The California Art Council made a stop in San Diego to gather local feedback on its statewide Creative Economy Strategic Report—and the room showed up ready to talk, listen, and build on each other’s ideas.
The event was hosted at San Diego Made Factory, a cornerstone of the local creative community. Think artist studios, coworking energy, and a steady hum of markets, workshops, and gatherings. In other words: the perfect container for a conversation about creativity and commerce.
I attended on an off day—not as the hired graphic recorder, but as the kind who can’t not sketch a good conversation. So yes, the iPad came out. Some habits are features, not bugs.
The day opened with a spoken-word artist and poet (a strong signal that this would be more than a PowerPoint affair), followed by an overview of the proposed plan.
From there, attendees split into small groups, each assigned to dig into one of six sections of the report. Every group shared their reactions, concerns, and ideas back to the room—fast, focused, and refreshingly candid.
Then came one of my favorite parts: an elegant idea-filtering exercise. Each person wrote an idea on an index card. That card was passed to another attendee and rated from 1–5. Then passed again. And again. Any card that earned three separate 5s was read aloud to the whole group.
Simple. Democratic. Surprisingly powerful.
A reminder that good facilitation doesn’t need bells and whistles—just a smart structure and trust in the room. Connections were also built the analog way. Questions went up on orange stickies. Offers of help landed on green ones. You could literally see curiosity and generosity taking shape on the wall.
