Charleston’s top creatives are invited to present at Pecha Kucha and on June 27, 2012, College of Charleston alumni were among the presenters. Cyrus Buffum ’06, Andrew Walker ’08, and Erin Perkins ’08 M.P.A. talked about Charleston as a creative hub in front of the sold-out audience.
Pecha Kucha, Japanese for the sound of conversation, is a mix of show-and-tell and open-mike night that has become a forum for ideas on design, architecture and other forms of creativity. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for just 20 seconds, giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. Charleston is one of 135 cities across the nation to offer Pecha Kucha nights.
Cyrus Buffum ’06 explained how to be a gangster, since gangsters thinks anything they come up with is possible. Buffum is the founder and executive director of Charleston Waterkeeper, a data-driven nonprofit organization committed to protecting Charleston’s right to swimmable, drinkable, fishable water. In response to the 2010 BP oil disaster, Buffum founded Save Our Gulf, a campaign highlighting the efforts of the Gulf-based Waterkeeper organizations fighting on the front lines to protect their communities’ right to clean water. The campaign garnered international support from TEVA, Grooveshark, and Band of Horses. Shortly thereafter, Buffum was selected as one of the top five finalists of GQ’s Better Men Better World search. Watch Buffum’s presentation.
Erin Perkins ’08 M.P.A., art director for the College’s Division of Marketing and Communications, talked about Charleston as a place for young, creative entrepreneurs. She related that to her 80-hour work week at the College, as a fashion designer, blogger, high profile tweeter, and waitress. Watch Perkins’ presentation here.
Andrew Walker ’08 talked about Charleston’s music scene and the opportunities it holds. Walker graduated with a degree in music and composition and a healthy catalogue of self-produced, self-promoted, and self-directed concerts and special events. Through these events, he worked in collaboration with an impressive list of talents, Christopher O’Riley, included. He founded Entropy Ensemble, an instrumental group with a national tour under its belt; Entropy Arts, a special events and performing arts company; JAILBREAK, the local and biannual arts festival held at the Old City Jail, and has held the title of Executive Director of a downtown performing arts venue. Watch a video of Walker’s presentation here.
Computer science professor Chris Starr also presented at Pecha Kucha in October 2011. Watch his presentation here.
The computer science department has been very involved with Pecha Kucha and Parliament Charleston since its beginning and actually uses the Pecha Kucha format for introducing research and teaching students. Additionally, computer in the arts majors run the computer technology at all Pecha Kucha events and have the opportunity to meet professionals in industries that may be of interest to them.
Arts management students at the College of Charleston are also familiar with the concept as they create their own Pecha Kuchas for the Understanding Creativity course.
