As a live illustrator, Matt is an incredible listener. He can quickly understand complex systems, processes, and connections.. His eclectic and generalist career includes the development of CES award-winning electronics, the bootstrap of a digital print enterprise inside of OMNOVA Solutions, the sales of control systems to American manufacturing enterprises, digital marketing, and the continued fight against human trafficking. Matt holds an electrical engineering degree from Grove City College.
Matt provides a mix of visual support, live illustration, and digital sketchnotes for events and meetings. Goals always include the facilitation of understanding, improved communication, and the ability to create thoughtful strategic paths for organizations. Starting with Big Paper space battles growing up, he gravitated to the chalkboard, the whiteboard, and the conceptual.
He enjoys Generation X sports such as reading, LinkedIn commenting, falling off of his bicycle in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, mushroom hunting, and refereeing disagreements between dogs Callie and Samantha.
Matt lives with his family between Cleveland and Akron, in Peninsula, Ohio.
That Recession when he Answered a Craigslist Ad
It was 2009, and the great recession was on! Matt answered a craigslist ad posted by a consulting firm to be an onsite artist at Diebold corporate, a leading global ATM Manufacturer. Certainly nervous at this new type of work, he practiced, bought bright markers, and had the time of his life. A wonderful, overheard compliment from a C-level executive resonated:
I had no idea what the heck you guys were talking about until HE drew it for me.
Several years later, Matt started Big Paper Strategy LLC, and now he is finally in his element.
Connect with him on LinkedIn. where he posts regularly. Or, schedule a short zoom or phone call.
Every conference should have the very talented Matt Orley as part of their agenda.
Matt is brilliant, easy/fun to work with, and such a great guy!
Matt's ability to storyboard, connect the dots, and capture insights through the power of illustration is the best that I've ever seen by a country mile.
Imagine the power of having every participant leave your conference with a learning journey map to help them apply learnings for years to come.
//Taken from Julien's LinkedIn post
Holy wow I love this Matt Orley!
You provided great value to IPEC 2022. The proof of that is the apparent new business you may have picked up as a result of your work on-site! There’s no better testimonial to your value than having our attendees booking you for their future events!
Moreover, I know we all agree that your style – low-maintenance, self-reliant, easy-going, always professional – is doubly appreciated. You meshed really well with our team and our value proposition, which is very important to us!
Thanks again and we look forward to future opportunities to work together.
Jaw-dropping reactions. Well done!!!
...Matt was professional and very easy to work with both pre-planning and during the conference. The Graphic recordings of two of our plenary presentations were a huge hit for both our attendees and presenters. Attendees enjoyed the visual addition to the presentation and we had many people lined up to review the drawings in completion after the presentations.
Thank you for the graphics! These are WONDERFUL! I’ve had such positive feedback from the participants about this very special feature of yesterday’s meeting. I can hardly wait to show them to everyone at our Town Hall tomorrow morning!
You did an amazing job! Can’t sing your praises enough! Look forward to working with you in September at Annual!
This layering and cohesion was not at all visible in the linear presentation but presented as a whole, was exceptional- and, honestly a great way for those that would be in attendance to accept the vision.
Your leadership, direction and guidance last night thru the brainstorming was so much more than I ever thought or imagined!
You were tremendous this week, man! Please consider MCCA among your fans.
There were a lot of consistent comments about the quality of the venue and whatnot, but the most consistent thing I heard was compliments on your work and what you contributed to the convention.
We'd love to book you for next year's convention...
So some exciting news for you… our Executive Leadership Team, specifically our CEO, was so impressed by this art piece that he wants posters made to put in ELT offices and other M Health Fairview venues to remind us of our ongoing work and connection to the community. How awesome!!
Thank you again! I have already shared with my team! I love your style. You are so talented!
You brought a layer of richness and excitement to the conference that was pretty magical!! And thank you for sending the digital files ... they are gorgeous!!
These graphic recordings gave a fun and surprisingly on-point review of the meeting.
This session was outstanding! The way it focused more on Matt's drawings than Power Point was very effective!
