Digital Storytelling Festival returns
Eight years ago I attended the first Digital Storytelling Festival in Crested Butte, Colo., at which a group of three dozen or so invited guests assembled to talk about the collision of narrative art and digital technology. It remains one of the high moments of my conference-going career -- and not only because Crested Butte is about 9000 feet above sea level.
In the three successive years that I attended, the conference grew in size, and it acquired a more specific focus on how individuals -- professional artists and everyday people alike -- can use digital tools to tell their own stories and break through the logjam of "old" media. Yet that first event set a pattern of intelligence and camaraderie that held up through the years.
I was unable to go to conference number five, in fall 1999, and since then the event has been on hiatus -- its founder and guiding spirit, Dana Atchley, passed away in Dec. 2000. But Dana's wife Denise -- working with Joe Lambert and Nina Mullen of the Center for Digital Storytelling, and with the core of people that have formed the Digital Storytellers Association -- has revived and revitalized the festival this year. It happens June 12-15, and I'm going to be talking there, along with a bunch of great people (including, as of now, Brenda Laurel, Harry Marks, Jonathan Delacour, Derek Powazek, Kit Laybourne, and many others).
One big thing that's changed is the location: The festival has moved to Sedona, Arizona. Arizona in June may sound like a recipe for frying, but Sedona's up high (though not as high as Crested Butte) -- I've been there in June, and it's delightful. There's lots more info here.
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