PIttsburg State holds first Pecha-Kucha Night

There will be lots of stories told at Pittsburg State University's first Pecha-Kucha Night. The event, scheduled for 7:20 p.m. today (Tuesday, April 5) in the U-Club in the Overman Student Center, is an opportunity for students, faculty and community members to tell their own unique stories, whatever they may be.

Mark Johnson, a member of the faculty in the Department of Technology and Workforce Learning, said Pecha-Kucha, which is Japanese for "chit chat," may be the event's biggest hurdle.

"In a nutshell," Johnson said, "Pecha-Kucha events are a free-flow exchange of ideas in a public setting. It is all about storytelling. Participants put together a set of 20 PowerPoint slides and tell their story."

The slides change every 20 seconds, so each participant has a total of six minutes and 40 seconds to tell his or her story.

The stories can be as varied as international trips, research topics, how to use social media or a new art project. A break for refreshments in the middle of the evening for also provides time for socializing, organizers said.

Pecha-Kucha nights originated in Tokyo when Dutch architects created the concept.

Since that first event, more than 360 cities around the world have hosted them. PSU became a licensed site for PKNs in January and organizers say this week's event is just the first of four planned for the year.

The early response has been good, with more than a dozen people signing up to participate.

For information, contact Johnson at (620) 235-4628, mjohnson@pittstate.edu.