FREE Weekend in Cape

Loved your visit to the Cape duringstorytelling weekend? Looking for a fun FREE activity in Cape thisweekend? The 20th Annual Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive in conjunction with the Cape River Heritage Co-op invite you to visit various local Cape attractions for FREE April 24th-25th. Participating attractions include:

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  Fort D
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  Red House Interpretive Center
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  Glenn House
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  Cape River Heritage Museum
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  Old St. Vincent's Church

Call the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau 800-777-0068 or email info@visitcape.com for more information about the free attractions in Cape. For a Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive brochure, stop by the Convention and Visitors Bureau or call 573-275-7487 for more information.

Thank You

On behalf of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival committee, we'd like to thank our wonderful tellers, fans, volunteers, staff and interns. This year we saw a 41% increase in ticket sales. With that kind of momentum, we can't wait for next year!


But, don't take our word for it. Check out what other folks had to say:







Everywhere I go, I tell friends that the Cape festival is one of the best festivals in the country--and that the host city is a gem of a destination.
--Ted Parkhurst | Marion, Michigan


I was here in 2008 and thought it was an extrememly well organized festival featureing some of the most talented people in the country. I came back in 2010 hoping it would be the same--and much to my delight, it was!
--C.J. Born | Mahomet, IL


This is my first visit to the festival and I am already planning my visit next year!
--Kari Weaver | Jackson, MO

Best storytelling festival I've been to!
--PJY | Nashville, TN

Wow! It all was great! The Cape is a beautiful place for the festival. The storytellers each added their own flavor to the mix--making us laugh harder than we have for a long time, helping us remember our own stories and memories, taking us on a trip thorugh the whole range of human emtions and to places known and unknown.
--S. Mehrhoff | Columbia, MO

Everyone was extremely helpful and friendly--very welcoming--volunteers as well as local community members and businesses.
--JMV


Loved it!
--Paula Beck | Sikeston, MO

Local Storytelling "Celebrity" Jerry Ford to Tell Tales at the Swapping Ground

If you ask local Cape resident Jerry Ford, he’ll tell you that he’s never told tales in a public forum but he’s had people rolling in the aisles when telling tales at house parties. “I never thought much about my stories, but when they changed the Cape city slogan to 'where the river turns a thousand tales,' I thought I have to remember these." If you dig a little deeper, he’ll tell you that his first book of stories will make its publishing debut September 3rd. His book, The Gardenville Grove: Stories of Tombstones, Tamborines and Tammany Hall (Southeast Missouri State University Press) will feature all of his best stories about moriticans, musicians, and politicians. Ford, along with over a dozen amateur tellers will tell tales at the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival this year at the Swapping Ground. The Swapping Ground will be held in the Meriwether Tent on Saturday April 10th, from 12:00-1:00 and again from 3:30-4:30.

Southeast Missouri State University Students Involved in Promoting Storytelling Festival

The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau worked with several Southeast Missouri State University student organizations to increase student involvement in the 3rd annual Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival, which takes place April 9-11, 2010. Student organizations involved include the Advertising Club, Photography Club, Capaha Arrow, Rage 103.7 FM, as well as students in the video, design, and business departments. Southeast student involvement in the festival has given students the opportunity to work with real-world business situations and clients. Opportunities have included filming and producing video clips, radio spots, flyers and generating general interest about the storytelling festival on social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The partnership with Southeast Missouri State University students has created an outlet for the students to connect to their community and a means for the Convention and Visitors Bureau to connect with the student population in the area.“The challenge, especially in past years, has been to communicate to locals about what the storytelling festival is and why they will enjoy it,” says Stephanie Lynch, Director of Marketing and PR for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. “People simply don't understand what a storytelling festival is all about. Working with the Southeast students allowed us to get the word out to the students and it allowed the students to feel connected to what’s going on around town.”

“Students are always saying, there’s nothing to do in Cape,” says Crystal Hoke, Southeast advertising club president, “but I really think they just don’t know what kind of events are going on in the community. We stepped in to help advertise the storytelling festival to showcase the benefits of the festival to Southeast students.”

The Southeast Advertising Club created a flyer in connection with a YouTube video created by the Southeast Video Club. The video spoofs a popular advertising campaign about “The Most Interesting Man in the World” and stars Dr. Joel Rhodes, Southeast History Professor and Co-Producer of the Storytelling Festival. Hoke and the Advertising Club also sponsored a mural on the power plant wall, located on campus. The mural was designed and painted by Professor Peter Chanthanakone’s Vector and Text Graphics class to coordinate with the flyer and video. In conjunction with the flyer, video and mural, students from Rage 103.7 FM created a radio commercial which will play until the end of the storytelling festival.

“We decided as a staff to get involved because we felt that this was a fun, creative way to improve the skill sets that we learned in the classroom. It was a very practical way for us to learn what it's like to work with a client and produce a spot that they want,” said Rachel Burnett, station manager for Rage 103.7. “We had so much fun producing this spot. Actually the very first take was a dry run and the guys were all cracking up and having fun with it. It is a joy to see my staff take on a project with a great attitude and for them to enjoy what they are doing.”

