Event aims to start discussion

It was born in Tokyo. A year later it hit Europe. As of today, it’s invaded 700 cities worldwide. And on Friday (Aug. 22), PechaKucha is coming to Squamish. 

While PechaKucha may sound like Godzilla’s girlfriend, it’s a presentation format that’s creating quite the buzz. The idea is simple — 20 slides, 20 seconds. Each presenter has six minutes and 40 seconds to showcase his or her passion. 

The lure behind the form is that in an evening the audience can get a quick taste of a huge variety of subject matter, said Steven Cox of Cause+Affect, who founded the Vancouver chapter of PechaKucha. 

“It has definitely become a bit of a cult event in Vancouver,” he said.

The events continually sell out. The original PechaKuchas were not themed, allowing the audience to see a huge diversity of presentations. In Vancouver, a single PechaKucha event has jumped from skateboarding to city design. 

“It is a lot about community building,” Cox said. 

Cox said he believes the PechaKuchas have helped spur a cultural awareness in Vancouver. Before 2004, the city was typically viewed under the light of its tourism brand. Nowadays, people have dug deeper, exploring what kind of community they want to live in, Cox said. 

Squamish’s PechaKucha runs from 5 to 9 p.m. at O’Siyam Pavilion Park. The event is being plugged as a car-free evening, with participants invited to walk, bike or bus to Cleveland Avenue. The night will also include musical guests The Hairfarmers and street performers Ta Daa Lady. 

The PechaKucha speaking list includes Lisa Princic, Colin Boguski, Mario Gomez, Stephanie Hayes, Christine McLeod and Susan Chapelle. The PechaKucha is themed around innovation, collaboration and community, said Shannon Lorenz, who is organizing the event on behalf of the District of Squamish.

Chapelle will speak about building healthy communities. Princic will talk about resilient communities and McLeod is touching on the culture of service. 

Lorenz said she hopes this event will be the beginning of a conversation regarding the community’s future. Squamish is in the middle of a transition and the PechaKucha can serve as a starting point for discussions, she noted.

“I am really excited to see innovative people speak about their passions.”