How Will you Celebrate StoryCorps’ National Day of Listening in November?

The Specifics

The National Day of Listening is a new national holiday started by StoryCorps in 2008. On the day after Thanksgiving, StoryCorps asks all Americans to record an interview with a loved one.

The 2012 National Day of Listening is November 23, 2012 and StoryCorps wants you to interview someone you care about. Who do you want to learn more about? Let’s take storytelling to the next level together and make it accessible to everyone.

You can interview a relative, friend, neighbor, veteran, or someone in your community. You can also start a National Day of Listening project in your school or at a local organization. Has a friend or relative recently had a baby? You could document their first Thanksgiving as a family. Do you have an elderly neighbor you’d like to get to know? Record her fondest memories. Everyone has a story to tell, and we want you to document yours.

Submit an idea from October 1 to October 29 (noon Pacific Time). Our judges will select which applicants will pass to the voting round. From October 30 to November 13 (noon Pacific Time) we’ll open it up to public voting. Rally your colleagues and friends to get behind your effort and join the public in selecting the winner.

The two top-voted submissions will each receive a StoryKit rental, which includes professional recording equipment, copies of your interviews, and archival at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress! Winners will also be featured on nationaldayoflistening.org.

Connect with this challenge on Twitter at @GOODmkr and @storycorps and join the conversation via #listenclosely.

Submission tips:

Include a photo or video that represents your idea. Photos should be in JPG, PNG, or GIF format, at least 570 × 345 pixels and no larger than 10MB. To include a video, use a YouTube URL.
Describe how will you celebrate StoryCorps’ National Day of Listening in November.
If you have any questions, please review these FAQs or send us an email at maker@goodinc.com.

Rules & Regulations

This Challenge is open for submissions from October 1 to October 29, noon PT.
Only US-based organizations and individuals are eligible apply.
Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.
Projects will be featured on this page and public voting will be open from October 30 to November 13, noon PT.
The two projects with the most votes will receive a StoryKit rental, which includes professional recording equipment, copies of your interviews, and archival at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The winners will also be featured on StoryCorps’ National Day of Listening Website.
In order to vote, log in with your GOOD account. If you don’t have a GOOD account, it’s free to join. All you need is an email address or a Facebook account to register. You will be emailed a link that you need to click in order to validate your address.
Read all the rules.

Discussion

Too late to enter my idea for Day of Listening, I still want to share that I am part of a project that is in the process of producing videos that tell the stories of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families who have been waiting for residential services within their communities in New York State. With over 14,000 individuals waiting for placement in homes that will serve their lifetime needs, we feel the stories of these people will give voice and image to a long term issue that amounts to crisis for so many of these families. The video will be shared with our legislators and policy makers, both state and federal, as well as with our Governor and, hopefully, with our President because this is not just a New York State crisis, but one that occurs in every state in the Union. It'd be great if Story Corps could invite the members of this special community to share their stories for posterity.

by Heritage

7 months ago | Reply