Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco - If you are an artist, are involved in a non-profit project, or have a truly fulfilling pastime, chances are you've felt the want and need to talk about your activities with those around you. In fact, for many of us, talking about activities we're passionate about is much more than a simple wish when it is related to our livelihood.

Unfortunately, and despite the impact social media has in our everyday lives, we don't have enough opportunities to interact on a personal basis with other folks that might be interested in learning more about our activities. That said, a new type of event, PechaKucha Nights, has arrived in Puerto Vallarta as a unique opportunity to share your ideas and projects with those around you and the whole world, for that matter.

PechaKucha Nights began in the early 2000s in Tokyo, where two English architects, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, began organizing gatherings with their peers to share their latest projects at a bar or similar space where informal mingling was possible. However, they quickly realized that arming an architect with a PowerPoint presentation and a microphone (or any type of creative person, for that matter) could have lamentable consequences - not everybody has the gift of presenting an idea in a clear, concise way.

To solve the challenge and level the opportunity to share presentations in a well-balanced fashion, they came up with a simple format: those who wanted to present could only use 20 images, speaking for 20 seconds per image (20x20), which resulted in presentations of six minutes, forty seconds. They called the format "pechakucha," a Japanese word equivalent to "chit-chat" in English.

Almost 15 years later, PechaKucha Nights have become a staple at more than 1,000 cities around the world, in which any person has the opportunity to present a project or idea in front of a diverse audience, as long as they are willing to take on the challenge of summarizing it with 20 images, and speaking 20 seconds per image. PechaKucha Nights usually take place at bars or public places where mingling is encouraged, they are either free of charge or a small contribution is suggested, and feature an average of six to 10 presenters, who also get to answer questions from the audience.

The impact of PechaKucha Nights goes beyond a night of social and cultural exchange. Each PechaKucha - that is, each presentation - is videotaped and uploaded to the organization's official website, pechakucha.org, where it can be enjoyed by people all around the world. The website allows visitors to search presentations by topic, language or city. Since you can "applaud" presentations you enjoy with the click of a button, you can also search the most popular ones or those highlighted by the organizers.

The first PechaKucha Night in Puerto Vallarta (Puerto Vallarta Vol. 1) will take place on Saturday, August 26 at 8:30 pm at Incanto, located at Insurgentes 109, Col. Emiliano Zapata, next to the Rio Cuale. There will be a cover charge of $40 pesos per person.

If you are intrigued and would like to make a presentation in English or Spanish, please email paco.ojeda(at)gmail.com as soon as possible, for more detailed information. You can also visit PechaKucha's official website, pechakucha.org, where you will find thousands of presentations, for inspiration. The official PechaKucha Puerto Vallarta page will be updated in the following days with the names of local presenters.