The Sound of Group Genius

Background

Though not himself a musician, Todd has been listening to and fascinated by music since he was a youngster. From making themed mixed tapes as a teenager to DJing an Internet radio station in the early 00’s, to summers spent following tours of his favorite bands, music and the music scene has provided Todd with much of his most direct, powerful witnessing of pure creative expression and genius.

Without academic qualification or claim of subject matter expertise, he’ll rely on his passion for the topic to qualify his hosting of this conversation.

Todd is thrilled to be joined by four musician-artist-designers who share a similar passion as well as a breadth of experience in the field of collaborative design, facilitation, music, visual arts and sound design. 

Together, we’ll engage in a combination of composed and improvised rounds of conversation, sharing, exchanging and emerging ideas around the art and practice of sound design and music facilitation.

There will be a variety of opportunities for you to contribute and interact and connect with each other and the ideas. Polls, breakouts, chatter. A few surprises.  And of course the sound of music!

A taste of what we may touch on:

• Musical scribing — like graphical scribing, only with sound and music
• Music as a source of co-creation
• The distinctive sounds, moods and rhythms of different aspects of the creative process
• Integrating live music into collaborative sessions
• Genre, culture, demographic identities and tastes
• Music as a means of grokking the creative process
• Song and circumstance: ideas for what to play in specific situations
• Music in the Metaverse: the emerging world of virtual possibilities for sound and music
• This is your mind on music: music and mental health
• Artists, performers and performances that exemplify these things

No matter your experience with sound design and music facilitation, join us! You’ll leave with a greater appreciation of how they can be incorporated into your work in the field of collaborative design and facilitation.

Your Hosts 

Todd Johnston is a freelance mutual learner. His LinkedIn profile offers insight into how he has spent his many years in the field of collaboration design and facilitation. Over the years, Todd has written and spoken about the phenomenon of group genius, a term he learned from his mother and mentor, Gail Taylor, to describe those elusive, peak experiences in the creative flow of collaboration. Since the mid-90’s, he has DJ’ed dozens of DesignShops, workshops, conferences and other collaborative events predominantly in the US and also in Australia, China, South Africa and the UK. 

Christopher Fuller is an artist, musician, graphic facilitator, and founded Griot’s Eye in 1998 with a mission to use the power of graphics and rapid visualization to assist organizations in telling their stories. He has participated in many experimental collaborations combining images and sound, including a pandemic ensemble performance Sing for the Unsung, and the recently launched Black Music Project, a breath-taking animated family tree illuminating 400 years of African-American music. His 2020 keynote for the IFVP described the breadth and resilience of his artistic and professional life.

Ian Cameron-Smith is an Australian composer of finely crafted instrumental guitar music. His albums feature everything from delicate classical and acoustic guitar moods right through to deeply soothing modern grooves. The healing nature of Ian’s composing style, transports you to another world, ready to re-enter this world refreshed and renewed. Alongside his career making music, Ian is a highly experienced graphic designer, animator and scribe, for which he is a sought after artist and knowledge worker with organizations such as PWC’s The Difference.

Sita Magnuson supports communities and organizations through the application of a variety of social technologies. She currently is weaving graphic facilitation, meeting design/facilitation, and experience design into her work on civic stewardship and futures-based community development. Sita has been playing music since high school—starting with classical training on the cello and landing in an undefined genre of experimental-psych-folk-pop-Americana, playing slide guitar, synth and various other instruments. She was a long time member in the band Bunwinkies, which released one record, Map of Our New Constellations, before disbanding. She founded Easthampton Co.Lab (a community co-working space that has closed due to the Pandemic), and Fort Future as spaces to experiment locally–spawning a deep investigation into blanket forts, and the power our physical environments have on cognition and community. She lives with her husband and two children in Easthampton, Massachusetts. 

Simon Jankelson an experienced Human Centered Service Designer and creative facilitator intent on making a difference. He spent 4+ years as a service designer with  A Sound Life, an Australian charity whose 300+ volunteers offer free health and well-being services that use music, yoga and meditation to improve the lives of tens of thousands of hospital patients, special needs groups, mental health patients and people in aged care. In 2013, Simon founded the Human Sound Project, facilitating 200+ co-design workshops around the world, harnessing the universal language of music to unify organisations around their purpose.