With approximately 700 fans on the storytelling festival Facebook fan page and close to 100 Twitter followers, the festival has made an impact on social media outlets. Michael Willis, a student from Dr. Sandipan Sen’s Consumer Branding class volunteered to be a Project Leader for a handful of virtual volunteers that connected with people across the community and the country to promote the festival on Facebook. “I can testify that the work I put into the festival has shown me that what we as business students study in the classroom really does apply to the business world. Being able to take what we learn in class and immediately apply it to the storytelling festival has made the classroom material really stick in my mind,” says Willis.

Southeast student Brittany Meek and Intern for the Convention and Visitors Bureau has played a key role in the Twitter campaign. “My internship has given me daily hands-on practice with marketing, social media management and user engagement—skills heavily sought after by employers who are often desperately trying to understand the online media space. But most importantly, it has built my confidence about my fast approaching transition into the “real world.”

“I have no doubt that what I have learned in the past few months are skills that will help me land a great job when I graduate. Even better, working as an intern doesn’t feel like just another job—it’s fun,” says Brittney Ruopp, a graduate student at Southeast and Volunteer Coordinator for the storytelling festival.

Student produced materials can be found on the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival YouTube channel, Facebook or Twitter site: @capeSF. For more information or to purchase tickets for the festival call the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-777-0068 or visit the website capestorytelling.com.



All marketing materials were produced by the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. Southeast student credits for various materials are included below:

YouTube Video spots were created by the SEMO Video Club: Coleman Bonze, Caleb Dunne, and Ryan Bollinger, under the direction of Southeast Mass Communication professor Dr. Jim Dufek. Starring, Dr. Joel Rhodes, Southeast History Professor and co-Producer for the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival, as well as Casey Hinkebein and Amanda Carter. Assistant Producer, Brittney Ruopp and Talent and Location Coordinator, Brittany Meek.

Radio spots sponsored by Rage 103.7: Associate Producer, Rachel Burnett; Sound Production: Joe Groeller, Trevor Morgan, Noland Cook and Josh Thompson; Script by Brittney Ruopp; under the direction of Mass Communications professor, Dr. Bruce Mims.

Mural created by: Professor Peter Chanthakone's GM 282-Vector and Text Graphics class. Final design by Craig Mondaine. Painters included: Patrick Adams, Richard Berry, Neal Borowiak, Janeen Britt, Desmond Bryant, William Combs, Lauren Fox, Krista Francis, Austin Huffman, Alyssa Jaegers, Corey Johnson, MyIsha Jordan, Kirk Lohmann, Craig Mondaine, Thomas Morrow, Osby Tomlin, Nicole Wetherholt, Chelsea Williams, and (Angela) Zhang Qiong.

Flyer created by SEMO Ad Club and Crystal Hoke. Photography by Southeast Professor Wendy Cooper.

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Plan Your Festival Experience

Never been to the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival? Not sure when to come or what to expect? Let us help you plan your experience.

SCHEDULE
Check out our online schedule: www.capestorytelling.com/schedule.html

LOCATIONS
Note that the festival offers two tents:

Merriwether Tent
(Located at the corner of Main and Merriwether Streets)

River Campus Tent
(Located at the corner of Spanish and Morgan Oak Streets on the grounds of the River Campus)

SESSIONS AND PASSES
The festival offers sessions at various times throughout the day and evening, from 9am-9pm, Friday-Saturday and 9am-3:30pm on Sunday. If you purchase a Day Pass, you can attend any session on that particular day—including the “Olio” performances from 7pm-9pm on Friday and Saturday, and 1:30-3:30pm on Sunday, while a 3 Day Pass will allow you to attend all sessions on any day. For example, for the purchase of 1 Day Pass on Saturday, you could attend the 10am-10:45am session with Donald Davis and Kevin Kling at the River Campus tent, take a short break to grab a meal at one of our downtown restaurants, and then come back at 2:30pm-3:15pm to see Minton Sparks and Syd Lieberman.

"OLIO" PERFORMANCE
The “Olio” is a two hour performance on Friday and Saturday night (from 7pm-9pm) and Sunday afternoon (from1:30pm-3:30pm) at the River Campus tent that features the storytellers in a back-to-back series with one short intermission. Perfect for a night out of evening entertainment, the evening Olio on Friday and Saturday night allows you to sit back and enjoy the storytellers under the stars. The Sunday Olio is our last performance of the festival and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. All ticket holders can attend.

Bring a Picnic to the Old Beech Tree Prior to the Evening “Olio” Performance

Looking for an evening event to compliment your Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival experience? Gather a group of friends or family, pack your own picnic meal, and meet at the Old Beech Tree next to the River Campus tent at 5:30 PM on Friday and Saturday evening. After a picnic meal under the tree and overlooking the majestic Mississippi River, join us at the festival for the evening “Olio” performances from 7pm-9pm. The Olio is a two hour performance that features the storytellers in a back-to-back series with one short intermission. For more details on the Friday and Saturday Olio, CLICK here for the full schedule…

WSIU Records Your Story Free at the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival

WSIU Radio has hosted a recording booth at the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival since its inception in 2008. Festival-goers have tried their hand at storytelling, in a range of styles from retelling oral histories to reading from a book.

This year, the WSIU Radio story recording booth is back and everyone who attends the festival is encouraged to stop by to record their story. It's fun for everyone, no matter your age, and you will receive a CD copy of your story to keep for free! Plus, your story could be selected to be aired on WSIU Radio and featured on their web site. CLICK here for the WSIU web site and last year’s featured storytellers.

