Digital storytelling is a perpetually hot topic. But have you ever thought about how you could tell one story through multiple mediums?
Today Dave Aabo from WAVES for Development is joining me for an interview to talk about one of their recent multimedia storytelling projects. Dave is a reader of The Storytelling Non-Profit blog and prior to talking to him for this post, I hadn’t heard of WAVES for Development. Though I did find out that they have a pretty cool founding story. Here’s what their website shares:
WAVES originated on the beaches of northern Peru in late 2004, when a group of local and international surfers came together out of a shared desire to teach local youth the joys of surfing. Over the next three years, these surfers developed a Google Group to form a global network of more than 30 dedicated individuals, organizations, and institutions. Each one had stories to tell of the stoke, culture, and richness that they had observed during the course of their travels in Peru. They dreamed of building consciousness into the surf travel experience, and empowering local surf communities.
In 2007, Global Surf Industries sent a shipping container of surfboards to be used in WAVES programming. After a couple two-week pilots, WAVES launched their year-round programming in Lobitos, Peru. Executive Director Dave Aabo had led the organization’s efforts since the beginning, and is currently in the process of expanding program offerings to additional destinations.
Read on to see the full interview with WAVES for Development. Check out the full story here.
This story is about one of your volunteers, Jonno Durrant. Why did you decide to tell his story?
Dave (Waves for Development): I’ve known Jonno for a number of years and we had oftentimes talked about ‘the day we’d both be in Lobitos’. Well, it happened this past May and it was awesome. Because it was such a special time, I wanted to share the outputs with a broader audience and relive the good times again myself!
You’ve captured Jonno’s story through a variety of mediums including written word, pictures and audio. What was the most challenging part of telling such a multi-media story and what did you do to work through the challenge?
Dave (Waves for Development): With such a multi-media story the biggest challenge was probably actually implementing the idea. In a brainstorm session we may come up with a variety of seemingly awesome ideas, but narrowing it down, deciding on the next action and actually making things happen can be challenging with all the other daily demands and information fighting for our attention. I was able to overcome this by having someone to be accountable to… another member of the team who also thought the idea was good and I didn’t want to ‘talk a big game’ and not deliver. While it took a while, as multiple people were involved, I feel the final outcome was fantastic. It motivates me to do more of the same!
Any tips or lessons learned that you’d like to share with fellow non-profit storytellers?
Dave (Waves for Development): Just do it. I am sometimes my own worst enemy when it comes to publishing something. I want to make it perfect… the exact right picture, or combination of words. I’ve come to terms with the 80% concept – that if it’s 80% there, then that’ll work!
Dave – thank you so much for joining us for today’s blog post! I really enjoyed learning about your organization and the unique ways that you are telling your story.
