Hello to our wonderful clients and friends. I wanted to check in on you to see how you were faring in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. I've had multiple conversations over the past week with many of you, and I know that things seem pretty bleak in all sectors, but especially for those of us whose livelihoods are tied to running events of any kind.

I received a text message this morning from a fellow business owner whose company has had to cancel all of the events that they had planned over the next two months (their entire income for that period), plus he let five staff go this morning. 

The impact is unprecedented. But we're refusing to let this dampen our spirits! So I wanted to reach out and share some positive vibes as well as a resource that you might find helpful.

Firstly, I wanted to say that we're here for you. If you’re struggling, please reach out, by phone or via email. If there’s absolutely anything we can do to help. It could be:

• guidance on how to respond to what’s going on
• advice on moving your event online
• anything business or communications related. Or you're just feeling overwhelmed and want to chat. We’re here to help.

The resource I wanted to share is from a good friend and mentor of mine, Mark Dobson. It’s a video series on how to be more productive when working at home. Mark’s been a huge help with my business over the past few years. He really knows his stuff and is a total class act. He’s made these videos completely free in response to the fact that so many people are having to transition to working from home.

• The Micro Library: Skills of Working from Home

​They’re short videos—around 6 minutes—so not a massive time investment but there are some really good tips in there, so I encourage you to check them out.

​I actually took the first video from this series and created a sketchnote of it. I may create sketchnotes of the rest of his videos if people find them useful. 

That’s it. Be safe, and stay positive. These are challenging times, but business and communications are challenging at the best of times. You can do this! Take care of yourself and your family.

As the novel coronavirus brings the world to its knees, we're seeing many of our clients be impacted. It seems no industry is immune, but the events industry in particular is suffering—conferences, workshops, and other large gatherings of people are being forced to cancel, which is devastating for event organisers, speakers, and attendees. Perhaps it's affected your company as well? 

If you're planning an event and it's looking like you may be forced to cancel, you may want to consider hosting a virtual event instead. Tools like Zoom and WebEx have made videoconferencing much more affordable and accessible than it used to be, and there are plenty of steps you can take to ensure your virtual event is successful (see 8 Tips To Host Live Online Training Events).

There's one more tip that I'd like to suggest: engage a remote scribe.

Remote scribing works much the same as having a graphic recorder there in the room—we'll live sketch the conversation as we hear it, using an iPad or similar device, which can be projected in the room (if you have any local attendees) or shared in real time with virtual attendees.

The same benefits apply as if your graphic recorder was on site—real-time visuals spark new ideas, attendees are more engaged, and you're left with a colourful, rich record of the conversation. But it can happen from anywhere! As long as you have an internet connection, there's no reason why your event can't continue as planned, with attendees located across the country, or around the world.

If you'd like to hear more about how remote scribing can help make your virtual event a success, whether it's for an entire day, or just a one-hour meeting, shoot us an email or call us on 1300 SKETCH.