Champaign-Urbana is having its PechaKucha Night Vol. 4 tonight (July 30), so to put you in the mood here’s a look at this past April’s Vol. 3, courtesy of organizer Christina Tapp.

Third time’s a charm! Champaign-Urbana’s PechaKucha Night Vol. 3 was held in April at the ever-so-accommodating Canopy Club. The anticipated event, held during our annual Boneyard Arts Festival, featured local spinner DJ Mertz and boasted over 350 people.

Environment designer and rockin’ emcee Andy Warfel jumpstarted the show into high gear and kept it rolling along with his trademark laid-back humor.

1. Our first presenter, Thorsten Bösch (who also happens to be, ahem, one of the PKN Chicago co-organizers) started off the night with interactive, collaborative light painting.

2. Artist, mural painter, educator, and curator Glen Davies talked about his travels with circuses and carnivals, as well as his exhibits in museums and galleries across the country.

3. Fishing With Dynamite presented on being Champaign-Urbana’s only professional comedy troupe. Best of all? They also provided hilarious entertainment for the after party!

4. Kevin Coulton, co-founder of software and trans-media design start-up Doomlaser, talked about the relationship between graphic arts and mathematics.

5. Songwriter Paul Kotheimer sang two songs—including the ever-popular “31 True Facts About My Girlfriend”—and discussed his music label Hand Made Records.

6. Andy Borbely discussed his journey from Ivy Leaguer to bar manager to whiskey connoisseur, providing his special libations at the bar (mmmmm!).

7. Joel Gillespie, representing Champaign-Urbana’s Bike Project, presented on how the organization educates and empowers the community with a welcoming space for bike repair, maintenance, and safety.

8. Architect Stewart Hicks showed us the way he thinks about the design of building and spaces—mixing the real and imaginary, combining existing structure with high-concept modern additions to create buildings that are works of art in their own right.

9. Chocophile Daniel Schreiber talked about his company, Flatlander Chocolate (one of only a handful of bean-to-bar chocolate companies in the U.S.) and discussed how eating chocolate should be treated as an event, just like sipping wine (or whiskey!).

10. Special guest presenter and fashion designer Ping Wu (from Project Runway) flew in from New York to talk about fulfilling her dream as a designer—and how her friends in Champaign-Urbana helped to foster that dream.

11. Entrepreneurial mastermind Matt Gornick discussed his commitment to building solutions based on what customers really want.

12. Sculptor—and aspiring naturalist—Chris Berti discussed ways he finds the beauty in the not-so-obvious aspects of nature and art.

Just wait until PKN Vol. 4—it’s an outdoor event, taking place OUTSIDE at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, July 30!

Photographs by Wallo Villacorta and Thorsten Bösch.

PechaKucha Night in Pordenone Vol. 4 is coming in just over a month, set to happen on September 4 at the Fiera di Pordenone. You’ll find the full list of presenters with links on the official event page.

The presentation will probably go online, but in the meantime you can get a peek at some of the cool projects from Tokyo-based design/architecture firm BAKOKO’s in this Flickr photoset, presented by Alastair Townsend at Wednesday’s PechaKucha Night in Tokyo Vol. 75. We’re in absolute love with the flat-pack temporary cafe concept you see pictured above.

And if you’re wondering why no new presentation has gone up on the site for a week or so, it’s because the person in charge of preparing them for the online PechaKucha player has had computer issues (i.e. it’s dead), and is currently working on something that can’t handle all that editing very well. Presentations will hopefully start popping up on the site again soon enough though.

PechaKucha Night in Bucaramanga Vol. 3 will be held August 10 at the Sala de Exposiciones Jorge Mantilla Caballero. We’re loving the seated individuals found on the flyer.

We’ve already mentioned the terrific venue, but here’s also a look at the flyer (one side) for Friday’s (July 30) PechaKucha Night in Cleveland Vol. 8.

PechaKucha Night in Cleveland Vol. 8 happens this Friday (July 30), and it’s taking place in the the courtyard you see pictured above, which is located in downtown Cleveland. From co-organizer Michael Christoff:

Not only do we have another great set of presenters, but we are shooting for the stars with our FIRST ever PechaKucha Night event outdoors. As if that wasn’t stressful enough, we are doing it in an amazing courtyard in the middle of Downtown Cleveland, that hasn’t been open for more than 12 years! The building owner has been incredibly supportive, and we are getting an incredible response from the local design community here.

Should make for an amazing ambiance, and here’s another look at the courtyard below (photos are courtesy of Flique Creative). And be sure to check the official event page for the list of presenters and links.

Rebecca Swan // Visual Artist // Rebecca Swan discusses the ‘C’ word // www.rebeccaswan.com