How to send us your stories
Each story has its own page on the website. Each Gathering has its own collection of stories, so a story should be about a single year, not multiple years. If you want to write about more than one Gathering, you should write a separate story for each one.
Depending on how many I receive, I may divide this section into two parts - one for stories by Gatherers, and one for stories by Gathering crew. We'll see.
Sending your stories
Please email your stories to alison@webweaver.co.nz.
What sort of stories to send
There are really no rules for story-writing on this website. By "story" I mean a collection of words that communicates something. It doesn't have to be a traditional "story" with a beginning, middle and end, it can be anything you like. Your story might take the form of a diary entry or blog-type post. It might be a narrative of what you experienced at a particular Gathering. It could take the form of a poem or a piece of creative writing that expresses how The Gathering made you feel, or what it meant to you.
You might want to write something about one particular aspect of one particular Gathering, or you might be inspired to put together an overview of one particular party. It's up to you.
A story could be five lines long, or five paragraphs, or five pages - it really doesn't matter, because each one will be your own unique perspective on the event, and so each one will be fascinating, valuable - and valued.
Did you DJ, VJ or perform at The Gathering? Were you one of our live acts? Did you have a stall at TheG? Were you part of our health and safety teams, support teams or security? I want to hear your stories. What was it like working with The Gathering? What was it like being part of such a massive event? Did we treat you well? Could we have done things better? What were they?
I'm also very interested in crew stories. Ones that talk about the various stages of the setup and/or packdown are really valuable, because they show how much work went into the party each year. Ones that show the massive amount of organisation that went on each year before we even got up the hill are really important too.
Behind-the-scenes stories are always interesting for people who weren't behind-the-scenes themselves. Stories about working with your fellow team-mates are also brilliant, because I want this site to celebrate the amazing people who made The Gathering happen, as well as the amazing people who came to party with us.
Crew stories are also particularly useful because often you're the only people who actually know the details of how things were organised, and what went down. Factual info is extremely useful - and I'll probably use it in other parts of the site too - like in the facts and figures section for each year. How many people were on your crew? What did you do? How many portaloos did you shift? How many stallholders did you have to manage? What was the design inspiration behind the decorations in your zone? How many generators did you use? etc etc etc.
If you're a local person who was affected by The Gathering, I want to hear your stories too. Or maybe you were part of the local services (police, St John's, Red Cross, Salvation Army, local council etc) who helped us in our endeavours up the hill. I'd love to hear your perspectives on the event - good and bad.
Information you should include with your story:
- Which year (which Gathering) is this story from? This is really important - I won't know which section to put it in if I don't know which Gathering it's from.
- A title for your story so I can link it.
- How do you want to be credited on the website? Your first name only, your full name, or no name? Do you have a website, blog or email address you'd like me to link to from your story?
- Please include your contact details (email address or phone number) so I can contact you if I have any questions - and so that I can let you know when your story goes online.
- If you have photos that accompany your story, please send them in too, and I'll use them on your story page, as well as in the photo section of the website for that year.
Will your story be selected?
While I cannot guarantee that every story you send me will be included, it's VERY likely that almost all of them will be. If there are any typos or punctuation errors, I'll put these right for you, but I will not edit your story in any other way. Your perspective is your own, and this site respects that perspective.
Not everyone's story will be positive - there was angst and stress in being part of The Gathering, as well as joy and pleasure. If you want to talk about negative stuff, just make sure you stick to the facts and your thoughts/feelings about what happened. Please don't ascribe thoughts/feelings/motivations etc to someone else, because that's when we step into potentially libellous territory, and that would be where I would have to draw the line at including your story. But hey - we're all grown-ups, and I'm sure we can handle the positive and the negative.
If you have any questions, or need any help, please contact me at alison@webweaver.co.nz.