USA TODAY NETWORK announces the launch of its “I am an American” Storytellers event series, an extension of the existing “Storytellers Project.” The live event series is a USA TODAY NETWORK initiative aimed at celebrating our country’s diversity through the stories that bind us together.
The program both celebrates and connects diverse communities by telling stories from a wide range of American voices. From young war veterans to same-gender loving individuals to the economically disadvantaged, topics and stories range amongst a broad spectrum from humorous to intense.
The event series kicks off today in Phoenix with its first of five summer events, followed by Cincinnati, Nashville, Des Moines, and Memphis, respectively. These events will accompany the weekly “I am an American” profile series, a series run all year by the USA TODAY NETWORK as part of its One Nation brand. The series is designed to firmly plant USA TODAY NETWORK’s flag in the heartland of America, a place where it has been and will continue to be.
Andy Yost, Chief Marketing Officer of Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK, notes that “the program reinforces our position of being that truly distinctive ‘social link’ in the communities we serve. The initiative brings to life our purpose of helping communities connect, act, and thrive.” Yost also notes how this program is crucial to USA TODAY NETWORK’s platform-agnostic business strategy, as “this program allows us to develop new forms of storytelling by focusing on engaging loyal readers/members in the ways that are most meaningful and impactful for them.”
As a part of the Storytellers Project, a nationwide series of live, community-connecting storytelling nights, the series features true, first-person narratives that carry the formidable spirit of how America is great, because Americans – shaped by different backgrounds and life journeys – are great. Event tickets can be purchased on USA TODAY’s site.
Event Details:
- Phoenix: Wednesday, June 14, 7:00 PM, Phoenix Theatre, 100 E. McDowell Rd.
- Emcees: Alexus Rhone, producer, Storytellers Brand Studio and Megan Finnerty, director, Storytellers Brand Studio
- Nashville: Wednesday, June 21, 7:00 PM, The Horton Building, 136 Rosa L. Parks Blvd.
- Emcees: Alexus Rhone and Jessica Bliss, columnist, The Tennessean
- Cincinnati: Tuesday, July 18, 7:00 PM, 20th Century Theater, 3021 Madison Rd.
- Emcees: Alexus Rhone and Katie Vogel, engagement editor, The Cincinnati Enquirer
- Des Moines: TBD
- Memphis: TBD
More on the Storytellers Project:
USA TODAY NETWORK launched the Storytellers Project nationally in September 2015 to bring true, first-person nights of community connecting storytelling to markets served by our newsrooms. On these nights six to seven community members prepare an 8-10-minute story on a theme, addressing it literally or metaphorically. Audiences of 200 to 600 gather in venues ranging from the Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs and the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines and the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville. The series is based on the success of the Arizona Storytellers Project. Launched by Arizona Republic in 2011, that newsroom has coordinated more than 120 nights of true stories, told live. To date, 21 USA TODAY NETWORK newsrooms are a part of the project.