In consuming anything, there are those who prefer a large helping of one thing and those who delight in a little taste of many items; switching teams can be as easy as switching tables. Picking up on the current desire for information in easily digestible bits, organizers of Pecha Kucha Ottawa offered its audience 10 portions on March 31.

The format of Pecha Kucha is simple: each presenter gets 400 seconds to talk as 20 images of their choosing are projected on a screen. The subjects are open-ended. As long as there is some creativity and passion involved, anything is fair game: art, music, design, travel, whatever. These speed presentations have been bouncing around since the 1970s using various names; even the Canadian Conference of the Arts will copy the style when it holds it national conference in Ottawa in November.

The concise delivery is attractive in its efficiency to grab and hold attention. Thoughts must be organized, words succinct, images powerful. No wonder businesses today use it in their presentations. And that brought up the first concern about what the second Ottawa Pecha Kucha evening would be like. Might not the business sensibility take over and the captive audience becomes faced with 10 sales pitches? The second concern is how to find people who not only have passionate experience, but can convey it in an accessible presentation.

Is this an evening of learning or entertainment, and does this matter if the stimulation quotient is high enough? This event is still young, and the curve for people’s attention gets steeper all the time.  For sure the audience will be exposed to different ways of seeing things, and that was my attitude when I sat down in a plush seat in Arts Court’s Theatre.

Jackson Couse – Jane’s Walk

1         Obviously loves his Somerset Street Chinatown community and wants to share the good parts, such as beloved business owners and street play.

2         Didn’t really learn anything new, especially about the value of walking one’s own neighbourhood.

Jean-Francois Bertrand – Townsmiths

3         A talented ornamental metal worker, but this was simply a sales pitch. Surprised he didn’t hand out business

Bird Project. Photo by Sally Lee Sheeks

cards.

5         She really got across how her bird project evolved, and I definitely want to see the finished product in Gatineau in late April.

Andrew Plumb – Makerbot 3D Printer

6         Another passionate presentation, but it was so technical it went right over my head. Lots of blank stares around the room.

Louis Carron – Mount Kilimanjaro climb

7         A travelogue in French and quite boring, according to my bilingual companion. If you can’t make something this exotic exciting, leave it in your living room.

Denis Pettigrew: "How did Gaudi convince people to agree to this?"

Denis A. Pettigrew – Designer

8         A lover of big art that is connected to the outside of buildings. His opinions are so simple and yet so insightful.

9         “The more of this art in a city, the less people end up in hospital.”

10      His images show how thinking laterally can add life, and fun, to a city.

11      When the City of Ottawa next hires an urban designer, will they please choose this guy!

Chantal Ringuet – Poet

12       Her poetry had a nice cadence. Wish I could understand French.

13       Pecha Kucha is not a place for poetry.

Christopher Redmond – Burundi Film Center

14     Very interesting project, but soon lapsed into a solicitation for money.

Andrew Beeves – Linebox Studio

15     Architect who tries to make his “design fit an owner’s artistic sensibility” and yet has all his buildings look like they fell out of a Lego box. Tell me why this happens.

Yves Steinhauer – Marlyn’s Boys

16     A former member of a manufactured German boy-band. What great potential, but ends up as High School Confidential.

17     Shouldn’t a look inside any manufacturing system tell us how and why that system operates?

Note to organizers:

18     The event should be monolingual. Two languages hampers continuity, like listening to eight bars of Chopin on a piano and the next eight on a trumpet.

19     Twenty-five minute intermission after 25 minutes of presentation. Is this really necessary?

20     Perhaps these events should be themed or at least aimed at a common denominator.

Pecha Kucha is a fantastic idea. Once its wrinkles get ironed out and presenters understand the real potential of this format, it will have to move to a much larger theatre.