PechaKucha Night gives voice to communities that engender creativity, be it through the various mediums of art, music, design, storytelling, architecture, or philosophy. It was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 by Klein Dytham Architecture as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world. Springfield is PechaKucha’s latest stop. Come see what the cult phenomena is all about as we provide prominent and emerging creative minds in this community with a forum to bounce their ideas off of one another!

Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, PechaKucha rests on a simple and concise presentation format that keeps ideas moving at a rapid pace. Presenters have 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide to present their material. That makes for 6 minutes and 40 seconds of edifying entertainment. Despite the stuffy “presentation” moniker, PechaKucha’s atmosphere is casual and lax. The idea is to come away from the event with a greater perspective and richer ideas, but most importantly, to enjoy oneself in the process.

It’s time to inspire and be inspired. Springfield, meet PechaKucha.

History

Founder Amanda Taylor Snelson started PechaKucha Springfield by connecting diverse communities through the common desire to inspire creativity. A graduate of Drury University and project associate at Dake Wells Architecture, Amanda used her involvement in the Springfield Foundation for Architecture, Habitat for Humanity, Architecture for Humanity, and Women in Design to engage presenters for seven PechaKucha Nights starting early in 2011. For her work developing PechaKucha Springfield and other community programs, in 2012 Amanda was awarded the prestigious “20 under 30 Award” by 417 Magazine.

In September 2012, Amanda and her husband moved to California to continue their education and professional careers, passing the PechaKucha torch to LemonDrop and RuBert Studios. Pam RuBert signed the next agreement with PechaKucha International based in Toyko to be head organizer for PechaKucha Springfield.

LemonDrop is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization located on Springfield’s historical C-street whose mission is focused on building the local arts community. The executive director is Meganne Rosen O’Neal and creative director is Alex McLain. RuBert Studios is a sculpture and art studio where principals Russ and Pam RuBert also work with many community organizations to empower artists.

Interesting being Involved?

PechaKucha Night happens quarterly, and we are always open to new ideas for presentations or venues. If you think you would like to make a presentation, please attend an event live to to see what it’s all about and to meet some of the folks involved locally. There are also many great presentations on the PeckaKucha international website you can watch. Then let us know who you are and what you’d like to talk about.

If you are interesting in working with the people who make events happen, let us know! There are many aspects including poster design, publicity, setting up an event space and being around on PechaKucha Night to help with photography, video, sound, lighting, serving wine, and greeting newcomers.

For more information, please contact Meganne Rosen O’Neal or Pam RuBert