The Power of Storytelling 2015

An October weekend full of craft tips and inspiration

A conference built around the idea that stories can change our worlds. The only one of its kind in Eastern Europe, it brings together superstar storytellers in all fields to show the potential of stories to connect people, to heal wounds, to move to action, and to drive change.

See you at World Trade Center Bucharest/Pullman Hotel

Learn more

Latest news

Video: Robert Krulwich on Finding Good Stories

Radiolab co-host Robert Krulwich's 2015 keynote on finding good stories, asking questions and never forsaking curio...

Video: John Freeman on The New Nowhere

American writer and literary critic John Freeman talked at the 2015 edition about the role of place in today's fict...

Video: Dan Perjovschi on Drawing on Walls

Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi talked at the 2015 edition about the process behind his internationally acclaimed wo...

More news

Speaking this year

Line-up subject to change. Scroll to see all speakers

John Freeman

John Freeman founded the literary biannual Freeman’s and is author of How to Read a Novelist. He lives in New York.

Leslie Jamison

Leslie is the author of The Empathy Exams, an essay collection, and The Gin Closet, a novel.

Jacqui Banaszynski

Jacqui is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, editor, and globetrotting coach. She is part of this conference from day one.

Dan Perjovschi

Dan lives in Bucharest and Sibiu, and exhibits in museums, art centers and biennials across the globe.

Robert Krulwich

Robert is co-host of Radiolab, WNYC's Peabody Award-winning program about "big ideas", one of public radio’s most popular shows.

Wendy MacNaughton

Wendy is an illustrator and graphic journalist whose books include Meanwhile in San Francisco, The City in Its Own Words.

Richard Koci Hernandez

Richard Koci Hernandez is a visual storyteller who is willing to try anything to tell a compelling narrative. He teaches multimedia at UC Berkley.

Alexander Nanau

Alexander Nanau is an Emmy Award winning producer and director, author of internationally acclaimed documentary films The World according to Ion B. and Toto and His Sisters.

Carmen Bugan

Carmen Bugan is a Romanian-American poet, critic, and memoirist. She writes about identity, dictatorship, and exile.

Michael Paterniti

Michael Paterniti is the author of two New York Times bestselling books, The Telling Room and Driving Mr. Albert and of the essay collection, Love and Other Ways of Dying. He's the winner of an NEA grant and National Magazine Award for Feature Writing.

Chris Jones

Chris is a writer at large for Esquire and a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.

More about the speakers

The experience

Two packed days

Inspirational talks, tips to improve your storytelling, and many surprising moments

Superstar speakers

Network with our impressive roster of guests, get their books (and get them signed)

A creative world

Watch exhibits and screenings, experience interactive moments, browse our shop, and have fun

Stay story-sharp

Check out our curated feed of storytelling goodness on Facebook

Videos

Watch talks from previous years on topics ranging from personal stories to marketing

In the know

Get the latest conference news, speaker info and other updates

Testimonials

It was a really great and novel event for Romania, showing that the media is enthusiastic about adopting new approaches to journalism in a form that would be educational and inspiring for the wider public.

Participant

Thank you for the experience, for your work, for daring to do things differently. Inspiring – both in a personal and a professional manner.

Participant

We believe stories are told to help us understand how similar, often difficult challenges we do share. As a creative hub, Lateral is really proud to help now The Power of Storytelling share those amazing stories, told by the world’s most creative, talented journalists.

Ciprian Morar – CEO Lateral

So many storytelling tips from various fields – marketing, digital, film and journalism. Finding out how some of the best storytellers in the world do their work was amazing. These people bring so much insight and so precious advices on how to find a story and tell it better. I couldn’t have asked for more from this conference.

Participant

The Power of Storytelling Conference is the right place to be if you want to spend two days of truly enriching talks given by outstanding speakers – in a strongly professional but also a very personal way.

Participant

A mix of tools, advice and inspiration: Stories matter, especially the complicated, messy ones.

Participant

The stories give us the strength to go further when it’s hard and give flavor to our experiences when it’s easy. The stories are lessons learned from our past and resources for a wiser future.

Anca Nuţă – Director of Marketing and Communications, UniCredit Țiriac Bank

Please organize this event many years to come!

Participant

The conference is utterly stunning the quality of speakers, organizers, venue and participants is high and the overall atmosphere is like a breath of fresh air.

Participant

I’ve been so impressed by the people here and the conversations and I think that everyone who came together for these 2 days of conference is really motivated by the same question which is how do we reach people with our stories? There is an incredible diversity of speakers.

Amy O’Leary – Editorial Director at Upworthy

Supporters

PLATINUM

LATERAL is a design & technology studio based in San Francisco, with presence in UK and Romania. They are long-time collaborators of DoR and returning as sponsors of The Power of Storytelling.

UniCredit is a leading banking Group in Europe, with a major international banking network in Central and Eastern Europe. This is their third year supporting The Power of Storytelling conference.

NN is an insurance and investment management company active in over 18 countries. It was the first such company to enter the Romanian market. This is their second year as conference sponsors.

GOLD

Telekom Romania is a new and dynamic telecommunications brand, part of Deutsche Telekom global family, one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies. This is their first year as conference sponsors.

HBO is a premium cable and satellite television network, with programming consisting primarily of movies and original TV series, along with documentaries and concert specials. HBO GO is HBO’s online video service with more than 2000 hours of content, updated weekly.

Dacia is the main car manufacturer in Romania with a presence of 47 years in the automotive landscape. Today, it is the first export company of the country and the one with the biggest turnover. Since 2004, more than 3.3 billion clients from 44 countries around the world bought a Dacia vehicle.

HTC is a global innovator in smart mobile devices and technology, producing award-winning phones and industry pioneers since its inception in 1997, including the HTC One M9 and the highly acclaimed Desire line of smartphones.

SILVER

GENTICA is a foundation, set-up and financed by Alexandre Almăjeanu, a French entrepreneur born in Bucharest. Its purpose is to encourage and promote entrepreneurship, especially among Romanian youth, women and journalists.

With more than 60 years of aviation experience, TAROM is among Romania’s most beloved brands. 2015 found TAROM as an online settled presence. This means we aim to please our most demanding target: the passenger!

We are Hansen, designers of inspiring work spaces. We, the founders, Diana Blinda and Liviu Souca, and our team, are passionate about design. Our mission is to bring design furniture in your office or wherever you decide to create an idea, a product or a story.

This project is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State. The contents are the responsibility of Asociația Media DoR and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of State or the United States Government.

PARTNERS

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Keep in touch

Since 2011 we’ve been bringing together leading journalists, writers, filmmakers, innovators to share ideas and stories. Don’t miss your chance to get involved.

Questions? We've got answers. E-mail us at pos@thepowerofstorytelling.org.