GF: What makes you feel as strongly as you do about the message you are giving?

David: I remain fascinated by how deeply rooted “the sense of story” is in the human brain – we’re almost irretrievably hardwired to process data in narrative structures. And when we see crises in societies or community, they can often be most usefully understood as crises of narrative. This is probably why experimenting with narrative is so important to me in my artistic projects. Not only to understand stories, but to involve groups in a process of collaboratively re-creating archival and narrative patterns and structures. It seems to me that encouraging an open, flexible capacity for story-making (and breaking!) is a vital tool in encouraging an open and flexible approach to the world that surrounds us.

GF: Why might someone want to come to your talk?

David: Its musical! Storytelling is most often understood as the written word, or perhaps a single human voice. But the collaboration between Sparknow and Incidental has been about exploring a sense of story that includes the communicative potential of sound – and the role that sound can play in enriching, constructing and even challenging stories. Before there was the word, there was the sound … Most importantly, its a great opportunity for Victoria Ward and I to sketch out some of the opportunities that exist in this area for organizations – both theoretically through the presentation and more kinesthetically via the live performance.

GF: If you had three wishes for the conference, what would they be?

David:

1. That the discussions are full of border-crossings and inter-disciplinary confusion

2. I’d love to get some people interested and involved in our new not-for-profit  project for experimental arts in Cambodia http://kck.st/9CKhM8

3. And finally, I’m always a fan of coffee-break conversations… so i hope that as a collective, we’re able to use this time to sketch out some ideas for action that are both profoundly unusual and organizationally robust.

Lynn will be hosting “Stories Through Song and Movement” using SingYo, a new tool which combines the joy of song with the presence of yoga.

GF: What draws you to the GoldenFleece Conference?

Lynn: It is the energy of the day and the great learning and connections with people all over the world who are fascinated about the power of story.    As a co-founder of the GoldenFleece, I haven’t missed a conference yet!  Each year, the conference has never failed to inspire me and has tangibly helped me to grow in my understanding and application of story.

GF: Why might someone come to your talk?

Lynn: My workshop is an experiential understanding on the theme of the conference – “You”, “Me” and “We” – connecting through story.  There will be exercises and activities to become aware of the breath and use that awareness to bring clarity and insight into our stories so that they come alive and engage others. When you are the master of your breath, you are the master of your story. Being connected from the “inside out” gives us new options, new ways of leading our organizations.

GF: If you had three wishes for the conference, what would they be?

Lynn: A strong sense of belonging and “story community” among all of the participants that extends after the conference is over

Inspiration to move forward with using stories in our organizations for better engagement and leadership

Awareness that we can reframe our stories at every moment that we are present to the “Now”

GF: What do you think are the greatest benefits people will get from the conference?

Lynn: An unusual opportunity to gain new perceptions, reflections, and understanding on the power of story to move us from me, to you, and to we.

Jo Golden and Tracey Holinka will be speaking on Your Story on the Social Web. Here, Jo talk about why she is back at Goldenfleece’s conference and why.

GF: What draws you to (or back to) the Goldenfleece Story Conference?

Jo: It’s an amazing opportunity to interact with people who focus on story in their work—from storytellers to consultants to narrative scholars. The longer I work with story in business, the more I appreciate the vast array of knowledge and experience shared every year.

GF: What makes you feel as strongly as you do about the message you are giving?

Jo: New media and the social web are changing the ways we do business and understand our connections to one another. I believe that online social networking fulfills basic human needs for connection, autonomy, and meaning (needs identified by biologist Mary Clark) and that using the social web for business leads us towards new ways of living and working in the digital world.

GF: Why might someone want to come to your talk?

Jo: Come because you want to learn more about taking advantage of the social web to grow your business—in a way that keeps your business at the center and leverages technology to get things done. As educators we know that technological competence is a learned skill, and that anyone can learn. The real power of the social web lies in the stories told, information shared, and relationships formed along the way. Are you making the most of the opportunity?

GF: What draws you to (or back to) the Goldenfleece Story Conference?

Seth: The informal atmosphere + the sheer power of the presenters = an unmatched learning experience.

GF: What are you looking forward to at this 10th annual conference?

Seth: Opening a new space in applied storytelling, charting the frontier with other able-minded and strong-hearted

GF: What is the greatest benefit you think participants will get from attending this conference?

Seth: The benefits of attending the conference include:

* Concrete techniques and applications that can be put to use immediately in one’s own practice

* Professional relationships that lead to greater capacity

* New ideas and insights that inspire and rejuvenate

* New ways of thinking about work that increase opportunity

GF: Thank you, Mark Addleson, for agreeing to share your comments. What makes me feel as strongly as I do about the message I’m giving?

