2012 Conference & Concert Schedule

9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.  

Cracking the Story Code: How to Know if Your Story Has Appeal

Pre-Conference Intensive Workshop*

Featuring Katherine Farmer

Orem Public Library - 58 N State Street - Orem, UT - Tickets/$50 (Separate ticket required. Includes lunch.)

Attention writers, tellers, creators of story: This workshop is for you. Over the last thirty years Katherine Farmer has investigated stories that target audiences of different age and interest levels. She has tapped into the expertise of many different disciplines and perspectives in order to isolate key elements and dynamics in story that are linked to our perceptions of a work’s quality and appeal. Farmer has also developed structural models and analytical tools to help those who write, select, or enact stories understand these findings and apply them. You will come away from this workshop empowered to make your story appealing and relevant to your intended audience, having cracked the story code!

*Registration for this pre-conference workshop is NOT included with regular conference tickets. To register for this special event, please click here.

7:00-8:00 p.m.

Pictures from the Past: Stories of Family and Place

Featuring Susan O'Halloran

In this free story concert, Susan O'Halloran will give tips on how to survive family life. Learn how to impress your surly teenager with a holiday trip to the Impound Lot; how to stay cool when your other teenage son unwittingly dismantles the family pickup truck; and, finally, how a trip to the "old country" can make you see anew. From raising the young to honoring the elderly, Susan tells stories of appreciating family and how leaving--and finding--home affects us all.

Orem Public Library - Storytelling Wing - Free storytelling performance

7:30 a.m. Registration at BYU Conference Center

                   Information about BYU credit will be available at registration.

8:30 a.m. Keynote Address from Susan O'Halloran

Creating a Storytelling Community: Living on the Latitude of Gratitude

9:30 a.m. Break

9:45 a.m. Breakout Sessions

• Antonio Rocha - The Magical Realm of Transitions  The blank area between the end of one paragraph and the beginning of the next is where most of the magical creativity lies. Learn how to create incredible transitions that will put your signature into any story.

• Mary Hamilton - All Together Now: Crafting and Telling Audience Participation Tales  Learn methods for adapting stories to increase participation, methods for inviting participation, and strategies for facilitating participation. For intermediate level tellers who want to increase readily observable audience participation.

• Well Arts Institute - On the Edge: Stories of Living and Dying  Learn what clues to gather from interviews of people living and dying of AIDS, MS or addiction; how to tap into the emotional life of disability, and end-of-life issues; and how to craft the information into a  performance monologue or story.

• Rick Walton - E-Books: Where They Are, Where They're Going, and How You Can Get On Board  E-books are here to stay but the paths to e-book publishing are almost as varied as the e-books themselves. From traditional contracts with publishers to vendors to publishing it online yourself, this workshop will provide the information you need to select the best path for your book or story.
  

11:45 a.m. Lunch - Lunch is included with Full Conference and Single-Day Conference.

12:45 p.m. Showcase Performance featuring Ilene Evans

                          Behind Enemy Lines: Harriet Tubman in the Civil War

1:20 p.m. Breakout Sessions

• John Graham - Breath: The Source of Your Power  This intensive, heavily participatory workshop will explore several techniques to increase the stamina and range of your breath; deepen your connection with your story and your audience; and increase your vocal health. Come ready to move.

• Donna Washington - Folktales are Forever  In this fast-paced, interactive workshop participants will deconstruct a folktale and rebuild it using characterizations and their own unique personality & style with an eye on the universal themes that make the story relevant.

• Karla Huntsman - Storytelling 101: Sensationally Successful Methods for Accessing Your Storytelling Potential  How do I structure a story? What do I do with my body? What do I do with my voice? Participants in this highly interactive workshop will develop increased understanding and skill level in the foundational principles of highly successful storytelling. 

• Bil Lepp - It's a Bird! It's a Plane! Superplot: ACTION as HERO In the tall tale, listeners want to know how the Action Started, what the Action did, and where the Action went. So, how do we make Action the main character? We make sure we know how to locate the Action, determine the Action, start the Action, contain the Action, and reveal Action’s True Nature. Come learn a new way of looking at Action in your stories.

3:30 p.m. Breakout Sessions

• Ilene Evans - In the Voice of Our Ancestors: Performing Historical Narrative  Examine the process of building fictional or non-fictional historical characters through physical and architectural rhythms; vocal dynamics and language to developing an authentic expression. Come with a personal story and an historical figure to share.

• Donald Davis - Picking Fruit from the Family Tree  Ever wonder how to gather all those wonderful family anecdotes and put them together into cohesive, meaningful stories? Donald is the master of the craft and will guide you through the gathering, selecting and crafting process in this storytelling-essential workshop.

• Kerry Patterson - Using Storytelling in Your Organizations  Kerry will explore how stories are used within organizations and families as a tool for change. He will examine how stories create vicarious experiences which in turn affect changes in opinions and eventual behavior. Examples will include how stories were used to reduce deaths in Yellowstone and how parents use stories to create a shared vision in their family.

