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| Screen Capture from PechaKucha web site |
I did a small version in front of 50 people that was just as stressful (Mine was about my artistic ability that could have been more focused instead of adding my education). The trick is to be interesting and have a focused theme to your presentation. Regardless if your presentation is fantastic or not, the crowd always claps and cheers. Nothing is worse than standing in front of a crowd and be engaging and entertaining.
I have seen good ones and fair ones; I hail the presenters for standing there and talking to strangers about their passion, business and artistic prowess. One of my favorite venue was in the Warehouse District’s Hoyt block on West 6 in an architectural hideaway - first event in ten years. I remember one guy talked about printing and Thomas Mulready of CoolCleveland delivered the best presentation. It was several years ago and I still remember his confident delivery. I was blown away as I listened among the discarded boulders, and broken-down seating. That was my first one.
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s atrium is a stellar place to have PechaKucha because it holds thousands of people. It always brings in the crowds for whatever reason. Currently, the atrium has the Ai Weiwei Zodiac heads (huge bronze sculptures of the Chinese cyclical year) that is a wonderful backdrop. Moreover, your slides are viewed high above the audience on the old 1916 building – how cool is that? There isn’t a bad place where one can’t hear or see the slides.
Since I was volunteering, I was only able to see two presenters. Tom Lix from Cleveland Whiskey showed his new business venture – brewing whiskey in Cleveland. He said that Cleveland is the perfect place to start a business. Yeah! He boasted that he was selling 1000 bottles of whiskey when he first began shipping the product; now, it’s well beyond that. Moreover, Cleveland Whiskey will be selling a Christmas flavor that is currently being shipped. What I liked about Tom’s presentation: the photos with the fermentation tanks; his staff wearing Christmas hats that were eagerly packing the Christmas whiskey; and the product itself, a beautiful clear bottle with “Cleveland” typography printed vertically (I always notice graphically pleasing products); Tom exhibited humor when his slides didn’t coordinate exactly with what he was saying. He spoke casually and his passion was easily seen how much whiskey and Cleveland means to him.
Next, Jack Ricchiuto spoke about the meaning of happiness. One statistic struck me, Harvard graduates achieving professional success as it turns out, a good percentage weren’t happy. As Jack spoke, I thought what makes me happy. Obviously having money adds to the ability to afford things that can make you happy. For me that would be the ability to travel and spend money on frivolous stuff – an avant-garde, one-of-a-kind outfit, for example. However, I’ve also found out that you don’t have to spend much money to be creative and essentially be happy.
My joys as I’ve expressed on many blog posts stems from being in my garden and knowing how to grow flowers, plants and have a thriving garden. Many times I’ve planted a dried up plant that I didn’t know would survive. I’ll never forget, I bought this plant from Aldi’s consisting of two long sticks where the leaves had fallen off. Furthermore, it sat idle for the longest time; I firmly believed it was dead. My neighbor said, “Oh, just give it time, it’ll grow.” I’ll be damned; this plant not only survived but I have to trim it three times a year because it won’t stop growing. It is those little things that gives me purpose.
Volunteering at the homeless shelter’s computer lab where I can “make someone’s day” by being friendly and caring. Many times I have “topics of the day” where I get residents to discuss current events – what’s important to them. I believe that it gives them a few minutes to “forget” where they are and focus on something else.
Lastly, I enjoy attending events where I can be myself and meet new people. Interestingly, I am an introvert but I do get my energy by being with people for a short time. Hence, that is why I am currently volunteering at the Cleveland Museum of Art not listening to the majority of the presentations; I’m busy making sure visitors find what they’re looking for and just being friendly.
As a friend of mine eloquently stated, “When you are on your deathbed, the last thing on your mind is work!”
PechaKucha at Hoyt Block
http://www.pechakucha.org/cities/cleveland/events/50b3ff71f3b43bdb0b0006d4
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