A Bozeman-based engineer, who was involved in the investigation of the deadliest non-intentional structural failure in US history, is one of 11 presenters at the next PechaKucha Night at Downtown Bozeman’s Ellen Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday, November 8th and 9th. Both shows start at 6:40pm and feature the same presenters.
John Reins will describe how one seemingly innocuous design change precipitated the collapse of the atrium walkway at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on July 17, 1981, killing 114 people and injuring another 216.
More than 5,000 fire lookouts have been built in the US, evolving from tree houses to cozy mountain cabins. Justin Barth looks at their future in a world of drones, artificial intelligence and remote camera fire monitoring.
Mark Egge, a Bozeman-based advocate for affordable housing, will explain the “missing middle,” one of the hottest concepts in city planning. These multiple units, intermixed with single-family housing, were a favorite of Bozeman architect Fred Willson, but zoning restrictions have caused them to disappear over the past 60-70 years.
Kat Rolin, a graduate student at MSU, will describe her efforts to “save the hides” by parlaying her commitment to sustainability into an effort to start a commercial tannery in Livingston. Beautiful, durable hides are now being wasted, Rolin says, with 100 percent of hides from a Montana processing facility being composted.
Patrick Sievert of Rock Creek Trail Llamas will highlight the advantages of llamas over mules and horses for your backcountry experience; Terry Cunningham will detail how a local nonprofit created seven highly successful, off-leash dog parks; and Carol Orlandini will tell us about the missing minutes deleted from the mythic 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz.
Local realtor, life coach, painter and single mom Elyn Messner will describe her efforts to create a new nonprofit, The Single Bell, which will help single parents creatively engage with each other around the holidays; Jennifer Gueguen will offer ideas on how to creatively engage with the stories we tell ourselves; Derek Leonard will talk about the spiritual quality of his Nepal trek with two world-renowned genetic scientists; and Rachael Dodier will discuss “the dichotomy of motherhood” and the challenge of raising a child with a rare chromosomal anomaly.
Tickets are available at www.theellentheatre.com. for $9 (including facility fee). Students may purchase tickets at the door for $5.50.
PechaKucha (peh-chak-cha) offers anyone with a passion or a vision – designers, artists, inventors, architects, adventurers, entrepreneurs – an opportunity to share their ideas with the community during a fast-paced, friendly social get-together. There’s just one catch: presenters have only 20 slides x 20 seconds each, a total of 6 minutes, 40 seconds! •
