SIO SIG Chair Role Filled
Sara Armstrong has stepped forward to help support the SIG by sharing the role of Chairperson with Vice Chair Paula Bartholome. The two will share responsibilities and work hard to keep the SIG moving forward, building on the energy and enthusiasm Karen Dietz brought to the role. We are fortunate to have Sara joining us as she has just finished her term on the NSN Board. This experience gives her a solid understanding of the workings of the organization and she will be a strong link to NSN. Please welcome Sara into her new role! You may e-mail your congratulations and welcome to Sara at [email protected].

	SIO SIG Survey Results and Information for Future Plans
Late last year a group of intrepid volunteer callers assisted the SIG's leadership in attempting to contact every member to ask them for guidance on how to make the SIG more valuable. A round of thanks to: Sara Armstrong, Madelyn Blair, Evelyn Clark, Kym Dakin, Bob Gingerich, Michelle Howard, Chris King, Jean Ryan and Megan Wells for their efforts. We succeeded in getting responses from 43 of 91 members (47%!) including several members outside of the US. Here are some highlights of what you told us: Membership is multifaceted By far the largest category of members define themselves as Storytellers (79%) however many members consider themselves to be in multiple categories when considering the work they do. 44% said they were involved in training; 42% in organizational development; and 35% each in teaching (school setting) and in other types of work. Other included multiple consultants, minister and counselors, nursing home staff, student, paralegal and rancher. Multiple uses for story in organizations Not surprisingly, the way in which storytelling is used by members varies widely as well. Just two percent of respondents said that they are not currently using stories in their work. The most frequently cited uses were in training (63%) followed by fostering organizational change/communication (58%) and coaching (47%). Other uses included: planning (37%) and conflict resolution (35%). The other use category was large with 40% of respondents saying that they use stories for purposes other than those above and included as a way to start meetings; in speeches and presentations, to help shape public policy/lobbying and in preaching. Dual expectations of SIG membership When asked why they joined the SIO SIG slightly more respondents indicated that they joined for educational opportunities than for networking, however both were high on members' radar (72% and 67% respectively) Of most short-term value: sharing knowledge/experience most important In the short-term a regular newsletter (33%) just edged out three other items as "most important" at 30% each. They were: a pre-conference workshop; other educational opportunities and a series of "primers" on how to use story in organizations. Of most long-term value: increased visibility for SIG and members In the longer-term, 42% felt that increasing the visibility for the SIG and its members was the most important thing to do. This response was significantly above the next highest scoring choices which were below 30% each. Areas of opportunity: SIO SIG listserv and website These two things were pointed out as needing attention. 12% of respondents said the website was somewhat valuable and 56% said not valuable. Similarly, 16% said the listserv was somewhat valuable and 40% said not valuable. The reasons for not seeing value in the website was that it was not user friendly (including the password), there wasn't a compelling need to go there and lack of time. The comments regarding the low perceived value in the listserv primarily related to lack of time or feeling that that their needs were being served elsewhere. Based on your input, read on to find how your SIO SIG is taking action.

	SIO SIG News, Plans and Action
SIO SIG Newsletter Although it was in the works before the survey, it was great to have the importance of a regular newsletter validated by your responses. The current goal is to distribute the SIO SIG News bi-monthly to the address you gave us with your membership information and perhaps, over time, move to a monthly. Thanks to Chris King for taking over responsibility for producing and distributing it! Be sure to let Chris know of news you have or would like to hear about! If you have changed your email, please contact NSN to update it as we rely on the membership list we receive from them for the newsletter mailing. Pre-conference workshop Again, as a program that the SIG has done two years in a row, it was heartening to know that it is valued by members. See Pre-Conference Update following this article to learn how planning is progressing for the program this July in Bellingham. Teleclasses As a new offering to address the desire for education and connecting with others, we are planning two teleclasses in the coming months. One will be on using the various ways that members use story in organizations and the other will be on how to market story work to organizations. These were the top two topics that were cited in the survey. Depending on the response to the teleclasses, we may offer more. The classes will be free to SIO SIG members although there may the cost of a long-distance call and are tentatively scheduled to be held around lunch time to allow for maximum participation. If you would be willing to share your insights as a panel member (2-3 panel members per call) in addressing either of these topics, please contact Paula Bartholome at [email protected] as soon as possible. Once we have panelists confirmed we will schedule the calls and post the notice on the listserv. Listserv and Website We have some work to do to make these two things more valuable to members. Our webmaster Kate Dudding has put together a plan to update the website quarterly so that it is more dynamic. We are also adding the SIO SIG News to the site and will have an archive of the newsletters in the member only area. The current newsletter will be available on the public part of the site to hopefully spark interest in membership. We will also be looking for a new webmaster. Kate volunteered to handle the job for two years and she will be stepping down around the time of the conference in July. Who will step forward and help us continue to improve the site and its value to members? Please contact paula@parallax- perspectives.com if you are interested. It would be great to have overlap so that Kate can show you the ropes! Note: the website is updated, so visit http://storytellinginorganizations.com soon! Thanks, Kate, for all of your hard work. As for the listserv - if we are going to have a dynamic listserv, we need participation. As a first step and as noted above, please be sure that you are on the list and getting the emails. Please make sure that your email information is current with NSN. I plan to post another item as a test to see who is getting the messages. Please watch for it and respond so that we can rule out any technical problems. Then, it is up to all of use to make the list something of value. Anyone with specific suggestions please post them on the list!! White papers on storytelling in organizations Although the original plans for a journal for the SIG have been postponed due to a variety of logistical and funding issues we are now working to obtain the permission of authors who submitted articles to allow the SIG to distribute them as electronic white papers. We hope to complete this process in the near future and begin to distribute these to members. If there is anyone who can help by converting the authors' files into PDF format in a common style so that all white papers are easily identified as being from the SIO SIG, please contact Sara Armstrong at [email protected]. Organization and member visibility Although it was a longer-term priority, we will be working hard this year to gain publicity for the pre- conference workshop in Bellingham. Evelyn Clark, member from Bellingham who has extensive experience in advising corporations and organizations on the ins and outs of PR, will develop a plan to maximize our exposure, particularly in the western region of the US. This will be done in conjunction with NSN's PR efforts and in cooperation with the local conference planning committee. We need some energetic volunteers to organize themselves and execute the plan. If you listed visibility as a priority, here's your chance to help with a very specific task. Please contact Evelyn at evelyn@corpstory. com. For a complete copy of the survey results (Excel format) please contact Paula Bartholome at paula@parallax- perspectives.com.

