The Chatterbox is a mobile recording space that brings people together through storytelling. It’s a 1978 Triple E Surfside vintage trailer unique to Manitoba. Turns out, it was manufactured just 1 km from my house even though I found it in Saskatoon (story for another day).
I’ve been dreaming about this idea for about a decade and now it’s here! We partner with communities to create face to face storytelling moments that enrich relationships. These moments are captured in an audio recording which we then produce to give back to participants.
Dreams take partners. And Kathryn has imagined, believed and created The Chatterbox with me.
We launched with several pilot projects in 2023-2024. Spring 2025 was the first set of full-blown community partnership events. I’m delighted to work with my students in a Media Skills: Radio Team course at Canadian Mennonite University to create some of these events. Many thanks to CMU for giving space for creative teaching ventures such as these. Other events are created with volunteers.
For The Chatterbox, I’m David Balzer
June 2025