Acknowledging that “storytelling is a language for reinvention,” 
Reinvention Summit 2 founder Michael Margolis at yesterday’s kickoff session invited attendees to set their intentions for the summit.
You don’t necessarily have to be part of the summit tribe, however, to set intentions for reinvention. While the first question on the slide at right refers to the summit (RS2), one could adapt the question as: “Why do you want to reinvent yourself?” The other two questions, of course, are not specific to the summit.
Michael also set forth the summit team’s intentions, as shown on the slide at left. It was in response to the second point that Michael suggested storytelling can be a language for reinvention.
Cultural creatives and change-makers, Michael asserted, can lead the way in confusing and overwhelming times. The culture even cries out for these outsiders — Michael went so far as to call them/us “heretics” — to lead the way, help everyone make sense of a fragmented ethos. A quote by Carolyn Casey shown on the slide at the bottom of this post especially resonated with the “tribe” — as well as with folks I shared it with on Facebook.
As with the first summit in 2010, the tribe — participants from all over the globe — is the heart and soul of the summit. Warm, congenial, playful conversation from 2010 alumni and new names flowed abundantly and constantly throughout the first day’s sessions. Some of the comments from the first session included:
- a member who said the 2010 summit “absolutely changed my life … [it] actually propelled me on my own journey, eventually standing up, declaring im on a mission with my company and share my story to advance that mission.”
- Sequential comments form three members that together formed a terrific nugget of wisdom:(1) “You CAN”T let the bumps in the road stop you!” (2) Perfection never happens…” (3) “bumps do lift you off the ground, don’t they?” to which another member suggested this blog post as a related reading.
- “Storytelling transcends time and space.”
In response to the three intention questions posed in the session, members said:
- Why? [I] want to help clients better tell their stories, engage with their customers/members.
- Big question: What am I supposed to do or be? And what about all the other people?
- To help others give voice to what has been voiceless as far as living their narrative and story. Thinking they are vulnerable and authentic.
- Why? Want to make the world around me really understand and use the power of storytelling
- Why? [I] want to learn from others’ experiences and see how to better communicate changes/programmes and to engage them to feel part of the bigger picture.
- My riddle: I am a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit. Looking to shape the rest of the puzzle I fit in.
- Riddle: How is storytelling different from other marketing copy?
- I feel [the] key to my goal of becoming a succesfull public speaker and author is in (re)discovering and sharing my personal stories.
- Help people change their story and so then change their results.
- How can I reach people with my messages … Now this is very broad, yet the communication world has changed since I was in PR 15 years ago….
- Heart’s desire — Create connections and help people to tell their stories every day.
- I would lik to give a voice to people who very few listen to today
- Help me tell my own story… there are so many .. .want to select and integrate …
- My riddle: Why do managers in organisations need stories; what’s in it for them?
- I’m hoping to use story to reach people where they are, and help to bring them to where they want to be.
- Telling the stories that most capture people’s imagination — engage emotionally.
- Preserving the stories of the elders so that we can refer to past reality!
- Help people understand so they can articulate their story — who they are, what they want, and what they want to be valued for.
- Immerse myself into an envoronment with people who see the value of stories in business and personal life and are willing to engage in making things happen in that area.
- I would like to expand my work as a professional storyteller
- Why: Help people enjoy stories in theri worklife!
What intention will you set for reinvention? How would you answer the three questions?
By the way, if you are wishing you were in on this reinvention process and summit even though it has already started, I see no reason why you can’t jump in now or even later in the week. Most of the sessions are prerecorded anyway — but the chat is live. And recordings (audio and video) are available for all sessions. So, no matter when you register this week, you can access all the material, including worksheets and other bonus materials.
