The Future of NSN

The NSN Board of Directors is inviting you to a conversation about the future of NSN. We are at a decision point and the question before us as a Board on behalf of the membership and the larger storytelling community is what is the future of NSN? There are appear to be three choices:

• Scale back our programs to a level of cost and income that matches our capacity. This might mean taking a several-month hiatus to reconfigure our operations. It might mean only producing an annual conference or a digital magazine like the Story Beast.
• Radically rethink what we are and how we function as an organization. What does it mean to be a national advocacy or membership organization? We do not know what that would look like yet.
• Acknowledge, as has the Northlands Storytelling Network, that we have had a good run but it is time to go out of business.
• What any of these options mean for the SIGs is also open to discussion. We are inviting you to attend one or more of the scheduled discussions in June and early July to hear your views. It is our intention to report the Board’s course of action at the Annual Membership Meeting at the CONNECTED – Part One event.

Thank you,

Loren Niemi
NSN Board Chair

Upcoming Chair Chats

June 20th Chair Chat Recap

The June 20th Chair Chat was well attended and many attendees were able to share their thoughts and ideas. Among those ideas was an amendment to the proposal submitted by Alton Chung, Rachel Hedman, and Vel Weiss, members of the NSN Program Committee.

The recording of the 6/20 Chair Chat can be accessed at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/CPcK-d5mFSr2FWJUui76JA7OOCX7pZ37S7axNaxZBV9OkNPWB7xSHfF7pdhBoWF8.Cyaam-HBlWjzYMvC
Passcode: X9yMl@63

Program Committee Proposal Amendment: 3-PHASE NSN STABILIZATION & SUSTAINABILITY PLAN

The amended proposal draft submitted by the Program Committee can be accessed at:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vHnNNoT6Cx6YdVfoI9Re7yDoxI8TjTC9D3csxRW2OvQ/edit?usp=sharing

Board Meeting Attendance

Several attendees at the recent Chair Chats expressed an interest in attending the upcoming Board of Directors meeting, scheduled for Saturday, June 25th from noon to 3:00 p.m. Central time. The NSN Board of Directors welcomes the attendance of anyone interested in observing the Board meetings. If you are interested in attending, please register by clicking the button below. Please note: only members of the Board of Directors are guaranteed the ability to speak at Board meetings; non-Board member attendees will be asked to remain silent unless directed otherwise by Loren Niemi, Board Chair.

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: June 25, 2022 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kf-qrpj8iH9VMUZmuLwURr75cbSmwEkOw

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

June 14th Chair Chat Recap

The June 14th Chair Chat was well attended and many attendees were able to share their thoughts and ideas. Among those ideas was a proposal submitted by Alton Chung, Rachel Hedman, and Vel Weiss, members of the NSN Program Committee. Many requests were made to share the proposal draft and the recording of the Chair Chat along with it.

As a reminder, the NSN Board of Directors has concluded that NSN is at a critical decision point and the question before us as a Board on behalf of the membership and the larger storytelling community is what is the future of NSN? There are appear to be three choices:

• Scale back our programs to a level of cost and income that matches our capacity. This might mean taking a several-month hiatus to reconfigure our operations. It might mean only producing an annual conference or a digital magazine like the Story Beast.
• Radically rethink what we are and how we function as an organization. What does it mean to be a national advocacy or membership organization? We do not know what that would look like yet.
• Acknowledge, as has the Northlands Storytelling Network, that we have had a good run but it is time to go out of business.
• Once the Board of Directors has made a decision about the future of NSN, that decision will be announced during the membership meeting at CONNECTED: Part I. We encourage you to attend that meeting to hear the final decision. You can register at https://storynet.org/events/conference/.

The recording of the June 14th Chair Chat can be accessed at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/89cI09ipY4okFwL2P4ve2rmopnt08Jo_ikP2w6gkLvivRzRDbgL6k_CNrx2nKhUZ.5f9096jxMTClRzoF?startTime=1655251384000
Passcode: S9v@0Jz*

Program Committee Proposal: 3-PHASE NSN STABILIZATION & SUSTAINABILITY PLAN

The proposal draft submitted by the Program Committee can be accessed at:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zriORRU_jyVC8HlPTqWe7Ms8mzVxC8jU/view?usp=sharing