Showin' and Tellin'

PechaKucha carves out opportunity for connection and community

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Do you know how to pronounce PechaKucha? It’s okay - you can admit it if you don’t. Turns out, it’s pih-CHAH-kuh-CHAH. One word, kind of rolls off the tongue. In fact, frequent Providence Monthly contributor John Taraborelli, who has been organizing the Providence chapter of the event – a worldwide celebration of “the art of concise presentations” – for about two years, still gets people coming up to him with their interpretations.

“Aren’t you the guy from that thing, that Pikachu?” he recalls with a laugh.

You might know PechaKucha isn’t a Pokemon, but what is it, exactly? According to John, the name is derived from a Japanese word (the format, now more than 820 cities strong, began in Tokyo in 2003) that literally translates as the sound of conversation. “The closest English analog is chit chat,” says John.

Out in the world, this translates to a free, unjuried night of presentations and conversation open to all; each presenter has an allotment of 20 slides to present, and is given 20 seconds per slide. And if you’re wincing when you hear the words “presentation” and “slides,” allow me to disabuse you of the notion that this is a boring night of rote business jargon or an interminable TED talk. PechaKucha is anything but.

“It’s meant to be a fast and fun way to share ideas,” says John, who as of this writing had just wrapped up co-hosting the event’s 81st occasion in Providence with counterpart Stephanie Caress.

Every month, presenters are given a theme, which they are meant to interpret as loosely or as strictly as they’d like. “The theme is there to kind of give people a nudge if they need it. People can feel free to disregard it,” John says.

Stephanie has a lot of PechaKucha memories to choose from at this point (in addition to co-hosting the event, she’s the secretary and treasurer of the group’s board), but says that one of her earliest presentations was her favorite. At Machines with Magnets she interpreted the night’s theme, Fresh, as “fresh start,” and gave the audience a top four list to consider if they ever had to flee the country for any reason.

“At the end, I feel I left the audience with a very strategic, plausible and hopefully humorous escape plan. If you must know, the best options are: Morocco, Croatia, Vanuatu and Con Dao.”

“Providence is a hotbed for creative storytellers,” Stephanie continues. “We have such a community of grassroot businesses, designers, entrepreneurs and dream-makers that want to share their interest. I think that PechaKucha offers such a great format.”

John said that another special twist of the PechaKucha event is that it stimulates connections beyond the more typical networking events. During the break, John says, conversation between the audience and the presenters naturally occurs.

“I’ve made friends that way, I’ve found stories that way. People find business partners that way,” he says. “It’s not a place to do business, but rather to share ideas or stories. I love the free flow of conversation and ideas, and I’ve come to appreciate even more how it just opens up and connects people.”

PechaKucha
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PechaKucha, PechaKucha PVD, PechaKucha Providence, John Taraborelli, Stephanie Caress, Aurora Providence, Machines with Magnets, Providence Monthly

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