This document provides a guide for hosting Storymakers 2017 events to inspire digital storytelling. It outlines getting started steps such as identifying a discussion or workshop track and recruiting expert guests. Conversation starters, interactive ideas, and tips for framing and documenting the event are also included. Resources for finding media assets like images, audio and translation are provided. The goal is to educate and empower communities through digital story creation and sharing.

1. S T O R Y
M A K E R S
2 0 1 7
E v e n t
H o s t i n g
G u i d e

2. 03
So You Decided to
Host an Event
22
Some Helpful Links
to Share for Gathering
Media Assets
06
Getting Started with
Your Event in a Few Steps
Getting to Know Your Options
Identify Your Track
Recruit Expert Guests
04
About
This Guide
14
Conversation Starters
and Discussion Prompts
18
Framing and Enhancing
Your Event
C o n t e n t s
Published by TechSoup
Storymakers 2017
Event Hosting Guide
© Copyright 2017, TechSoup.
All rights reserved.
This work is published under a
Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0
International license.

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So
You Decided
to Host an
Event
This resource
was created to assist you
in hosting a Storymakers 2017 discussion
or workshop, to provide resources for
facilitating your event, and to inspire ideas
for engaging attendees in digital
story-making.
Nice!
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About
This
Guide
This guide
is designed to help partners,
organizations, and individuals host
Storymakers events meant to inspire and
empower a sense of storytelling throughout your
community and membership.
Inside this guide you'll find pre-packaged resources,
conversation starters, and suggested activities
meant to capture the "maker" spirit and spark
your creativity.

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Getting to Know Your
Options
TechSoup will support a few options for engagement in one of two identified
tracks. Organizers can opt into either a discussion- or workshop-based
track, and pick from a menu of activities, discussion guides,
and suggested resources to help frame their digital
storytelling events.
Get Started
with Your Event
in a Few
Easy Steps
1
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Identify
Your Track
Organizers can choose between two available tracks of engagement
supported by this guide.
Presentations and Discussions
to educate and inspire
Breakout Workshops
to facilitate and create
These presentations and discussions can be guided by a guest
speaker, a local organizer, or an eager volunteer. They seek to create
opportunities to educate on how to tell a digital story, and to show you
examples of powerful storytelling.
These workshops can be guided by a guest speaker, a local
organizer, or an eager volunteer. They seek to create opportunities
for digital creation and targeted collaborative learning. They should
be hands on, and production based.
The above YouTube lessons can be used for this as well!
Check Out Our Educate Workshop Starter Kit on Pinterest
This Pinterest board includes TechSoup and community resources like
how-tos, blog posts, webinars, and recorded video content meant to
inspire you.
2
Lessons for Storytellers YouTube Playlist
This YouTube playlist contains a range of lessons to educate your
community on the basics of storytelling. You can choose between
more traditional storytelling tutorials, or go into more depth using
Adobe Spark. All of these videos can be used at your events as
discussion and workshop materials to inspire and motivate.
a
b

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Check Out the Create Workshop Starter Kit on Pinterest
This Pinterest board includes TechSoup and community resources,
how-tos, blog posts, webinars, videos, and tools.
Recruit
Expert Guests
Local organizers should look at their
contacts in media, journalism, film, or digital
production to recruit as expert guests to
speak at their digital storytelling–themed
event. If you don't know anyone personally,
a good place to start your search is with
LinkedIn shared connections, with Facebook
friends of friends, or by looking at followers
of various notable storytellers on Twitter.
Do you know a local photographer, a local
news reporter, a university educator on
film or media, a film student, an artist, or a
tech geek doing interesting work in digital
production? Enlist their expertise.
If you're still stuck, or need ideas for
possible experts, contact storymakers@
techsoupglobal.org, and we'll be more
than happy to try and help you find a guest
expert for your group.
3
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Here's some sample email copy
to send to potential experts
and guest speakers
Hi <name>, it's nice to e-meet you.
I run a local community-based meetup around nonprofit
technology, and we're featuring emerging storytelling tools.
We thought you'd have a lot to contribute to the community
based on your area of expertise. We'd love to feature you as
a speaker!
Here's a bit more about the event: [insert your own ideas]
It would be lovely to have you on as a guest to discuss the
work that you do, and the service you provide the community.
I'd love to discuss this with you further.
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Conversation
Starters
and Discussion
Prompts
What is digital storytelling? And how is it
different from non-digital storytelling?
What makes a good story?
What is your favorite mobile app for story publishing?
Instagram? Adobe Spark? Cinemagram?
How does mobile storytelling
change the landscape of
digital storytelling?
What is the impact of citizen
journalism reported by any person
on the street with a phone,
particularly on quality and access?
The following
are some sample questions
that you could use to prompt
discussion on your panel or to
inspire dialogue and reflection
among your attendees.
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What does storytelling for
nonprofits currently look like?
Who are some nonprofits doing
digital storytelling right?
What are some brands that are
doing digital storytelling right?
Who should you empower at your
organization to tell your stories?
What are some of your favorite
examples of digital storytelling?
What sorts of stories
should nonprofits tell?

