1. Jacqui Banaszynski

This veteran reporter, editor and teacher  is coming to Cluj for the second time. Her speech from last year was one worth remembering. To understand why, you can read the letter she wrote to her friends about her trips to Romania.

2. Chris Jones

With two National Magazine Awards and two National Headliner Awards, Chris is also known for giving some of the most emotional keynotes at The Power of Storytelling conferences. This year’s edition will be his fourth visit to Romania – which he sweetly refers to as his “church” – and his first in Cluj.

3. Starlee Kine

She was our guest in Bucharest in 2012, where she deconstructed some of her famous This American Life episodes. This year, she has a new hit show: Mystery Show, where she is host and producer, quickly became one of the post popular podcasts in the world. She’s also designed a cutting board for chopping onions on while heartbroken; written the saddest cartoon you’ll ever see about tattoos; been one half of Starlee and Arthur Review, the first animated series (probably) done on Post-It Notes.

4. Alex Gâlmeanu

Alex is one of the most important Romanian photographers, having been published in nearly all Romanian magazines, and featured in national and international exhibitions in Bucharest, Paris, Toulouse, Nantes, Rejkyavik, and Cork. He constantly experiments with new ways of telling stories through images – you can see more on his Instagram account:

5. Dragoș Bucurenci

A communication coach, journalist and civic activist, Dragoș trained more than 1,000 managers in public speaking, interpersonal communication and storytelling, and was awarded “Best Training of the Year” at the Business-Edu Awards Gala in 2010. During the past year, he served as Communication Adviser to the European Commissioner for Regional Policy.

This is not the first time The Power of Storytelling conference spread its wings to Cluj. Have a look at last year’s edition takeaways.