storytelling party

[boxofdelights]

I'm thinking of hosting a storytelling party at Wiscon. A mike for the teller, chairs for the listeners. Refreshments. A big piece of paper to sign up on if you want to tell a story. Is this a good idea? If you were at Wiscon, would you come? How likely would you be to tell a story?

If the storytelling part lasted three hours, and the stories averaged five minutes, plus a minute for changeover, that would be thirty people. That seems like lots?

Have you ever hosted a party at a convention? How much did you spend? How did you decide how much food and drink to have? How did you acquire, prepare, and store said food and drink if you were far from home?

I should decide soon, so there's time to get the word out so people who want to tell a story will have time to prepare one. Should I have a theme?

Any advice is welcome.

Comments

[malnpudl]

Never been to Wiscon, and all things considered, I'll probably never get there, so this is an uninformed comment on many levels. I certainly can't offer any advice.

That being said, I think it sounds really cool. I'm a huge fan of The Moth, and for the same reasons I think your idea is kind of brilliant. I think the people who come to Wiscon would have fascinating stories to tell and it would be an equally good place to find an interested and appreciative audience.

I wonder if five minutes is a little short? And even more, whether sixty seconds for changeover is possibly too optimistic? But my only experience comes from business events where the transition between speakers & topics never happened as smoothly or as quickly as one might anticipate. I'd expect at least two minutes, even in a modest room with a modest crowd... but again, just speculating here.