WSIU Radio will be on hand to capture stories on Saturday, April 10th, from 10am-3pm. This year, WSIU's story sharing booth will be located at the foot of the Old Mississippi River Bridge Scenic Overlook, next to the storytelling tent on the River Campus. Just look for WSIU's big Blue Literacy van!

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Storytelling festival organizers using networking sites, volunteers to spread word

Front page article about the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival in the March 14th, Sunday newspaper:

Storytelling festival organizers using networking sites, volunteers to spread word

Southeast Students Create "Most Interesting Man" Video to Promote capeSF

Southeast Missouri State University students Coleman Bonze, Caleb Dunn and Ryan Bolinger, under the direction of Dr. Jim Dufek, professor of Mass Media, created a viral video for the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival.

Brittney Ruopp, capeSF Marketing intern, found a commercial online starring "The Most Interesting Man in the World". The capeSF marketing team spoofed that commercial and came up with a viral video. The goal is to upload it onto YouTube, then email it, Facebook, Tweet it, and share it in order to generate buzz about capeSF that makes sense to the festival--as a fun, entertaining event.

"I contacted Dr. Dufek's university students because I thought they would be the perfect crew to handle our video needs. I wanted to create something that would package the festival in a fun quirky way so that the 18-40 demographic would know that capeSF is an event that is meant for them. The spots do that in a big way," says Stephanie Lynch, Director of PR and Marketing for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, primary sponsor of capeSF.

The video, stars Dr. Joel Rhodes, History professor at Southeast, and co-producer of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival and features Kelli Wille and two students from Gamma Sigma Sigma, Casey Hinkebein and Amanda Carter. You can find the video on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

"The video shoot was a lot fun. We shot it at The Library bar in downtown Cape Girardeau. The whole experience was something I'm going to remember for a long time," says Brittney Ruopp, intern for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and capeSF.

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Diary of Volunteer Michael Willis

As I began my sixth semester at Southeast Missouri State University, I had no idea what the semester had in-store for me. I had just finished up an 18-hour, stressful, fall semester and was ready to have a more relaxing semester. I had hoped to go to class every day, but not spend so much time outside of the Lambda Chi Alpha house as I did the semester before.
Little did I know that this semester was going to give me an opportunity to use my marketing skills in a real-world, business-like environment.

One afternoon in Dr. Sandipan Sen’s Consumer Behavior class, he talked about another option that the class can do instead of doing an individual project for the end of the semester. He mentioned working with the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau with their April event, the 3rd annual Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival. Dr. Sen talked about how our big role in this viral campaign would be to network through Facebook and Twitter. Immediately I made a note to e-mail the Cape CVB.

After e-mailing Stephanie Lynch at the Cape CVB, my viral marketing campaign began. I began to invite my friends to the Facebook fan page and I thought I was on-route to an “A” at the end of the semester. After inviting my friends to the event, I posted my progress to the progress log using DropBox software, and sent an e-mail to Stephanie stating that I’d be willing to do any additional work that she may need me to do.

I can honestly say that e-mail was the best and most important e-mail that I have ever sent out.

Stephanie contacted me about becoming the project leader for the viral campaign. Being a project leader meant that I was the “go-to” guy for the other marketing students if they had any questions or concerns with the project. Stephanie would send me information, and I would pass it along to the other virtual volunteers through e-mail.

My Facebook campaign grew spontaneously. After a week’s time I had joined over 40 Facebook fan pages and had sent out numerous links to these fan pages promoting the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival. In the weeks following, I noticed the fan base on the storytelling festival Facebook page grew past 500 and is currently approaching 700. It was at this point that I truly learned the power of internet in today’s business world.

With the viral marketing campaign going strong, I truly feel that this year’s storytelling festival will be a great time for everyone. I think the popularity will grow more as the festival approaches. I hope the biggest change in this year’s storytelling festival is more attendance from the college crowd and more people from bigger metropolitan cities (Saint Louis, Kansas City, etc.). All the work that is being put into the preparation for this year’s festival will help make future festivals bigger and better.

I think it is a great idea by the Cape CVB to let the Southeast business students take part in this experience. I can testify that the work I put into the festival has shown me that what we as business students study in the classroom really does apply to the business world. Being able to take what we learn in class and immediately apply it to the storytelling festival has made the classroom material really stick in my mind.

Diary of Intern Brittany Meek

Preparing for entering the real word can be quite intimidating. It is difficult to imagine life without 2 jobs, 6-day work weeks and late-night study sessions, but as graduation quickly approaches, thoughts of the real world are quickly becoming reality for Brittany Meek, Public Relations and Marketing Intern at the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Throughout my undergraduate career, I was very curious about how public relations was handled outside the classroom. Are practitioners really writing press releases and learning about online social media? Are they pitching new ideas to clients? Am I going to be prepared for a career in public relations? How long am I going to have to get coffee for my boss before I can be the boss?

After quite a bit of research, I made the quick decision to apply for a spring internship at the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. My last semester has brought a few challenges, but I decided to leap for the finish line and put everything I had into learning how the CVB handles public relations, communication and the planning and execution of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival.

