#VisualizeIT Workshop 6: "Sketch the Tech" | Marlena Compton
Tags: sketchnoting, visualizeit, beginners, storytelling
Published: 2021-02-06 03:28:57

---
title: #VisualizeIT Workshop 6: "Sketch the Tech" | Marlena Compton
published: true
description: Join @marlenac at @MSFTReactor for a #VisualizeIT talk on how to use drawing as a tool for communicating..
tags: sketchnoting, visualizeIT, beginners, storytelling
series: "#VisualizeIT 2020: Visual Storytelling Workshops For Beginners"
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ourxksn5rbryj8iasxeu.png
---

> ✨✨✨ Join us - it's free and online ✨✨✨
> `Date`: Feb 6, 2021
> `Time`: @1-2pm EST 
> `Live`: [Video Link](https://aka.ms/SketchnoteSeries5)
> `Discussions`: [Reactor Meetup Page](https://www.meetup.com/Microsoft-Reactor-Toronto/events/275966654/)
> ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

---

## 📣 #VisualizeIT: The Series

Welcome to workshop #6 in this event series organized by [Microsoft Reactor](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/), [Azure Advocates](https://dev.to/azure) and the [Lets Sketch Tech](https://dev.to/letssketchtech) community. 

![#VisualizeIT: The Series](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/kbao7u9g9aamxnxbn70l.png)

Read this post👇🏽 to learn more about the series goals and schedule - then join us and add visual storytelling to your tech toolbelt for 2021!
{% link https://dev.to/azure/visualizeit-a-free-online-series-of-workshops-to-build-your-visual-storytelling-skills-d2b %}

Speaker Cards Artwork: by [Kaitlin Gu](https://twitter.com/_gubean)

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## 🎨 "Sketch The Tech" 

_Workshop #6 happens `Feb 6, 2021 at 1pm EST`. It is free and online - [register here](https://www.meetup.com/Microsoft-Reactor-Toronto/events/275966654/) to get the event link and other resources post-event._

<br/>

> Workshop Abstract:

 * Do you miss the whiteboard in your office?
 * Do you wish you could draw well enough to quickly share a complex idea?
 * Do you work on a big, complicated system that's hard to explain to new teammates?

Let's bust a myth: _Drawing does not always mean fine art._ In fact, an effective drawing doesn't even have to be "good" or "pretty." Architects, Engineers and Doctors have used basic drawing skills for centuries to work out problems and communicate the complicated.

Learn how software engineers and the folks working with them can do the same!

This 1-hour, interactive talk we’ll look at ways to sketch out a system and learn how to use drawing as a tool for communicating with remote teammates even if we are not artists.

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## 👩🏽‍💻 Speaker: Marlena Compton

Marlena Compton initially learned how to “sketch out” software using IBM’s Rational Rose, System Architect and “The UML” on computers running Windows 2000. After spending 17 years building software at companies such as IBM and Atlassian, Marlena is an expert at communicating highly technical concepts and processes with a quick, hand-drawn sketch. 

At IBM, she created digital drawings and diagrams for the IBM Garage to communicate their agile process and development work to a global audience. The question, "What does the Garage do?" was often met with the answer, "Look at Marlena's sketches!" 

Marlena currently runs her own creative tech shop, Appear Works, where she organizes the Let's Sketch Tech! community and teaches workshops that bring the arts to tech.

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## 📹 After The Event

Check back on this post for relevant resources shared at the event, and a link to the video recording when it becomes available.

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## The LetsSketchTech Community

If you liked this series, follow [@letssketchtech](https://letssketchtech) on Twitter and right here on dev.to.

{% org letssketchtech %}

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> This is continuation of a series of free online virtual event series organized by the [Microsoft Reactor](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/) team in collaboration with [Azure Advocates](https://dev.to/azure) and the [Lets Sketch Tech](https://dev.to/letssketchtech) community. 

![#VisualizeIT: The Series](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/kbao7u9g9aamxnxbn70l.png)