Get Galvanized

I took a ride on the Metro to Los Angeles on Saturday and did my first Pecha Kucha presentation at the L.A. Beyond Cars exhibit Downtown. But that is not the beginning or the end of the story.

Pecha Kucha is a 20×20 presentation style that originated in Japan as a way for architects to share project ideas efficiently. Basically you have 20 images that stay on the projector for 20 seconds each and your presentation is centered around these images.

I found out about Pecha Kucha in the Toastmasters magazine. I was intrigued by the idea so I went to the Pecha Kucha website. That intrigued me further. I decided I must do a Pecha Kucha so I contacted the representatives from Los Angeles and Orange County and expressed my interest in presenting at an upcoming event.

Mind you, I had never done a Pecha Kucha and the only experience I had of it was seeing a video on the internet. But my Toastmasters involvement has helped build my confidence to the point that I was able to take the plunge and trust that I could do it.

Nevertheless, I was nervous. Sure, I can now present comfortably to my fellow Agape Toastmasters and the students at Long Beach City College but I had never presented in Los Angeles and I had never presented a Pecha Kucha and I had no idea who would be in attendance, I only knew that there would probably be some architects and urban planners.

For example, James Rojas is the RailLA station design workshop co-chair and he was there. He’s the artist who developed a system of urban play with models. His work brings big smiles to children’s faces in urban neighborhoods when he shows up with his portable play shop. You can see his city made of Legos and hair curlers if you watch the video on YouTube.

I’m proud to say I showed up in Los Angeles and did my presentation. Though I will admit, I almost wanted to bail on it. In fact, I e-mailed the coordinator of the event just two days prior and told him I wasn’t sure if my images were going to work and I didn’t have time to fix them all. He assured me my images were probably fine and even offered to check them out for me.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I would have stuck to my guns if it hadn’t been for the fact that I told all my Master Mind partners and everyone at Agape Toastmasters that I was going to do this. I couldn’t bear the thought of showing up to see Ty and the Savvy Soul Sisters on Monday night only to tell them I cancelled my Pecha Kucha. It’s true, my ego couldn’t take a blow like that right now. So, I garnered my husband’s moral support and we got on the train together and took the ride to Los Angeles and my first Pecha Kucha.

Not only did I get my husband’s moral support, but I also got him to document the events of the journey on my FlipVideo camera. So, above is a little video montage of the adventure. You’ll see our trip on the Metro from Long Beach to Los Angeles, a little bit of the L.A. Beyond Cars exhibit and a portion of my Pecha Kucha, which included highlights from Long Beach Funk Fest and some of my fun times as a skater and Fresh Meat member of the L.A. Derby Dolls. Once I got my skate legs back (thanks to the Derby Dolls), I was able to be more adventurous about skating in my own neighborhood and at public events such as the Doo Dah Parade and the Long Beach Pride Parade.

In the beginning of the video you’ll see me driving in my car to the Beyond Cars exhibition but I was only in my car long enough to get to the Metro station in Long Beach where I would park my car and get on the train to Los Angeles. I enjoyed the trip, I hope you enjoy the video.

Don’t hold back.

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The event was put on by railla.org

The evening line up was:

Erik Alden

Paul Davis

Hong Joo Kim, a Master of Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Furthermore he is a has taught, lectured and critiqued at Harvard University, University of California at Irvine, University of Colorado at Denver, and Cal State San Luis Obispo.

Kristofer Laméy

Ron Milam works to transform Los Angeles into a sustainable city by facilitating effective meetings and raising needed funds for nonprofit organizations. Milam launched the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, growing the organization from an idea into a 1,000 member organization. Ron served on the Boards of Sustainable South Bronx and the Alliance for Biking and Walking, and currently serves as an LA Urban Ranger. He talked about the growing bike movement in LA and how it will help fuel an “LA Beyond Cars”, especially if its integrated into investments made into high speed and local rail transportation.

James Rojas, an urban planner who devotes a lot of his time to translating the impenetrable maps and language of land use planning into a activities that are visual, tactile, and playful — the language of how we actually experience the world. His goal is to create environments that elicit ordinary people’s ideas and solutions to urban problems.

Noemi Selisker, an official resident of New Zealand where she’s managed to change life paths, reduce her carbon footprint all by house sitting in other people’s home. It all started as a fluke but has now become a way of life.

Zane Tatum

Sheri Zampelli – (That’s me) College instructor at Long Beach City College, member of Agape Toastmasters, former therapist providing in-home counseling for foster youth living in Los Angeles County, coordinator for Choices, an after-school program for at-risk girls. Author of From Sabotage to Success and Donate Your Weight. I believe cooperative and community-oriented solutions are necessary when trying to effectively improve service to a diverse city like Los Angeles.

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When you think about it, every creative group you know of is using the Master Mind principle whether they realize it or not. They are joining together as a team with a combined vision. You can use the same principle and make some truly rockin’ things happen in your life.

Do you have a creative project you want to complete? Do you want to find a purpose for your life?

If so, I invite you to come over to my brand new page called Start a Master Mind Group.com. I’m offering 4 freebies to get you started so you can get a sense of what the Master Mind is all about.

There’s nothing cool about holding back.