Design to Change – an omni-channel book experience crafted as time well invested during the pandemic.
Our brand new book is just out
It's called "DESIGN to CHANGE – elevating your ability to look and act beyond the now."
Driven by the needs and conversations with Event Owners and Event Designers who use the Event Canvas™ around the world, we have drafted the “DESIGN to Change” book as a companion to the “Event Design Handbook” of 2016.
Although it arrives more than four years later, this book is not a follow-up to the Event Design Handbook. And it is not a prequel. It comes not before or after the 2016 book in terms of its concepts. It is instead a companion piece. You do not need to have read either book first in order to understand the other.
Change can be designed for.
Articulating the needs of that change is often challenging. By having conversations with change makers we seek to explore what drives them and how they have conversations. Change makers are often event owners without realizing it. Events can be designed to deliver for behaviour change in the desired direction of change.
We want to step inside the minds of the most innovative change makers in a variety of disciplines and learn how design impacts every aspect of life specifically when it relates to the pivotal moments of change and events.
We have been inspired by organisations using Event Design and the #EventCanvas and how they have put design on the change agenda. We are keen to explore that with you in an open conversation which will empower others to learn from your approaches and insights.
Design to Change is a book for anyone interested in how events can create value for an organization including designers, owners, managers and senior leaders.
Alone, or as a companion to the Event Design Handbook, this book was created to empower anyone to coordinate, collaborate and communicate with a common deliberate methodology, a unified understanding and a shared language.
An Omnichannel book?
Design to change is not just a printed 204 page richly illustrated book. It comes with a full audiobook + e-book + Augmented Reality AR Layer + Interactive Conversation worksheets + a #DESIGNtoCHANGE Designer Podcast series + its own interactive designtochange.online platform.
Want a sneak peak? Join authors Roel Frissen, Ruud Janssen and Dennis Luijer:
Here is how you enter the book ->
And this is how you exit the book ->
Curious about the omnichannel approach ?
How the book was made?
Raw Conversations distilled into actionable approaches.
It probably doesn’t surprise you that just like our first book, events were the root cause of this book.
Driven by the needs and conversations with Event Owners and Event Designers who use the Event Canvas™ around the world, we have written the “DESIGN to Change” book as a companion to the “Event Design Handbook” first published in 2016.
Thousands have been trained in the Event Design Certificate (EDC) Programs. Since its inception in 2015, we have collaborated with over 500 CED Certified Event Designer candidates on an individual basis in the 30 cohorts of the Level 3 EDC Program. Enabling others to facilitate Event Design, we have observed that candidates are able to master the Event Canvas ™ methodology in practice, yet claiming time from the team and getting permission from the event owner to design can be daunting.
Based on our experiences in our consulting practice and coaching Certified Event Designers (CED’ers) to be confident in these conversations, we have distilled and articulated successful practices in this book.
The conversations and stories of these experiences were the foundation of this book.
The book was written after a series of multi-layered raw conversations between Roel Frissen, Ruud Janssen and Dennis Luijer.
The raw conversations were recorded and transcribed identifying roadblocks, conversational topics and techniques using tools for online collaboration. The raw conversations between the authors were then distilled back to legible chapters by our editor John Loughlin. The rhythm of 4 elements in each chapter allowed Dennis to visualize the essence of the conversations in 2D with his sharp pen and unique style. The book’s structure and approach was first presented as a concept to the team at the Event Design Collective. Subsequently the visual and written words were reassembled into a prototype of the book.
The prototype was the backbone of event design of the EDC MasterMind program in November 2020. What started with recorded personalised podcasts led to conversations about pivotal moments of change. Conversation labs were held challenging the EDC MasterMinds to practice and sharpen their skills in actual conversations with event owners.
In practicing these conversational skills and approaches, each element addressed in the book was experienced in the instructional design of the 3 day event. What the participants didn’t know was that each of them subsequently received a personalized hard copy of the alpha draft version of the book during the third day of the EDC MasterMind Program in November 2020.
Over Christmas, the EDC MasterMinds were surprised by an extra audio experience of the content. Colleague Anthony Vade, recorded the audiobook version of the alpha of the book for the EDC MasterMinds to listen to whilst reviewing the book’s first 6 chapters.
Meanwhile, Paul Rulkens, our EDC MasterMind ringleader and Trusted Advisor took every chapter and narrated an Executive Perspective of the topic at hand in that chapter now from the Event Owner’s point of view.
A systematic review of the first version of the book chapters was then planned with the EDC MasterMinds who contributed to sharpening the alpha version into its current version.
In that process, the most committed EDC MasterMinds were asked to also contribute their perspective which can be found highlighted in the book.
The review of the first prototype of this book was made possible by:
Alana Seiders CED, Amy Badersnider CED, Andrea Vernengo CED, Angeles Moreno CED, Anthony Vade CED, Chanet Ham CED, Erno Ovaska CED, Frank Dräger CED, Gerrit Jessen CMP, CMM, CED, Ingrid Rip CED, Jayr Bass, Joël Letang, Luca Vernengo CED, Marie-France Watson CED, Marga Groot Zwaaftink CED, Mauricio Magdaleno CED, Naomi Love CED, Patti Spaniola CED, Stefanie Simmons CED, Tanya Spournova CED, Vincent Roux CED, Werner Puchert CED.
We also acknowledged that true conversations are to be had live and in rich content formats, hence our decision to augment the content of this book with a commitment to providing examples, tools, resources and experiences on the digital platform connected to the book.
The layout and production of the book has been done by Giovanni de Reus and Frank Bakker based on the design and layout of the previous book styled by Cristel Lit.
This book would not have been possible if it were not for the countless individuals (you know who you are as you are reading this) who contributed to the conversations about events, event design and the horizon of change.
We encourage you to go out and have courageous conversations. If you find someone else sees things differently, be curious, ask a question. Try asking: “I never thought about it exactly that way before. What can you share that would help me see what you see?” What's remarkable about curiosity conversations is that the people you are curious about tend to become curious about what drives you.
Listen well, take copious notes and share your feedback with fellow event design enthusiasts by using the #EventCanvas to tag your conversations. By sharing our experiences in rich conversations, we trust this book can make us all better conversationalists for change.
We hope this book enriches you with a collection of new perspectives, a new way of navigating conversations, and a whole set of new stories and experiences to share.
Most grateful for our next conversations,
Dennis Luijer, Paul Rulkens, Roel Frissen, Ruud Janssen
Check out the special Design to Change microsite here: https://designtochange.online
Hear about the full approach of the writing of the book and how we tested it on the EDC MasterMinds process in a Linkedin Livestream here: https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6745699106817138688/
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