Working with the CVB has provided me with many opportunities because instead of working with many clients, as many interns do, I have had the privilege to work with one big client—probably the most important one in this area. My focus and biggest gains have included invaluable hands-on training including event planning, social media and volunteer recruitment.

One of the best and most rewarding things I have worked on thus far is creating and maintaining a Twitter feed for the Storytelling Festival, @capeSF. Social media tools like Facebook and Twitter have a multiplier effect in the marketplace, and my job has been to continuously look and monitor at this area in a more dedicated fashion. In short, I have been the capeSF’s social media journalist, reporting in 140 characters or less what’s happening at the CVB and at capeSF. Once more people take advantage of the social media platforms; I believe businesses in Cape Girardeau will jump on the bandwagon.

Being an intern, full-time student and working part-time, the only constant is change—not only in daily schedule, but in daily work requirements. Versatility is essential, whether it’s writing a press release, contacting news media, assisting with Skype interviews or meeting with downtown business owners. This internship has offered the most diverse daily opportunities. It has given me daily hands-on practice with marketing, social media management and user engagement—skills heavily sought after by employers who are often desperately trying to understand the online media space. But most importantly, it has built my confidence about my fast approaching transition into the “real world.”

Diary of Intern Brittney Ruopp

Walking into the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau on day one of my internship, I was slightly nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I opened the front door and saw a room, dimly lit, wooden panels on the walls, the sound of classical music playing in the background, and the morning sunshine beaming through the tinted windows. The warmness of the atmosphere made me feel at ease. “Hi there”, says a smiling red-headed woman as she walks up to me. “How are you, what can I help you with?” I find out her name is Betty, the administrative assistant. She wasn’t expecting my arrival, but regardless, she asked me to sit down, make myself comfortable, and offered me a drink. At that point I felt at home and I knew I was definitely going to like it there. Betty is one of those women who you just instantly like; she’s charming, funny, sarcastic, and full of spunk. Then I meet Stephanie, the Director of Marketing and PR who I will be working closely with throughout my internship. She’s a sweet, witty blond who is extremely creative, passionate and determined. You know you have a cool boss when she tells you that you can work from home, stay in contact through Yahoo! Messenger, and that Facebook and Twitter are a necessary part of your job.

Working with Stephanie has opened my eyes to new experiences like shooting a viral video at the Library; the bar, not the one with books. Yes, in four hours on a Saturday afternoon, Stephanie, me, Southeast History professor Dr. Joel Rhodes, three SEMO film students (Coleman Bonze, Caleb Dunne and Ryan Bolinger), and three great student actresses (Kelli Wille, Casey Hinkebein and Amanda Carter) created four hilarious videos to promote the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival to students on campus.

As a graduate student studying Public Administration, most students like myself, don’t get the chance to write video scripts, lead meetings with campus organizations, or employ social media networks. In fact, nearly everything I’ve done has been a new experience and an opportunity to learn. This internship has given me the ability to make new connections on campus with organizations like Advertising Club, Photography Club, Capaha Arrow, Gamma Sigma Sigma, Alpha Phi Omega, and art and film students. They have been an integral part of getting the word out about this year’s Storytelling Festival. Planning for the festival coming up in April, there is a copious amount of work to do. I feel like the work I’m doing is meaningful and making an impact. I have no doubt that what I have learned in the past few months are skills that will help me land a great job when I graduate. Even better, working as an intern doesn’t feel like just another job—it’s fun. Every day has been something different, and for me, that is why I enjoy working with the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival. See you at the festival! Buy tickets my friends…

What's the Story?

It’s difficult to explain a storytelling festival.
What is it? Who’s involved? Why should I go in the first place?

Believe me, if anyone knows what a storytelling festival is, it’s Betty Roth, one of the coordinators for the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival. She has had her share of storytelling festivals and has visited several to understand the logistics of running one. What kind of tent to use, how to fix the seating arrangements, what should be included in the program, that sort of thing. Betty will have you cackling about her experience at the Cave Run festival in KY (it rained) and smiling about her experience at the Athens festival in GA (yep, it rained, again). As Betty puts it, “You’ve got three generations of people sitting in the front row laughing from the gut about the same story—and they all get it. I love to watch the people get it.”

We hope that this year, capeSF fans will still “get it”, and we’ve got six great storytellers that will stand on stage rain or shine and perform stories that will truly entertain you.

Take storyteller Donald Davis for example. He was a featured teller during our first festival in 2008 and has returned again this year. His stories speak to the heart of growing up in the south. Most people can relate to him simply because his stories are just so darn funny. But more importantly, his stories resonate with a wide audience simply because he talks about the kind of major story themes that most stories come from, whether those stories are television shows, books, or films. I’m referring to themes like coming of age, his family, his relationship with his mother, and his attempts to define himself outside of his family sphere. These are the themes that all good stories come from, no matter the medium.

But, I know what you’re thinking. That sounds great, but why should I go to capeSF? Why should I believe that storytelling is great entertainment just because storytelling is coming to Cape Girardeau, MO?

Let’s just look at other places then shall we? California, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia all have highly successful storytelling festivals. They attract upwards of 10,000 people at the largest festivals. In fact, the National Storytelling Festival based in Jonesborough, TN, is going on its 37th year and has grown into an event that is now one of the Top 100 Events in North America.

But let’s cut to the chase. “Storytelling” is a genre of performance—no different than rock and opera are genres of music. Storytelling as a performance is featured at festivals, like capeSF, it is featured on radio shows like NPR or BBC radio, it is also featured as podcasts that are served to your email inboxes, and it is featured in pubs and coffeehouses in major cities across the U.S.

The trendy method of storytelling—through podcasts and live events in big cities—is something that is expanding the concept of storytelling as a performance genre. For instance, themoth.org started in someone’s living room and now has syndicated to monthly shows in and around New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit. Storytellers get together to tell and listen to real-life stories. These tellers could be anyone from the actor Sam Shepard to just your average Joe off the street. Afterwards everyone gathers to trade stories over drinks and dinner, and the organization sends out monthly podcasts of the recorded stories.

The Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival is simply good entertainment, no different than enjoying a comedian or one-man/one-woman show. The tellers tell stories from their own lives just like a major one-named performer. The stories range from funny to sad to quirky and sometimes remind you of your own life. A performer who relays their message in a form that the audience can relate to is simply a good performer—whether that’s a storyteller or a singer, and the storytellers that we book for our festival are some of the very best performers in what they do—they tell stories. In a sense, a storyteller performs a motion picture film, only you don’t see the actors and you don’t see the sets. You see everything the storyteller is telling you on the screen in your mind.

Telling a story that someone else can “see” in their own mind is a gift. It is an ability that takes years to craft. These tellers not only have great stories to tell but they deliver them on stage. Sure, your uncle Dave can tell a great story, but can he stand up on stage in front of 1,000 people and perform it? That’s what our tellers can do. They can tell a tale, deliver it with gusto and entertain a packed house. So, let’s pack the house for this year’s tellers on April 9th, 10th, and 11th. You’ll love every minute of it. That’s our story and we’re sticking with it!

KZIM Radio Commercial

Check out the  new KZIM radio commercial. More videos, commercials, audio clips to come!!

capeSF Sponsors Support Community

On behalf of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival, we want to extend a heart-felt thank you to our sponsors for their commitment in supporting capeSF 2010. We, at capeSF, are dedicated to providing quality entertainment for our local residents and for the many tourists and storytelling fans from around the country that choose to attend our festival. Our sponsors’ generous contributions have helped make capeSF’s vision a reality by offsetting the cost of hosting such an event in an environment as historic as downtown Cape Girardeau. We believe that our sponsors support the community because their contributions ensure that an outdoor event that is accessible to all ages is possible in Cape Girardeau.

As the Storytelling Festival continues to grow, please understand that partnerships with our sponsors are a vital part to the success of current and future festivals. We hope to grow our sponsorship packages in the future, to ensure that everyone can reap the benefits of this fantastic community event.

Please visit our sponsors by following the tale to our web site at capestorytelling.com.

Sponsors include: Holiday Inn Express & Suites; Southeast Missouri State University; US Bank; Hillin and Clark, PC Certified Public Accountants; Ruopp & Ruopp Dentistry; PDQ Quality Printing; and Teresa Connell, Graphic Designer.

Friends of the Festival include: Thomas R. Higgins Accounting and Tax Service; Hendrickson Business Advisors; The Bank of Missouri; The Library in Downtown Cape; Department of History and Historic Preservation Program at Southeast Missouri State University; Plaza Tire Service; Realty Executives; Ferguson Appraisal Service; Chateau Girardeau; State Farm Insurance, Michael C. Jones, Agent;Vickie Devenport; First Community Bank; Southeast Missourian; Elite Travel, Inc., Carolyn Kempf.

capeSF Includes Southeast Student Involvement

Enlisting the help of several student interns from Southeast Missouri State University during the planning and execution of capeSF 2010, has created a mutually beneficial relationship for both the festival and the interns. The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, primary sponsor of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival, saw a desire for student involvement in “real” business situations and found a vehicle for tapping into students.

“By encouraging Southeast student involvement, capeSF has not only enabled students to experience hands-on event planning, but through significant participation within the Southeast and Cape Girardeau community, these students’ resumes will really stand out in the crowd of potential job candidates,” says Marla Mills, Executive Director of Old Town Cape and member of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival Committee.

“capeSF headquarters currently has three interns working in the office, eight virtual volunteers working from home, and three student groups that are contributing on special projects. These students include: Brittany Meek, Brittney Ruopp, Angie Herzog, J. Michael Willis, Molly Finch, Chelsea Niswonger, Ashley Autry, Michael Skeens, Kari Young, D. Brand, Rebecca Christain, Crystal Hoke, Coleman Bonze, Caleb Dunn, Rachel Burnett, Kendra Haney, Bailey Reutzel, Joe Groeller, Trevor Morgan, Noland Cook, and Josh Thompson. Not to mention over 20 volunteers will staff the event over the weekend of April 9-11,” says Stephanie Lynch, PR and Marking Director for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and Storytelling Festival Committee Member.

“The Southeast students have been a huge invaluable resource to the festival. The Ad Club, Photo Club and Video Club have been involved with creating flyers and videos for our social networking sites and radio spots for the RAGE 103.7 campus radio station. A handful of professors have even supported their students by taking photos, enlisting their classes to attend the event and sponsoring the festival through their department. We cannot thank them enough and we’re really looking forward to rolling out the materials they created over the next several weeks,” says Lynch.

