About

The conference

The Power of Storytelling is 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 – from media, to arts, to business – to show the potential of stories to connect people, to heal wounds, to move to action, and to drive change.

We started in 2011 because we believe stories are for everyone. This event grows out of our deep commitment to in-depth and intimate narrative journalism, and attracts artists, producers, communicators, marketers, activists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders.

This year’s theme: Closer

This is an important year for stories. Our world is in turmoil. Wars are looming, anxieties are high, disparities and divisions are everywhere. Most of the stories we see and hear today are stories of chaos and fear, of unwanted change. These stories are sometimes spread by forces who benefit from our uncertainties: they stress the possibility of terrorism, the need for isolation, the impossibility of integrating the Other (be they political enemies, refugees or minorities).

We, at The Power of Storytelling, believe stories shouldn’t build fences or push people away. On the contrary. Good stories bridge the divide, they bring us closer, they create a shared sense of the world, and of our mission. They are the primary force of human connection, and our most powerful tool for learning how to live a better life.

In 2017, our incredible speakers will tackle the troubling realities of our age – uncertainty, fear, inequality, misinformation –, and look at how stories can explain them, put them in context, while also giving a voice to those that have not been heard. Bringing untold stories and voices into the public sphere gives them social currency, reaffirms our humanity, and brings us closer.