be active 2012

More sketchnotes, this time from the be active 2012 symposium, “Sports Medicine and Sports Science in 2012 and Beyond”. The session featured a clutch of big-hitters: Prof Karim Khan, Prof Jill Cook, Prof Malcolm Collins, and Prof Roger Enoka. Such a privilege to hear the thoughts of these highly respected and active scholars on what sports medicine and sports science has been able to achieve, and what is next for our fields…

By the way, I’ve been delighted to receive such lovely comments and emails about my sketchnotes! Many have asked how I do it, and I’ve been meaning to write a workflow blog post for a while now so that will be coming up in the next week or so, providing greater detail about my sketchnote and mind map processes. But for now, here’s the short version!

Option 1: pen and paper

It often surprises people to find out that I love writing and working with a physical pen and a sketchbook, given my online presence. Admittedly, there is an element of new media to the process:

Step 1 – create a mind map or sketchnote using pen and paper.
Step 2 – use my smartphone (Android) to digitise each page using CamScanner.
Step 3 – export to PDF from within CamScanner, and share the file to relevant platforms (e.g., a note management system like Evernote, my blogs, Twitter, etc.).

Option 2: iPad

I’ve recently acquired an iPad and I quite enjoy using it. Though I love the romanticism in putting pen to paper, the digitising process can be tedious, particulary with extensive sketchnotes spanning many pages. The iPad addresses this problem quite nicely:

Step 1 – create a mind map or sketchnote within the GoodNotes app for iPad, using a stylus (this is critical if you are a neat freak like me!)
Step 2 – export to PDF from within GoodNotes, and share the file to relevant platforms.

One of the most interesting sessions I attended at be active 2012 was Thursday’s symposium on “Social media and other information technology platforms for sports medicine and injury prevention”, which featured presentations and a discussion with Prof Karim Khan, Prof Caroline Finch, Prof Evert Verhagen, Dr John Orchard, and Mr Nello Marino. The social media presence at be active was well-planned and well-executed, capitalising on the groundswell of interest in the integration of web tech into sports research and practice. The popular interest was no better displayed than by the fact that the social media symposium was standing room only for the whole 1.5 hour session! Aaron Fox and myself were busy bees throughout the session, trying to stay on top of our live blog, live tweeting, and sketchnoting. It was also heartening (and meta) to see many audience members live-tweeting the session as well. Really interesting insights from all presenters, drawing from their personal experiences of incorporating social media and Web 2.0 tools into their workflow. Here are my sketchnotes: