Creative workshops and facilitation for teams and organizations

I design experiences and have developed a signature style to foster connection within oneself and within a community through thoughtful facilitation. Creativity and play is at the heart of what I do to help shake people out of the status quo of their comfort zones in a safe and fun way. In all my work I bring the question “What if there was another way?” to help bring out new perspectives.

I’ve worked with clients ranging from student groups to senior leadership and leading global companies.

Hi! I’m Anne! I’m a creative workshop facilitator who draws from my background in anthropology, design, and creative coaching to get groups of all sizes and ages stretching their creative muscles in new ways to get them thinking differently, through online, in person (in a room or out in the world), and hybrid workshops and experiences. Whether the workshop is 2 hours or 2 days, I bring teams and cohorts together while helping them build new skills and distill insights.

I pull from my experience teaching in traditional universities, as well as online platforms (such as Skillshare and OpenClassrooms). I bring a mix of a US and French perspectives, while appealing to an international audience. Inspired by my grandfather (who got us to the moon and back) I believe IT SHOULD BE FUN and am always astounded how much gets unlocked during a workshop and participants leave energized and enthusiastic for what’s to come.

I pride myself in creating “containers” that allow participants to disconnect from the world and reconnect with themselves and each other. It becomes sacred time for themselves, which is so rare in the world today. I like to safely take participants out of their comfort zones whether through blindfolds, drawing exercises, or mapping on bananas. We take advantage of the space to allow for different ways of engaging while unlocking ones own insights while achieving the workshop goals. Time flies and no one is ready to leave (even for online workshops!).

In addition to hosting my own workshops (Write Your Own Rules and Mapping Your Path, both which can be adapted and extended for professional environments and teams) I facilitate creative experiences. I have created custom workshops for a range of clients including Adobe, HP, The American University of Paris, IFF / ISIPCA Masters in Scent Design and Creation program, Royal College of Art, Parsons Global Executive Masters in Strategic Design and Management program, Institut Français de la Mode MA in Luxury Management program, Traverse (My Little Paris’s school of creativity), DDC Public Affairs, Hardware Club, Créateurs Z, CreativeMornings, and Louis Vuitton. My workshops have also been featured in Forbes and Psychologies Magazine UK.

I strive to create workshops that are:

• Interactive

• Engaging

• Dynamic

• Collaborative

• Exercise-based

• Reflective

• Engage the beginner’s mind and explorer's mindset

• Challenge the status-quo

• Encourage thinking differently

• Get you out of your comfort zone (in a way that feels safe)

• Integrate play

• FUN!

I’ve created workshops around:

• Creativity

• Active listening

• Storytelling

• Design Thinking

• Prototyping Ideas

• Finding and documenting creative inspiration

• Creative collaboration

• Creative confidence

• Connecting the dots

• Communicating ideas

• Mapping

• Mindset and limiting beliefs (with a side of neuroscience)

• Designing your life

• Team building

• Experiences

Below are a sampling of workshops I’ve done in the past for both students and seasoned professionals.

IN PERSON WORKSHOPS

• CREATIVE BURST SESSION: SCENT SAFARI

• CREATIVE COLLABORATION WORKSHOP

• CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING THROUGH DESIGN THINKING WORKSHOP

• THINK LIKE A STORYTELLER

• STORYTELLING + CONTENT CREATION DEEP DIVE

• CREATIVE CONFIDENCE WORKSHOP

ONLINE WORKSHOPS

• WRITE YOUR OWN RULES

• MAPPING YOUR LIFE

• CREATIVE MORNINGS: MAKE A MAP VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP

• STORYTELLING FOR CREATIVES

• CREATIVE BURST SESSION: DOCUMENTING CREATIVE IDEAS

• INNOVATION + COMMUNICATION THROUGH DESIGN THINKING

• PROTOTYPING THROUGH DESIGN THINKING

IN PERSON WORKSHOPS

CREATIVE BURST SESSION: SCENT SAFARI
Audience: IFF / ISIPCA Masters in Scent Design and Creation students
Group size: ~18
Goal: Build skills in finding inspiration and creative documentation
Skills:

• developing observation skills

• sketching ideas

• photographing inspiration

• taking inspiration and concept development through collaboration

• creating a resource of inspiration

• communicating ideas

• presenting concepts

Location: Serres d'Auteuil, Paris, France
Time: 1 day with picnic lunch
Activities: rubbings of poems in park, sketch ideas zoom in/out on post its, document with phone, document in journal, design challenge: perfume concept inspired by plants.

CREATIVE COLLABORATION WORKSHOP
Audience: IFF / ISIPCA Masters in Scent Design and Creation + Royal College of Art Masters in Fashion seniors students
Size: ~30
Goal: Explore creative process in order to aid future collaboration
Skills:

• Sketching process to learn about different approaches

• Communicating ideas through visual representation

• Active listening

• Building rapport for future collaboration

• Developing ground rules for collaboration

• Giving and receiving feedback

Location: Versailles, France — ISPICA conference room
Time: 1-day
Activities: Draw toast, draw creative process, exquisite corpse, blindfolded storytelling, write ground rules for collaboration, stand up check in

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING THROUGH DESIGN THINKING WORKSHOP
Audience: IFF / ISIPCA Masters in Scent Design and Creation (3 cohorts); Institut Français de la Mode MA in Luxury Management program
Goal: Learn about Design Thinking through doing and creative exercises while networking across cohorts
Group size: ~50 + ~25 (separate workshops)
Skills:

• Team building

• Building empathy

• Journey mapping, empathy maps

• Defining the problem

• Ideation for quantity

• Prototyping (physical and digital)

• Testing ideas (+ usability testing)

• Collaboration and team building

• Presenting ideas succinctly

Location: various
Time: 1-day; 4-day course
Activities: stand up, blind portraits, marshmallow challenge, visual alphabet, 30 circles, journey mapping (5 E's + Empathy mapping), design challenge: cinema + perfume, Designing Your Life

CREATIVE CONFIDENCE
Audience: IFF global marketing team (in French)
Group size: ~10
Goal: Nurture creative confidence within a team that is creative in their daily work
Skills:

• mindmapping

• banana mapping

• journaling

• team building

• distilling key elements to foster creativity

Location: IFF offices, Neuilly, France
Time: 4 hours
Activities: mindmapping, “carnet de créativité” – strategy books for staying creative

THINK LIKE A STORYTELLER
Audience: Luxury French brand global client advisors
Group size: 10 mini workshops of 10-15 participants
Goal: Build skills in storytelling to be able to communicate effectively with home teams and get them excited about new offerings.
Skills:

• Storytelling

• Engaging an audience

• Selecting essential information

• Writing for clarity

• Selecting strong visuals

• Putting together words and images

Location: Paris, France
Time: 40 min mini workshops
Activities: gnome storytelling, mad libs, pre-post checklist

STORYTELLING + CONTENT CREATION DEEP DIVE
Audience: Hardware Club (VC)
Group size: 7
Goal: Develop writing and editorial skills for entire team
Skills:

• Developing good habits for a writing practice

• Tips for editing your own work

• Approaches to writing

• Finding your voice as a writer

• Writing for the web

• Writing for clarity

• Know your audience and who you're writing to

• Content strategy/design

Location: Hardware Club offices Paris, France
Time: 2.5 hours
Activities: mindmapping, article dissection (what makes an engaging piece), set action steps

ONLINE WORKSHOPS

I’ve unofficially dubbed myself the Zoom Master, regularly integrating breakout rooms, using the digital whiteboard, and encouraging participants to use the chat box in order to engage the audience.

WRITE YOUR OWN RULES (signature program)
Audience: Creatives and small business owners around the world
Size: ~15-50+ (with interactive breakout rooms)
Goal: Encourage participants to develop their own set of guiding principles rather than the ones put forth by society.
Skills:

• Distilling insights

• Writing design/guiding principles

• Collaboration

• Create own rule book (zine)

Location: Zoom + breakout rooms
Time: 2 hours
Activities: mindmapping, 1-page exercises w/ prompts, breakout room share, write your own rules custom rulebook

WRITE YOUR OWN RULES: Write Your Own Carnet de liberté LIVE WORKSHOP
Audience: Students of Traverses School by My Little Paris (en français, en direct)
Size: ~15-50+ (with interactive breakout rooms)
Goal: Encourage participants to develop their own set of guiding principles rather than the ones put forth by society.
Skills:

• Exercises for creative thought

• Writing design/guiding principles

• Create own “carnet de liberté”

Location: Zoom (in studio)
Time: 1 hour
Activities: mindmapping, 1-page exercises w/ prompts, paper book

MAPPING YOUR PATH
Audience: Parsons MS Global Executive Masters in Strategic Design & Management; Rhonda Page webinar; WildOnes virtual retreat
Size: 14-100+ (multiple sessions)
Goal: Get participants to think creatively and reflect about their life through a range of mapping tools; get to know each other across cohorts variety of life experiences

Skills:

• Mindmapping

• Drawing to communicate ideas

• Communicating with others through visuals

• Visual thinking

• Personal exploration through mapping

Location: Zoom
Time: 1.5 hours
Activities: mindmapping, mapping places from memory, imaginary place map/dream world

CREATIVE MORNINGS: MAKE A MAP FIELD TRIP
Audience: Hundreds of creatives around the world
Goal: Have fun and flex creative muscles during lockdown using mapping
Skills:

• Hand drawn maps

• Creative thinking

• Exploration through mapping

• Storytelling through maps

Location: Zoom
Time: 1.5 hour
Activities: banana map, napkin map, imaginary places map

STORYTELLING FOR CREATIVES
Audience: Adobe's Global Talent
Size: ~70 + ~130 (multiple sessions)
Goal: Build skills in storytelling and portfolio development
Skills:

• Understanding story structure

• Mindmapping

• Storyboarding

• Visualizing creative process

• Telling your story in a non-linear way

• Engaging the audience

Location: Zoom + Crowdcast
Time: 1.5 hour
Activities: mindmapping, visualize your creative process, storyboarding

CREATIVE BURST SESSION: DOCUMENTING CREATIVE IDEAS
Audience: Scent designers + Shiftan apprentice program
Size: ~15 (multiple sessions)
Goal: Build skills in collecting and documenting inspiration while team building.
Skills:

• Explorer's mindset

• Observation

• Documenting ideas (photos, sketching, journal, etc.)

• Visual alphabet

• Remote collaboration

Location: Zoom
Time: 2 hours
Activities: pre-work exploration challenge, sharing discoveries, perfume challenge + mini presentation

INNOVATION + COMMUNICATION THROUGH DESIGN THINKING [SUMMER INTENSIVE COURSE]
Audience: MA Global Communications students at The American University Paris
Group size: 22
Goal: Learn about Design Thinking through doing and creative exercises while networking across cohorts
Skills:

• Remote collaboration

• Design/user research + ethnography

• Interviewing to understand habits and behaviors that can inform design decisions

• Journey mapping, empathy maps

• Prototyping

• Usability testing

• Visual tools for communication

• Presenting ideas succinctly (pecha kucha)

Location: Zoom + breakout rooms
Time: 15-day intensive over 4 weeks, 3.5 hours a day
Activities: mindmaps, storyboards, blindfolded storytelling, tea/coffee ethnography, interviewing users, wallet challenge (rapid fire Design Thinking from start to finish), remote control collaboration challenge, journey mapping with Miro, final design challenge, guest lecturers

PROTYPAGE GRACE AU DESIGN THINKING / PROTOTYPING THROUGH DESIGN THINKING
Audience: Créateurs Z Tech Camp – high schoolers in francophone Canada (en français)
Goal: Learn about Design Thinking through doing and creative exercises while networking across cohorts
Group size: ~12-15 (multiple sessions)
Skills:

• Tools for exploring concepts and ideas (mindmaps, storyboards)

• Building physical prototypes quickly and inexpensively

• Remote collaboration

Location: Zoom + breakout rooms
Time: 1.5 hours
Activities: mindmaps, storyboards, prototyping remote controls through materials in recycling bin

More writings on my approach to workshops + education:

• A Primer for Hosting Online Creative Workshops (99U)

• AIGA Design Educators Community SHIFT Summit: No is No More (Biz Blog)

• Where Should I Teach Online? (Biz Blog)

• A Journey into Workshops & Facilitation (Biz Blog)

• Host a Design Thinking Worksop (OpenClassrooms)

I also have 12 courses on design on OpenClassrooms + 5 creativity courses on Skillshare. My OpenClassrooms course Communicating Ideas Through Design & Storytelling was picked up by Google Digital Garage. You can read more about my approach as featured in Forbes.

Workshops can be adapted for in person, online, or hybrid experiences that are full-day, half-day, or multiple-day. I customize offers based on client needs and desires, adapting various tools and exercises according to the subject and audience.

To start, let me know what your goals are and what skills you’d like your team to build during the session.

Want to work together? Reach out + Let’s talk!

hello@anneditmeyer.com