The Drawing Monkey — helping people see what you mean
Whether your conference or event is online or in “the real world”, Roy Blumenthal can literally help your delegates to SEE what your speakers mean.
He draws live visual interpretations of what he’s hearing, and projects his digital canvas so that delegates can anchor their own understanding of the session. This interactivity boosts engagement, and helps delegates retain key messages.
At the end of the session, Roy’s pictures are ready to email to all attendees.
What’s more, because Roy works at high resolution, the images can also be printed as posters or murals, giving a concrete reminder of the main takeouts.
To book Roy to picture your next event’s words, please contact him on email at royblumenthal@gmail.com, or on Whatsapp on +27741046386.
Transforming words into visuals
Roy only looks a LITTLE BIT like this monkey. But his agile mind and his intense curiosity make it easy for him to listen carefully to what people are saying, and for him to synthesize what he’s heard into potent graphics.
He used to be a heavyweight advertising copywriter, and has been working with multinationals, corporations, not-for-profits, and businesses of all kinds for the past 30 years.
As a sketchnoter/visual facilitator/graphic harvester, he’s been honing his skills for more than a dozen years.
When you hire The Drawing Monkey, you get striking visual records of what’s most important in your events. And you can use his pictures in your next PowerPoints, in your annual reports, and in other stakeholder communications.
Working live to help delegates recall the event
Roy uses an interactive display tablet and stylus to do all of his sketchnoting.
The high-powered machine is hooked up to a projector so that people in the audience are able to follow along with his live visual capturing of the content.
He also works online, making Zooms, Teams, Meets and other online meeting apps come alive.
This keeps people engaged, and allows them to gain a powerful overview of the information. It also acts as a memory-refresher after the event is over. Because the digital pictures can be given to the delegates immediately.
How Roy fits into the room
Roy supplements the speaker. There are two big screens behind the podium — one containing the speaker’s presentation, and the other one showing Roy’s live digital canvas. As the speech is delivered, Roy draws his interpretation in real time.
The audience and the speaker get to interact with the stuff Roy is drawing, which gives them a feeling of ownership of the material.
How interactivity, authentic presence, and active listening translate to visuals that help people engage with the content during and after the event
Interactivity causes engagement. The vivid graphics that Roy draws help people retain the messages most important to the event. Roy has handed his dissertation in for a Master of Arts at Wits University in Johannesburg. His study empirically investigates the connection between engagement and retention in delegates when they experience live sketchnoting.
Ask Roy for a custom price estimate for his sketchnoting at your event
No two events are the same. And Roy doesn’t charge a daily or hourly rate. He customises his offering to meet two criteria: 1. Your budget. 2. Your needs. Engaging Roy works out to roughly R16000 (US$800) to R50000 (US$2500), depending on what you require. Could be more. Could be less.
Roy meets with the client in advance, to find out what the event is, and how he can add value to it. He gets a detailed brief, and uses this to pre-produce topic canvasses, ready for use during the event. During the actual event, Roy displays his digital canvas on a big screen, allowing delegates to engage with the material. When the event is finished, Roy makes any necessary spelling corrections and fixes any minor errors.
All of the work Roy creates is licensed to the client under a Creative Commons Attribution license. This means the client is free to use the work as they see fit, as long as they attribute the original pic to Roy. Pop it on a billboard, a t-shirt, a presentation. There’s no permission or extra payment or hassles.
The easiest way to find out the price of an engagement with Roy is to chat to him. Have the details of your event ready for him. He’ll need the dates, the location, and a detailed draft programme. The more details you can give him, the better he’ll be able to understand what’s needed.
Get hold of Roy via Whatsapp on +27741046386, or on email at royblumenthal@gmail.com.
Some of Roy’s Clients
Roy has worked with the gamut of South African businesses. He has a wide understanding of corporate culture and the mechanisms of business.
Some examples of Roy’s sketchnotes
Most of Roy’s work is confidential. But some of it is public-facing. Here are a few examples of pictures he drew live, in front of delegates, while the speaker was talking.
Roy Blumenthal is ready to help you make your next event a massive hit. Contact him on email at royblumenthal@gmail.com, or on Whatsapp on +27741046386.