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Pre-Conference Seminars

Radisson Hotel Valley Forge   —   Wednesday, October 21, 2009

As an added option available only to APH members and partners, you may wish to sign up for one of three full-day seminars prior to the official start of the conference. Arrive early and take advantage of this great opportunity to hone your skills or learn new ones from the experts during one of these powerful, in-depth sessions. By the time the conference begins, you'll be a step ahead and better prepared to gain the most from our great lineup of workshops and speakers.

Starting a new personal history business? While you can get generic start-up advice many places, this session tailors discussion of business planning, promotion, products, pricing, and operations to the specifics of a personal history business. We’ll talk frankly about how to make a living in this field, where (and where not) to spend your precious time and resources, and how to make the most of what you already know. Using samples, stories, and group brainstorming, presenter Stephanie Kadel Taras will target the following topics to the needs of the attendees:

• Vision, purpose, goals . . . and how these help with marketing
• Products and services . . . and how a clear focus will save you time and money
• Business planning . . . so you’re ready for your clients
• Preparing promotional materials that matter . . . and avoiding those that don’t
• Creating a dynamite sample . . . and a replicable process
• Getting known in your community . . . by the right people
• Working with clients . . . and loving it

Writing a life story generally implies providing a factual account of someone’s life. Yet the most interesting memoirs often push the boundaries between truth and fiction, re-creating scenes from the past and adding dialogue and other “fiction techniques” to engage readers’ attention. Some, famously, have passed off fabrications as fact. Capturing the truth can be an elusive, sticky balancing act for the writer faced with juggling such intangibles as reader interest, author integrity, memory fluctuations, and story credibility. What is the personal historian’s implied responsibility? This five-hour workshop will cover the thorny issues in depth, addressing such questions as:

• How do you use “fiction techniques” to heighten interest and yet maintain the integrity of the story?
• When does memoir become fiction?
• How do you use “fiction techniques” to heighten interest and yet maintain the integrity of the story?
• What is the difference between factual truth and emotional truth?
• What is a memoirist’s implied contract with the reader? With the client?
• Can you alter facts, conflate events, or create composite characters for the sake of story clarity?
• Can you alter names and identities to preserve privacy?
• What role does privacy play in memoir writing?
• What are the legal issues relating to truth?
• How do you help clients tell the truth?

In the pivotal courtroom scene in the movie A Few Good Men, actor Jack Nicholson effectively silences Tom Cruise’s well reasoned legal argument with his now-famous retort: “You can’t handle the truth!” Can you handle the truth? Dawn and Morris Thurston will bring clarity to these murky issues and help you approach your clients and personal history projects with more understanding and confidence. This thought-provoking workshop couldn’t be more timely or useful.

Dawn Thurston has taught life story writing at universities in California and Utah for thirteen years and has helped hundreds of students write and publish their memoirs and family histories. In 2008, she was named Teacher of the Year at Santiago Canyon College in California. Dawn has a BA in English and an MA in communications from UCLA. Over the years, she has published a variety of articles in journals and magazines.

Morris Thurston, Dawn’s husband and co-presenter, graduated from Harvard Law School and joined an international law firm, specializing in litigation and intellectual property rights. Recently retired, he now pursues his lifelong love for family history. His biography of his great-great-grandfather, Tora Thurston: The Story of a Norwegian Pioneer, won first place in the Dallas Genealogy Society writing competition. Morris and Dawn lecture together frequently and co-authored Breathe Life into Your Life Story: How to Write a Story People Will WANT to Read, published by Signature Books in 2007.

Join us for a special hands-on video seminar geared specifically towards producing a personal history documentary.

This session will cover the basics of shot set-up, lighting, shooting, audio, editing, and authoring to DVD. We will also discuss the best way to incorporate photos, home movies, archival footage, and music into your projects.

During class, we will break into small groups and give participants a chance to practice with lights, cameras, microphones, and editing software. Participants will have an opportunity to sit in front of the camera as well as operate it. Also, we will discuss the best place for the interviewer to sit and how best to phrase questions.

We will end the day by talking briefly about available technology and going over the most important considerations when thinking about purchasing your own equipment.

Participants who already own equipment and would like to bring it to the workshop are highly encouraged to do so.

Teri Duff of Oakland, CA, has a B.A. in Communication/Visual Arts from the University of California at San Diego and an M.A. in Radio and Television from San Francisco State University, where she taught for several years. She has produced award-winning documentaries shown at festivals throughout the world. Teri joined APH in 1999 and began Family Archive Films. She is currently the bylaws director on the APH Board.

Enrollment is limited to APH members and their partners. Sign up early! No more than 25 students, and no fewer than 10, will be accepted for each session. APH reserves the right to cancel any or all sessions, in which case we will provide full refunds to enrollees. Fees shown are in addition to full-time conference registration fees. If registering for a pre-conference seminar but not the full-time conference, the fee is an additional $75.

Registration Period	Full Time Registrant Fee		Part Time Registrant Fee
	Seminars 1 & 2	Seminar 3	Seminars 1 & 2	Seminar 3
Early July 1 - 31	$125	$150	$200	$225
Regular Aug 1 - Sept 15	$150	$175	$225	$250
Late Sept 16 - Oct 15	$175	$200	$250	$275
Last Minute After Oct 15	$200	$225	$275	$300