REGISTRATION

SHARING THE FIRE

Dynamic Listening: Paths into Deeper Connections and More Powerful Stories

March 28-30, 2025

In-person at The Queensbury Hotel
Glens Falls, New York

We are excited to head to Glens Falls with a vibrant array of stories, workshops, and presenters. This truly incredible line-up will provide professional development for anyone who wants to become a better storyteller, whether you are using stories at work, at home, or on the stage. Please join us to explore Dynamic Listening, with its Paths into Deeper Connections and More Powerful Stories.

NEST Members get a discount to Sharing the Fire

If you are not a NEST member, you can join now and get conference discounts immediately. You will also receive member benefits and support our storytelling community.

NEST Membership options: 

Individual: $55 per year

Organization: $85 per year

Student: Free for the first year, then $15 per year afterward while still enrolled in an educational institution

Family Membership: $95 per year for two adults and their children.

Already a member? Make sure to login before registering to get the member discounts.

Past member? Login to your account to renew your membership.

For everyone’s protection, we will be continuing to have a COVID Policy. We require all participants of the in-person Sharing the Fire Conference to take a COVID-19 test within 48 hours prior to their arrival at Sharing the Fire and to stay home if they test positive or experience cold-like symptoms. NEST is strongly encouraging all participants to have up-to-date COVID vaccinations prior to attending the conference. Read the full Covid Policy. You will be asked to indicate agreement to follow this policy as part of registration.

Registration does not include hotel fees. We have discounted rates at the hotel through our conference. Please use our Hotel Information Page to see your special Sharing the Fire price  and reserve your room! Note that this rate is only guaranteed if booked before March 5, 2025.

We have created a family track for children ages 8+ and an adult to enjoy the conference together. Learn more on the Family Track page. Anyone 16+ may register for the adult conference.

Full conference registrations include breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, and lunch on Saturday, but many other packages do not. Make sure to read descriptions carefully. Dinners are not included in any packages. We have allotted more time for dinner so that you can enjoy some of the incredible local restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. There are also two restaurants in the hotel. The hotel can accommodate food allergies if advanced notice is given. Please indicate any food allergies on your registration form. 

If you would like to include meals with your registration, register before March 20, 2025. After that date, catered group meals are not guaranteed to be available. (You would be responsible for your own meals, but will be paying the same price.)

Anyone who registers can add on the following, which are not included in any of the adult conference packages:

A Pre-Conference Intensive Workshop is a chance to dive deeply into a topic with an expert presenter. There are intensive offerings for beginning through advanced tellers.

Friday Morning: 

• • The Magic of Words: Beginner's Mind presented by Heather Forest
  • Courage for Storytellers presented by Elizabeth Ellis

Friday Afternoon: 

• • Embody: Physical Eloquence for Storytellers presented by Motoko Dworkin
  • Breaking Mirrors into Mosaics presented by Luther "Anubis" D. Isler
  • I don’t want to hear that!: Telling and listening to difficult stories presented by Sarah Brady

Pre-Conference Intensive Prices: 

Single Intensive: 

$95 (Members)
$110 (Regular)
$45 (Students) 

Two Intensives (one morning and one afternoon): 

$175 (Members)
$200 (Regular)
$65 (Students)

The Sunday Family Olio will happen Sunday afternoon after the conference. It will feature both adults and children performing a variety of family-friendly stories.

Family Olio Prices

• • $10 (Members)
  • $15 (Regular)
  • $5 (Children/Students)

This is our all-access pass. It includes:

• Keynote by Elizabeth Ellis
  
• In-person workshop
• Virtual Track workshops
• All main-stage performances during the conference: Elizabeth Ellis, Vijai Nathan, and the Adult Olio (curated show featuring multiple tellers)
  
• Recordings of main-stage performances, keynote, and online workshops available for viewing post-conference for four weeks after they are posted
• Fringe performances
• Story swaps in-person and online
• Mingling events
• Saturday and Sunday breakfast
• Saturday lunch
• Thursday night pre-conference performance

Full conference does NOT include Friday intensives, Family Olio, dinners, or lodging.

Full-Conference Fees (includes Fri & Sat breakfast and Sat lunch if you register before 3/20)

Regular: $395
NEST Members - after February 15: $325
Full-Time Students: $135

This is a performance-only track for those who attend in-person and want to hear stories, but are not interested in attending workshops. It includes all main-stage performances during the conference, fringe performances, the keynote, and the Thursday night pre-conference performance. Stories Galore does NOT include: workshops, Friday intensives, Family Olio, dinners, or lodging.

Stories Galore with Fri and Sat Breakfasts & Sat Lunch (available through 3/20)

Regular: $285
NEST Members: $225
Students: $115

Stories Galore without Meals

Regular: $165
NEST Members: $125
Students: $50

This option is made available for those who can only attend a portion of the conference.

Friday Only - Includes Performance & Swap

Regular: $40
NEST Members: $20
Students: $10

Saturday Only - All workshops, performances, keynote, swaps & lunch (no other meals)

Regular: $265
NEST Members: $225
Students: $75

Sunday Only - Performance and workshop (no meals, does not include Family Olio)

Regular: $110
NEST Members: $75
Students: $25

Want to come to one of the Main-Stage Performances only? Tickets for Vijai Nathan’s Friday Night Performance, the Saturday night Adult Olio featuring several storytellers, Elizabeth Ellis’s Sunday Performance, Fringe Performances, and the Sunday Family Olio are available for sale on-line and on-site. Cash, check and credit card will be accepted at the door. Please do not attend performances if you are experiencing cold-like symptoms or have tested positive for COVID. (Refunds will be issued when requested for illness.) Please note that only the Family Olio is appropriate for children. 

Each Main-Stage Performance Ticket 

Regular: $15
NEST Members: $10
Students: $5
Children (only for the Sunday Family Olio): $5

Individual tickets for these events will open soon

Virtual track will include:

• Live-streaming of mainstage events:
  • "Good Girls Don't, but Indian Girls Do" and other Stories, a performance by Vijay Nathan
  • Two Ears - One Mouth - One Heart, Keynote with Elizabeth Ellis
  • Adult Olio: I’m All Ears: Stories of Listening & Connection, featuring storytellers Jennifer Munro, Simon Brooks, Bruce Marcus, Lani Peterson, Sarah Brady, Valerie Tutson, & Sara deBeer. Emcee: Jo Radner
  • Listen to my Heart's Song, a performance by Elizabeth Ellis
  • Family Olio: Spinning Tales for Fun, featuring adult storytellers Lee-Ellen Marvin, Mike Perry, and Michele Carlo and youth tellers from Children at the Well
• Live-streaming of three workshops from the conference:
  • The Adaptive Storyteller: Reframing Skills for New Opportunities with Elsa Zúñiga, Valerie Tutson, & Lani Peterson
  • Prepare to Scare with Elizabeth Ellis
  • Interfaith Story Circle: Who is Your Neighbor? with Katie Green
• Fully-interactive online workshops in partnership with ASST, specifically tailored for our virtual audience:
  • Intensive: Listening Between the Lines: Deepening How We Hear Hard Stories with Nancy Donoval
  • Workshop: Body, Face, and Voice: Physical Technique in Storytelling with Karin Amano
• Virtual Story Swap with Feedback presented by NEST’s own Worldwide Virtual Storytelling Guild
• Virtual Meet-ups for participants to connect and reflect
• Recordings of the above sent to full conference and virtual ticket holders after the event.