On Saturday, we will feature a full day (from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM)* of professional sessions from a ridiculously talented roster of storytellers, writers, teachers, and artists. We have curated a nice variety of workshops, presentations, and conversations filled with inspiration, practical advice, juicy takeaways, and exciting ideas.

One of the most frequent complaints at conferences is that attendees have to choose between two sessions they'd really like to experience, but that are scheduled concurrently. This won't be a problem at The Get-Together. None of our development sessions compete with another. Also, you are welcome to come and go as you please - attend some, none, or all!

*All sessions will take place at Martyrs', with ample seating for every participant, should they all choose to attend.  The timing and schedule of the day will be available upon registration.

Jimmy Carrane

Improvisation Skills for the Storyteller​

​An original member of The Annoyance Theater and Armando at The iO-Chicago, Jimmy has written and starred in several acclaimed one-man shows including “I’m 27, I Still Live at Home and I Sell Office Supplies” and “Living in a Dwarf’s House,” and also performed in groundbreaking shows such as “Godshow” and “Naked” with MadTV’s Stephanie Weir. Today, Jimmy is a renowned and respected improv teacher, having taught at The Second City, iO-Chicago, The Annoyance, Victory Gardens and other locations for more than 25 years. He is the co-author of the book Improvising Better: A Guide to the Working Improviser and author of Improv Therapy and The Inner Game of Improv. 
He may be best known to some Chicago audiences from his seven years as host of Studio 312 on Chicago Public Radio, a show-within-a-show on WBEZ’s 848, where he interviewed celebrities including Conan O’Brien, Cindy Crawford and Jeff Garlin. Later, Carrane gained notoriety as the host of the popular podcast Improv Nerd, where he has interviewed some of the biggest names in comedy, including Key & Peele, Broad City, Bob Odenkirk, Adam McKay, Jon Favreau, and more. 

Rives Collins

From ‘Painting Targets’ to ‘Come on Down’: Layers and Levels of Audience Participation in Storytelling​

Rives Collins was recently made a lifetime fellow in the College of
Fellows of the American Theatre, a hall of fame organization celebrating influential artists and leaders in the American Theatre. Recognized for the excellence and innovation of his teaching, he is the recipient of the Charles Deering McCormick Professorship of Teaching Excellence at Northwestern University where he has taught in the Department of Theatre for the past thirty-five years. An acclaimed professional storyteller (ORACLE AWARD, National Storytelling Network), he has told stories on three continents.  At the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, he teaches business narrative for their Executive Education Programs, and he is the co-author with Pamela Cooper of The Power of Story: Teaching Through Storytelling. In addition, Collins is head of the Theatre for Young Audiences program at Northwestern (JOHNNY SALDAÑA OUTSTANDING PROFESSOR OF THEATRE EDUCATION, American Alliance for Theatre and Education), and is an active professional stage director, specializing in the development of new work. He recently directed two world- premiere productions at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. As an active member and past president of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, and as a current board member of the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America, he works with an international community of artists, educators, and scholars to champion the cause of drama and theatre in the lives of young people. 

Emily Hooper Lansana

Finding My Voice in Folktales: Making Old Stories New

Emily Hooper Lansana is a community builder, performing artist and arts administrator. She has played a range of leadership roles. Currently she serves as Senior Director of Programming and Engagement for the Logan Center for the Arts at the University of
Chicago. Highlights of previous experience: Associate Director for the Arts and Public Life Initiative, Theater/Literary Arts Curriculum Supervisor, Chicago Public Schools Office of Arts Education and Director of Education, Lincoln Center Theater. Her consulting efforts have supported the work of a number of institutions including: Housing Matters, Pierce Family Foundation, The Field Museum of Natural History, eta Creative Arts Foundation, and the Old Town School of Folk Music. As a performing artist, she is most known for her work with Performance Duo: In the Spirit. For more than thirty years, she has performed as a storyteller, sharing her work with audiences throughout Chicago and across the country. She has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival, the National Association of Black Storytellers Festival, and at a variety of museums, colleges and performance venues. She also enjoys
passing on traditions to young people as a coach and mentor with nationally recognized Rebirth Poetry Ensemble. Her work seeks to honor those whose stories are often untold, especially those of the African diaspora. She is the recipient of a 3arts award
and an OxBow Inspirators award. She has also been honored by the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Creative Writing at Chicago State University. As an adjunct professor, Ms. Lansana has taught at Columbia, Northwestern, U of C, DePaul. and Chicago State University. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Black Storytellers and as President of the Chicago Association of Black Storytellers. She received her BA in Theater Studies with a certificate in Teacher Preparation/ Education from Yale University and an MA in Performance Studies from Northwestern University.

