There is a world of storytellers and in that world there is a community just as much as there is a community in software testing. Katharine Hansen reached out to me recently with a warm welcome to the community of storytellers. She has website filled with information. I’ve added her site to my Google Reader, its packed with information. One story Kathy’s especially interested in is meeting and talking to people who are not storytellers professionally but use story in their work. She’s sought people from many different professions and has built a collection of stories on her site. She interviewed me recently, you can read it here.
Karen Dietz, another storyteller reached out to me recently. She was the former Executive Director of the National Storytelling Network. We had a good chat on the phone and one of the ways she welcomed me to the community was to ask me about what conferences and locations I might be traveling to in the coming year. She’s helped to connect me to other storytellers throughout the world. In the local guild I attend, people reference the NSN magazine and resources available through the association. You can read more here.
In the software testing world we have Rosie Sherry who’s built a forum for testers, the Software Testing Club. In the storytelling world, Shawn Callahan has built a forum known as Worldwide Story Work. I’ve joined and have been listening to webinars and meeting other storytellers.
The storyteller’s community is a warm community. The people in the community that I’ve met have different approaches, different styles, and different outlooks but share a passion for their work, an interest in having people join their community and a desire to hone their craft. I feel like our community of software testers can easily reach out to the storyteller’s community and find great resources and people.