• Bill Ratner - Voiceovers for Storytellers: Finding Your Best Voice  Participants engage in exercises including vocal warm-up, experimenting with new and different ways of using your voice, focusing on delivery, cadence, pacing, and oral interpretation. Includes info on finding employment in the field of voiceovers.

7:30-9:30 p.m.

Tales for a Midwinter Eve

Featuring Donald Davis, Bil Lepp, and Antonio Rocha
Orem High School - 175 S 400 E - Tickets $10/each or $40/family of five.

Recommended for ages 8+

7:30 a.m. Registration at BYU Conference Center

                   Information about BYU credit will be available at registration.

8:30 a.m. Keynote Address from Bil Lepp

Jack Was New Too: Modern Stories and Their Relevance

9:30 a.m. Break

9:45 a.m. Breakout Sessions

• John Graham - Shifting Into Character: Placing the Character in Your Voice and Body  This intensive, heavily participatory workshop will explore several techniques for increasing the range of your characters through
  voice placement and Michael Chekhov physical centering work. Come ready to move.

• Sherry Norfolk - Building Blocks to Literacy   Storytelling helps lay the best possible foundation for learning in the early childhood classroom. Participants will explore relevant research and its practical applications, engaging in demonstrations and discussions that put theory into practice.

• Susan O'Halloran - Teaching Without Preaching   Combine education and entertainment into stories that respect, enlighten and emotionally move your audience members to take action; without sounding too pushy, opinionated or downright boring.
  

• Joe Folkman - Stories of Strength-Based Leadership   Joe Folkman, well-known for his work on business and management research, analyzed a huge database of over 225,000 leadership assessments to better understand the dynamics of how great leaders develop. Join Mr. Folkman as he shatters many long-held beliefs about leadership, and learn specific ways you can become the great leader your organization needs.
  

11:45 a.m. Lunch and Q & A with Tellers

12:45 p.m. Showcase Performance featuring Mary Hamilton

Haunting Tales

1:20 p.m. Keynote Address from Donald Davis

       Remembering Kathryn Tucker Windham: Lessons from a Favorite Storyteller

2:30 p.m. Breakout Sessions

• Donna Washington - Put the Book Down  During storytime, you want to step away from the felt board, puppets and picture book. You don’t need them anymore but you haven’t quite taken the next step. As Mrs. Which so famously said, “It is time!”
  

• Brandon Mull - Birthing Books: Fablehaven and More  A great story requires key elements. Brandon will discuss what those key elements are, how they fit together and how daydreams can be turned into novels. Questions will be welcome.

• Antonio Rocha - The Art of Mime in Storytelling   Explore the art of mime in this fun and hands-on workshop. You will learn some basic illusions and how to place them in your stories. Your stories will never be the same!

• Cassie Ashton- Damsels in Distress: The Power of Perception   Explore the damsel-in-distress archetype In this interactive workshop where you will learn how to confront the villains in your stories and in your life, how to create empowering choices and allow those choices to bring about change and transformation.

• Bil Lepp - Bil and the Kids - A special workshop for young storytellers, ages 9-18. Join five time champion of the West Virginia Liars Contest and celebrated national storyteller Bil Lepp for an hour of creating story. Attendees will be joined by participants from the National Youth Storytelling Showcase (NYSS) - the brightest young storytellers from across the country. Participants are also invited to attend the free NYSS Concert from 4:15pm-5:15pm following the workshop. Register your young storyteller quickly - spaces fill up fast! Click here to register.
  

4:00 p.m. Break

4:15-5:15 p.m.

National Youth Storytelling Showcase Concert

Hosted by Bil Lepp
BYU Conference Center - 770 E University Parkway / Provo, Utah - Open to the General Public

Free performance

4:15-5:45 p.m. Breakout Sessions

• Donald Davis - Story Patterns: Placing Your Patchwork Pieces
  

• Mary Hamilton - Telling Haunting Tales  How story structure, details, and delivery combine to create haunting tales from 1 (merely spooky) to 10 (truly chilling and/or with no redemption or justice). Not recommended for kids under 10.

• Well Arts Institute - Collecting, Crafting, and Performing Stories with People of Fragile Health   Learn hands-on techniques for the kinds of questions and techniques that help expand a small memory into a full story;  issues that arise during interviews; and healing that happens. 

• Sherry Norfolk - Storytelling: A Jumpstart for Creative Writing  Storytelling helps children transition from oral/kinesthetic to written language. Learn time-tested folktale frameworks and activities that get kids writing fluently and applying higher-order thinking skills to create and develop their own stories.

7:30p.m.

The Midwinter Finale Concert

Featuring  Susan O'Halloran, Mary Hamilton, and other Concert Presenters
BYU Conference Center Auditorium - 770 E University Parkway / Provo, Utah - Tickets $5/each