Graphic recording and facilitation united at IAF Oceania conference

​Ten graphic recorders, three days, one conference, over 25 charts created, buckets of learning, and countless connections! Massive wins for all of us at the recent IAF Oceania conference.

Our partnership with IAF Oceania

Here at GRA, we really take to heart the well-known African proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go further, go together“. Big problems need big groups of people to align together, come up with solutions together, communicate those solutions together, and get on with it together. 

Strategic partnerships are really important to us, and what better partnership can you have than between graphic recorders and facilitators? All of us are invested in this game of collective intelligence and collective action, which is why we are absolutely stoked to partner with the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Oceania, for more combined positive impact. 

Our partnership is thanks to IAF Oceania Deputy Chair David Spark, seen here with a visual summary from Hannah Robert on-screen

IAF Oceania conference 2026

IAF Oceania very generously invited GRA to the recent IAF Oceania conference in Geelong as a collective of individuals to capture as many of the sessions as possible as visual summaries, share them with the speakers and attendees, and make as many connections as we could.

We had a booth where we displayed the profiles of the GRA members present, as well as our growing collection of visual summaries, plus a visual activation area. Between the booth and the activation area, we had tons of great conversations with people about combining graphic recording and facilitation.

Lollygagging at our booth, with (left to right) GRA Members Amanda Schreyer, Cindy Mai and Debbie Wood

Of course, we also got to sit in on so many amazing sessions, and learn heaps from the best in the field about facilitation mindset, skillset and methods.

Huge benefits for everyone

As well as a massive learning dose, every GRA member got to show the benefits of graphic recording in action, which is the best way for attendees to be inspired about how we can work together.

GRA Treasurer Matt Magain and one of the session facilitators talk through Matt’s capture of a session

Most of the session facilitators didn’t know their sessions were going to be captured, so it came as a huge positive surprise to them. Some had worked with GRs before, some hadn’t, but it meant so much to all of them to have a visual record of their sessions.

Selfies galore! GRA Member Amanda Schreyer with the hosts of the session she had just captured

Another massive win was the opportunity to learn from one another. Graphic recording can be a pretty solitary game, and it’s so rare that we actually get to see others draw, and get a window into their thinking and process.

We made sure that we all had opportunities to mentor and shadow one another, ask each other about our process and thinking, and to get feedback on each others’ work (especially between Associate Members and Professional Members).

GRA Members Esmeralda Hendrix and Sally Mazák sharing wisdom, methods, and lols

We all had great conversations that raised awareness and appetite for bringing graphic recording and facilitation together:

Business cards were exchanged! LinkedIn connections were made! And it’s safe to say that nobody left that conference without knowing how to tap into the combined power of facilitation and graphic recording.

The IAF Oceania conference organisers were super generous in giving our visual summaries lots of air-time during plenary sessions (this visual summary by GRA Member Lucinda Gifford)

Join us at the PCOA conference!

​If this sounds like the kind of action you want to be part of, good news! We’re doing it again soon.

The Professional Conference Organisers Association (PCOA) have kindly invited us to their annual conference. This is another fantastic opportunity for you, dear GRA member, to join us as part of another GRA posse at this conference:

  • Scribe as many sessions as you want
  • Learn from other GRA members, shadow them as the scribe, and/or get feedback on your own work
  • Promote your biz, give out your business cards, and network to your heart’s content
  • Hang out and have fun with your fellow GRAng, both at the conference, and at our house in the evening

Funnily enough, it’s in Geelong too, on 7-8 December 2026. If you want to know more, and/or join us, contact us here and let us know, or email Deb on hello@debbiewood.com.au.

The more, the merrier!

Thank yous

Huge thank you to our VP Debbie Wood, who drove this whole caper (and who drove all our gear to Geelong and back!), revved us all up, and kept our vibe going before, during and after the conference!

And a massive thank you and awkwardly-long bear hug to IAF Oceania Deputy Chair David Harry Spark, for driving the partnership at the IAF Oceania end, and being so generous to us and our presence at their conference. As we talked about during the conference, this is just the beginning!

Also big ups to our members who came along and contributed their drawing skills and their sense of community and collaboration:

Here are just some of the visual summaries captured, for you to get a feel for the amazing sessions given and insights learned (by Debbie Wood, Cat Drysdale, Lucinda Gifford and Ben Crothers):

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