--- title: "Membership Hack: Association StoryCorps" id: "46021" type: "post" slug: "membership-hack-association-storycorps" published_at: "2019-03-22T17:35:18+00:00" modified_at: "2019-03-22T17:35:18+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2019/03/22/membership-hack-association-storycorps/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2019/03/22/membership-hack-association-storycorps.md" excerpt: "Association members have stories to tell. The American Geophysical Union has enlisted StoryCorps, a nonprofit that collects and archives audio conversations with everyday Americans, to document its members’ accounts of their journeys through science." taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "community data" - "Membership" - "storytelling" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "Director" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Membership Hack: Association StoryCorps **How to hack it?** Maybe you’ve heard of [StoryCorps (opens in a new tab)](https://storycorps.org/about/) , the nonprofit organization whose recorded audio conversations with everyday Americans are regularly featured on [National Public Radio’s Morning Edition (opens in a new tab)](https://www.npr.org/series/4516989/storycorps) . In 2017, the American Geophysical Union created its own StoryCorps community, giving members the ability to record and share personal accounts of their work in the Earth and space sciences. The tools are simple: Members upload audio files using the [StoryCorps app (opens in a new tab)](https://storycorps.org/participate/storycorps-app/) and a smartphone. Since the [AGU Narratives (opens in a new tab)](https://centennial.agu.org/agu-narratives-project/storycorps/) project began, it has collected more than 220 stories, including some that speak to the impact of AGU, a message the organization is promoting as part of its [100th anniversary (opens in a new tab)](https://centennial.agu.org/agu-narratives-project/storycorps/) . **Why does it work?**The personal accounts resonate with listeners. Many members describe the adversity they have faced. [Haojia Abby Ren (opens in a new tab)](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.storycorps.org%2Finterviews%2Fllyse-vernon-abby-ren-and-agu-narratives%2F&data=01%7C01%7Ctebner%40asaecenter.org%7Cd6da2f35a01b40de756f08d6a95d78a5%7C933702613c2542529785d531fa0f8ffe%7C1&sdata=T3qvBqf9ncrenP098g0dHBel6n81bT4jZp00wez8NRg%3D&reserved=0) tells how she overcame barriers as a female research scientist in Taiwan. [Miguel Román (opens in a new tab)](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.storycorps.org%2Finterviews%2Fwe-were-seeing-christmas-lights-from-space-and-seeing-people-praying-on-mount-arafat-during-the-haaj-an-interview-with-roman-miguel%2F&data=01%7C01%7Ctebner%40asaecenter.org%7Cd6da2f35a01b40de756f08d6a95d78a5%7C933702613c2542529785d531fa0f8ffe%7C1&sdata=yGxuiD8zsIhFUpWOiilrPC%2Fo5tWS1kK%2BMP9rZECfddo%3D&reserved=0) shares childhood experiences of weathering hurricanes in Puerto Rico, which ultimately influenced his work as an Earth scientist at NASA. One story made it [to the NPR airwaves (opens in a new tab)](https://www.npr.org/2018/03/09/591938105/mommy-you-can-do-that-navigating-work-life-balance-thousands-of-miles-from-home) . Climate scientists Zoe Courville and Lora Koenig describe the challenge of balancing personal commitments alongside field work on climate change that takes them away from their families. **What’s the bonus?**Members can also record stories at AGU conferences. “We have used a number of different meetings and other opportunities to record with our community, including during our Fall Meeting 2018,” says Chris McEntee, AGU’s CEO and executive director. “At that meeting, we partnered with NASA, which allowed us to collect more than 140 interviews.” (via the AGU website) [Tim Ebner](https://associationsnow.com/author/tim-ebner/) Tim Ebner is communications director and press secretary at the American Forest & Paper Association in Washington, DC. He is a member of ASAE’s Communication Professionals Advisory Council and a former Associations Now senior editor. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/tim-ebner/) Tags: [#community data](https://associationsnow.com/tag/community-data/) [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/) [#storytelling](https://associationsnow.com/tag/storytelling/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [TemplateMembers onlyMember Onboarding ToolkitNovember 5, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/11/05/member-onboarding-toolkit/) - [VideoCommunity Voices: Pat BlakeSeptember 15, 2021](https://associationsnow.com/2021/09/15/community-voices-pat-blake/) - [VideoCommunity Voices: Sharon NewportSeptember 15, 2021](https://associationsnow.com/2021/09/15/community-voices-sharon-newport/) - [VideoCommunity Voices: Silvia QuevedoSeptember 15, 2021](https://associationsnow.com/2021/09/15/community-voices-silvia-quevedo/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2019%2F03%2F22%2Fmembership-hack-association-storycorps%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !