The new website (www.storynet.org) is on line!

It’s in its plain, beta format, but it’s up and running, useful, and ready to be gussied up with photos and new pages and features over the coming months.  Finally it is easy to get information to and about NSN.  The redesigned website comes to us thanks to countless hours of pro bono work by web designer Karen Wollscheid (www.storybizdesign.com).  Thank you, Karen!  The NSN Board has voted to award Karen a life membership as a small token of thanks.

If you have photos you’d like us to consider adding to the website please send them as digital jpgs to webmaster@storynet.org.

New Directors have been elected in four regions

Taking office in 2009 will be:

            Western Region:        Sandy Oglesby

            Southeast Region:     Caren Neile

            Pacific Region:          Cathryn Fairlee

            Northeast Region:      Lauretta Phillips

NSN plans national advocacy for storytelling

NSN has set up the Arts Recognition Task Force, led by co-chairs Mary Hamilton and Jane Crouse.  The goal of the ART Force is to persuade the National Endowment for the Arts to recognize storytelling as a distinct, independent art form – and thus to start a national movement to reform the arts listings of regional, state, and local agencies.  As every storyteller who has ever tried to apply for funding or for professional roster listings knows, this will ultimately increase the visibility, credibility – and fundability – of storytellers. The first step is to create a listing of storytellers throughout the nation who are currently involved in Arts Rosters in some way. Be sure to submit your information as soon as the ART Force contacts you. We can’t harness the power of our collective voices if we don’t hear from you!

 

Heroes Campaign is launched

For those of us who wish to support NSN, but might not be in a position at this time to make a direct donation, the HEROES CAMPAIGN is the answer!  Designed to raise awareness OF storytelling while it raises money FOR storytelling, Heroes Campaign asks NSN members across the country to sponsor events to benefit NSN.  We’ll help with publicity and celebrate our storytelling heroes in the magazine and elsewhere!  For more information, go to http://www.storynet.org/support/heroes.html.

 

Our first Storytelling Heroes have blazed the trail!  

·        At National Story Night on October 2, Bobby Norfolk, Barbara Freeman, Gayle Ross, Diane Ferlatte, David Novak, Faye Wooden, and Rixon Lane donated their performances and raised $2300 for the NSN Grants Program.

·        In Arizona Dustin Loehr and Kim Sheperd produced a Heroes Campaign potluck, and raised $327.

·        and more events are in the pipeline over the next few months!  Let us know what you would like to present.

A huge thank-you to these entrepreneurs!  We are hoping that 100 Heroes Campaign events will take place in 2009.

 

Good financial news

2008 Conference: Thanks to our Event Coordinator Karin Hensley, with a large team of magnificent volunteers and pro-bono experts organized by Yvonne Healy, and generous sponsors including Northlands Storytelling Network, Yvonne Healy (again!), Karen Wollscheid, and Elizabeth Ellis, the National Storytelling Conference in Gatlinburg brought in nearly $25,000 for NSN. 

 

2009 Budget: At the October Board of Directors meeting Finance Chair ML Barron led the Board through a process of developing a preliminary budget based on base, best, and worst case scenarios for revenue. We set priorities for expenses and estimated their costs. It was an enlightening process. We concluded that NSN is in a good financial position to continue with the current staff, office expenses, and magazine and to begin looking at producing a major conference in Los Angeles in 2010 and subsequently planning to move our offices to an urban center. To fulfill our priorities, we will have to raise monies. Several campaigns are under way to do this.

 

Bookkeeping: Over the past several years NSN’s accounting has become increasingly tangled.  It has become more and more difficult to generate clear reports.  In response to this, the Board has decided to revamp our accounting from the ground up to begin 2009 with a new, simple, sustainable bookkeeping system.  We applied for and received a technical assistance grant from the Tennessee Arts Council to carry out this much-needed redesign.  Thanks to initiatives by Wendy Welch and ML Barron, and to current leadership by our Corporate Treasurer Nancy Kavanaugh, NSN is on track to accomplish this.

 

NSN Announces the 2009 J.J. Reneaux Mentorship Grant

With great pleasure, we announce that Dustin Loehr of Mesa, AZ, has been awarded the J.J. Reneaux Mentorship Grant for 2009.  Dustin, who is an accomplished tap dancer as well as a creative storyteller, will be working with mentor Motoko Dworkin of Amherst, MA, on techniques of integrating his tap skills into story performance.  The Mentorship Grant provides funding for a younger storyteller (18-30 years of age) to be coached by an experienced performer.  http://www.storynet.org/programs/grants/reneaux.html

 

Membership – and bonuses

NSN gained 100 members during the National Festival, and now that the redesigned web site is running and PayPal is providing on-line payment options, more and more members are renewing and signing up for our Teller Directory ($20! a bargain! and you can add audio and video if you wish).

 

Please sign up your friends who are not yet members – and be sure to tell them of the wonderful new-member bonus provided by August House Publishers (http://www.storynet.org/membership/bonus.html).

 

Speaking of bonuses: Is your local storytelling organization an Affiliate or Associate member of NSN yet?  If not, Cherish Bound is providing a valuable bonus for new Associates and Affiliates (http://www.storynet.org/membership/bonus.html), and all members of these organizations will receive discounts on NSN membership as well.

 

2009 is the Year of the Regions

In order to reach out to storytellers and story lovers unable to travel to a national conference, NSN will co-sponsor one storytelling event in each of our seven national regions in 2009 (http://www.storynet.org/events/yearofregions.html).  Watch for an announcement soon of these varied and interesting programs!

 

The on-line Events Calendar is getting under way

Send event listings to Sharon Rogers, our wonderful calendar volunteer, at calendar@nationalstorytelling.net.  Check out coming events at http://www.nationalstorytelling.net/upcomingevents.  Soon we hope to have a Google map connected to the calendar so that you can easily find events in your state or region.

 

Remember that you can also list your event with a calendar ad in Storytelling Magazine!  See specs and deadlines at http://www.storynet.org/support/advertise.html.

 

How to send messages to the NSN Staff or Board

We want to hear from you!  The new Contact feature on www.storynet.org is an easy way to reach the right staff person or the Board with your message.  Current Board and Staff listings are also posted on the web site. 

 

Quote of the month

        I joined the NSN this past winter. In less than one year I've grown more and have learned more about the importance 
of storytelling than in my previous ten years as a storyteller. The NSN is making storytelling part of our national culture 
and the importance of storytelling cannot be overstated. 

        Every field of endeavor inside or outside the workplace can be positively affected by stories. From the education of 
our youth to the ties that bind our elders to us and our past, storytelling is important. In our rapidly changing world, 
storytelling keeps us firmly grounded with constant and consistent reminders of good old fashioned values, principles and 
morals. In this era of IPODS, text messaging, Game Boys, HDTV and the like, NSN has provided opportunities for people to 
enjoy each other's company through storytelling. NSN's support of storytellers, what it is and who we are is outstanding. 

        Though we've never met, I'm involved in your Mission. I wish you and your team well in your future endeavors.

 Peace,

Ivory D. Williams, President

Detroit Association of Black Storytellers, Inc.

If you're headed to Jonesborough for the National Storytelling Festival in October, you can kick off a great weekend with NSN's all-star National Story Night concert on the eve of the Festival, Thursday, October 2, at 7:30 pm in the Library Tent behind the Jonesborough Visitors Center.

http://www.storynet.org/Events/Storynight/2008%20national_story_night.html

Here's the line-up: Diane Ferlatte, David Novak, Barbara Freeman, Gayle Ross, Bobby Norfolk, Faye Wooden (Jonesborough Storytelling Guild), and Rixon Lane (National Youth Storytelling Showcase Grand Torchbearer)!

All these splendid tellers have donated their astonishing talents to benefit NSN's Grant Program.  Please thank them! --

and come to National Story Night!  Tickets ($15 adults; $10 students and seniors) can be ordered from the Jonesborough Visitors Center, 1-866-401-4223, or purchased in Jonesborough at the Visitors Center or at the tent.

Please consider (even if you can't be at the concert in person) buying a ticket in honor of the memory of a departed teller.  We'll put a sign on the seat honoring that person.  Just order the ticket, and then send a message about your memorial gift to Karin Hensley (karin@storynet.org).

Hope to see you in Jonesborough!

             It has been a tradition for NSN to produce a single annual conference.  Although the conference site moves to different national locations, distance, summer scheduling, and expense have meant that typically no more than 15% of our membership can attend.  NSN has long wanted to explore other meeting formats and possibilities – and 2009 will therefore be the “Year of the Regions.”

 WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN

NSN will support one innovative event in each of our seven regions, with

• Funding (details below)
• NSN’s non-profit fiscal sponsorship for grant proposals and solicitation of (tax-deductible) donations
• Publicity (via the magazine, mailing lists, web, and e-mail)
• Use of NSN logo on promotional materials and web sites
• Registration assistance
• Technical assistance and ideas as appropriate (for podcasts, larger access via Internet, etc.)
• NSN staff and board presence (where possible)
• Opportunity to present results of the event on a panel at the 2010 national conference

 [Funding:  NSN co-sponsorship will provide 40/60 match funding for each event, up to a total contribution by NSN of $1000.  (For example, if the local sponsor provides $600, NSN will give $400. If the local sponsor provides $1500, NSN will give $1000... and so forth.)  If the event is financially successful, the revenues will first go to repay the local sponsor’s 60% contribution, and then to repay NSN’s 40% contribution; should net revenues exceed the initial funding, they will be divided between NSN and the local sponsor.  However, should the event’s revenues be too small to cover its initial funding, NSN will treat its contribution as an outright grant.  Thus NSN will share the financial risk involved in the production – and, if possible, will share some of the revenues.]

The Year of the Regions events, including the seven regional programs as well as special SIG programming, will be featured in all NSN publications and announcements throughout the year.

 

WHO MAY APPLY

Any group – regional, state, or local guilds, arts organizations, businesses, or ad hoc groups created just for this purpose – may apply for NSN Year of the Regions sponsorship, as long as the primary organizers are members of NSN.  (NSN Special Interest Groups are encouraged to produce their own regional events and will be supported by NSN staff and publicity, but since they are part of NSN, they are not eligible for this funding.)

WHAT KINDS OF EVENTS WILL BE SUPPORTED

As long as storytelling is central to the program, your creative imaginations can do the rest!  NSN will consider stand-alone events as well as innovative programs linked to established conferences or festivals.  Performances, brief and extended workshops, outreach events, collaborations, broadcasts, teleconferences, story slams – you name it!

 

HOW TO APPLY

E-mail a preliminary application letter to nsn.proposals@gmail.com by midnight (EDT), Wednesday, September 24, answering the following questions:

1) What is the title of the event?

2) What activities will it involve, and who will take part?  What do you hope to accomplish?

3) Where and when will it take place?

4) Who will be organizing it?  (give names, brief bios, and contact information)

5) Who are the local sponsors? (if different from #4 above)

6) In general, what is the event budget?  List expected expenses, revenue, and sources of revenue.

 

SUPPORT CRITERIA

The NSN Board will give preference to events that:

·        Represent innovative approaches to storytelling programming;

·        Are organized by communal efforts;

·        Encourage tellers to gather and develop professionally;

·        Support regions or populations underserved by storytelling programming;

·        Promote and advocate for storytelling;

·        Have potential to reach significant numbers of participants;

·        Present a plausible and viable budget.

 

NOTIFICATION

By October 15 applicants will be notified of the Board’s assessment of their proposals.  We may at that time be able to approve some applications; other applicants may be asked for further information so that a decision can be made by the end of the month.

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, contact your NSN Regional Director:

Northeast:        Laura Packer, Laura.serena@mindspring.com

Mid-Atlantic:    Jane Crouse, crousej@comcast.net

Southeast:         Joseph Sobol, sobol@etsu.edu

South Central:   Roger E. Armstrong, wordweaver@arkansas.net

North Central:  Judy Sima, judy@judysima.com

Western:           Teresa Clark, tcnsn@q.com

Pacific: Michael D. McCarty, agriot@earthlink.net

Here's a hint at what to look forward to in your Storytelling Magazine:

 

Oct/Nov 2008 - Greg Weiss, Guest Editor: Storytelling Outside the Comfort Zone

Jan/Feb 2009 - Bill Harley, Guest Editor: The Arts & Business of Recorded Story

Apr/May 2009 -- Flora Joy, Guest Editor: The Storytelling World Awards

July/Aug 2009 - Loren Neimi, Guest Editor: The Branding of Storytelling

Sept/Oct 2009 -- Delanna Reed, Guest Editor: Storytelling & Literacy

Nov/Dec 2009 -- Judy Sima & Sherry Norfolk, Guest Editors: The Transformational Power of Story

Jan/Feb 2010 -- Ann Scroggie, Guest Editor: Brimstone Award Projects

 

What topics would you be interested in seeing addressed in the Storytelling Magazine? Who do you suggest as Guest Editor to pull articles on these issues together? There are open slots to be filled with the information and news you want to read!