08.22.08 • Peace Corps & Friends - A Celebration

Social Media: Telling Stories, Changing Lives

A good story throughout history has held the power to capture the imagination, inspire action, preserve culture, and educate new generations. This month Beet Street invites the community to participate in various forms of oral, written, electronic and Internet-inspired communication, as we consider the impact of the new forms of social media on our lives and legacies.

• With StoryCorps, we may uncover little-known family histories, emotions and treasures (www.storycorps.net). To be part of the Fort Collins project, sign up at www.beetstreet.org/StoryCorps.
• With PostSecret.com founder and author Frank Warren, we reveal our inner secrets and psychologies through postcards and postings online (www.postsecret.com). Send in your postcard to be part of the Colorado art exhibit (www.beetstreet.org/Meet-PostSecret-and-Frank-Warren) and get a ticket to his talk and book signing! www.fctix.com
• With The Buried Life, we are encouraged to ‘blog’ our secret wishes (www.theburiedlife.com) and live out our fondest hopes and dreams before we die. They are coming to Fort Collins to help a few folks do just that. Be part of their video event (www.beetstreet.org/Join-The-Buried-Life) in April.

What does the future hold? Journalists and bloggers will also gather to discuss the enormous shifts that are occurring in business, politics, personal lives and global awareness—all online! In this Presidential election year, there is a vast resource of information and misinformation at our fingertips. What and who will you believe? Will you delve beyond the sound bites?

And, everyone is invited to join the BlogJam on Friday, when Fort Collins will connect online, throughout town, and at various blogging stations to share their opinion of “The Best Thing About Fort Collins.” Don’t have a computer? That’s no excuse, because volunteers will be at sites at the Library and around downtown to help you join the online experience! BlogJam sponsored by FRII.

Series Schedule of Events

April 22–26

	Secrets and Wishes
	A Special Social Media Exhibit at The Gallery Underground
	109 Linden Street (on Old Town Square) in Fort Collins, CO
	For exhibition hours, please visit their website at: www.myspace.com/thegalleryunderground

April 23–24

	StoryCorps at Beet Street
	The subject of a recently released book, Listening is an Act of Love, Story Corps is an ongoing oral history project logged at the Library of Congress and heard over National Public Radio. 12 Interviews will be facilitated in Fort Collins. (Learn more about StoryCorps at www.beetstreet.org/StoryCorps + how to submit your story idea.)

April 24–26

	The Buried Life at Beet Street
	asks “What do you want to do before you die?” This energized four-some is here to ask what Coloradoans want to do before they die! Be sure to blog NOW and you may be selected to receive their help April 24-26. (Learn more about The Buried Life at www.beetstreet.org/Meet-The-Buried-Life + how to submit your wish at www.beetstreet.org/Join-The-Buried-Life )

April 25

	The Fort Collins BlogJam 2008!
	For 24 hours, from 12:01am on Friday, we invite everyone to blog for a cause! (Learn more about BlogJam + how to submit your favorite thing about Fort Collins: blogjam2008.blogspot.com to tell the world what you think is the Best Thing about Fort Collins. We want a minimum of 10,000 entries and ideas, so tell your friends to log on!

April 26

	Social Media Intensive
	12-1:15pm
	Dialog: Social Media – Influencing the News and Each Other Short presentations & interactive discussion with traditional and online media, Colorado and Democratic Convention blog experts—moderated by Colorado State University (CSU) Media Studies faculty.
	1:30-2:45pm
	Dialog: Social Media – Personal Perspectives & Artistic Expression Short presentations & interactive discussion with social bloggers who emphasize artistic and personal expression—moderated by CSU Interpersonal Studies faculty.
	7-9pm
	Frank Warren presents A Lifetime of Secrets
	Lecture and Book signing
	Frank Warren is a small business owner who started PostSecret.com as a community art project. Since November 2004 Warren has received more than 150,000 anonymous postcards. The website won two Webby awards in 2006 and this year was named Weblog of the Year at the Seventh Annual Weblog Awards. The PostSecret project also received a special award from the National Mental Health Association for raising awareness and funds for suicide prevention. Warren lives in Germantown, Maryland, with his wife and daughter.

Learn more about PostSecret and Frank Warren. www.beetstreet.org/Meet-PostSecret-and-Frank-Warren

Buy tickets to this event: www.fctix.com.

What is Social Media?