A week spent in Dubai was full of listening, intense thinking, drawing, creative collaboration, authentic clients, smart people, and—not to mention—very tall buildings and two very long plane rides.

Bringing a team together is always fun, but bringing them halfway around the world couldn't have been complete without Alicia Bramlett, Alece Birnbach, and Bug Fawcett. I assembled this team based on their experience at rapid-fire recording, collaboration and knowledge of wall builds, and "meshy" personalities. I knew we would work well together, and have some great fun along the way.

We dug getting creative for the YPO Edge 2016. For two days, 2000 participants stretched their thinking around conservation, geopolitics, terrorism, human trafficking, space travel, personalized medicine, and quantum physics in over 27 sessions. Along with the attendees, we filled our brains with great content, and translated them into visuals.

Our images were collected and displayed in the central Marketplace so attendees could take photos, review, and discuss what they heard. The buzz around the work was exciting and (at times) we could barely get through our space as everyone rushed to take photos during breaks.

Alongside the graphic recordings, we engaged the group in a Collaboration Wall. The 8' x 20' blank wall was itching to be filled with insights around three questions: - Which EDGE speaker inspired you most? - What vision would you like see become a reality? - What mis-perception would you change in the world?

We started with...

Some of my favorite drawings that went up on the board tackled the future of our children, space travel, re-writing the rules, and making our own limits.

And after 3 full days, we had to have a little fun.

Visual experiences can change the tone of a workshop or event. They must align to the client objectives, and you must be prepared for a lot of work. It's not as simple as having a big blank wall. It takes time and effort to plan an experience that's engaging to the attendees and makes sense.