The Power of Storytelling 2016

A conference 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 – writers, producers, artists, innovators -, to show the potential of stories to connect people, to heal wounds, to move to action, and to drive change.

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Latest news

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13 takeaways from #Story16

What we learned at the sixth edition of The Power of Storytelling.

Get ready for #Story16

One week to go, we put together a list of things to read, listen to or watch to get to know the speakers better.

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Speaking in 2016

Line-up subject to change. Scroll to see all speakers

Jonah Sachs

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

Brian Lindstrom

Brian Lindstrom is a documentary filmmaker, author of award-winning films such as Alien Boy: The Life & Death of James Chasse or Finding Normal.

Cheryl Strayed

Cheryl Strayed is an award-winning memoirist, novelist, and essayist, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Wild.

Cătălin Tolontan

Cătălin Tolontan is one of the most reputable sports and investigative journalists in Romania, winner of ten “journalist of the year” awards in the past 12 years.

Tim Howard

Tim Howard is the Senior Producer at Reply All. He has previously reported for WNYC’s Radiolab.

Caroline Paul

Caroline Paul is an American writer of fiction and nonfiction and a former firefighter. Her books include Lost Cat and New York Times bestseller Gutsy Girl.

Colin Meloy

Colin Meloy is the singer and songwriter for The Decemberists and author of the New York Times bestselling Wildwood Chronicles.

Carson Ellis

Carson is a world-class illustrator, and book author. Her work includes New York Times bestsellers Home and The Wildwood Chronicles.

Tara Skurtu

Tara Skurtu is a Boston-based poet and translator. She’s a Fulbright lecturer in creative writing at Transilvania University of Brașov.

Wendy MacNaughton

Wendy is an illustrator and graphic journalist whose books include Meanwhile in San Francisco, The City in Its Own Words.

Dvora Meyers

Dvora Meyers is journalist who writes for The Atlantic, The New York Times, ESPN, Slate. Her book about women’s gymnastics will be published in July.

Jon Mooallem

Jon Mooallem is a longtime contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine and the author of "Wild Ones".

Jacqui Banaszynski

Jacqui is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, editor, and globetrotting coach. She is part of this conference from day one.

More about the speakers

The experience

Two packed days

Inspirational talks, tips to improve your storytelling, and many surprising moments

Superstar speakers

Network with our impressive roster of guests, get their books (and get them signed)

A creative world

Watch exhibits and screenings, experience interactive moments, browse our shop, and have fun

Stay story-sharp

Check out our curated feed of storytelling goodness on Facebook

Videos

Watch talks from previous years on topics ranging from personal stories to marketing

In the know

Get the latest conference news, speaker info and other updates

Testimonials

Please organize this event many years to come!

Participant

It was a really great and novel event for Romania, showing that the media is enthusiastic about adopting new approaches to journalism in a form that would be educational and inspiring for the wider public.

Participant

A mix of tools, advice and inspiration: Stories matter, especially the complicated, messy ones.

Participant

I’ve been so impressed by the people here and the conversations and I think that everyone who came together for these 2 days of conference is really motivated by the same question which is how do we reach people with our stories? There is an incredible diversity of speakers.

Amy O’Leary – Editorial Director at Upworthy

The Power of Storytelling Conference is the right place to be if you want to spend two days of truly enriching talks given by outstanding speakers – in a strongly professional but also a very personal way.

Participant

So many storytelling tips from various fields – marketing, digital, film and journalism. Finding out how some of the best storytellers in the world do their work was amazing. These people bring so much insight and so precious advices on how to find a story and tell it better. I couldn’t have asked for more from this conference.

Participant

We believe stories are told to help us understand how similar, often difficult challenges we do share. As a creative hub, Lateral is really proud to help now The Power of Storytelling share those amazing stories, told by the world’s most creative, talented journalists.

Ciprian Morar – CEO Lateral

Thank you for the experience, for your work, for daring to do things differently. Inspiring – both in a personal and a professional manner.

Participant

The conference is utterly stunning the quality of speakers, organizers, venue and participants is high and the overall atmosphere is like a breath of fresh air.

Participant

The stories give us the strength to go further when it’s hard and give flavor to our experiences when it’s easy. The stories are lessons learned from our past and resources for a wiser future.

Anca Nuţă – Director of Marketing and Communications, UniCredit Țiriac Bank

Supporters

PLATINUM

LATERAL is a design & technology studio based in San Francisco, with presence in UK and Romania. They are long-time collaborators of DoR and returning as sponsors of The Power of Storytelling.

UniCredit is a leading banking Group in Europe, with a major international banking network in Central and Eastern Europe. This is their fourth year supporting The Power of Storytelling conference.

NN is an insurance and investment management company active in over 18 countries. It was the first such company to enter the Romanian market. This is their third year as conference sponsors.

SAI Erste Asset Management SA offers an extensive range of asset management services and products. The asset management company professionally and successfully manages money market, bond, balanced, equity open-end funds and absolute return funds.

GOLD

Telekom Romania is a new and dynamic telecommunications brand, part of Deutsche Telekom global family, one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies. This is their second year as conference sponsors.

HBO is a premium cable and satellite television network, with programming consisting primarily of movies and original TV series, along with documentaries and concert specials. HBO GO is HBO’s online video service with more than 2000 hours of content, updated weekly.

Coca-Cola HBC Romania is part of CCHBC, one of the largest bottlers of The Coca Cola Company. We spread happiness by producing and delivering soft drinks of the highest quality. As first time supporters, we’re proud to have begun this partnership.

The number 1 Scotch whisky in the world. Its slogan has been embraced as an encouragement for progress through adversity, a joyful expression of optimism and the best piece of advice you’re ever likely to hear.

This project is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State. The contents are the responsibility of Asociația Media DoR and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of State or the United States Government.

SILVER

OFFICIAL CAR

Founded in 1898, Renault has marked automotive history since the start, under the banner of broadly affordable innovation and a thirst for new challenges. For Renault, innovating means designing and developing an affordable range of products and services that hold value for customers, and developing technologies that anticipate customer expectations.

Avon is a global cosmetics company that for 130 years has proudly stood for beauty, innovation, courage and, above all, women. They are long-time collaborators of DoR and this is the second year they are supporting The Power of Storytelling Conference.

Mastercard is a technology company in the global payments industry, operating the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries.

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Keep in touch

Since 2011 we’ve been bringing together leading journalists, writers, filmmakers, innovators to share ideas and stories. Don’t miss your chance to get involved.

Questions? We've got answers. E-mail us at pos@thepowerofstorytelling.org.