A Japanese-style event for speakers is drawing big crowds in Batavia.
The events are called PechaKucha, which is Japanese for chit-chat. Different speakers talk for six minutes and 40 seconds each as 20 slides are projected on a large screen for 20 seconds each.
Started in Tokyo more than 15 years ago, today PechaKucha events can be found in thousands of cities across the world, organizers said.
In the Fox Valley area, since October 2015, Batavia PechaKucha nights have been held quarterly at the Batavia VFW, based on a partnership with the Batavia Public Library.
At a recent event that drew more than 200 people, Scott Tipping took part by speaking about the history of the Leland Bluebird recording sessions in the 1930s in Aurora.
Tipping said the event was great because he wanted to share Aurora’s blues history with others, because he feels many don’t know that “some of the most famous Blues songs of the era were recorded in Aurora.”
“This is on my mind a lot,” he added.
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Tipping’s presentation was followed by one by Batavia 12-year-old Lola Virelli, who spoke on the subject of “Kids These Days.”
Virelli had already done PechaKucha talks as part of a school assignment.
She told the crowd during her talk that some may wonder over her qualifications to speak to such a large group since she is “just too young and not qualified.”
Virelli went on to share the essence of PechaKucha.
“Here is the secret — none of us are. We are all just regular citizens with a story to tell to the world,” she said.
Virelli was followed by retired Aurora firefighter Tim Bradley, who spoke about the benefits of salt therapy.
As an owner of a Himalayan salt cave in Batavia, Bradley told the crowd “salt is the one mineral you can’t live without.”
Other speakers talked about tree climbing, breathing and empathy.
Batavia Public Library Director George H. Scheetz said that “an architectural firm in Japan came up with the idea (of PechaKucha nights) because they recognized that people had great things to say but they took too long to say them — which is true of us all.”
He confessed topics often “are all over the place” at the event.
“The best presentations are when someone is talking about something they are passionate about,” he said.
Scheetz said that one of the talks given at an event in Batavia was done by the music director at Mooseheart.
“We thought he was going to talk about music. Instead, he talked about adopting his children,” he said. “People were crying. That happens a lot.”
The Batavia PechaKucha meets quarterly in May, August, November and February. Food and drinks are available for purchase and there is a $5 admission fee.
Per the standards of the founding PechaKucha group, Scheetz said they have certain rules on how the event is run.
For example, they insist the break halfway through the program is called a “beer break,” he said.
Scheetz discovered PechaKucha in Champaign after reading about it in a newspaper and brought it to the Fox Valley area.
“The exciting thing is it brings together people of all ages,” he said. “The best part to me is to get people together to talk and to listen, engage with one another.”
“I feel we are touching on something,” he added. “We are touching the social aspect of the human. People are coming to hear people talk live about something they are passionate about. How often do we do that anymore?”
For more information, got to https://www.pechakucha.org/cities/batavia.