NOVA Scribes

In this interactive NOVA Scribes workshop, Max Friedle of metaFox demonstrates how facilitators and coaches can use curated picture cards to create depth, clarity, and movement in online conversations. No drawing skills required!

Designed for facilitators and coaches who work one-to-one and one-to-many, this session explores how to use image cards in individual coaching, group facilitation, and training.

We will begin with a fast, experiential check-in using a group picture card tool to experience the method in action. From there, Max will walk through how still images function inside online coaching conversations, sharing real examples, key functions, and practical use cases from his work.

You’ll see how static imagery can:
• Surface insight quickly
• Bypass overthinking and habitual narratives
• Create psychological safety in virtual settings
• Support reflection without overwhelming shared whiteboards
• Adapt differently for individual vs. group contexts

The session includes live demonstration, space for Q&A, and an open feedback loop where participants can influence future development of the tool.

If you are a facilitator or coach who wants to deepen engagement online without adding more slides, more complexity, or more tech clutter, this workshop will offer a practical, immediately usable approach to visual coaching and facilitation using still images.

Come ready to participate, reflect, and experiment.

Max is Co-Founder of metaFox, coach, trainer and facilitator, passionate about realizing the true potential in people and organizations.

With more than 2 decades of facilitation experiences Max brings proven tools and techniques to shape your journey - be it working with individuals or teams!

Based in Germany he leads the way for the metaFox team, which in turn sold over 100,000 Coaching Tools worldwide.

Sh*t Facilitators Say with Sarah From of “Sh*t Facilitators Say”
If you’ve ever thought you’ve got to be kidding me while running a workshop, this one’s for you.

Join NOVA Scribes for a lively, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt session with Sarah From, the creator behind “Sh*t Facilitators Say.” Since 2012, Sarah has been shining a light on the wild, weird, sacred, and utterly human moments that happen when you’re holding space for groups. Her work offers a loving parody of the facilitation field that invites us to laugh at ourselves while remembering why this work matters.

In this participatory session, Sarah will share stories from her years of practice and social commentary, introduce her creative process, and reflect on the big question “Why are we like this?”

And because facilitators always have stories, we’ll open the floor for a community jam session. Bring your tales of chaos, triumph, mishaps, misreads, miracles, AV disasters, and “you can’t make this up” moments. Together, we’ll marvel, cringe, connect, and maybe even turn some of it into wisdom.

In this session, we’ll explore
What makes facilitation both meaningful and absurd

• How humor helps us name what’s true about our work
• Community stories of “did that really just happen?”
• Reflection and sense-making as a group of peers
• Why we can all benefit from laughing at ourselves sometimes

Who should attend
Facilitators, coaches, trainers, and anyone who guides groups through change and conversation. If you work in the sweet spot between people and process, you’ll feel right at home.

Format
A one-hour interactive workshop on Zoom. No slides. No canned talk. Just stories, facilitation, and the shared relief of being with other people who understand.
Follow your energy. Bring your stories. Come ready to laugh.

About Sarah From and Sh*t Facilitators Say
Sh*t Facilitators Say began as a Twitter account in 2012, growing to 35K group members before departing the platform in 2024. SFS now holds space for memes on Instagram and BlueSky. Our product line for facilitators launched in 2022. SFS is run by Sarah From: an actual, live, real facilitator. Our sole(soul) purpose is to bring joy to our fellow facilitators and to lift up the sacred and sometimes silly craft of facilitation.

Graphic Recording Nerd Talk: a candid conversation with Leslie Salmon-Zhu

After four decades in the field, what’s still true?
What’s changed?
And what are we not talking about?

In this open, unscripted Process Talk, Leslie Salmon-Zhu joins NOVA Scribes for a live, organic conversation about the real life of a career graphic recorder. No slides. No polish. No “how I got started” origin story. Just honest dialogue.

Leslie has spent over 40 years working inside complex organizations, much of it in Silicon Valley, and most of it hired directly by leaders rather than external facilitators. She has watched the field grow, fragment, professionalize, panic about pricing, debate legitimacy, and now confront AI.

This is a space to talk about what we usually whisper about.

What we might explore:

• What does a sustainable career in graphic recording actually look like?
• Why do many practitioners say they only want one job a month?
• Is the field growing the way we think it is?
• What changed after COVID?
• Can we talk about pricing without losing our minds?
• How are clients finding us now through AI search?
• What does it mean to stay passionate after decades in the work?

This will be conversational and emergent. Think talk-radio meets masterclass meets community jam.

Why this matters now

Clients are using AI to search for support.
Many practitioners are unsure how visible they are.
Some want 80 meetings a year.
Some want one.

What does the field actually want?

Leslie brings fierce passion, deep compassion, and a long view of the profession. She is both intensely practical and unapologetically devoted to the craft. Expect energy, candor, humor, and moments of uncomfortable clarity.

Format

Brian Tarallo will host in an organic, lightly facilitated interview style. Participants are invited to bring questions you’ve “always wanted to ask but weren’t sure you could.”

This is NOVA Scribes.
We can talk about it.

Who this is for

Graphic recorders
Visual facilitators
Process nerds
Consultants who use visuals
Anyone working at the intersection of visuals and group process

If you care about the future of this work, this conversation is for you.

Bring your questions.
Bring your curiosity.
Bring your straight talk.

Leslie Salmon-Zhu is a seasoned professional graphic recorder and visual practitioner based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has collaborated on thousands of meetings and conferences around the world, capturing complex discussions and group thinking in large-format real-time visual maps that elevate engagement and insight. She brings creativity, precision, and deep listening to every engagement, whether in contentious boardrooms or informal retreats.

Leslie is the founder of the International Forum of Visual Practitioners, an annual global gathering and community that advances the field of graphic recording and visual practice. Her work has helped shape the profession’s sense of identity and community, connecting practitioners, sharing practices, and elevating the value of visuals in facilitation and group process. Through her decades of practice, Leslie has become a respected mentor, leader, and advocate for the power of visual thinking in human collaboration.