Last Tuesday we joined other creative types to chit chatter about our initiatives at the relaunch of Pecha Kucha #4 in Ottawa. The theme for the night was “creative city-making” and the idea that instead of a top-down approach, a city can be made from the ground-level, in an organic and self-organized way.
We were honoured to be presenting beside an inspiring lineup of 7 other people who have helped to define and increase the creative potential of “the town that fun forgot”.
Our presentation was titled “DIYing Creative Cities” and we spoke to how Spins & Needles was started in response to looking for something different in Ottawa’s arts and cultural scene, the events we’ve thrown in other cities in Canada and internationally, our challenges as an indie event, and our plans for the future.
We also spoke briefly about what we’ve learned producing this event. We didn’t state this directly in our presentation, but the three takeaways in it were:
- Take risks, be open, look for opportunities, be nimble and flexible – you never know what creative idea might work out for you;
- Collaborate and partner up with like-minded organizations – you can achieve more than individually and as an indie event that travels, it makes touring easier; and
- Tap into your networks – most people are willing to share resources, contacts.
Other presenters talked about the launch of their new national magazine (Guerilla Magazine, Tony Martins); the development of one of Ottawa’s most comprehensive and loved indie blogs on arts and cultural events in the city (Apt613, Francois Levesque); the call out to creative people in Ottawa to consider a $1,000 microgrant to help them with their project (Awesome Ottawa, Greg Jack); a challenge put to the audience and Ottawa-ns to select a font that best describes the city (Ottawa Creative Collective, Steve St-Pierre); the ideas behind the curator for Ottawa’s first Nuit Blanche (Nuit Blanche Ottawa, Stefan St-Laurent); the ideas behind the current curator at the Ottawa Art Gallery (Ottawa Art Gallery, Ola Wlusek), and designing a rail map for the city (Adam Bentley and Evan Thornton).
If you missed the event, head over to Twitter and seach the hashtag #pknott for tweets from Pecha Kucha Ottawa, attendees, and speakers. Also the organizers plan to host PK Ottawa more regularly over the coming year. If you’ve got an idea for a presentation get in touch with them or send them a tweet.
Thanks to the Pecha Kucha Ottawa team (Remco Volmer and Luc Lalande) for organizing the event!
