Dates:

• Choose a date that works for your college and let CSC know the date you have chosen. All Slams should be completed by March 31st.

Locations:

• Slams work best in smaller intimate settings such as a coffee house, small theater, lecture hall or student union. Microphones might be necessary depending on the size of the crowd.

Participants:

• Students, staff, faculty or general public can all be invited to participate depending on what the producer would like for the particular campus.
  
  
• Involving campus groups with some performance background (e.g. spoken word groups) or educational aim (e.g. public speaking class) is a good starting point to find a pool of participants.
  

** Entrants please check your availablity to participate in the April 28 Finals.

Timing:

• Slams should be about an hour and a half in length.
  
  
• Each slam should have between 8 and 10 contestants.
  
  
• Contestants names should be drawn at random from all those who entered their names into the “hat”.
  
  
• Two people should be enlisted to act as timers. A warning bell should be rung at 5 minutes. At 6 minutes the participant should be asked to stop.
  
  
• After each contestant the judges should be given 2-3 minutes to tally their scores. During the judging time the emcee may tell short stories, invite one minute stories from the audience, or use other fillers.

Suggestions for other fillers are in the Story Slam FAQ's.

Theme:

• A theme is suggested but not mandatory. Themes help contestants choose material and make the evening fun as contestants will interpret the theme in different ways. Some suggested themes are: Campus Life, The Lies We Tell, Make the Grade, Pomp and Circumstantial Evidence.
  
  
• The finals will not have a theme so advancing participants can use the same story that they used in their Campus Slammer competition.

Volunteers:

• You will need an emcee to coordinate the slam events. The emcee should be well versed in the slam rules and able to stop participants who exceed the time limits.
  
  
• You will need two timers, a timing device and some device to signal 5 minutes.
  
  
• You will need 5 judges.

Campus Slammer Prizes:

• The 2 highest-scoring tellers at each campus are awarded prizes and move on with their story to the Finals on April 28th.
  
  
• CSC will award t-shirts for the winners at each campus location and tickets for the Connecticut Storytelling Festival Weekend (no meals or rooms) to the top two contestants.
  
  
• Additional prizes may be given at the discretion of campus organizers.

** All participants at the Campus Slammer locations will receive a free pass to the April 28, 2012, Saturday Night Cabaret at the Connecticut Storytelling Festival.

Judging:

• Select 5 judges. Suggestions for judges: High School Teacher, College Staff, Theatre Director, Coach, Toastmasters Member, Broadcaster, Storyteller, Author, Tradesman or woman. (CT Storytelling Center can provide names of possible local storytellers for the campus slam judges panels.)
  
  
• All stories are scored on a 1-10 scale, 10 being the highest. High and low scores will be posted at each story conclusion. Average the 3 middle scores to come up with the participant's final score.
  
  
• If a participant exceeds the 6 minute limit 1 point is deducted from the final score.
  
  

Please click here to download judging forms.
Slammer finalists forms can be downloaded here.

After the Slam:

• Forward the names of the top two finishers to CSC by April 10th to info@connstorycenter.org
  
  
• Coordinate plans to transport the winners and supporters to the finals on April 28th.
  

Stories:

• 5 minutes original (does not need to be personal) stories are judged on how well told, how well constructed and how well it explores, connects and/or reveals some truth about the theme, if used, and, how well it honors the time limit.
  
  
• 5 minutes = 5 minutes. Tellers lose points if the entire 60 second grace period is used.
  Warning bell at 4 min. may be used.
  
  
• CSC is offering story workshops for your campus to help encourage participation. Generally the workshop will be an hour and a half.

If you are interested in learning more or having CSC deliver a workshop call 860-439-2764 or email info@connstorycenter.org

The Finals:

• Finals will be held Saturday evening, April 28, 2012 at Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut.
  
  
• Participants are encouraged to bring their friends to cheer them on. The louder and better the reaction from the audience, the better the scoring.
  
  
• Participants are encouraged to wear school sweatshirts or shirts displaying their school names.