EVENTS NOT TO MISS - PECHA KUCHA

I think the first time I attended a Pecha Kucha night was when I first met Luana. 
20 slides. 20 seconds. 12 presenters. I was hooked. 
At the time, I thought I knew more or less what was going on in this city. Who was doing what, what new ideas were being developed, which publications were in, events, products, campaigns, designs… I was wrong. I knew jack shit. But I wasn't alone.

And so that night, there we all were, squatting on the stairs of St Nicholas, Gemmayze, a drink in one hand, a brochure in the other, listening to these presenters from multi-disciplinary backgrounds strutting their stuff. The presentation timing was perfect: long enough to get one's idea across and short enough to avoid boring anyone's pants off.

Pecha Kucha. As simple as that.
The concept is a Japanese one that first started in 2003. It literally translates to: chit chats and takes place in over 400 cities around the world. Beirut is one of them and this is Event Night number 16 already. Don' t miss out on any more.
See you there.

February 27th at 8pm in AltCity, Hamra

Petra

Video courtesy of Dima Boulad

http://vimeo.com/60199045

More info at:
www.pechakucha.org
www.pechakucha.org/cities/beirut

GEEK EXPRESS

Monday. Six in the evening.
Cars arounds us, on top of us, underneath us. Cars cars honk cars honk honk cars...
We try to escape the traffic à la Libanaise, wriggling our way through small alleys. It's worse.
Boyfriend going nuts with my nagging, tries to distract me the best he can " look, a nice shop!" Like offering ice cream to a child, the charm works immediately.

A beautiful window. Cool looking things inside. Colors. Books. Shirts. Tables. I register it all in a glance. Beautiful raw stone walls. That does it. Park quickly!
"Geek Express has been open for 2 months" explains Abed, the store manager. "It is a boutique, a café and a workspace."There are rooms with glass separations called workshop areas. You can rent those unless they're being used for some geeky workshop you could sign up for.

To the right, a small café. No food in sight yet, only Urbanista bags."We get our coffee from there" says Abed. I take it it's good coffee then.

Tables with gadgets on them. Wiry funny looking stuff. I take the time to understand what's on the first table before the geek in me dies and I give up.
The last thing I go check out is a big weird machine. A 3D printer!
Now THAT, I want to see!! Is it the first one in town? Probably not. But definitely the first one I'm exposed to.  Like Wilma Flintstone seeing an iPad for the first time, I start jogging round the beast bombarding Abed with all kinds of questions. The poor fellow is overwhelmed.
"Get a file ready and come try it out" he mumbles at last. Bbberfect!

A great vibe, friendly staff, beautiful surroundings for work, and a 3D printer?
The geeks are out, and dear Lord Vader, they have brought some awesome new and vintage toys!

Luana

Geek Express: https://www.facebook.com/GeekExpressLB?fref=ts
Coffee Reference from Urbanista: https://www.facebook.com/urbanista.me