You'd think people would look at a finished illustrated board and have some kind of binary response to it. Either they liked it, or they didn't. After all, it's just a board of drawings and illustrations with words there too for context.

You’d think they’d all, to a person, say things like, "Thanks, Wade! We're going to take this back to the team and action on the idea. We're going to post this somewhere!"

Or just, "Thanks, Wade," and that's it.

But no. It doesn't go that way at all.

In fact, even at the same event, there are typically three different kinds of people interacting with the completed art. And I've done this long enough to be able to spot the three groups. (There's a fourth group, too. We will get to them shortly.)

The First-Timer

Has never seen anything like it, and stops me mid-marker-pack-up. They’ll say something to the tune of, "Hold on. Let me get this straight. You were listening to all of that, drawing it, and pulling it together into this, all at the same time?"

Yes. That's the job. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

I get some version of that question in almost every room. And the First-Timer isn't looking for a humble answer or a breakdown of how it works. They just watched something they didn't think was possible, and they want to say so.

So I let them. I say thanks, and step out of the way.

They're the easiest person at the whole event. Nothing to prove, nobody to win over. Just someone who's happy, and generous enough to tell me.

The Checker

This person walks up to the finished product just a leeeeetle bit skeptical. They want to know everything on the board was actually said in that room, and that it represents their version of it.

So they scan it for something only they would know. Maybe an inside joke from that morning. Some line their team argued over that might have made it into the bigger canvas.

Then they find it and say something like, "Oh my gosh, you even drew the glass of wine that ended up in my lap." They smile and nod approvingly.

What they really were (and are) after is proof I was paying attention the whole time and that I understood what they were driving at. That I was listening. That they were heard. I absolutely love when this person comes to the board.

The Doer

This one barely talks to me. They come over on a break and just look. Then the next break, they come back and look some more, typically bringing a colleague or friend.

You can tell they've already got a plan forming. Where the board goes in the building, and who on the team needs to walk past it every day.

By the end of big event days or big conferences, everybody in the room is fried. Nine hours of sessions will do that. People want a beer, or some food, or their workout, or to get home to their kids. Nobody's in any shape to really study the wall right then.

So the illustrations and drawings will do real work later, and the Doer has already started. They can picture where it's going to go, and who needs to see it next. They are thinking about the thing after the thing.

These usually aren't even the people who booked me. They don't hold the budget or plan the events. They are the ones thinking about the rest of the team, the plans of action, seeing the path from drawing to doing.

The One Who Hasn't Seen It Yet

The first three groups are all standing in front of a finished board.

The fourth group hasn’t walked into any of these rooms yet, and hasn’t been part of live visual illustration of ideas, plans, initatives, problems and solutions. It's everybody who's never watched this happen, and by a wide margin it's the biggest group there is.

When these folks do reach for something they think is akin to the work, it’s almost always the same reference point.

"Oh, like the UPS guy who drew on the whiteboard." That commercial ran in 2007, and it's still the closest reference most people have to this kind of work. This guy →

And when this group ends up seeing the work for the first time, they often wonder how they can use it more, or even do this themselves.

Every group is exciting, maybe this one most of all because there are folks out there who might soon see it for the first time.

I love this work because I love working with, talking to, and drawing for every group. Each brings something new to the table, and each interacts with illustrations in a different way.

So, which one are you? If you're not sure, odds are you're still in that fourth group. Which just means the best part is still ahead.

Grateful you are here,

Wade

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