“This has probably been one of the best projects I’ve ever worked on. I never would have had the opportunity to do something that has real-world results. I feel good about the fact that my work is benefiting the community—and it’s really a lot of fun. We’ve really just had a great time,” says Brittney Ruopp, graduate student in Public Administration at Southeast.

“All I know is that I’m working hard and getting to use my skills. I’m writing press releases, coordinating projects and getting to see how social networking really works for small businesses. I know I can use my experience as an intern at capeSF when I graduate,” says Brittany Meek, a senior in Public Relations at Southeast.

Tickets are now on sale through the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. To purchase tickets and for more information about the festival and the city of Cape Girardeau call the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-777-0068 or visit the website capestorytelling.com. For those tech-savvy Facebook and Twitter fans, search for capeSF.

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Fans Come to capeSF From States Across the Country

With more than a month left before the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival begins, the second weekend of April, fans across the U.S. have already purchased tickets. “People are coming from as far as New Hampshire to attend our storytelling festival,” says the Event Coordinator for the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival, Betty Roth. “It’s going to be a real treat to host these out-of-towners in Cape Girardeau this year. A lot of them are coming for the third time and have great things to say about our festival.”

Toni Eftink, a member of the Storytelling Festival Committee says, “We’ve created this really fun Google map so we can track the fans and you can see it for yourself.” Director of PR and Marketing, Stephanie Lynch says, “It’s a great way for local residents and business owners to see the broad reach of the festival, and it just goes to show that despite a bad economy, people are still spending money on the events that mean a lot to them.”

Click for the fan map!

For more information on the Cape Girardeau Storytelling festival tickets and passes, click capestorytelling.com, search on Facebook and Twitter @capeSF or call (800) 777-0068.

"Marketing Cool"? An Interview with Stephanie Lynch about capeSF

Recently, Lauren Robb, a Southeast Missouri State University student had a chance to sit down with me to find out more about this whole "storytelling thing". She asked some good questions, and helped me remember what makes the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival tick. Click to read the full interview...

capeSF Provides a Sense of Place to the Region

If location is the most important thing about real estate, than “sense of place” must be the most important thing about home. Without that intangible “sense of place”, the location in the mind is meaningless in the heart. “Sense of place” means an understanding that this climate, this landscape, these sights, sounds and smells, these people and the stories they share—this is home.

The 3rd annual Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival gives this region its “sense of place”. The festival brings together the entire community, provides a full weekend of fabulous entertainment, features storytellers that remind us of where we come from, and locates it all under tents in historic downtown overlooking our most famous “place” of all—the mighty Mississippi River.

This year, we encourage our area businesses and realtors to get involved!

• Purchase tickets to give to clients.
• Purchase tickets to give to new home buyers.
• Become a friend of the festival and receive $60 in free tickets AND recognition in our free souvenir program.

Support the “sense of place” we know and love so well, and share the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival. Show your clients and colleagues, family and friends, a city “where the river turns a thousand tales”.

To purchase tickets and for more information about the festival call the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-777-0068, click here for online ticketing, or see the sidebar on the left side of this page for links to contacts, Facebook, Twitter, video and more!

capeSF offers Swapping Ground: a Space for Anyone to Tell Tales

This year the Cape Girardeau Storytelling festival will be offering a "Swapping Ground" for anyone wanting to take the stage and try their hand at storytelling. Located in one of the main tents, amateur tellers (that means YOU) can come, share, tell a whopper or two or maybe even a funny or poignant memory. The Swapping Ground will be held in the Meriwether Tent on Saturday April 10th, from 12:00-1:00 and again from 3:30-4:30. Each teller will be given a maximum of 10 minutes so we encourage you to sign up prior to the festival by e-mailing Joyce Slater at slatertales@kc.rr.com or by signing up at festival headquarters.

So there you have it. Gather a group, bring a friend or come alone, and tell your tale at the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival on Saturday, April 10th. We hope you do—we would love to sit and listen.

Discounted Tickets

Want to see world-class entertainment at the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival? But, don't want to pay full-price?

The storytelling festival world is a booming entertainment business, with passes to the biggest festivals increasing to over $100 per person. But as the economy tightens pocketbooks, the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival has created special early-bird pricing for the economically-savvy consumer.

Early bird pricing for festival tickets is available now through March 1st, when you purchase your tickets online or by telephone.

For more information on the Cape Girardeau Storytelling festival tickets and passes, click for ONLINE TICKETING or call (800) 777-0068.

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Featured Tellers are World Class Entertainers

This year, the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival will include six tellers who have worked with some of the best names in the entertainment business—from Grammy award-winning producers to Walt Disney World to NPR’s All Thing’s Considered:

Donald Davis

ddavisstoryteller.com

Born in Southern Appalachia, Davis recalls, "I didn't learn stories, I just absorbed them." Davis is a graduate of Duke University Divinity School, a retired Methodist minister, and a featured teller at the Smithsonian Institution, the World's Fair, and festivals and concerts throughout the United States and the world. He is also a prolific author and producer of books and tapes of his works, a guest host for the National Public Radio Program Good Evening, and a father of four sons. For Donald Davis storytelling "...is not what I do for a living...it is how I do all that I do while I am living."

Syd Lieberman

sydlieberman.com

Syd is an internationally acclaimed storyteller, an author, and an award-winning teacher. Many of his best-loved stories deal with growing up and raising a family in Chicago. His work has garnered awards from the American Library Association, Parent's Choice, and Storytelling World. He has taught storytelling at the Kennedy Center and Disney World, and received commissions from NASA and the Smithsonian Institution, among others. Syd holds an A.B. from Harvard College and an M.A.T. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The National Storytelling Network inducted him into the Circle of Excellence for his work as a storyteller. Lieberman resides in Chicago, IL.

Kevin Kling

kevinkling.com

Best known for his popular commentaries on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and storytelling stage shows like Tales from the Charred Underbelly of the Yule Log, Kling delivers hilarious, often tender stories. Kling’s autobiographical tales are as enchanting as they are true to life: hopping freight trains, getting hit by lightning, performing his banned play in Czechoslovakia, growing up in Minnesota, and eating things before knowing what they are. Kling has released a number of CD collections of stories and most recently his first book titled The Dog Says How. Kling resides in Minneapolis, MN.

Minton Sparks

mintonsparks.com

Fusing music, poetry and her intoxicating gift of storytelling, wildly original spoken word artist Minton Sparks is a raucous, provocative, brilliant one-woman show who performs alongside world-class musical accompaniment. Sparks has been featured nationally on NPR’s All Things Considered and internationally on the BBC’s Bob Harris Show. Sparks has opened for musicians Ben Fold and John Prine, performed at the 2006 Americana music festival MerleFest, and performed in various venues across the country. Her most recent CD release was Sin Sick, produced by Grammy winning Gary Paczosa, (Reba McEntire, John Prine, Alison Krauss, The Dixie Chicks), and guides us into the soul's dark struggle. Sparks serves as adjunct professor of Psychology at Tennessee State University for the past 13 years. She resides in Nashville with her husband and two children.

Priscilla Howe

priscillahowe.com

“All my stories start with a seed of truth,” says Howe. With over 15 years of experience telling stories, Howe tells funny, scary, serious, goofy and sophisticated stories, tailored to her audience. When performing for young children, Howe uses hand puppets to bring her stories to life and when performing for older kids and adults, she reaches into her grab bag of stories to perform tales for more refined sensibilities. Howe has performed in English, French and Bulgarian and has produced a number of CDs and DVDs of her work. Howe resides in Lawrence, KS.

Marilyn Kinsella

marilynkinsella.org

Since 1981, Marilyn Kinsella has been telling stories. For 16 years she has worked as a storyteller at the Edwardsville Public Library in Edwardsville, IL, where she honed her skill as a storyteller and puppeteer. After her retirement in 2002, she has worked as a full-time, freelance professional storyteller. Her collection of stories has grown from a handful to hundreds of stories which include: personal experiences, folk tales, literary stories and historical tales. Her stories will make you laugh or cry or think or, maybe...see yourself. She resides in Fairview Heights, IL.

One Fan's Story: Patricia Cobb

Why do you like the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival?

I started going to the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN, back in 1980 until they started having festivals in Cape. Now, I don’t have to drive 1,000 miles roundtrip, it’s far less expensive and you get to be closer to the stage and the tellers. At big festivals the tents are gigantic and if you want to sit close to the stage you have to get there about an hour in advance. The festival experience in Cape is just so much better! This year I’ll be brining my cousins from St. Louis, my friend Mary and my sister Jean.

Why do you like storytelling so much?

I like storytelling because the teller opens a door to his world and you get to go inside. You don’t know what you’re going to find but you’re never going to be disappointed! Plus, I just think people love stories. I’m hooked on storytelling. I tell everybody about it. I have numerous storytelling tapes and CDs that I lend to people to get them hooked on storytelling. I even drive an old Buick just so I can listen to stories that I only have available on cassette tape!

One Fan's Story: Julie Woeltje

How did you hear about the Storytelling Festival?

I saw something on TV about the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro. It looked and sounded like such a fun event. I'd never heard of storytelling before but it immediately appealed to me and I've always wanted to go there “someday”. When I heard that Cape was going to have its own, well, that was all I needed to hear. I told my husband and son we were going and bought weekend tickets for all three of us. We had such a great time that we bought tickets again last year and this year.

Why is the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival such a great event?

I love the stories themselves of course. The first year when Donald Davis was telling stories about being a child and getting into trouble at home and then running away, and when Sheila Kay Adams was telling of her school's senior trip to New York and their chaperone's wardrobe of different colored negligees with matching panties that she WORE ON HER HEAD, it had us laughing so hard our ribs ached. And, there is something wonderful that happens when a large group of people experience strong emotions together. Be it happiness or sadness it's amplified and wonderful when shared. And, even better--during the course of the stories and the laughter and tears I found myself turning to the person next to me and they'd be laughing just as hard or wiping away tears just as I was and for a little while we were neighbors. And, that is something that is missed in today's life. And even though you entered the tent with a bunch of strangers you left knowing you had shared something great that brought you together. Think about leaving a movie theater and telling the stranger sitting next to you how much you enjoyed it or asked where they're from? Probably never. When you leave a storytelling tent more often than not you'll chat with someone you don't know but feel like you do, at least a little bit.

