On the Web Officially: Covey Center for the Arts

The Grand Theater was reserved two weeks ago, though description for the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" premiere went up today on the Covey Center for the Arts website.


At first I was promised the information would be posted by Wednesday, November 26th but I did not send the description until that day so it was understandable that it was not up until December 1st.

Instead of saying "I have the Covey Center for the Arts", I can say "Go to the Covey Center for the Arts site"!

People are able to reserve their seats online as well as by telephone and at the ticket booth.

This is what I submitted and can be found on Covey Center for the Arts website:

"I'd rather do this than watch 'American Idol'. I laughed, I cried, it moved me!"
--Amanda, Teenager from UT

"Spellbinding for everyone attending."
--Marilyn R. Lawrence, Davis County, UT


Join the world premiere narrative production recorded live starring professional storyteller Rachel Hedman, guest emcee/national storyteller Elizabeth Ellis as well as singer Holly Robison and accompanist/guitarist Joshua Payne.

Family life can starve when fed abuse and abandonment with stories that gnaw at the stomach. Then Rachel shares the feast of patience, humor and unconditional love through multicultural tales mixed with song and personal reflection. You are welcome to the table.

Minimum age: 8.

Light refreshments to follow.

You may follow the story development journey at the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" blog at http://familyfamine.blogspot.com and join the support group on Facebook.

DVDs of the live show can be pre-ordered at a special rate of $15.00 (Normal $20.00). Contact Rachel Hedman at info@rachelhedman.com for more details.


About Rachel Hedman: As a recipient of the J.J. Reneaux Mentorship Grant given to one person a year on a national level, she has tapped into the techniques as taught by national storyteller Don Doyle while exploring her own style through sharing stories of family relationships within the lives of historical, mythical, and personal heroes. She pursues her Storytelling Masters from East Tennessee State University, though her involvment in the art started in 1994 as a sophomore high school student and on to her founding of the still active BYU Storytelling Club in 1997. Discover more at her website (www.rachelhedman.com), Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or the Professional Storyteller social network site.


Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)

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

"Message in a Bottle" approach to Story Marketing

Instead of throwing a bottle into the sea and hoping someone will respond by mail, the Internet has transformed how people can communicate through chain objects in what has been dubbed "serial collaborations".

I am convinced of the marketing potential in these trends.


Have you heard of any of the following?--

• BookCrossing
• Geocaching
• Letter Boxing
• Flat Stanley
• Travel Mascots
• Where's George?
• Travel Bugs
• Roaming Gnomes

Rather than dreaming of the places that your object has traveled, ID numbers are connected to the item before being "set free" so that when people find them, they can register it online.

My Dad and brother have GPS systems and so they occasionally geocache. Sometimes Mom goes along if the quest sounds exciting enough. I went once with my parents.

I was amazed to discover the different types of serial collaborations as shared by Lynne McNeill while at the "Metamorphoses: An International Colloquium on Narrative and Folklore" on the University of Utah campus held from October 2-5. She is a professor of English and Folklore from Utah State University and presented her paper "Message in a Bottle: The Unspoken Narrative of Serial Collaboration." She has also written "Portable Places: Serial Collaboration and the Creation of a New Sense of Place" published through Western Folklore in Summer 2007, which you can find here.

The intrigue lies in that the communication is blindly put out in the world in search of another like-minded individual. McNeill saw the interaction as "serendipitous and meaningful but not burdensome" as communicating with strangers does not require any maintenance of the friendship.

My mind raced as how storytellers could use these serial collaborations to promote the art, or even a specific program such as my "Family Famine: Hunger for Love."

As I gather more stories and decide what ones will be shared for my narrative production, I would like to publish a book. Whether it would be self-published or done through a publishing company is yet to be seen. However, if I were to "release" the book through BookCrossings, I could watch its travels around the world and receive comments as to the stories within.

I asked McNeill, "Wouldn't it be great if there were more books of folktale collections out there?" She nodded her head and could tell the direction I was going with it.

If we worry that kids or even adults are reading as much of these folktales as we would like, why not send some out through BookCrossings? If each storyteller put out at least one book and each book reaches at least 10 people, can you see the potential?

I would urge the same idea for any storyteller/author. Every time you publish a book, send at least one copy through BookCrossings. You could even "release" the books from different spots as you tour. People would comment after reading it and perhaps these comments could be used for marketing materials.

This idea has a fun factor that, if done by many storytellers, could transform into a phenomenon.

Now I challenge you to think of the other types of serial collaborations listed above and think how a storyteller could apply them.

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