COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS GUIDE

Visit www.storycorps.org to learn more about all our programs

WHAT IS STORYCORPS?

StoryCorps is a non-profit organization with the mission to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world. We do this to remind one another of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters. At the same time, we are creating an invaluable archive for future generations by preserving the stories we record at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS TOOLKIT

In this site you can find all the details and resources to partner with StoryCorps' Mobile Tour. Please scroll down to review all the information on this page for important instructions, and then head to your stop-specific page for dates, flyers and graphics to share, and links to partner-only groups for each stop.

StoryCorps Mobile Tour

WHAT ARE THE MOBILE TOUR COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS?

In 2005, StoryCorps converted an Airstream trailer into a traveling recording studio—our MobileBooth—and launched its first cross-country tour, the StoryCorps’ Mobile Tour. Every year, StoryCorps' Mobile Tour visits ten cities across the United States to record the stories of everyday people. In each city, the Mobile Tour partners with community organizations to widen the scope of experiences we record. Ideally, StoryCorps’ Mobile Tour community partners are organizations, institutions, or community leaders that serve members or work directly with communities who are conventionally underrepresented in mainstream media. Examples of communities typically underrepresented in media include Latinx/Hispanic, African American, Asian, Native American, immigrant, Muslim, and LGBTQIA. As a community partner, we offer your organization a limited number of appointment slots before opening the calendar to the general public so you can book appointments for people in your community! Once you coordinate the appointments, participants record a conversation about their own story, the story of their family or friends, their experience with your organization or group, the change they want to see in the world, or anything else important to them. We want to listen!

WHAT IS A STORYCORPS' RECORDING?

A StoryCorps audio recording is an opportunity for two people who know each other, including friends, family, coworkers or any pair of people, to share an uninterrupted conversation of up to 40 minutes in an intimate recording space. The process is facilitated by our Road Team. Participants are welcome to talk about absolutely anything that they consider important, from questions like “What are you proud of?” and “Who has had an influence on your life?,” to “What do you wish people understood better about your community?” Participants do not need to have an exceptional or "interesting" story or be an "expert" in a topic. All they need is the desire to share and listen. While participants can record in any language of preference, our team is usually able to orient and facilitate the recording process in English and Spanish.

Below, listen to a sample of voices and stories, many of them from appointments coordinated through our community partnerships

MONTAGE FROM COMMUNITY PARTNERS ACROSS THE US

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PHILADELPHIA VOICES

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Audio Produced by Eleanor Vassili, Mobile Tour Facilitator

HOW DO YOU ADDRESS ISSUES OF IDENTITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY?

People who record with StoryCorps have the option to record anonymously or with a pseudonym, and they can always choose not to share the recording with us and just keep a copy for themselves. All participants will receive an email to claim their recording and can choose to share it with the Library of Congress and StoryCorps' Online Archive. These options will be explained in detail to each participant on the day of their appointment.

Please be aware that on Tuesday, October 15th 2019, StoryCorps launched the new Online Archive

What does this mean for your you and your participants?

All recordings will default to complete public online access. Please let us know if you'd like the recordings you coordinate to be initially set to private instead. Participants who sign a General Release for their recording are giving StoryCorps broad rights to use the recording, both "in real life" and online as signing the General Release also means the full recording will become part of our Online Archive. Recordings will now automatically be set to complete public access online. If you would like your participants to decide the online visibility for their recording when they receive their copy instead, please let us know. Read more about the visibility options here.

WHERE DO THE RECORDINGS TAKE PLACE?

Conversations are generally recorded in our MobileBooth, a truly special place designed to provide participants with a comfortable, broadcast-quality recording space to hold meaningful conversations. We encourage all participants to experience our signature MobileBooth! However, depending on need and team availability, StoryCorps can potentially offer a door-to-door field recording service to some community partners. If approved by the Mobile Team, the partner will have to secure and confirm five pairs to record, and designate a quiet recording space and a separate waiting area.

WHEN DO RECORDING APPOINTMENTS TAKE PLACE?

Each of our appointments are scheduled back to back in one-hour slots (except for a lunch break from 1:30-2:30pm). On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday our first recording starts at 10:30am and the last recording starts at 5:30pm. On Sundays our first recording starts at 10:30 while our last starts at 4:30pm. We are generally closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

As a partner you can provide this information to your potential participants to get a sense of their availability. We'll then follow-up with a link to provide you access to book appointments for your specific stop.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A PARTNERSHIP?

Partnering with StoryCorps’ Mobile Tour comes at no monetary cost to partners. A few weeks after the recording takes place, participants will be asked to create an account to access their own copy of the recording and, as a partner, your organization can request a copy of coordinated appointments in the form of a Community Archive. For more information and to request one, please visit our Community Archives page.

In addition to gaining access to our recording booth to document and share the voices of the your communities, we do our best to present learning opportunities for selected partners at our stops to learn how to use the StoryCorps model, design your own storytelling project and serve your mission and needs of your community. For more information about using our free tools, please visit the StoryCorps DIY and Workshop page.

*These steps are specific to partners who will book appointments at our Mobile Booth.

WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO PARTNERING?*

After your intial orientation call or meeting:

1. The point person reviews this toolkit and stop-specific page

2. Using the stop specific flyers in each locations page and the Participant Engagement materials, the point person decides who to pair up, then reaches out to potential participants to invite them

3. Once we provide you with access to our booking system through a priority link, the point person books the appointment slots and includes all contact information for each participant

4. Our staff then calls each one of your participants about two weeks in advance of their appointment to make sure they have all the information they need to feel confident and ready for their appointment

5. Your participants record with StoryCorps on the scheduled appointment and within a few weeks, they receive an email to access and download the audio files of their recording. If they signed the "General Release" option during their recording, they will be asked to create an account on our Online Archive and will have to decide what level of privacy they want their recording to have online

7. Your organization is eligible to request a free Community Archive of coordinated recordings for preservation or future use!

2020 STORYCORPS MOBILE TOUR STOPS & Recording dates

Santa Monica, CA / KCRW / January 5 - February 7

San Joaquin Valley (Fresno), CA / Valley Public Radio / February 12 - March 20

Salt Lake City, UT / KUER / March 25 - April 24

Boise, ID / Boise State Public Radio / April 29 - May 29

Missoula, MT / Montana Public Radio / June 3 - July 3

Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, ID/WA / Northwest Public Radio / July 8 - August 7

Bay Area, CA / KQED / August 12 - September 11 (To be confirmed)

Las Vegas, NV / Nevada Public Radio / September 16 - October 23

Amarillo, TX / High Plains Public Radio / October 28 - November 25

Marfa, TX / Marfa Public Radio / December 2 - December 21

2019 STORYCORPS MOBILE TOUR STOPS & Recording dates

Jan. 5 - Feb. 6

Feb. 12 - March. 13

March. 19 - April. 17

April 23 - May 22

May 28 - June 26

July 2 - 31

Aug. 6 - Sept. 4

Sept. 10 - Oct. 4

Oct. 15 - Nov. 13

Nov. 19 - Dec. 21

*The number of appointments may vary per partner and stop, depending on appointment availability and stop timeline.

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