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Interactive Ideas
Engage the members of the audience in activities that heighten their senses and connect
them to specific tools. For example, think of innovative ways to incorporate opportunities
for spontaneous storytelling in the discussion or workshop. Consider prompting audience
members to update their Facebook status in unison with a specific message like: "This is
my story." Use a common Twitter hashtag (we suggest #Storymakers2017) for your event
so audience members can tweet anecdotes via their mobile devices. Perhaps you want
everyone in your audience to create a quick video on Adobe Spark, or post a group pic
on Instagram. Have them pull out their phones, create, and tag using a common hashtag.
We also suggest these ideas
Storytelling Booth
Perhaps you have some skilled
videographers in your midst?
Enlist their help in capturing real-
time stories of workshop attendees in
action. Put a chair up against a cool
background in the corner of the room;
invite attendees over one by one to
ask them a few questions about their
experience. Use your phone to capture
their stories. Post and share their
responses on YouTube! Try keeping their
reactions to under 60 seconds.
Crowd-posting to Instagram
Encourage attendees to capture and
post one photo to Instagram that speaks
to a phrase like, "What inspires you in
this room!"
Crowd-post Your First Experience
Using Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is a mobile graphic app
that allows you to turn your ideas into
powerful social graphics and animated
videos. Invite all attendees to download
the free app and tag their first post using
one of your group hashtags!
Framing
and Enhancing
Your Event

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Document Your Event
Your event is a storytelling opportunity — so don't forget to capture the moments in
between by snapping a few pictures! Take action shots of attendees in various stages
of production. You can even capture quotable quotes from the audience and share
them on social media after. Please be sure to share your captures with us at
storymakers@techsoupglobal.org and tag them "Storymakers2017" when you
upload to sites like Flickr or Instagram.
Maintain the Conversation Online
Always remember to have a system for collecting contact information at your event,
like a Meetup sign-in or a basic sheet of paper to collect names and emails. Follow up
with audience members and co-sponsor organizations in the days after — you've worked
too hard to let those relationships disappear! Also, sharing on social media channels like
Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube after the event can help you keep your audience up to
date and engaged with digital storytelling happenings throughout the network.

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Some
Helpful Links
to Share for
Gathering
Media Assets
On Copyright and Fair Use
http://copyright.cornell.edu/policies/docs/Fair_Use_Checklist.pdf
http://copyright.cornell.edu/policies/docs/Copyright_Guidelines.pdf
Creative Commons ImageStamper
http://creativecommons.org/image
General Search
Creative Commons Search
http://search.creativecommons.org
Music/Audio
Creative Commons Audio
http://creativecommons.org/audio
Opsound
http://www.opsound.org
Partners in Rhyme
http://www.partnersinrhyme.com

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Images
BigFoto
http://www.bigfoto.com
Dreamstime
http://www.dreamstime.com/
freephotos
Free Images
http://www.freeimages.com
Translation
Amara
http://www.amara.org/en/
Translation for Progress
http://www.translationsforprogress.org/index.php
TranslatorsCafé.com
http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/default.asp
Open Photo
http://openphoto.net
Compfight
http://compfight.com

15. After studying journalism
and comparative religion at
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo,
Alexandra (Ale) Bezdikian
was given a fellowship with
Mother Jones Magazine
where she produced videos
as well as fronted their
outreach communications
department.
Ale is TechSoup's Storyteller
and Accessibility enthusiast,
where she creates digital
media and writes about
storytelling and accessible
technology. You can find her
online as @alebez.
This resource guide
was written by Ale Bezdikian
and designed by Jeff Li.
Ale Bezdikian

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