Hearing six people talk about their shortcomings and errors during "a raw and intimate evening" may not seem worth three hours and $20, but read on.

The idea is to present inspiring lessons about intelligent risk-taking in our business and personal lives. "Failure then takes its rightful place as the crucial first step to the next big thing," the organizer says on its website and in a video below. "Embrace it, learn from it, build on it."

The 7 p.m. event Thursday at the Detroit Opera House is the second presentation of its type by a Grand Rapids outfit called Failure:Lab. Its first round sold out a 400-seat theater in that West Michigan city last May. Storytellers spoke about the military, divorce, music and art, according to blogger Ana Olvera at The Rapidian.   

After each storyteller was done with their story, short moments of silence were held to let the audience write their thoughts on paper or share them online via Twitter. Comments by the audience were later collected and posted on Failure:Lab's website.

"Getting all the positive feedback allowed us to say 'OK, we have something here. Let's move to other locations and try to do this,'" co-founder Austin Dean told the community blogger.

"We want people to, as they're listening to these storytellers, think 'how does this apply to me? Maybe it doesn't apply to me at all. But does this make me understand somebody else better or understand a situation better because I've heard it,'" says Dean.

Here's how Thursday's program will flow, as sketched by Karen Dybis of Detroit Unspun:

Each storyteller will have about nine minutes or so to tell their tale. Then the audience gets about 90 second to react, internalize and (natch) Tweet about what they learned. There is a musical performance to clear the palate, so to speak. Then the next speaker comes on. When it is all done, there is time to debrief, talk and drink. . . .


Speaker series co-founder Austin Dean hopes listeners will "understand somebody else better or understand a situation better."

Here's who'll speak:

  • Jimmy King, a former “Fab Five” basketball player who is vice president of business development for Schechter Wealth Strategies in Birmingham
  • Jessica Care Moore, a Detroit poet, playwright and activist
  • Charlie Wollborg, a Pontiac marketing strategist and creative director, as well as a TEDxDetroit organizer
  • Marsha Music, a writer and 2012 Kresge Literary Arts Fellow
  • Andwele Gardner, a singer-songwriter who uses the stage name Dwele
  • Diana Sieger, who grew up in Detroit during the 1960s and now is Grand Rapids Community Foundation president

Tickets are available at the event or online with a $2 extra fee. Doors open at 6 p.m. A percentage of ticket sales will benefit Focus:Hope.