Two Saturdays ago I got to experience one of the neatest presentation showcases I’ve ever seen. Part toastmasters, part TED conference, part open mic-esque, this evening was chock full of fun, enlightenment, and inspiration. Pronounced, pashawkashaw, PechaKucha is a strict power-point timed speech that can be on anything or everything. Here are the highlights:
John Rife, with the upcoming East End Market in Audubon Park talked about eating local and artisan. Not just with his store, but always, as it promotes the local economy and just tastes really good.
A mermaid who had never spoken in public before, did a really great job talking about her life as a mermaid and her experiences at Weeki Wachee Springs. It made me remember all of the stories I heard from my Mom’s best friend who used to be a mermaid there back in the ’60s.
Jesse Bradley, a local writer, spoke about learning from failure and gave a tutorial on how to be an independent writer. His quote of the day was, “Failure is the greatest tool we have, as long as you continue to learn from it.” IHeartFailure.net
Evan Miga talked about how the greatest person he knows is his pomeranian, the star of Dog-Powered Robot.
Jose Fajardo, former CEO of WMFE, spoke of how he killed Sesame Street and Mozart. “Being a non-profit does not give you the permission to lose money.” He gave advice for making hard decisions like what he had to: numbers do not lie; don’t let emotions get in the way; you cannot just wish bad things away; to implement change, you need courage; have a plan; don’t expect a white knight to show up and fix things short-term and expect things to stay fixed; have confidence in your decision; and, don’t let negative decisions get to you. Very insightful.
Curtis Michelson discussed lynchings of the early to mid-1900’s and their impact on communities and present race relations. He’s working on a project right now to help provide closure to a family where a poor man from Ocoee was lynched in downtown Orlando. OscarMackProject.com
Mike Gerlach talked about his volunteerism with Outreach Love, a wonderful organization that helps tutor youth in Orlando that may need a little more help than mentorship than the average kid. A little love can go a long way…
There were a few other speakers that ranged from a girl who discussed her path to smelldom, another about her path to understanding the lies we tell ourselves, and another asthmatic who persevered through her disability in order to get through a Savage Race.
I can’t wait to see the next one at the Fringe Festival this May!
Patti is still learning 