Mark: Seeing ourselves – our actions – in our stories, they become powerful analytical tools that can give us deep insights into work-place problems and what to do about them.  I’m for helping – enabling – people to take action.  Surfacing these two work-stories and seeing that they are incongruent is a revelation.  It helps to clear up some of the mysteries about ‘what is wrong’ and opens up new possibilities for action.

GF: Why might someone want to come to my talk?

Mark: There is growing consensus that our work practices are in need of a major overhaul.  Relics of the industrial age, they were designed for running factories.  But, what is to be done?  If you’re an activist, who wants to do something about the situation, one of the reasons why you should come to this talk is that it’ll help you see the options more clearly.  Another is that, by participating, you’ll help to frame and build a new work-story, the starting point for new action.

GF: If you had three wishes for the conference for everyone, what would they be?

Mark: that everyone

• makes a commitment to be engaged;
• is challenged and stimulated by the stories they hear;
• and goes back to their organizations, wanting to share their stories, with ideas for practical action.

GF: Thank you, Mark.

GF: Larry Forster is a speaker at our conference. Let’s begin by asking him, What draws me back to the GoldenFleece Story Conference?

Larry: Without a doubt, what draws me back to the GoldenFleece Story Conference is the learning opportunity around increasing my effectiveness in the use of story in organizations.  Learning comes from two sources:  (1) Reconnecting with, and sharing feedback with GoldenFleece colleagues; and, (2) Meeting and interacting with the broad cross-section of attendees to the conference, who come with a wide range of perspectives.

GF: What makes you feel as strongly as you do about the message you are giving?

Larry: What would we do about a rusty, stiff and hard-to-use piece of equipment if we didn’t know about lubrication?  All too often, a potentially remarkable piece of equipment may lie idle, its benefits unrealized, all because of a problem that can be solved with relative ease.  Organizations can suffer this same fate.  I have seen it, and I have also seen what can happen to turn things around, once the conversation turns to story.  Things can start to happen almost instantly, and it’s so exciting to spread the word.

GF: What is the most compelling issue that organizations are facing today that the use of story can assist?

Larry: As I see it, the most compelling issue for organizations today is a two-part world-class challenge: reducing costs and increasing profitability.  Story can get organizations unstuck, which will certainly help in reducing costs.  Story can also work to usher in change, new ideas and new technology, which can help with the profitability.  Why the use of story is particularly compelling to me is that one way of getting organizations unstuck, and reducing costs is to ease off on the introduction of change.  But this is only half the battle.

GF: Thanks, Larry. We look forward to hearing the whole story.

GF: Thanks for agreeing to answer some questions about the conference. Let’s begin with, What makes you feel as strongly as you do about the message you are giving?

Madelyn: I’ve worked with professionals for over 20 years helping them cope with keeping their knowledge fresh – with developing themselves and their careers. As the years have gone by, the amount of information that the world makes available to each person has grown enormously. Statistics show that Americans consume 3 times the amount of information today as they did 30 years ago. That’s a 200% increase. No wonder people feel overwhelmed with what the feel they must deal with every day – what I call the deluge of data.

My talk will give insight into this problem and offer real solutions based on the stories of people who are doing it in their own lives. They are people who live ordinary and extraordinary lives, and they all have shared stories that are filled with strategies for coping with the mass of information pouring over them every day. Why stories? The power of their stories lies in putting the strategies in context so that you can decide exactly how to bring them into your own life. Learning is no longer a one-time activity. Only as life long learners will we be able to ride the current of fresh knowledge rather than drown in it.

GF: What are you looking forward to at this 10th annual conference?

Madelyn: As someone who has been to every one of the conferences, I still look forward to each one. The speakers almost always bring the latest in their thinking and I find myself stimulated anew in how to use story in my work. As importantly, I meet and greet old and new friends and colleagues who continuously enlarge my circle. People interested in story are influenced by story’s power to link you fast together. How can I miss the opportunity to see and hear their latest stories?

GF: What is the greatest benefit you think participants will get from attending this conference?

Madelyn: To me, working with students always offers deep benefits. Because they are in learning mode, students are more curious. As a result of their questions and even their miss-steps, I learn something new. I so appreciate this. As this year, the conference is being planned and run mostly by the students, I am already having fun learning from them. I suspect that on April 17, we will all have the opportunity to learn from fresh questions, new perspectives, open minds. You can’t ask for more!

GF: Thanks, Madelyn, we all look forward to your talk.

Join us on Saturday, April 17, 2010 for the GoldenFleece Story Conference, part of the 10th annual Smithsonian International Storytelling Weekend.

This represents the single largest gathering of organizational storytelling practitioners in the world, who gather to share best practices, discuss key trends, and strengthen social connections.