Mar
3
Filed in Uncategorized
We are now offering something new
.
Every third Friday General Meeting and informal Workshops:
Fairhaven Library Fireplace Room, 117, 12th Street
On the third Friday of each month, the tellers of the Bellingham Storytellers Guild will offer short, informal workshop offerings during our general meetings. They will answer questions like :
How do you become a storyteller? How do you find stories?
What skills do you practice to make a story better? and many more.
If you have a story you would like to practice or would like some story coaching we can do that too.
It’s all for fun and you get to pick the minds of the best tellers in town for free.
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM open to all, free
Teller Sean Dealey at the Highland Games, 2012
Wendy Joseph said:
Does the 3rd Fri gathering include actual storytelling? I’ve got plenty of tales to swap.
DougBanner said:
Wendy, thanks for your comment. It is best to use our email: bhamstoryguild@comcast.net for communications as we
don’t check these comments often. Yes we do have actual storytelling from 7:00 to 8:00 however we ask that new people come to the general meeting and workshop from 6:00 to 7:00 and perform for us. We have had some very bad experiences with open mics so we just do not do them. We would be glad to share those nightmare stories with you.
Here are the guidelines we work by:
We are enjoying an upsurge in the number of tellers that we now have coming to third Friday and that is a great and wonderful thing. With as many new folks coming on board it is time again to reiterate the guidelines we set down by our board a number of years ago. These are not meant to make anybody feel that they can’t tell however we also have a responsibility to our patrons to offer stories that are appropriate to our family audience and give them a level of quality of performance. We also have a responsibility to each other to allow everyone who is prepared to share a chance to do so. That said, here goes:
1) The third Friday concerts are free to the public as such there is no compensation to performers.
These performances further the mission statement of the Guild to bring awareness and education
about storytelling and performance to the community. The library provides the space for free to the Guild.
2) Performers should come with stories prepared ahead of time.
(It is not considered professional or respectful to the audience to announce to them that you didn’t prepare anything so your are going to “wing it”)
3) Stories should fit into a 10 minute time frame so everybody gets a chance to tell.
4) Be aware of your audience, respond to their needs. Young children don’t do well with longer stories.
5) New performance material means that a story has some polish but has not been performed in public as yet.
If you want to try out raw new material and get feedback come to the Guild Meeting at 6:00 and there will be people there to
offer coaching.
We do not want to appear exclusive or in any way dampen anyone’s enthusiasm to tell stories, however we have had some very bad and embarrassing experiences that have been damaging to the reputation of the Guild and to storytelling in general so we have instituted the following guideline.
6) People that we do not know, we have not seen perform, or have not come with a recommendation from others who are recognized in the storytelling community are asked to come to the general meeting and perform for the guild. You are then invited to perform at the Third Friday Concert on the following month.
7) (This one is for the Library but should go without saying)
There are no drugs, alcohol, or other controlled substances allowed on the library properties.
Anyone violating this ordinance will be asked to leave the premises.
The library is a no smoking area.