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My next project: NC storyblogging
As I mentioned earlier last week, I’ve got myself a new project to combine my interests in blogging, genealogy, storytelling and oral history. My working title for this is Narratives of Your Life, though “North Carolina storyblogging” is more descriptive. My goal is to use blogs and podcasts to share the stories of our elders.
The main event in this project, as I’ve initially conceived it, will be a two-day workshop that will bring William Zinsser to teach bloggers about writing memoirs; send bloggers and podcasters across the state to take the oral histories of senior citizens; produce a blogger’s carnival or central site or other online product from those oral histories; and end with a fundraiser dinner with NPR storyteller Kevin Kling.
See the full outline for the project, and come back here to offer your suggestions for improving the concept. Watch this space for news as the details of the project get worked out. If you’re interested in helping me pull off this ambitious project, I’ll gladly welcome your contributions.
Also, if this topic interests you, be sure to attend podcastercon in January, which should be a springboard for Narratives of Your Life.
ADD: I should note I’ve not approached any of the possible sponsors or participants listed in my outline, other than Zinsser, who’s tentatively agreed to come to NC in the Spring, and Kling, who’s not yet responded to my inquiry. Over the next weeks, I’ll begin to recruit sponsors and participants and donors. I’ve posted my outline to get feedback, but also to plant the seed.
UPDATE 12/10: WUNC is on board, with a complementary effort of their own already in the works. For the latest on the Storyblogging project, monitor the Storyblogging category page.
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Anton Zuiker's personal website and
I stumbled across this entry. We met briefly at Converge South in Greensboro, I believe. I’m a UNC J-School grad from the ‘70s, just moved to Apex from DC area. I think your idea is fantastic, and would love to help. Over the past year, I’ve been putting extracts from the journals and letters of my 85-year-old mother online in blog format, and expect to soon publish it as a Lulu book-on-demand for extended family members and former students. She’s a retired high school English teacher.
http://www.lillianbuie.com
I also helped my uncle put together a web site, blog, for his self-published autobiography:
http://www.amsecrest.com
He’s a retired journalism professor at UNC, and lives in Chapel Hill.
I’ve helped an 82-year-old former colleague set up a blog, with video clips:
http://jimbuie.blogs.com/john_huth/
I reported for The Washington Post on a program at a nursing home in Rockville where high school kids teach residents how to use computers:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35598-2004Aug2.html
I later did some volunteer work, seeking to get the residents interested in blogging:
http://jimbuie.blogs.com/hebrewhome/
I’ve been blogging about a year and a half at
http://jimbuie.blogs.com
My older son blogs from the cruise ship he works on:
http://jimbuie.blogs.com/traveling_matthew
I also have a blog about the phenomenon of “virtual families” and would love to quote from and link to your blog and your project idea.
http://www.virtualfamiliesandfriends.com
Regards,
Jim Buie — Jim Buie Nov 26, 10:20 PM #
I would love to find out more about this project. I’m going to sign up for the Podcastercon right now so hopefully I’ll meet you then if not before :) Do you have any kind of announcement list for this thing? :)
Lisa B.
— Lisa Boyd Dec 7, 07:53 PM #Hi all,
The Indy has a story about oral histories you might want to read.
— corey Dec 18, 04:45 PM #Hi Anton,
This idea overlaps with many of my interests, and I’d be very interested in helping and/or learning more about this event.
I’ve done some work with the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, CA, which helps people use video and photo tools to tell personal and family stories. (See some examples at http://storycenter.org/movies). I’ll be teaching a workshop for them at the Durham Arts Council this month, Jan. 19-21.
I also noticed that the StoryCorps mobile unit (http://storycorps.net) is scheduled to be in Raleigh/Durham on April 6 – 30. Not sure, but could either of these tie into your plans?
I’d definitely attend something like this. I’ll check back for updates.
— kellyink Jan 3, 06:08 PM #One last thing… You might want to see if the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke might be interested as well. I’ve taken a few of their continuing education classes that dealt with documenting family narratives and preserving memories.
— kellyink Jan 3, 06:15 PM #