The Technograph

PechaKucha is contagious this fall, but it won’t get you out of class with a note from McKinley. Christina Tapp has brought a fantastic style of mini-conferences to campus from all the way across the ocean, and students all over are joining her on the adventure. PechaKucha is an excellent way to share new, interesting, and innovative ideas, and Champaign-Urbana can finally join in the fun.

“PechaKucha Nights are informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together to share their ideas, works and passions in the PechaKucha20x20 format,” according to the head of the new CU chapter, Christina Tapp. The rules of the event are very simple: each speaker gets twenty PowerPoint slides for their presentation, and they get only 20 seconds to present each slide (whether they are ready to move to the next slide or not). This format creates a fast-paced, super condensed feel to the information presented, and the need to change gears so quickly if the speaker is not done with the current slide just adds to the fun.

The whole process was created in Tokyo in February 2003 by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham Architecture to make presenting topics more efficient and interesting for viewers, and it has grown into a way for people to enjoy forums from experts in many different fields all in one short sitting. The whole idea behind PechaKucha now is more about “passion, not portfolio,” according to Christina. Because the events are so centered on the passion the speaker has for the topic he or she is presenting on, the event is more exciting and inspirational for the audience. Plus, this gives speakers from any level of expertise a chance to really show the audience how interesting their topic is without needing to have done a lot of work in that area. This way, new fields that do not have much work available to show yet are given just as much of a chance to shine as those that have been in the public mind for quite some time.

Christina decided to create the C-U chapter after a trip to Europe in 2008. She was so inspired by the group of presenters at her first night (one of which had even been the designers for a type of bike rack she had seen that same day) and the entire presentation format that she decided to investigate PechaKucha in the US. After several months of research and correspondence with PechaKucha headquarters, she finally got the go ahead to host four nights a year right here on campus (for current dates and times, see their website at http://pecha-kucha.org/night/champaign-urbana).

PechaKucha is perfect for the college environment; each presentation is a little under 8 minutes, so a presentation of 6 totally different topics could easily take around an hour (with time to switch speakers). Considering the difficult and often over-full schedule of a college student, this kind of option for educational entertainment is very appealing. On top of the time aspect, PechaKucha’s informal atmosphere can make the speakers more approachable to students who might want to ask more about their work or research opportunities in that field.

Tagged with: pechakucha, uiuc, astrid klein, mark dytham