Themes That Make the Heart Grow Fonder...

Hey IFVP! Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Brandon Black from Cincinnati, OH. I've been to two IFVP conferences (Washington, D.C. and Decatur, Georgia) am the Chief Imagination Officer of Drawnversation and now the IFVP Newsletter Editor. I consider myself a writer who mostly draws, but really I what I do best is listen to and lovingly serve others. This is me. 

My hope as editor is we recognize the newsletter as a channel that does three things for our community:

INFORMS, IMPROVES, & ENDEARS.

• Inform members of the latest nice-to-knows, need-to-knows, and in-case-you-missed-its from the board.
• Endear members to one another by making our individual gifts and stories more known and accessible. 
• Improve members by sharing exclusive advice, anecdotes, best practices for the greater good of IFVP. 

How this will work?

Every month the IFVP board is meeting and working on behalf of our community. They will provide updates and information. ASK: Each monthly board meeting needs a graphic scribe. It's a two hour commitment and great experience. 

I have a goal of engaging 5-10 members for a monthly theme related feature stories/articles. ASK: If a theme resonates with you, let us know immediately. How cool who it be if we got to know 100+ members more deeply this year?

Lastly, this is your Newsletter. We depend on you to keep this community going strong. For each monthly theme we will be looking for artwork, advice and anecdotes alike. You have an open invite to contribute or provide feedback.

If any of this looks good, sounds good, and feels good...email a  to newsletter@ifvp.org. We want to know you're out there!

Without further ado here are the theme:

March Theme: Luck & Hustle

Advice and stories about Preparation, Grind, Blessings, and Right-time, Right-place Serendipity

• Conditions for success and staying ready in this industry.
• How to be good to work with and common pitfalls to watch out for.

April Theme: How to Make it Rain

Advice and stories about money and finding, getting and keeping (or letting go of) clients.

• How to price yourself (studio/GR/GF/pre and post prep), cultivate partners, and clientelle.
• Planning for the drought and best practices for accounting.

May Theme: All the Pretty Colors – IFVP in full Bloom

Advice and stories highlighting the beauty and inspiration of visual practice.

• Markers, materials, and methods that make your work blossom.
• Diversity of people/styles (which practitioners and what styles inspire you).

June Theme: Are We There Yet...How Far to the Next Frontier?

Advice and stories about how visuals are fulfilling and infiltrating diverse industries.

• Beyond GR: VPs who are using visuals in specific industries, what’s out there and what’s in it for you.
• Survey: are you doing something similar, want to share?
• What other innovations/hobbies are parallels to your work.

July Theme: EuViz Denmark

Advice and stories from the IFVP/EuViz conference Bonus Feature: results of member feedback.

• Midyear review of IFVP: what we’ve done.
• Results of our survey around what our members are doing.

August Theme: We are Family

Advice and stories about community, collaboration, diversity and inclusion

• Success stories on how to build and capitalize on your community through collaboration. 
• Field diversification: thoughts on expanding the profile and footprint of the visual practioner.

September Theme: Back to the Drawing Board

Advice and stories about training and learning opportunities and experiences.

• Advice from members who teach and train on finding the right professional development opportunity.
• Members sharing about their continuous learning experiences.

October Theme: The Scariest Thing of All–Self Care

Advice and stories about self care. Bonus Feature is members share their favorite Visual Tricks and Treats.

• Signs you need it and ways to do it.
• Visual tips, tricks, treats and other best practices.

November Theme: What to Do with Your Harvest

Advice and stories about leadership, gratitude, looking ahead and finishing strong.

• Leadership on streamlining or expanding your business
• Finding good deals on supplies and materials

December: A Time of Reflection

Advice and stories about the year that was.

• The Gift of Community: Shout outs & warm wishes for the people, by the people. 
• EOY State of IFVP

You made it to the end! See, that's why EYE LOVE YOU!