DSF - History

DIGITAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL - HISTORY During its first five years, the Digital Storytelling Festival grew from a small invitation-only group of thirty to almost two hundred attendees with a focus on arts and entertainment and topics as diverse as building communities and corporate branding.

	dStory1-1995 30 participants discussed building community through stories and whether or not "digital storytelling" was a viable idea. Attendees were amazed they could create stories and post them to the Web. Pedro Meyer tells a Festival story with his marvelous photo collages

	dStory2-1996 The first year the Festival was open to the public. The dStory web station offered the particpants the opportunity to create online stories. A diverse group of speakers included Rebecca Farwell of the Discovery Channel and Justin Hall.

	dStory3-1997 featured a storytelling event called "Friend or Faux" and speakers includingthe Frays' Derek Powazek and the Smithsonian. A highlight was a two evening live online performance of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot".

	dStory4-1998 Abbe Don conducted a Digital Story Bee and GoGaGa.com produced a daily live internet radio show hosted by Don Wrege with commentary by Scott Rosenberg of Salon.com.

	dStory5-1999 This was the year people stopped asking what Digital Storytelling was and focused on how to apply it.The audience of 200 included a broad mix of corporate, educational and creative attendees. Speaker Dan Bricklin's Festival Journal provides a great overview.

	dStorySedona -2003 As a revival of the festival in a new local, 130 attendees gathered for the first year in Sedona Arizona.

	BOOTCAMPS have highlighted the past four Festivals. Participants brought their own archives and created original Digital Stories during the three day intensive hands-on workshop. These "Hot-off-the-press" stories were shared with the Festival audiences.

Founded in 1995 by Dana and Denise Atchley, the Digital Storytelling Conference & Festival immerses participants in the principles and practice of digital storytelling, from fundamentals of dramatic structure, voice, and pacing to the latest digital technologies and software tools. In this richly collaborative environment, participants learn from the top instructors and visionaries in the field, and network with peers who have made digital storytelling an essential tool for success.