Preparing for the "Info-Gathering" Trek

Info-gathering is needed before an info-gathering trek.

As Tuesday, October 21st, was set for the time to meet with professors and people over venue scheduling, I needed to make my trek to Brigham Young University as productive as possible.

One bit of information can open the way and often get one closer to other information necessary to reach the goal.

I decided that the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences--particularly the School of Family Life--would be most important to make connections.

I reviewed the faculty for this area. With 45 professors on the list, I needed to focus on who was more in line with the themes of "Family Famine: Hunger for Love". One Family Life professor taught a whole course on "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" and I scheduled an appointment at 10:00am on Tuesday, October 21st.

I called the two scheduling offices at BYU: Campus scheduling as well as the one specific to the Harris Fine Arts Center. The campus scheduling set an appointment with me at 8:30am on Tuesday, October 21st so I could ask my questions with a person and gather information in regards costs and what my status as a BYU alumni means, if any, in regards to reserving a room.

With all the other departments and colleges to visit, even without set appointments, my time at the BYU campus would fly by.

For those I would meet, I created a one-page info sheet on my project that included: name of my organization, business status, project, project description, artist statement, contact information, and extra facts about me.

I also had these sections:
What I can do for you--

• Present "Family Archetypes in Folklore and What This Means for Families Today" previous to the performance in February
• Reduced rate (or possibly complimentary) for students to attend based on if attendance is part of the syllabus or if it is voluntary and/or level of sponsorship
• Announce sponsorship in press releases and advertising

What you can do for me (Any of following is appreciated, though feel free to add your ideas.)--

• Encourage attendance of "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" with students, possibly adding it on Winter Semester syllabus
• Sponsor part of the narrative production whether as professor, department, or college
• Introduce to professors from BYU as well as other universities who would take interest in the program and/or Family Archetype workshop
• Guide to research that would enhance the narrative production

To each one-page info sheet I paperclipped my business card.

With the info sheets printed, my bag is packed and ready for the morning.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller