Tonight I'm trying to figure out some workshop exercises to help thinkers get out of their ruts. Sometimes using visualization - forcing people into the creative side of their brain - results in the flow of new ideas.
So, using my past employer, The Nature Conservancy, as a model, I hand drew a "community" of people and organizations who care about preserving the ecosystem. It included cute little cartoonish hunters, hikers, teachers, etc.
My work of art really wasn't that skillfully drawn. First, I don't have time for that tonight. Second, I didn't want to scare my attendees away from the project by giving them something to live up to. But, from my years of experience teaching art, I realized that even my goofy cartoons were going to intimidate some folks. So, I went off in search of a mapping tool that would quickly let me draw boxes to label, instead of the actual characters.
I found bubbl.us, a free mapping tool. It's fun. The address is www.bubbl.us. Here's the map I made for my workshop. If I'd had more time tonight, I would have monkeyed with shapes and colors.
Very cool! Try it. It's free.
