HEART & SOUL STORYTELLING MAPPING EXERCISE

To locate people we hope to bring into the project as story-circle facilitators, trainers, story-catchers, and links out into the community, we'll do a mapping exercise as follows:

Jot down on sticky notes as many of Biddeford's formal organizations and informal groups (some examples listed at the end) as you can according to this plan:

Committee Members = Green star

Non-committee members= Yellow star

Formal and Informal Groups Likely to Participate:  Hot Colors

Formal and Informal Groups Less Likely to Participate:  Cool Colors

Crucial People to Get Involved (Hubs, Pulsetakes, Gatekeepers):  Arrows

Add yourselves to the center circle.

Add groups most likely to participate in the next circle out.

Add groups perhaps likely to participate in the next circle, and so on.

Draw links between yourself and any group/individual to which you have a connection.

Arrange and cluster the groups according to location or group association or how you relate to them.

Who is missing?  Who do you know who might be connected to some of the outliers?

From the exercise

Once you take a good look at the map, how might you design a storytelling project that goes out to those who will be less likely to participate while you are gathering momentum with groups closer in?  If you design small-group storycircles for groups in the third circle out, you might pull some of these people in closer to the center. 

Look for potential story-committee members from the groups in the second and third circle, especially people with a reach into areas more difficult to engage.  See if they would like to be trained as story-circle facilitators, interviewers, story hosts.

Design a story project with awareness of the different circles, and the kinds of storytelling that might reach each.

FORMAL GROUPS:

Employer

Business Associations

Nonprofit Groups

Cultural Organizations

Communications’ Organizations

Religious Organizations

Schools

Hospitals

Government: national, state, Local

City Services: Police, Fire

Libraries

Health Organizations

Charitable Groups

Arts Groups

Youth Groups (Scouts, etc)

Political Groups

SHADOW NETWORKS

Informal Groups form around:

Sports

Ethnic

Cultural

Neighborhood

Books & gardens & other interest-related

Pet-owners

Families with a parent at home

Collectors

Places people congregate

Karen Stephenson’s Definitions of Hubs, Gatekeepers, Pulsetakers:

“Hubs are the people who know the most people. They facilitate expansion of the network, trading (for example, the exchange of favors), and the rapid dissemination of information.

Gatekeepers occupy a critical path. They are often the only bridge between an important part of the network and everyone else. They make a network stronger, in part by helping people focus and move things along.

Pulse-takers are called on by other significant connectors, often for their judgment or insight, and they help the group maintain its integrity and perspective. They are invaluable in times of turmoil.”

Resources

Wikiviz  a list of visualization tools 

Visual Complexity

Chris Harrison's Visualization Projects

Gliffy for Diagrams and Flow Charts
Mind mapping
Flowgram