that conference's wiki page .

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Are Facilitators Compensated?

• One free event registration is provided for a session.
• All registrations include conference materials, access to post event site, conference meals, conference receptions and networking activities.
• This free registration is given to the main facilitator (#1) only.
• Co-facilitators or panelists receive a discounted conference fee.
• This discount can NOT be combined with any other discounts.
• Registrations cannot be shared or split.
• Co-facilitators must be identified at the time of submission and must pay the discounted fee.
• Registration fee MUST be paid 60 days in advance of the event in order to receive the discount.
• Co-facilitators cannot just present for their session and waive the fee.
• Facilitators, if any, who are selected to conduct more than one session are given one free registration in total.
• Pre-conference workshops are not included as part of the free registration. Facilitators not conducting a pre-conference workshop must pay the full fee to attend.
• Other co-located events are not included as part of speaker free or reduced registration. You must pay any associated fees for these activities.
• No stipends or reimbursement for expenses are provided. Facilitators must pay for their own travel and hotel expenses.

How Will the Rooms Be Setup and What Materials Will Be Provided?

• All rooms will be set up in round tables with 8 to 10 people at each table
• Each table will have a variety of supplies such as sticky notes, markers, colored pencils, index cards, and a variety of other writing utensils and materials.
• All rooms will have at least 1 flipchart
• Most rooms will have a projector and screen
• If you need other supplies, you must check with us in advance or bring them yourself. We may not be able to provide certain supplies.
• Facilitators must provide their own laptop/computer and any software to run their presentation.
• If you are accessing the Internet in your session, you must provide your own wireless card.