What is Your Story?

Today we completed the first training and orientation session for the What Is Your Story? project in Richmond.  Held at Morrisson-Reeves Library, close to 30 people from around the community came together to learn more about oral history and storytelling, and how we can honor the stories of our community members through this project.  We covered a LOT of information - from what the project is about to the roles that facilitators and interviewers play, from use of the recording equipment to audio editing and production basics.  Most importantly, we made connections with each other about our own interests and project hopes around oral history, and we know that there are great things to come as a result.

Thanks to everyone who participated and made the event possible.  We’ll be contacting you shortly with follow-up information, how to use the professional audio equipment we’re making available, and next steps for the project.

For anyone who didn’t get a chance to attend, stay tuned to this website or contact us to find out more about upcoming trainings.

The What Is Your Story? steering committee met last night to do some final preparations for this weekend’s facilitator training, and we’re really excited! We know we’ll have a great group of people from around the community, but there’s still time to RSVP if you’re interested in joining us for an informative and fun session.  It’s free, and we’ll even feed you!

We also want to make sure you see the article in today’s Palladium-Item that highlights the project.  Thanks to the paper for helping to get the word out!  If you know of other groups, organizations or media that might want to learn more about the project, just let us know.

We hope to see you this Saturday, but stay tuned to this website for information about other upcoming trainings, days of recording stories, and more.

The kickoff luncheon for the What Is Your Story? project concluded earlier this afternoon, and it was a great gathering of people from around the community interested in the project.  Interviews on this “StoryCorps day” have been happening all morning, and will continue this afternoon.

Over delicious food catered by Jen Ferrell at the Uptown Innovation Center, guests had the opportunity to hear about the project from Girls Inc. Executive Director Beth Harrick, to meet the two StoryCorps representatives who are facilitating today’s interviews, and to learn more about our upcoming training session in February.

With about 35 attendees, it was a great time to discuss the value of an oral history project in Richmond and Wayne County, and to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of service to girls in Wayne County with the power of storytelling.

Thanks to all who attended and participated, and stay tuned for more information about other upcoming events.

We’ve scheduled the first free facilitator/producer training for this project on Saturday, February 28, 2009 from 11 AM to 3 PM at Morrisson-Reeves Library in Richmond.  Come learn what you need to know to help us answer the question, “What Is Your Story?”  At this training, you’ll learn how to facilitate and conduct interviews with friends, family members, coworkers and others, edit those interviews into a final audio segment, and share your edited interview with the world.

Training topics will include:
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On Friday, January 23, we’ll be honored to have a team of Door-to-Door facilitators from the national StoryCorps project here in Richmond.  During this visit we’ll have 6 stories recorded and we’ll also have a chance to learn from the professionals about how we can bring this project to the broader community.

Here’s what they’ll be providing us with as a part of their visit (according to their website):

• Two highly trained StoryCorps Facilitators with professional audio and photographic equipment.
• Six 40-minute interviews per recording day.
• One copy of each interview for the participants, with an additional copy to be archived at a local repository.
• Archiving of the interviews in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
• Assistance in developing a menu of questions, tailored to your group’s needs and interests, for participants to use in interviews.
• The legal rights of usage for the interviews recorded.

Thanks again to our sponsors and partners who have made this great opportunity possible!

Welcome to WhatIsYourStory.org, the online home of a new oral history project happening in Richmond and Wayne County, Indiana.  Led by Girls Inc. of Wayne County, the project will record interviews with storytellers in our community - family members, neighbors, classmates, colleagues, and others.  We’re modeling the project after StoryCorps, the national project that seeks to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.

You can read more about the project, learn about upcoming events and trainings, or learn how to contact us.  This site will be updated with more information soon about how you can get involved to help record the stories of our lives, so please check back again.