My other posts about Pecha Kucha can be found here and here.
Without further ado here is information on the last half of the presentations:
Lisa Dillman / Food Writer / The Dinner Process – Lisa wasn’t always a waitress. At one time she used to sit in a cubicle creating PowerPoint presentations. Her presentation was actually about some of the things she learned about food since becoming a waitress and not about the dinner process. A tip she shared – almost anything tastes good with olive oil, salt and pepper! The slides were of different foods she’s photographed and what she learned about each one. I’ve been following her blog for several years now and it was nice to finally get to meet her.
Randy Sanders / Tree Farmer Woodworker / Wood Art – Randy used to work for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Now he gets to work with wood. Randy’s slides explained some of the ways his farm is different from a commercial tree farm. Old and damaged trees are primarily used to create his wood products such as tables, benches, sculptures and picture frames. He reviewed a few of the characteristics of the different types of wood he uses and it was easy to identify the different wood types by the time he reached the end. Randy had good slides of plain and quarter sawn wood showing the differences in the cuts.
Michael Suriano / Architect / Simplexity – Michael’s work allows him to look towards nature or simple changes to create natural looking architecture. One example he used is the very familiar brick. We’re used to them being placed end to end to create a solid wall. However, when space is placed between the bricks, it allows the bricks some natural movement and creates an unusual looking wall. On a recent project he used the cell structure of coral to create an overhead shelter for a park. The structure allowed for shady areas, bright areas and water areas.
Jerry Ulibarri / Commercial Artist / Portfolio – Have you ever noticed those murals on the wall of your restaurant? But it doesn’t look like it’s painted… Jerry works for a company that creates those murals in the studio and places them on the walls. They also create three dimensional trees for libraries, murals for museum exhibits and special design work (such as sculptures) when requested. Jerry’s slides were a portfolio of some of the projects he’s worked on at various stages.Â
Ryan Hullinger / Architect / Architecture and Birth – Ryan’s presentation was the most moving for me and had me crying before the end. He’s an architect that specializes in building hospitals and other health care facilities. Some architects shy away from these types of projects because of the large amount of regulations that must be followed but that’s one of the things Ryan enjoys about his work. He also likes to ask how to make the design better or more functional. When he and his wife found out they were to welcome a third child into their family they asked themselves how to make it better and if they were ready to take a risk. What if something went wrong? They decided to have a home birth. Guess what? The midwife and doula traveled through our March snowstorm when hardly anyone was able to travel anywhere.  Ryan and his wife live two streets over so I can vouch for the determination of the midwife and doula to not let them down! Ryan’s slides were pictures mostly from that day. The house became an entity that day due to its role in the birth. There was wind and snow outside while the house kept the family safe from the elements. The pictures were beautiful.
It was amazing to learn so much from the presenters about their jobs and interests in such a short amount of time.