The National Fund for Workforce Solutions invests in a dynamic national network to advance a demand-driven, evidence-based approach to workforce development. We first worked with them in 2019, creating visual notes in-person for their kickoff event in systems change for advancing workforce equity in a number of communities around the country.

The Problem: Keeping Audiences Engaged

So often people attend conferences and events, take notes, and then never look at those notes again. Not so with visual notes. National Fund found the visual notes had lasting power–all their offices took the physical notes from the 2019 event and put them up in their offices, which they found useful as they continued to work on these long-term initiatives.

Elicia Wilson, the Chief Operating Officer at National Fund, noted: “Who’s gonna go back and review 3 hours of recordings? Working with you all was the perfect balance of being able to carry the work forward, and look back at the work that we’ve already achieved.”

The Solution: Visualizing Complex Ideas with Virtual Visual Notes

When the world went virtual in 2020, National Fund found the virtual visual notes even more useful than the in-person ones. In the virtual world, staring at a screen of talking heads can get old fast, and they found that visual notes were a fantastic way to re-engage audiences with their content–especially complex content. 

“The fact that Ink Factory can actually show visually these concepts is what keeps us coming back.”

Elicia Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at National Fund for Workforce Solutions

Changing systems, systems thinking, racial equity and inclusion are all complex and abstract concepts – something visual notes are perfect for illuminating. Our artists listen to the dialog and key concepts present in any discussion and create visual metaphors that bring ideas into a more tangible form. When your audience can see your ideas, they’ll remember them for longer, and understand them better, too.

The Bonus: Long-Lasting Impact

National Fund for Workforce Solutions demonstrates the staying power of visual notes for post-event marketing and communications. Lisa Chensvold, Marketing and Communications Director at National Fund for Workforce Solutions, had this to say about the visual notes:

“The Ink Factory images were a great way to showcase the progress and results of our Advancing Workforce Equity project. Ink Factory documented the start of the project in June 2019 and returned for the release of the final reports at an event on Jan. 26, 2021 that drew approximately 1000 participants over the course of the day, about two-thirds of whom were new audience members to us, so we were really able to grow our audience and mailing list!”

One of the most common questions our artists get asked during live events is where they can access the final visual notes after the event. National Fund was on top of things–they published the final visual notes on their website, for event attendees to easily find, in addition to distributing the visual notes via a newsletter.

They also cleverly incorporated visual notes from previous into their event presentation slides (to be shown in between sessions), to remind people of what was discussed in past sessions.

They leveraged one of the visual notes we created as cover artwork for a report on their website. And, they even created a time-lapse video of the in-person visual notes we created in 2019.

“Seeing a visual record of how our work evolved from beginning to end, as documented by Ink Factory, is a powerful artifact and valuable tool that can live on and be repurposed over time.”

Lisa Chensvold, Marketing and Communications Director