I just collaborated online with a cartooning buddy (Simon Kneebone) of mine using dim dim. I managed to communicate a complex story about a 2 year, community behaviour change project to Simon. My idea is to create a visual-report … less text and more pictures/cartoons to make the final evaluation report more readable, fun and effective. In dim dim, we had the use of a shared white board and could make edits to shared documents. Using pictures and by writing the occasional word, we were able to effectively “show” each other ideas, concepts and solutions. And all for FREE! One …

I have been looking for a way to collaborate with clients and colleagues over broadband so that audio, visual and document sharing is simple. Thanks to Dave Snowden … found a solution! Dim dim actually works. It is simple and effective. Web 2.0 applications like this one are even part of the climate change solution in terms of people needing to ‘always’ be in the same office. and like all great things on Web 2.0, it applies Open Source principles so it’s free. “Dimdim is a free web conferencing service where you can share your desktop, show slides, collaborate, chat, …

I have long been a fan of using mindmaps to think and capture ideas. As a facilitator I use mindmaps to create a visual map of decisions and ‘outputs’ from workshops. Now I can use mindmaps to ‘collaborate’ with others by using a Web 2.0 application called Mind42. All you need is a Mind42 account and you can view and edit maps that I publish … a visual wiki! Here is a real example that I used to communicate the outcomes of the Castlemaine 500 project earlier this year.   Cheers Geoff     

  Here’s some Home Energy Assessment videos that I put together for a group 4 community members. These 4 wonderful people took part in a Home Energy Assessment Training program as a part of the Castlemaine 500 project. You can read all about the ‘who/what/when/where/why/how’ of Castlemaine 500 here. Our aim was to train local people in a process that assists householders to develop a ‘plan of action’. This plan contains energy saving actions such as shorter showers, topping up insulation and switching off electrical appliances at the wall when not in use. To give the video some context, here are some words …

One of the best books written on the subject of communication with comics is called Understanding Comics: The invisible Art by Scott McCloud. If your job involves presenting information to others then this book will not disappoint. By the way … this is a serious book and not just for comic lovers! (Hat Tip to Garr Reynolds for the recommendation) Thanks to Viv, I stumbled across Plasq. Plasq have software called Comic Life and allows a 30 day trial period. I am Day 1 of the trial and discovered that it links with my webcam. Here is a not so serious example …