	SIO SIG Pre-Conference Update
Mary Alice Arthur from New Zealand, along with her committee members, have exciting and worthwhile plans in place for the SIO SIG Pre-Conference. On the evening of Tuesday, July 6th, we will experience the cutting edge theory and practical business applications for stories from Dave Snowden, head of IBM's Cynefin Center for Complexity. But that will just be the beginning of our adventure. In the morning of July 7th we will start our interactive day of learning, thinking, investigating and sharing with "The Great Exchange" - which will feature facilitated small group meetings where participants will exchange business cards and talk about their areas of interest. This will be followed by the "World Café - the Field of Organizational Storytelling" where during discussion groups, we will discuss all aspects of the emerging field. Speakers and workshop leaders for the day will include Art Kleiner, Richard Stone, Doris Nishoka, Svend- Erik Engh, Cathryn Wellner, and Hilary McLellan. More about the topics that will be covered in their workshops and presentations will follow in our next newsletter. We will wind up the morning session with a "Storytelling and Technology" panel discussion. And then, we will end our SIO SIG pre-conference with an open discussion on "Where to from Here?" and other aspects of the day. Watch for more information in upcoming issues. Just remember that this is the pre-conference for the rest of the National Storytelling Network Conference that starts the Wednesday evening of July 7th and ends at noon on Sunday, July 11th. Mark your calendars now for this special week in Bellingham, Washington, this summer. You will be glad you did!

	Use of Story in Business/Organization - Live Profile
In each issue, we plan to profile a SIO SIG member or members so that we can share the unique ways others in our group have used and are using the power of story in business/organizations. Profile Bob and Barb Gingerich, Mountain Moon Storytellers Organization Central Pennsylvania Red Cross Situation Steep drop in funding after national Red Cross controversy after 9/11 How contact was made Approached by Director of Development for the Central Pennsylvania Red Cross at a Rotary Club meeting. Rotary Club members knew of my storytelling and we had discussed applications at lunches on occasions. Preparations Had discussions with the Director of Development on who would be attending and what she hoped to achieve from this session. What we did The fundraising team had used the story of the National Red Cross to connect with donors and were using the "National Reputation" to validate the local organization. Our goal was to prepare the teams members to build their own relationship with potential donors. To do this we used some of the concepts from The Story Factor by Annette Simmons. We began with stories that gave insight to us as individuals and then reminiscent techniques to begin their reflection on a story that might reflect them as individuals in relation to the work they are doing with the Red Cross. They shared their stories and there were many surprises as the team members discovered new things about each other. We discussed the basics of listening and then asked them to reflect upon why they were doing the work they were in their lives. Again we had a sharing and then we reflected upon story structure and how it might enhance their stories.Each of the areas we discussed was accompanied by stories we shared with them. What they said about the experience "I liked the actual stories and how they brought our stories out." "I liked the time for reflection about how I can apply storytelling in others." "I liked using examples of other stories and applying them to my own experiences and stories." "I liked learning the use of stories and their power." "I liked hearing the stories." "I liked the who I am approach." Our observations The team felt great stress and had no focus on how to move forward. The reminiscence part of this helped them focus on why they were doing what they were doing. The stories helped them focus on remembering who they were and what they could do. They began seeing how they could call upon the stories of local volunteers to that would help local donors understand what the Red Cross meant in their community. Editor's note: watch for the profile of author and storyteller Annette Simmons in our April/May issue. We want your profiles! Let us know how you use storytelling in business and/or organizations. Just e-mail me at [email protected]

Quick Links to Useful Storytelling Sites

National Storytelling Network International Storytelling Center

     email: [email protected]
     voice: (216) 991-8428
     web: http://www.storytellinginorganizations.com

Back to Recent Newsletters