The Annual Digital Storytelling Festival(TM)

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Frequently Asked Questions

There are a number of frequently asked questions regarding the Digital Storytelling Festival. Here are our responses as well as comments from past festival attendees and speakers:

Contents: What is the festival about and how is it structured? Who should attend? What is the "Digital Bootcamp"? What does it cost? How can I register? How do I get to Crested Butte? Why Crested Butte? What do people have to say about their experience? What does the press have to say?

What is the festival about and how is it structured? The Digital Storytelling Festival takes place over three days and nights in the small mountain community of Crested Butte Colorado. Conference sessions for the 5th Annual Digital Storytelling Festival begin Thursday September 16th, 1999 at 9:00am and conclude on Saturday evening September 18th. The Festival hosts a sponsored registration party at a local restaurant Wednesday evening September 15th before the Festival begins. Each morning approximately six speakers present their work and visions to the general audience. Sessions take place at Crested Butte Center for the Arts, an intimate 200 seat theater with an excellent video projection and sound system. Each afternoon a "Festival Curator" presents an overview of the best new work she or he has encountered in the past year. Each Curator provides a uniquely personal point of view on the world of Digital Storytelling. Curator sessions are followed by technical demonstrations of interesting and useful tools and techniques. There are a variety of hosted evening events as well as theatrical presentations at the Center for the Arts. Saturday night, September 18th, is "Digital Storytelling Unplugged" an evening of traditional storytelling and performance where the computers are turned off and we are reconnected to the roots and traditions which have inspired this new media. For a look at the events of the past festivals: 1998 DSF4 Schedule 1997 DSF3 Schedule 1996 DSF2 Schedule Story Time by Scott Rosenberg, Salon http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/rose/1998/09/29straight.html The World of Digital Storytelling by Corey Hitchcock, The Gate http://www.sfgate.com/technology/specials/1997/dstorytelling.shtml Clicking for Godot by Scott Rosenberg, Salon Magazine http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/feature/1997/10/02godot.html
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Who should attend? Multimedia producers, storytelling artists, new media designers, educators, visionaries, technologists and internet explorers who are interested in how digital technology, tools and the internet are impacting the ancient art of storytelling. Sessions cover everything from digital narrative to digital brand building and from interactive performance to internet publishing. Speakers for the 5th Annual Digital Storytelling Festival will be added right up to festival time. For a look at past presenters: 1998 DSF4 Speakers 1997 DSF3 Speakers 1996 DSF2 Speakers "The festival is a rare bird in a world full of bland, sales-pitch-driven industry conferences; intimate and artistically diverse, it's both a showcase for new works of art and a think tank for thrashing out complex questions -- like who owns stories, who gets to tell them, why some stories work and others don't and what happens to a broadcast-dominated society when suddenly everyone is at least potentially a producer and distributor of media. " Scott Rosenberg, Salon Magazine
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What is the "Digital Bootcamp"? The Digital Bootcamp is a three day intensive hands-on workshop held in advance of the Digital Storytelling Festival and structured to provide students with an introduction to the tools of desktop video in a production context. Course instructors Joe Lambert and Nina Mullen of the Center for Digital Storytelling, guide students in the production of their own stories using personal, corporate or artistic materials. Each student is assigned a workstation and uses Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere software to create a finished three to five minute story. A selection of finished stories will be presented to the general Digital Storytelling Festival audience. Participation in the Digital Bootcamp is limited to 12 students. "These "digital boot camps" take participants who've often had little or no experience with computers and teach them how to turn personal artifacts -- photos, clippings, and hand-me-down tales -- into five-minute QuickTime movies. The work that emerges -- love stories, memorials to dead relatives, ghost tales, road sagas -- is rarely revolutionary and often unpolished. But it is consistently surprising and frequently moving. And even with the pieces that are a mess, you can feel the fledgling filmmakers' pleasure and freedom." Scott Rosenberg, Salon Magazine
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What Does it Cost? Registration fees includes access to all general sessions, panel discussions, receptions, performances. Travel and lodging are not included. $425.00 Registration Fee $225.00 Student Registration Fee (Proof of current student ID required) $695.00 Digital Bootcamp* and Festival *Limited availability
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How can I register? You can register on-line via our secure server using Visa or Mastercard. We also accept check or money orders by mail. Mail completed registration forms to: The Digital Storytelling Festival 3435 Cesar Chavez Street #206 San Francisco, CA 94110. If you would like a registration form faxed to you or to register via telephone call: 415-285-8955.
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Why Crested Butte? Festival founder and director Dana Atchley first discovered Crested Butte in 1968 when it was still a small "wild west mining town". He was so inspired by the dramatic natural environment and the towns rich heritage of storytelling, he choose to make Crested Butte his home and envisioned the day he could bring an event combining his love of art, technology and storytelling to this spectacular location. Although Crested Butte remains a small town, it has evolved into a world class destination resort. It is located at an altitude of 9000 feet and offers a variety of snow sports in winter and green sports (hiking, biking, fishing, golfing) in summer months. September is a beautiful month; the Aspen leaves are turning golden and skies are clear and blue. Daytime temperatures are comfortable and cool night air signals the coming of fall. The uniqueness of Crested Butte contributes a feeling of intimacy to the festival that is unmatched by any other conference. "Crested Butte. A big valley at the end of a road. An inspiring location. Big big mountains, but you can see the tops from the valley floor. The conference provides a gorgeous and friendly venue for interactivity. As Coupland would say it's totally one-point-oh. Crested Butte is an inspirational place. Well worth the extra trouble it takes to get there." Dave Winer
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What Do People Have to Say About Their Experience? "It might have been the setting or it might have been the participants but there is no doubt in my mind that we all discovered gold in them there hills last month. You have hit upon the right recipe, combing the perfect portions of the practical with the right amount of imagination (and a little magic thrown in) to produce a festival from which everyone emerges deeply touched and thoroughly satisfied." - Robert Linehan CD ROM Author "I feel really lucky to have been involved in such a gathering as the Digital Storytelling Festival. School teachers rarely get to indulge in cutting edge technology, emerging aesthetics, and the company of lyrical minds. The Crested Butte experience helps me keep my head in the clouds-like a digital "Valhalla"-while I'm lumbering around life at sea level" - Susan Abdulezer Educator "Thanks for a wonderful 5 days. Thanks for sharing Crested Butte. Thanks for introducing me to your digital "family". Thanks for giving me, personally, the opportunity to learn about and work with some truly ground-breaking "stuff. IT WAS GREAT GREAT GREAT!!" - Lynne Morton, Digital Media Producer PricewaterhouseCoopers "Thank you so much for a great conference. It was, without a doubt, one of the best I've been to in a long, long, time. Good presenters, good content, good atmosphere, nice mix of professionals and people who should be influencing them... all very approachable and open. Thank you." - Peggy Griffith Griffiti, LLC "Thank you so much for inviting me. It was just marvelous. I really, really appreciate the opportunity. In addition to all the extremely stimulating people and stuff at the conference, I managed to grab some real deep quality time for myself with the aspen trees, too. What a gift." - Brenda Laurel Executive Producer, Purple Moon "I just want to let you guys know that the conference over the weekend was by far the best conference I've ever attended. Thank you so much for putting it together. It was incredibly inspirational for me... so nice to talk with people who share my passions." - Jennifer Prugh - Associate Professor Cogswell Polytechnical College "It was fabulous. It had energy and excitement that I hadn't felt since journalism school (a good long time ago now), when I first felt the thrill of telling a story." - Jim Leeke Multimedia Producer "Thanks so much for including me in the Digital Storytelling experience. I really got a brain-full of new ideas and met some terrific people. It was a great success, and I am already psyched for next year." - Patti Watson, Director Business History Group "Thank you so much for such an amazing weekend. The crowd was inspiring and I'm going to get a digital camera and do some family documentation. I want to let you know that the Digital Storytelling Festival rules supreme!" - Allison Hill, Producer phoenix pop productions, usa "Just wanted to say "THANKS" for putting on such a good time! I had a blast! I showed up Monday to the boot camp, not having a really good idea of what I was getting into or why. But now I've got my first "story" under my belt, and am ready to do more! I'm so looking forward to next year." - Simone Cox Netscape Communications, Inc
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What does the press have to say? You may link to the following articles to read about events at the Past Storytelling Festivals: What's Your Story? - Fast Company Magazine's Daniel Pink reports on Digital Storytelling and his experience at the 1997 Digital Bootcamp. Story Time by Scott Rosenberg, Salon http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/rose/1998/09/29straight.html The World of Digital Storytelling by Corey Hitchcock, The Gate http://www.sfgate.com/technology/specials/1997/dstorytelling.shtml Clicking for Godot by Scott Rosenberg, Salon Magazine http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/feature/1997/10/02godot.html

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