What stories do YOU want to tell?

The first step in our digital storytelling process is to identify the stories that we would like to tell. Remember, these are stories about Fairbanks for a Fairbanks audience. You may work choose to work with an organization or initiative and help tell their story. You may choose to highlight an individual, project, or historical moment. Remember too that we are looking for stories that will let us flex our research muscles. Do not choose something you know too much about already. In fact, it may be better to start with a question. But how will you choose?

1. Start with your interest. Find a broad topic or question that interests you: post-apocalyptic scenarios, food, technology, extreme sports, etc.
2. Be aware of your audience and purpose. For your proposal, your audience is our class and your purpose is to convince us that we should pursue your story. What kinds of stories are likely to attract us and make us want to work with you? You’ll likely need to be specific enough to pique our interest, but general enough that we can see opportunities for us to contribute. Use this focus on audience to help you narrow your interest.
3. Explore. Begin researching for your story. What is its context? What BIG IDEAS does it connect to? What details seem important? What different directions could it go?
4. A successful story proposal will show that the idea is feasible, relevant, and significant: [see bottom of post for criteria]
   Feasible: This project can get done! Your proposal includes reference to existing resources and establishes a plan for researching and producing the story.
   Relevant: This  story connects to something important about how/where/when we live/work/learn/create. This story connects to its Fairbanks audience.
   Significant: This is an impactful story. You, as a storyteller, are excited about these ideas and we should be too.

Your proposals can take ANY form, but the form you choose should be appropriate. Are visuals important to your story? Audio? How will you represent that?

Please post your proposal to our class blog by noon on Monday 4/6. You will be expected to read all proposals before class on Tuesday, 4/7. On Tuesday, you will have 3 minutes (timed) to present your proposal to the class and argue for its merits. Note that your audience will have already read your proposal, so the presentation should be a compelling complement to, not repetition of, the proposal post.

Criteria for Evaluating Feasibility, Relevance, and Significance:

Feasibility:
5
– strong resources are available
– storytelling topic and plan are specific

3
– resources exist but are limited
– storytelling topic and plan are general

1
– storytelling topic and plan are unclear
– little to no reliable resources

Significance:
5
– purpose is clear
– potential impact is clear and significant

3
– purpose is loosely identified
– potential impact is mentioned but not specific

1
– purpose is unclear
– potential impact is unclear

Relevance:
5
– connection to Fairbanks/Alaska audience is clear
– specifies a connection to the community, i.e. local group or organization will be part of or impacted by the project

3
– connection to Fairbanks/Alaska audience is stated
– connection to the community is general

1
– connection to Fairbanks/Alaska audience is unclear
– connection to the community is vague