Pecha Kucha Night
By Lauren Verdi
What a night of seeing the hidden talents within the city of Charleston unveiled.
While walking from the Gaillard Auditorium parking garage to the grassy area set up for the 3rd installment of Pecha Kucha I was pondering what to expect of the event. After making my way to the lawn I discovered this was a very relaxed and laid back atmosphere that was very inviting. As I scanned for anyone I recognized from the “Cogheads team” I noticed everyone had chairs set up or blankets laid out staking out their spot to watch from for the evening. There was a huge crowd of over 400 people. I had no idea this event was in such high demand. I was in awe when I discovered it takes place in more than 200 cities, and that tonight it was in our beloved downtown Charleston.
PKN View in Charleston
Through some prior research and an explanation at the beginning I learned that the words Pecha Kucha actually mean “chit chat” in Japanese. Each presenter would only be allowed to show 20 images for 20 seconds each. They were to be done in a PowerPoint presentation, and their total timeframe for presenting had to be six minutes and 40 seconds.
There was a diverse group of people presenting. Presenters included: multimedia artist Kevin Hoth, from Charleston Conservation League Josh Martin, Chef Iverson Brownell, founder and dancer Julia Jaskwhich of Buen Ache Afro- Latino Dance Company, architect Jane Fredrick, and skateboarder and founder of Pour It Now Ryan Cockrell.
Iverson Brownell
He was able to hold my attention and keep me genuinely interested. This might be because I have a love for food and anything to do with it. He showed motivating photographs of places or objects that gave him inspiration for the food plates he created. He showed a picture of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Brownell emphasized on the strength and shape of the columns. He imitated the features of the columns by using potatoes that he shredded and rolled up into a cylindrical form. He then deep fried it for the potato shreds to hold and stay together. It wanted them to be strong and secure like the Acropolis building he was trying to emulate. I really enjoyed listening to him, although I and many in the audience commented that we wished he had brought samples.
http://pechakuchacharleston.com/
Categories: Networking Events