Edward Kelsey Moore

A Conversation With Edward Kelsey Moore​

Edward Kelsey Moore is the author of the New York Times and international bestselling novel THE SUPREMES AT EARL’S ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT and a second Supremes novel, THE SUPREMES SING THE HAPPY HEARTACHE BLUES. THE SUPREMES AT EARL’S ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT was chosen as a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and was also named an Illinois Reads book by the Illinois Reading Council. Edward was awarded the
First Novelist Award by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and received an Illinois Arts Council award.
A film adaptation of THE SUPREMES AT EARL’S ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT is currently in post-production at Searchlight Pictures.
Edward’s essays and short fiction have appeared in the New York Times and a number of literary magazines, including Inkwell, African American Review, Ninth Letter, and Indiana Review. His
work has also appeared on Chicago Public Radio and Minnesota Public Radio. In addition to writing and storytelling, Edward maintains a career as a professional cellist. His playing has been featured on multiple classical, pop, and jazz recordings and he has toured nationally and internationally. For many years, he has also worked as a teacher, preparing the next generation of musicians and writers. Edward has recently completed a new novel.

Fred Rubin

A Conversation With Fred Rubin & Marley Sims
​

Fred Rubin, graduated from the University of Illinois in 1972 with a BFA in directing and playwriting. He spent the next three years in Chicago working full time as a social worker and part time as a columnist, stand-up comedian, and jingle writer. He moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and began working full-time in network television.  Since 1977 he has served as a writer on fifteen network series and has been producer of such shows as, “Different Strokes”, “Archie Bunker’s Place”, “Mama’s Family”, “Webster”, “Night Court”, “Family Matters”, “Step by Step”, and “Two of A Kind”. His career has included writing sixty episodes of prime time television, ten pilots, and two made-for-television movies. For fifteen years following his TV career he taught classes in television writing and screen writing for the UCLA Department of Film, Television and Theatre and was a full time senior lecturer. He is also an been an instructor for the Warner Brothers Writer’s Workshop, the Disney Writer’s Fellowship, and the Nickelodeon Writer’s Fellowship. To this day he is a frequent poet and storyteller on podcasts and at performance art venues throughout LA. Mr. Rubin is a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America and a 36 year member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Marley Sims

A Conversation With Fred Rubin & Marley Sims
​

Marley Sims appeared on Broadway from 1971 until 1976 in the hit productions of “The Me Nobody Knows”, and “Godspell.” While in Godspell, an accidental injury during a dance number forced her to stay off her feet for several months. While recuperating, she stretched her “writing” muscles and won a job on the staff of “Captain Kangaroo.” She worked for the Captain for three years. In the 80’s and 90’s Marley worked in Hollywood often as an actress, often as a writer. Finally she committed to writing and spent seven years as a writer producer on the hit family series “Home Improvement.” She wrote more episodes of Home Improvement than any other writer. Following that she wrote and produced “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” for two years.

Megan Wells

ARC of Change: Crafting the Emotional Arc
For Audience Impact.  ​

​
​Megan Wells is a highly sought after professional teller, coach and historical impersonator.  With over 40 years experience in professional theater and the national storytelling scene, Megan has an extensive repertoire ranging from full length one woman shows to the pithy olio's beloved of festival audiences.  She is an Oracle; Circle of Excellence inductee with the National Storytelling Network, holds three national awards for Fire in Boomtown, an original story musical about the Great Chicago Fire, as well as Jeff awards and a recent nomination for Solo performance.  She has been a frequent feature at The National Storytelling Festival, and performed with Yo Yo Ma at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in her adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's Ugly Duckling.  www.meganwells.com

Scott Whitehair

Creating and Running a Peer Practice Group
​or Story Circle

Scott Whitehair is a storyteller, teacher, and producer living in Chicago, IL. He is the producer of This Much Is True, Chicago's longest running monthly personal narrative series since 2008,  creator of Story Lab Chicago, which has put 750+ new storytellers on stage since 2011, and director of Do Not Submit, a grassroots network of open mics across the city bringing people together to connect with each other. Scott tells anywhere someone will listen, including The National Storytelling Festival Exchange Place, Steppenwolf Theater, the historic Green Mill, and on NPR, the Risk podcast, and Siruis XM. He is a frequent guest instructor at the city's top universities, and his personal narrative class sold out every month since for 8+ years pre-pandemic. Scott is in demand as a coach and trainer, spending his days helping individuals, companies, and non-profits develop their voices as storytellers.  ​