GF Story Conference

Knowledge Café: Networking and coffee

Technology Café: Twittering, Second Life, and more.

Seth Kahan

The Liminal Power of Storytelling: Exploring the place between worlds

Liminal space takes us from one reality to another, bridging the soul with the world. An ancient story of transformation, the story of organizational storytelling, and his own journey from ritual artist to corporate consultant – in his keynote Seth will braid these three strands exploring the place between worlds.  He will perform an original piece that connects work-in-the-world to the inner landscape of psyche-and-dream in the spirit of authentic transformation.

Expanding the Potential of Narrative Practice: Creating a Living Archive

The session will showcase Sparknow’s recent work with the Asian Development Bank in creating a Living Archive. The session will begin with a presentation of the assignment and how the concept of a Living Archive was developed and implemented. It will also include a short live performance by musician/ artist David Gunn of material from Sparknow’s project for the Asian Development Bank. Featuring atmospheric sounds, narrative fragments and arresting visuals from fieldwork conducted in Manila and Cambodia. Finally, a facilitated session will explore potential uses and advantages of sound and audio in narrative practice.

The Stories We Work By

We live by two stories at work and the problem is the stories are incongruent.  They require people to pay attention to different things and we are torn between them.

One, we know as ‘management’.  It’s a story about data, directives, deliverables, deadlines, and dollars.  This is the official story we work by.  The other, ‘organizing,’ is about making sense of what is happening and getting on with things.  ‘Who made these rules?’; ‘lets try it this way’; ‘what does she want?’  It is the story people tell when they’re working and is unofficial and ‘unseen’.

Explaining what I see as the consequences of living in two stories, I’ll pose a series of questions and ask the audience to respond with their own stories to: see if what I’ve outlined resonates; hear how people experience the two stories in their own work lives; discover what the incongruence means to them.  The challenge I want to throw out is, if my story about two stories rings true and we live schizophrenic work-lives, how do we escape.  What actions can we take?

Story 2.0: The Evolution of Organizational Storytelling

In this interactive session we will explore ideas for how to build brand visibility, thought leadership, and the perceived relevance of storytelling.

How can we bring a bigger notion of storytelling into popular culture and popular consciousness? Join me for a provocative conversation around the current and evolving state of storytelling as a business practice. The world is changing. Yet how is the field of storytelling adapting to keep pace with societal needs, of both institutions and individuals?

We all know the trend and tactic of storytelling is of growing practical value. Whether it’s the innovation economy, social media, or the re-invention of society, the need for storytelling couldn’t be greater. Yet the way many of us present and package storytelling is often limiting and only perpetuates existing misperceptions. There’s always a much bigger story to tell.

Larry Forster

Sustaining Innovation in the Face of World Class Challenges

Ever consider building a dream home? If you have, you are already familiar with the journey Larry Forster will take you through. The first thing someone realizes in building a dream home is that the builder has a completely different perspective than they do. And this is only the beginning. The same situation exists in innovation, in this case introducing new technology, into an oil and gas facility. There are many different perspectives in play, and the greater the business challenges, the more divergent the perspectives become.

Whichever endeavor you’re in, it’s important to understand these perspectives, to learn what the story is. Much of this learning can be done as homework, but the most important part of it will be in one-on-one interactions, sharing of stories between you and me. From these interactions, new stories can be created. Dreams can start to be realized – even dreams we didn’t know were there.

The Power of Stories in Turning Community Theater into Theater for the Community

The vision of two individuals, Mark Delancey and Ken Martin, who dared to make a difference in their community, is a compelling story in and of itself. The story of how these two individuals used stories to achieve their vision is a great example of shared community building.

In this session, participants will learn how the founders of the theater company are engaging their community by seeking to We Create their future. Mark Delancey will describe some of the struggles and constraints he and his partner have dealt with over the past 10 years and share his hopes and dreams for the future. Lynne Route of daVinci Consulting will describe the design of the campaign, the process for gathering the stories, and the methodologies for sharing the stories.  Vince Pelote of daVinci Consulting will then take the audience through a mini “World Café” where they will participate in story sharing. The participants will take away tools to use for their own story-sharing campaign.

Story and Life Long Learning

The role of story in learning is sometimes subtle, but always essential for lessons that are remembered. This workshop will present the stages for building learning into a life long habit for yourself and show how story is woven into each step. This workshop will be highly interactive, allowing participants to learn and begin their own exploration process of how they will become life long learners.

Lynne Feingold

Stories through Song and Movement

Songs are stories strung together by notes and rests.  All powerful stories come from our engagement in life, and one way to become and stay engaged is through the breath which is central to both singing and yoga.  Come learn a new way to access and tell stories. Through SingYo, a new tool which combines the joy of song with the presence of yoga, we can find the flow of music in our bodies; this flow assists understanding and accessing our past, present, and future stories.

Participants will be guided through a step-by-step process to enter a state of relaxation and focus, learn a technique for enhancing diaphragmatic breathing that is the core of both singing and yoga, and be taught basic yoga and singing exercises.  They will then break into groups and combine their favorite yoga poses with their favorite songs to tell a story.

Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the power of whole brain/whole body storytelling.

No previous yoga or singing training is necessary.  Please wear comfortable clothing and bring your favorite songs!

Your Story on the Social Web

Social networks and social media offer tremendous business opportunities in 2010. Yet many professionals find the task of learning about these new technologies daunting. If that’s you, take heart. Even though you do need technology to construct a business web presence, learning how to use the available tools is only one piece of the puzzle. Success comes from having a plan and then telling a coherent, compelling story over time and across platforms. Are you ready?

In this interactive workshop we’ll start from wherever you are—with the core qualities that matter to your business—then focus on approaches to self-education that build on what you already know so that you can start using the Social Web with confidence. A coherent approach to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn®, the big 3 networks for business, will also help you understand how to leverage the structures and norms of the Social Web to communicate your story. Join us for exercises, presentations, discussions, and demonstrations to get you moving in new directions.

The Geography of Human Life – Story-Mapping and Tracking

Australian indigenous people use stories and songs to map their territory. The way they travel safely though often inhospitable landscape is to tell or sing the story and that tells them where the water holes are and what places contain danger. Participants will be invited to explore the idea of stories as maps – to imagine their narrative work as life geography.