Pecha Kucha Night hits Edmonton once again

By Tyler Grant

GLENORA — A crowd of mostly 20 and 30-somethings listened to a slew of presenters speak about their ideas for the city’s future at the Royal Alberta Museum on Friday.

Don Iveson, Edmonton city councillor and council liaison for event host Next Gen, said he “came for the ideas and found it inspirational.”

The overwhelming theme throughout the night was a sense of community.

“Inspiration is a part of what holds communities together, so that’s what I think is one of the key strengths of this event,” said Iveson. “It primes a lot of discussion, creates a desire for people to want to connect independently, follow up with each other, learn about what other people are doing, and then to come again to the next Pecha Kucha Night and it creates a sense of community from it.”

Researcher, PhD candidate, and world traveller, Joseph Ahorro, spread his idea of cosmopolitanism.

“It’s this broad concept of trying to find community amongst all human beings regardless of their social background, their political affiliation, or their economic status,” he said. “It’s also lending yourself to new ideas, new experiences, different values, but at the same time trying to find some commonality amongst this difference.”

Ahorro’s ideas were compelling enough to cause Fish Griwkowsy to say: “That almost made me cry.”

It wasn’t just Ahorro’s words that moved people.

Edmonton blogger, Mack Male, stressed the importance of maintaining our digital archive.

“The website for this great event our city held last November- the Grey Cup- was quietly taken off-line in January,” said Male. “Now, when you type in the address, it takes you to the Eskimos website.”

Some people may not think twice about losing this piece of on-line history, but to Male, it’s part of the city.

The next Pecha Kucha Night in Edmonton is scheduled for June and will be held at the Alberta Aviation Museum.