What is the difference between the two storytelling organizations, the National Storytelling Network and the International Storytelling Center?

In 1975 the first national storytelling organization in Jonesborough was incorporated. It was called the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling (NAPPS). Some of us still miss that cozy old acronym.
By 1992 that name was getting cumbersome. Folks in the office said you couldn't answer the phone with the full name because most callers would hang up or drop off to sleep before they reached the end of it. But answering the phone "NAPPS" was baffling to the newcomer. So the name was changed to "National Storytelling Association." That was clear, but boring.
Meanwhile, there were stresses in the organization due to the push to build a building in downtown Jonesborough that would mark the commercial importance of storytelling to the town. Many members felt that the needs of the town were taking precedence over the needs of members for information, career development, and networking. So an arrangement was worked out to divide the National Storytelling Association into two autonomous organizations, one that would preside over the festival and the building of the Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, and the other that would be entirely concerned with serving members' needs for the majority of the year when they weren't pilgrimmaging to Tennessee. The first organization is now called ISC (International Storytelling Center), and the second is NSN (National Storytelling Network).
That arrangement has worked fairly well. It has allowed the center to be completed in fine style, the festival to continue to flourish, the membership organization to get itself on sound financial footing and to articulate the needs and interests of the national storytelling community through SIGs, discussion groups, grants programs, an expanded magazine, an academic journal, youth programs, and many other initiatives.
It is worth discussing whether and how the two organizations might work more closely together in the future to serve the interests of contemporary storytelling as a whole field. The national conference now being planned for next summer in Tennessee may be a forum for furthering that discussion and that process.

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Joseph Sobol, Ph.D.
Professor, East Tennessee State University
Storytelling Graduate Program Coordinator
www.etsu.edu/stories