As many of you know, we've launched the initial stages of building a relationship between CherishBound (CB) and Storyteller.net (StN) and storytellers. This is about how storytelling connects to a large organization, one that will have influence on thousands of people. It will effect you, the working storyteller, one way or the other.
Let me start at the end of this article: I am going to take only 15 (edit: 12 spots left as of 5/26), maybe less, people directly with me into this process. Those 15 people get my specific, personal attention. After 15 committed people, I am going to pass future inquiries on to those folks for a while. I have 10 people in conversation right now. There is room for you if you can get the vision of what this process can mean both personally and professionally....and to our community and art form.
After 21 years in this business, working nationally, I have talked to many hundreds of storytellers. I know the issues we face. Here's part of *my* list of blunt reasons why we're working with CB.
1. CherishBound(CB) is part of the $30 (B)illion Direct Sales industry. This isn't scrapbooking. In the next several years, CB *will* have several thousand consultants throughout the U.S (and my guess is more eventually throughout the world) who will be freely calling themselves professional storytellers. Like it or not, with or without us, they will use and already use the term "storyteller" to describe themselves.
2. Would you rather have "professional storytellers" who understand storytelling or yet more people who are untrained in storytelling using that title? We in the Storytelling community have a choice. We can work with CB to help define and shape the use of storytelling in their business and be compensated for that. Or, we can let yet another industry leave us behind and create their own "creative" descriptions of storytelling.
In my mind, I'd like to help shape, teach, coach and properly train these folks who will be saying, some very soon, that they are "professional storytellers."
Other industries have left us behind while the storytelling community wrung our hands and said, "Eww, *that's* not storytelling." We've let the boat pass us by for digital storytelling. We're no longer on the radar for writers and authors. There was a chance at the July 2006 national conference to make some nice inroads to the $100+ billion computer gaming industry and their use of storytelling, but it's becoming clear to me that we lost that. "Corporate Storytelling" is all over the place with so many competing voices that the business executives are throwing their hands up and saying, "We hired a storytelling consultant once....no thanks." We haven't yet lost education, sacred settings and healing settings. Before you Email me, I know that you may have a singular experience opposite of these broad conclusions.
3. CB, via their founder Carol Rice, came to StN asking for our help to connect to the storytelling community. As I understand it, they had been to several other organizations which left them uncomfortable. CB is seeking the support, input and connection of the storytelling community. They are ready to share some of the "pie" with you. They've already made a significant commitment to several storytelling festivals. The program to earn your way to the Four Corners Festival is pretty good. It includes a private workshop with Syd Lieberman.
I also learned that Teresa Clark was involved with CB. That gave a lot of credibility to the process for me, despite my initial "are you kidding" reaction. You can read her story at Visit www.fulltimestorytelling.com.
4. CB offers more paths to Income Diversification. Storytellers who derive life-supporting income from their art form must have multiple streams of income. CB offers ready to go products that you can put on your back-of-the-house CD table right now. CB offers the chances for residual income. "Real Estate Investors" have residual income, why shouldn't you as a storyteller? You aren't going to make a million dollars with CB. You also are not going to make that amount as a storyteller either. But, working all your income streams, you can survive and thrive in storytelling.
5. Let's give up on the concept of the starving artist. Is feeding your family and having health insurance such a bad thing? Financial struggle is not noble, harms your artistic skill and actually keeps many who should be full-time in storytelling out of storytelling. What a loss.
6. Especially for the brand new storyteller, CB offers the ability to add "ready to go" workshops to your repertoire immediately. For those of us who've been around for "a few years," these workshops are great to fill those empty spots on our calendars.
7. The CB residency workshops for schools is going to get media attention and support when they happen in your neighborhood. Why shouldn't that media be focused on you and your storytelling business? Why shouldn't you profit from that work and spread your love of storytelling to lots of new folks?
8. This isn't scrapbooking. CB already has and will continue to introduce thousands of people to the very idea of personal and family storytelling. Why shouldn't you be on the forefront of that process?
9. And, even if it were scrapbooking, go do an Ebay search for pre-made scrapbooking ("paper piecing") pages. They regularly sell for up to $40 each. For a single page. I was shocked. Apparently, there is some disposable income out there. (giggle)
I know that I will get flamed by some people for this new project. That's fine. We were flamed when StN started 10 years ago, saying we were going to be the "end of live storytelling." That was wrong.
I also know that many of you will recognize the opportunity for all of us here.
And back to where I started:
I am going to take only 15, maybe less, people directly with me into this process. Those 15 people get my specific, personal attention. After 15 committed people, I am going to pass future inquiries on to those folks for a while. I have 10 people in conversation right now. There is room for you if you can get the vision of what this process can mean both personally and professionally....and to our community and art form. Get in touch with me. Visit www.fulltimestorytelling.com
