About the conference

The conference

The Power of Storytelling is a conference built around the idea that stories can change our worlds. 2015 is our 5th edition.

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

Over the years, our speakers have included multiple winners of Pulitzer Prizes, National Magazine Awards, and Emmys. They were writers, editors, producers, digital innovators, filmmakers, entrepreneurs, and musicians, all among the best in their respective fields.

Hosts

The conference is hosted by DoR, a Romanian quarterly journal of groundbreaking nonfiction, and Lateral, an innovative technology company based in Transylvania and the US. DoR and Lateral are joined by many wonderful sponsors, supporters, and friends.

www.decatorevista.ro www.lateral-inc.com

Team

Cristian Lupșa, conference host (@cristianlupsa)

Cristian is the editor of DoR, a quarterly devoted to longform narrative journalism and essays about the way we are and live in Romania. He started The Power of Storytelling conference in 2011 to help spread the gospel of well-told stories.

Adrian Lungu, fundraiser

Adrian has been involved with the conference since 2011, the year he joined the DoR team. Other than raising funds, and enjoying the keynotes, he likes driving the speakers around.

Ciprian Morar, creative partner

Ciprian is the CEO of LATERAL, the wonderful creative hub that worked to plan, co-design and organize the 5th edition of The Power of Storytelling.

Andreea Giuclea, content guru (@AndreeaGiuclea)

Andreea is in charge of communication & social media for the conference (she is encouraging everybody to start using #Story15). She’s also a reporter for DoR, where she mostly covers sports; occasionally she takes our guests to games.

Anamaria Tataru, troubleshooter

Anamaria (but her friends call her Anuca) is the administrative magician of DoR team. Her favorite stories are the ones told by numbers: on her daily reading list you will certainly find cash-flows, budgets, and financial reports. She keeps together the accounting strings of the Power of Storytelling.

Ioana Burtea, communicator (@ioanaburtea)

Ioana writes for #Story15’s website, social media accounts, and handles partners, but will also dip her fingers into anything that sounds like a challenge. She contributes to DoR, and is really excited to attend the conference for the first time.

Oana Filip, community glue (@oanafilip)

Community building aficionado, Oana has the genuine talent to gather the right people around the table and to make things happen. She joined us to provide an amazing experience for all the #Story15 lovers around there.

Anca Drăgoi, supporter glue

Anca is the founder of Partnership for the Arts, a private initiative that brings arts and business on common ground, through creative partnerships. She has recently joined us to help strenghten relationships with our supporters.

Advisors, alumni, friends: Irina Tacu, Oana Sandu, Sorana Stănescu, Andreea Drăgan, Andreea Ioniță, Stela Serghiuță, Ramona Cherciu, Raymond Bobar, Călin Tritean, Ștefan Bălan, Mircea Drăgoi, Ana Vișan, Andreea Bota, Lavinia Gliga, Gabriel Dobre, Gabriela Pițurlea, Solene Cesbron, Ancuța Iosif, DoR reporters and editors, and many enthusiastic and wonderful volunteers.

Supporters

Here are some of our partners over the years

unicredit lateral bmw

us embassy british embassy kingdom friedrich

orange ERSTE_Stiftung_Logo gentica mastercard aqua carpatica triple

Interested in becoming a supporter?

Past speakers

Jacqui Banaszynski

Jacqui is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, editor, and globetrotting coach.

Chris Jones

Chris is an award winning writer-at-large for Esquire and a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.

Lisa Pollak

Lisa is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and radio producer who specializes in narrative stories about ordinary people.

Jonah Sachs

Jonah is the Co-Founder and CEO of Free Range Studios and an internationally recognized storyteller, author, marketer, designer and entrepreneur.

Amy O’Leary

Amy is Editorial Director at Upworthy. She previously worked for The New York Times as a reporter, editor and multimedia producer specializing in digital storytelling.

Tom Junod

Tom has been a writer-at-large for Esquire for 16 years. He got his start writing for Atlanta Magazine.

Monica Nicoara

Documentary film director, producer and writer, Mona was born in Communist Romania and, until 1989, dedicated her early years to becoming a poet.

Tudor Giurgiu

Tudor is a director, as well as the founder and President of the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF).

Alex Tizon

Alex is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and faculty member at the University of Oregon.

Starlee Kine

Starlee is a radio producer, writer, and pop culture critic. She has produced stories for This American Life.

Evan Ratliff

Evan is founder and editor of The Atavist, a storytelling platform for the digital age.

Pat Walters

Pat is editor of Pop-Up Magazine. Before that he was a producer at the public radio show Radiolab.