Who do you take with you to the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival?

My husband and our 11 year old son are going along with my parents. My husband likes it and he doesn't like ANYTHING! LOL! My parents drive down from Bonne Terre, MO, for this event and really enjoy it and they're coming again this year and are very excited. Last year when Bil Lepp took the stage was when storytelling really grabbed my son's interest. Until then he had been neutral about the event but he LOVED Bil's stories and we're hoping he comes back again. So all five of us have attended the first two festivals and will be there this year, too. I talk this up big time at work and with my friends and of course on my Facebook page.

Thanks for letting me voice one fan’s opinion.

Julie Woeltje, Cape Girardeau Storytelling Fan ’08, ’09

Have you own fan story to share about the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival? Send us an email at slynch@visitcape.com or post on our Facebook and Twitter sites @capeSF.

capeSF “Fans Up” on Facebook and other Social Networks

The Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival (capeSF) is rapidly gaining much-needed exposure on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and online blogs. Now a featured blogger on the Southeast Missourian newspaper’s website, Public Relations and Marketing Director for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and capeSF Committee member, Stephanie Lynch, has put her own “spin” on her experiences with the event as it was introduced this past week.

“I am so excited to be involved with capeSF. The lineup of this year’s storytellers is just incredible. These performers are the best of the best. They’ve performed all over the world and been involved with some of the biggest producers of entertainment,” says Lynch.

This year, the CVB is integrating new methods of media like Facebook and Twitter to help reach a broader demographic of festival goers. With the average age of a festival fanatic being 55-70, the CVB felt that younger generations are missing the mark when it comes to live entertainment and knowing what capeSF is all about.

“The challenge we have is to make our festival interesting and relevant to the 18-40 demographic,” said Lynch. “We believe that if we utilize technology like Facebook, Twitter and online blogging, a different generation of people will begin to realize that capeSF is not just an event their grandma can appreciate. A storytelling festival really is a once in a lifetime opportunity whether your 18 or 80. ”

In only 3 weeks, the Storytelling Festival’s Facebook Fan page has over 500+ fans and is increasing daily.

“The people who use online social networks like Facebook and Twitter are simply seeking what’s new, what to do, why it matters, and how it’s different. capeSF is the perfect event to broadcast over social networks because it checks all of the boxes: it’s new, it’s an event and it’s different because it takes place outside and it’s not something you can experience every day. We are still doing our homework to build a clear and compelling message to reach those who we believe would love to hear the tales,” said Lynch.

For frequent festival updates become a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @capeSF, and of course follow the tale on the Southeast Missourian blog at www.semissourian.com/blogs/capecvb for insider information, stories and more!

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February 26th Newsletter

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April 20th Newsletter

capeSF: the Story Starts Here

Cape Girardeau, MO – January, 2010 – The third annual Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival: Where the River Turns a Thousand Tales will return on April 9, 10 and 11, to the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. The festival will be located in full view of the Mississippi right in historic downtown Cape Girardeau and will include six of the nation’s premiere storytellers. The full lineup of tellers includes Donald Davis, Syd Lieberman, Kevin Kling, Minton Sparks, Priscilla Howe and Marilyn Kinsella.

“This is the kind of entertainment that you would rarely get the chance to see unless you went to a much larger city. In fact, our storytelling festival rivals the national festival in Tennessee, acclaimed as one of the Top 100 Events in North America, simply because we offer the same caliber of storytellers. These tellers are the “real deal” when it comes to belly laughs and tear-jerkers. They’ll make you laugh until you cry!” says Stephanie Lynch, Director of Public Relations and Marketing for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, and a member of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival committee.

“The storytellers will share a wide variety of stories sure to please folks from all ages and all walks of life,” says Lynch. “This is the kind of event that you could take your hunting buddies, your bridge partners, your bunko group, your parents, your neighbor, your grandma, and your grandchildren—even the teens and college students. Tellers tell tales that the whole family will relate to, much like we relate to comedians and other entertainers. Only what makes storytelling unique is that the tellers tell personal stories about their lives, about their mamas, about their roots, about their families all in a way that I believe people across the region truly appreciate. Best of all it’s all told within an outdoor festival atmosphere with gorgeous views of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge and the riverfront.”

“You have to come experience it to understand it. And, for about the price of what you would pay for a movie, popcorn, and a soda, you can spend an entire weekend enjoying some of the most interesting and entertaining stories around. Trust me these tellers beat your Uncle John’s hunting stories and your cousin Jane’s bunion stories to pieces. You do not want to miss this.” says Lynch.

Fun additions to this year’s festival include the “Swapping Ground” and free digital story recordings. The Swapping Ground provides amateurs with the opportunity to tell their own story before a captive audience. Anyone can sign up! We like to think of this as “karaoke for storytelling”. The free digital story recordings will be offered by WSIU FM Carbondale and will allow anyone to sign up to record a tale at their booth. The best stories will be aired on WSIU FM radio. For details of previous years’ recordings, see: http://www3.wsiu.org/radio/storyteller/index.php.

Tickets are now on sale through the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. To purchase tickets and for more information about the festival and the city of Cape Girardeau call the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-777-0068 or visit the website capestorytelling.com. For those tech-savvy Facebook and Twitter fans, search for capeSF.