About three weeks ago I took a deep breath and, posting to instagram, announced The Story Sessions; a new Soapbox event that is taking place on June 28th at Tribe Porty.
For a little while I’ve wanted to do some different kinds of events with Soapbox - if you’ve not heard of Soapbox before it’s a monthly gentle networking event that I co-host with my friend, Janine Matheson, at her gallery space in Leith: Sierra Metro. And a few months ago we celebrated one year of Soapbox! It’s an amazing feat, but it also got me thinking about an itch I have been wanting to scratch for a little while.
Doing a storytelling event.
Storytelling has been around forever. Adopted as marketing speak in recent decades, it’s been in folklore, and native to how we gather, for centuries. Sharing stories is about choosing connection; stories have the power to inspire, to draw us in and make us feel less alone. They make us cry, laugh, get angry, and become invested.
A few years ago I embarked on a 100 day project, called Love Stories. Everyday for 100 consecutive days I spoke to someone about a love; a person, a place, a pet, music, and so, SO, much more. It’s one of my favourite projects to date, and the way I (and lots of people who followed along) connected with the stories was unlike anything I’d ever done before. The Story Sessions feels like a continuation of that project; a way to bring people together.
The first event is taking place on June 28th. We’ll be meeting in the evening, to gather, to be inspired, to be heard, to tell (and to listen) to stories. This event is taking place at, and in collaboration, with Tribe Porty, the glorious co-working space in the heart of Portobello whose mission (much like mine) is to foster community and connection. For this inaugural event, we’re also teaming up with Porty Pride. Doors open at 5:30pm with our first stories starting from 6pm. Overall we should be finished around 7:30pm. It would be great to have you join us!
Tickets will be pay what you can with proceeds going to Porty Pride. They’ll be released at the beginning of June via this newsletter, our instagram page, and the Tribe Porty Blog - so mark your calendars!
If you’re interested in telling and sharing a story, or know someone who might be, please email me soapboxforcreatives@gmail.com with the title ‘The Story Sessions’ and I can give you some more information about how the evening will go and any guidance you might need. I’m keen to stick to the theme of Love, but this can be love for a place, a moment in time, a person, self-love/self development. I am hoping to get some stories from people who identify within the queer community, but this by no means is a prerequisite.
I also want to just say that there will be no photography, or videography, happening during this event. But we may be audio-recording the stories. If you have any questions about this, or anything to do with the event, please feel free to email me.
My hope is that this will be the first of many Story Sessions to come, with different themes, and supporting different communities.
- Ellie ✨