Pecha Kucha was born after Dytham and Klein created an underutilized event space called SuperDeluxe and needed a way to fill it (and an excuse for Dytham to show slides of his trip to Costa Rica). They now serve as roving ambassadors, visiting—and presenting at—Pecha Kuchas whenever they travel for business. In some cities, organizers look for architecturally significant spaces in which to hold the events. New York Pecha Kuchas have filled a beer garden in Queens, a church in the East Village, and a disco. One London Pecha Kucha was held at the Tate Modern.

Klein and Dytham have produced a book documenting the early days of Pecha Kucha (available at klein-dytham.com). They say that aside from book sales they make no money from Pecha Kucha, to which they devote several hours every morning. (“I try to remember that I have a day job,” Dytham says.) Their biggest problem is keeping a modicum of control over Pecha Kucha’s global growth spurt—at present, Dytham says, there are 80 new cities in the works, which means “we’ll be at 200 by the end of the year.” Often, they say, they have to choose between five or six aspiring organizers in a single city. This has led them to develop a formal application process. They are also developing software that will make Pecha Kucha presentations available online. Of course it makes sense to make the performances—which are often witty, thought-provoking, and just plain beautiful—available to a wider audience. But something may be lost. As Dytham points out, “We’ve created a global network that’s live.” In an era when people spend all day alone, looking at screens, that’s worth the price of $3, a cab ride, and a beer.

Pecha Kucha: pecha-kucha.org "Hooked on Speed" originally appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of Culture+Travel. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Culture+Travel's Fall 2008 Table of Contents.