by Nina Lesiga and Bill Derry
© 2018
On May 9th, 2018, at the historic PT Barnum Museum, a new story village was born. It had 14 story sharers and a full house of audience listeners. There was laughter, surprise, delight and a few tears. Each story was exactly 400 seconds, a total of six minutes and 40 seconds.
Conceptually the timing might be perceived as restrictive. It is. The time limit is a challenge that stimulates creativity in crafting and delivery. Each teller speaks with 20 images they have selected, shown for 20 seconds each. The images contribute to content, context, clarity, and conciseness, providing an exciting rhythm and vibe.
People spoke from the heart and their passions were met with palpable energy in the room. Many of the stories were being shared for the first time. The stories sparked new connections, and ideas, helping those present grow as a community across disciplines, geographies, and cultures.
Presenting was a leap out of the comfort zone. There was an extra step in each story’s preparation – in order to work out the timing of the delivery with the projected images.
At this inaugural event, there were stories about photography, film, spoken word, written word, visual arts, culinary arts, music and theatre arts. There were first-hand accounts of challenges and discoveries about oneself, family, and community.
So, what’s with the name PechaKucha? It sounds pretty exotic and hip, because it is. It’s Japanese and loosely translates to “Chit Chat.” PechaKucha Nights are now held in over 1000 cities worldwide. It’s an opportunity to feel the pulse of a town and to minimize the importance of digital devices while emphasizing person-to-person interactions.
In Japan, PechaKucha’s introduction was an experiment to explore new ways of sharing design ideas among architects. It was a major success and its adoption went viral with the help of its founders, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein-Dytham Architects.
But how did it end up launching in Bridgeport, CT?
A few sparks, a chance meeting, and connecting the dots
Bill Derry, an educator and consultant, former director of innovation at the Westport Library in Connecticut, discovered PechaKucha at a library conference and was inspired to establish one locally. Nina Lesiga, an artist, discovered PechaKucha at an event in New Haven, CT. Like Bill, her experiencing a live PechaKucha turned into a call to action.
Bill and Nina crossed paths for the first time at a Barnum Museum event and somehow PechaKucha came up in their brief conversation. Learning about each other’s passion for PechaKucha, they agreed to collaborate and they co-produced a Westport Library PechaKucha event.
Bill retired soon after and volunteered to work with kids at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, CT. John Swing, assistant director and COO of the Barnum Museum had been to the Westport Library PechaKucha and saw the potential P.T. Barnum connection. John knew that Barnum loved unique personal stories and would love the idea of bringing the Bridgeport community together around storytelling.
Bill reached out to Nina Lesiga and John reached out to Lauren Coakley-Vincent, president of Bridgeport’s Downtown Special Services District, and City Lights Gallery director, Suzanne Kachmar. Planning began to develop a PechaKucha Bridgeport.
Increasing the awareness about PechaKucha was critical in recruiting speakers and developing an audience. Nina and Bill appeared on local radio station WPKN’s “The State of the ARTS” program with hosts Richard Pheneger & Peggy Nelson.
Two “How to PechaKucha” workshops were held at the Barnum Museum and streamed on Facebook Live. People attended in person and virtually. Interested tellers submitted story pitches and the co-organizers tapped into their personal networks and beyond. We aligned the first event, referred to as Volume 1, with the P. T. Barnum theme: “The noblest art is that of making others happy!”
An event poster was created, and we promoted the event through email blasts, Facebook, community calendars, and a press release. We offered coaching to the teller volunteers and published their bios on the PechaKucha Bridgeport website. We reached out to the New Haven, CT PechaKucha organizers to support their efforts and to kick start collaborations.
At PechaKucha Bridgeport Night, our emcee was Kathleen Maher, the director of the Barnum Museum. We had 14 tellers with seven before a networking break and seven tellers after. Our audience was supportive, excited, and engaged with seemingly effortless conversations flowing at the break and before and after the event.
Speakers were recorded live and published on the Pechakucha Bridgeport website. You can enjoy the stories at
https://www.pechakucha.org/cities/bridgeport/events/5a935d7a3c70efad7400010d
Our next PechaKucha Bridgeport event will be on 9/12/18 at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, CT. If you’d like to pitch a story, please use the PechaKucha Bridgeport Night proposal form:
https://goo.gl/forms/hO28OKNk2hCWYRzn2
If you have any questions or comments, please write us at pkbridgeport@gmail.com or call John Swing at the Barnum Museum at (203) 331-1104 X100.
About Nina Lesiga and Bill Derry:
Nina Lesiga is an Artist with a passion for expressing the art of exceptional experience. Following a 30 year career as a chemist, she re-invented herself as a performer. Nina tells true life stories of uncommon adventure. She facilitates workshops about adventure travel, storytelling, ukulele and employee engagement. Nina blogs about her experiences at www.gottatravelsolo.com.
Bill Derry most recently worked as Assistant Director for User Experience and Innovation at The Westport Library in Connecticut. He was the co-chair of the Westport Mini Maker Faire and one of the leaders of the creation of the Westport Library MakerSpace. Prior to joining the Westport Library in 2011, Bill worked in education for over 30 years as an elementary classroom teacher, drama-in-education teacher, library media specialist, district supervisor of library media and information and technology literacy coordinator K-12. Currently he is leading workshops and presenting on the transformative power of play, imagination, and making.
