Happy New Year!

January is always a little scary, as the turn of the new year means that The Story goes from ‘something that’s happening next year’ to ‘OMG its in a few weeks!’ So I’ve spent the last few days booking hotels, getting details out to speakers, and generally tidying things up so we’re all ready to go on Feb 17th.

The good news is that The Story is almost sold out! There’s currently only 6 tickets left on our Eventbrite site, so if you haven’t got one yet, get one NOW! Thanks to all of you who have bought tickets – you’ve helped raise £2000 for The Ministry of Stories, which is a fantastic project. The Ministry will be at The Story this year, giving us an update on their brilliant first year, and selling their unique monster supplies in the foyer.

I’m also very pleased to announce our host this year – Meg Pickard – and the final speaker – Scott Burnham.

Meg Pickard is the Head of Digital Engagement for Guardian News & Media, responsible for developing and supporting social web strategies and participatory experiences. At the time of The Story, however, she will have just started her maternity leave, so will be focusing on delivering a different sort of experience for a while. Meg’s particular areas of interest are social engagement and the emergence of new forms of collaborative and participatory media, which are inspired by an enduring curiosity about the cultural/social/psychological aspects of digital life plus ongoing personal passion for publishing, participating and performing online. She has been blogging since it started with a W and lives in London and online.

Scott Burnham is a social entrepreneur, creative strategist, creative director and writer dedicated to reprogramming our relationships with design and the city, working with a number of cities, institutions and publications worldwide. He created and directed Urban Play for Droog Design and the city of Amsterdam to launch a new generation of objects and areas for the city. Working with Stefan Sagmeister, Marti Guixe, NL Architects and others a series of objects and areas were created as public catalysts for further design interventions. Recently he created the Bairro Criativo project for Porto, Portugal to open idea generation, grass-roots innovation and creative processes to wider audiences in the city and create direct design responses to the city’s needs. Scott spoke at the excellent Narrative In Practise event last year, which I couldn’t attend, but so many people who did attend raved about Scott’s talk, so I had to invite him to The Story!

So that’s it – all the speakers are booked, travel and accommodation sorted, and tickets nearly sold out. The only thing left is a rather exciting little present which I’m hoping to be able to give to everyone coming to the event. More details nearer the time…

With only a few months to go till The Story in Feb 2012, the speakers list is pretty much there. Here’s the details on another two sessions:

Tom Watson and Emily Bell will be at The Story talking about the Hackgate scandal, giving us an insiders’ perspective on how the story unfolded, what it feels like to be part of a breaking news story, and what the scandal means for journalists and newsgathering. Tom Watson is the MP for West Bromwich East, and in 2011 was made Deputy Chair of the Labour Party. He has led many campaigns within parliament, including opposition to the Digital Economy Act in 2010. Emily Bell is Professor of Journalism and Director of the Tow Center at Columbia University. Before that, Emily was Director of Digital Content at The Guardian, where she pioneered many of their digital initiatives, positioning The Guardian as one of the world’s leading online newspapers.

Karen Lubbock is the creator of Karen Magazine, a ‘magazine made out of the ordinary’. An antidote to celebrity lifestyle journalism, Karen Magazine is a fascinating and often moving journal of ordinary lives, things and people. Jeremy Leslie runs MagCulture, a blog celebrating editorial design in magazines and print culture. He has over 20 years’ experience in the magazine and print industry, and has published two books on the subject – Issues and MagCulture. Jeremy first introduced me to Karen Magazine after The Story last year, and I was immediately hooked. I’m really glad that Karen is coming to talk about the magazine in Feb, and am really looking forward to listening to her and Jeremy in conversation.

So that’s pretty much the line up for next year – tickets are on sale now, so get them whilst you can!

The next batch of tickets go on sale today at 3pm, so its time to announce another three speakers for this year’s event.

Anthony Owen is widely acknowledged as one of the UK’s most prolific and influential magical creators, writers and producers. His original magical effects, routines and ideas have been featured by performers around the world and he has acted as a consultant for numerous performers and theatre, film and television productions. He is the author of over twenty books on magic, including Some Tricks, Some More Tricks and The Sticky Blue Book. He is also the BAFTA and Rose D’or award winning producer of over one hundred hours of television magic shows including all of Derren Brown‘s series and specials, and The Real Hustle for BBC3. I’m a huge fan of magic, and how magicians use various techniques in their storytelling, so I’m really looking for ward to hearing from Anthony.

Tom Chatfield and Phil Stuart will be talking about The End, a game produced for Channel 4 Education about philosophy, belief and death. Phil is the Creative Director of Preloaded, one of the UK’s most innovative game design companies, who have produced award-winning games for clients including the BBC, Channel 4 and The Wellcome Trust. Tom  is a freelance writer and the author of three books about digital culture. He has a doctorate from St John’s College, Oxford, and is an associate editor at Prospect magazine, a guest fellow at the Said Business School, Oxford, and a faculty member at the School of Life in London. He writes, speaks and broadcasts internationally on media, arts and technology, appearing at forums including TED Global, the Cannes Lions and authors@Google.

Danny O’Brien is one of the most influential writers, journalists and activists of the last 20yrs. He spent the 90s documenting the fledgling UK new media scene, working on the first iteration of Wired UK, and later starting the very influential Need To Know webzine with Dave Green. In 2005 he left the UK to join the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, and in 2010 moved to take on the role of Internet Advocacy Co-ordinator for the Committee To Protect Journalism. Danny was also one of the founders of the Open Rights Group, an activist group working to protect users’ rights on the internet in the UK. Danny is a fantastic writer and storyteller, and is working on some of the most pressing political and ethical issues we face as we become ever more dependent on digital networks and the stories they tell about us. I’m really looking forward to hearing about his work next February.

So – that’s another three speakers announced, and the line-up is starting to take shape. Just a few more to go – we’ll announce these as further batches of tickets go on sale. Get yours now from our Eventbrite page!