A Low-Cost Media Workshop was held at Encuentro. Participants included School House to Jail House performers and Hip Hop group, Sons of the Most High.

The Story of Now: Movement-Building and Media

During our workshop we will learn how artists, activists, and community members can combine storytelling and low-cost media tools to build community conversation and action around the issues that are most important to us. The workshop begins with a Story Circle that demonstrates how sharing the “Story of Me” helps us focus and prepares each person in the circle to be creative listeners. Next we will talk about the places where our community tells its collective “Story of Us,” from social media, radio, and television to conversations in line at the grocery store.

During the second half of the workshop, we will choose two or three media projects that we can complete without a budget and within a month. We will look for ideas that can bring a diverse group of people together to create a “Story of Now,” the story our community will tell about how we are working together for positive change.

What to bring (if you have them, each of these items is optional)

• Cell phone
• Video camera (if you know how to connect it to a computer)
• Digital camera Laptop computer

What to do to prepare: If you have a still camera or video camera, try to make sure you know whether you can copy from the camera to a computer If you use social media (particularly Facebook), keep an eye out for the items people post that are the most popular. What kind of social media postings get the most comments and re-postings?