W+K creative Katie Harrison went down to The Story 2014, an annual one-day conference about storytelling. She wrote a piece on Medium.com about the most inspiring things and people she came across on the day. Here's her recap in full, but be sure to follow Katie on Medium for loads more interestng stuff: https://medium.com/@harrison_katie

The Story 2014: the art of storytelling

The Story can now be placed in the “classics” section of annual events: simple yet wonderfully considered, ahead of its time yet void of pretention, and most importantly, it leaves you with a lasting impression once it’s over. We were told tales of horse riding, live Vine-ing, celery chopping and a voyage to America with a puppet. But with even the best stories, we tend to skim some sections. So here are a few of my bookmarks, somewhere between the beginning, middle and end.

Preface: Tony Ageh

“Media is the movement of thoughts and ideas through time and space”

Chapter 1: Bryony Kimmings

We might have a little snigger at TOWIE or a peep at Rihanna’s bottom, but do we ever really question how such consumerism is affecting children? In collaboration with her nine-year-old niece, Bryony Kimmings invented “Catherine Bennett”, a credible pop star for a modern child. In the true style of modern making, Bryony reached out to her contacts (including Beyonce’s hair stylist!?) to help create her image and launched a clever social campaign to raise awareness to adults. Plus a musical mash up of “Lilly Allen, The B52s and Gorillaz ” and some awesome After Effects skills makes Catherine Bennett a cultural icon for an Internet effected generation.

Chapter 2: Iain Forsyth + Jane Pollard

Introducing yourself by stating that you are working with both Scott Walker and Nick Cave on separate projects defines cool. Visual artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard shared their story behind 20,000 Days on Earth a documentary on the 20,000 days of Nick Cave’s life. Nick Cave is famously elusive, so they set out to reset expectations, both for him and his audience. A short clip highlighted this by sharing how they used a psychoanalyst to question Nick until, to his own admission, “it was too much effort to try any more”. This resulted in a moving scene where Nick explains that his one great fears is losing his memory, stating, “memory is all we are”.

Chapter 4: Kenyatta Cheese

Kenyatta emanates the culture in which he lives, a YOLO, LOLZ, whirlwind of enthusiasm, the Internet is his party and we are all invited. Anyone who knows me will understand how much I loved his story: the history of the animated GIF, told with the (slightly butchered) narrative of Snow White, illustrated by Snow White GIFS. What I also loved was Kenyatta’s understanding that a GIF is a multifaceted piece of content – from a form of expression to a piece of art to a useful tool, with many more stories to tell.

Chapter 7: Bill Wasik

It is easy to understand why Bill vehemently denies inventing the flash mob, but it is not so easy to disprove. However, a bored summer resulting in thousands of strangers congregating outside Claire’s Accessories beats spending it doing work experience. The proof that Bill is now senior editor of Wired can be used to inspire a new generation that the internet is there to make and do, whatever that may result in.

Chapter 12: Lisa Salem

In contrast to Kenyatta, I expect Lisa is someone who perhaps finds the Internet a little more troublesome. The ability to be connected to everyone can often leave us feeling more isolated. Please Hold With Me, a project inspired by the loneliness felt whilst put on hold, would connect Lisa to you whilst waiting on the line. The musak would stop and a soft, unknown voice would say, “hello, how are you?” Through her work, Lisa is doing something extremely important in modern society – making real connections – and this is something we can all learn from.

Appendix: Philip Larkin