What’s all this chatter about Pecha Kucha?

I read an interesting article in The Atlantan magazine about Pecha Kucha–a structured, yet informal way of making presentations about a wide range of topics. The idea was conceived by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, two architects based in Tokyo, who wanted designers to be able to get together and show off their ideas in a concise manner. Each presenter is allowed 20 slides and 20 seconds for each slide for a grand total of six minutes and forty seconds per presenter. It seems that most topics are centered around the more creative fields (architecture, art, photography, food design, etc.) but apparently the 20 slide/20 second idea works well for other fields as well. Pecha Kucha, which means “chit-chat” or “chatter” in Japanese, has taken hold in a number of cities outside of Tokyo and has apparently hit the Atlanta scene as well.

The idea is intriguing to me because you are pretty much guaranteed to learn about fourteen or so (there are usually fourteen presenters) widely varying topics given by folks that are genuinely interested in letting other people know about what they are up to. So, it seems to be a nice mix of entertainment and education. And from my perspective, life is most interesting when you are learning new things–even if you’re not yet sure where you are going to apply them.

Anyone out there ever been to a Pecha Kucha? If so, please leave me a comment about your experience. I’d love to hear about it. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to attend the next one in Atlanta.

Atlanta Pecha Kucha: http://www.atlantapechakucha.com/

Wired Magazine Article about Pecha Kucha