Presentations Tasso Chalkiopoulos is the founder of Atenistas, a local group aiming to help revive the city of Athens through volunteer work and urban interventions. In his presentation (in Greek, from PKN Athens Vol. 4), he gives a few good reasons on why Athens is a great place to live. Geoff Hodgson is a photographer, surfer, and musician, and in his presentation (from PKN Dunsborough Vol. 1), his goal is to make us appreciate the forceful nature of oceans. Posters We have two new posters on the Tumblr blog today, first for PKN Derby Vol. 6 (pictured above), which is set for July 25, and then for PKN Mendoza Vol. 5, which will be held a few days later, on July 29. Photos Today we'll point you to this Flickr photoset of photos from Toronto's recent PKN Vol. 16, which was held as part of last month's NXNE festival. Pictured above, the event's presenters. Calendar As we mentioned yesterday, there's a lot on the schedule for tonight (July 12): PKN St. Louis Vol. 9, PKN Regensburg Vol. 9, PKN Blue Mountains Vol. 2, PKN Wakefield Vol. 6, PKN Galway Vol. 7, PKN Blue Hill Vol. 4, and PKN Kyiv Vol. 8. Tomorrow, there's just one event on tap, in the form of PKN Chattanooga Vol. 11. 

Eight years ago today the "Boxing Day" Indian Ocean Tsunami hit the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. This great presentation looks at the process of rebuilding. For more stories on reconstruction efforts, you can visit the ArchiAid Channel and Inspire Japan Channel -- both include presentations covering work done following last year's Tohoku earthquake and tsunami -- and the Haiti Reconstruction Channel, covering rebuilding efforts in Haiti and elsewhere.

Between climate change, overfishing, and shark-finning, the activists at PangeaSeed have their work cut out for them. In today's Presentation of the Day, "PangeaSeed: Save the Ocean" from PKN Tokyo Vol. 74, Aaron Glasson, Tre Packard, and Mayumi Takeda focus on the abhorrent effects humans have had on the shark population over the past 50 years, and how they work to generate awareness to protect this apex predator via art, music, and film.  

Have you ever thought about spending a year on the Ocean beach? Take a risk and bring all your family to the exotic country? Michail Kashkin did it and also tried to gather a startup team from the "heaven". Do's and don’ts of team building and leading from abroad presented on PKN vol.6 Dnepropetrovsk. 

"This is not a computer-generated 3D model, nor is it a drawing or painting...This was once a living being." In today's Presentation of the Day, "New World Transparent Specimens" from PKN Tokyo Vol. 95, once fisherman/ocean researcher Iori Tomita shows off his striking work. The secret to his glowing, translucent skeletal art is a process that involves "enzymatically dissolving protein, and dying bones and cartilage" of once-living sea life.

  "We want to 'whale-cast', we want to predict where they're at...so we can manage human use of the ocean to minimize impact on endangered species." Ben Best is an analyst for the Ocean Health Index, a research project housed at UCSB's downtown ecology center. For him, the ocean has long been a source of spiritual sustenance, vigorous play, wondrous discovery, and intellectual curiosity. In "Oceans of Data" from PKN Santa Barbara Vol. 10, he discusses using data to map out plans for marine conservation.   

Join us for more fun filled and inventive chats about an ever widening range of topics. Pallet wood art, an artist's journey, sugar highs (and lows), ocean beautiful and more! On Thursday, 15 May 2014 at the Chewstick Lounge, Hamilton, Bermuda. Doors open at 6.00pm and the show starts at 6.30pm.

“He mimes geological compression, squeezing all of the detritus together to make a post-consumerist stone.” In Artistic Encounters with Plastiglomerate, Derelict Fishing Gear, and other Pacific Plastic Flotsam from PechaKucha Night Honolulu Vol. 27, Jan Dickey, UHM MFA candidate, and Jaimey Hamilton Faris, UHM Associate Professor of Contemporary Art and Critical Theory, will talk about how art engages with the environmental impact of plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean. They will introduce the work of three artists: Kelly Jazvac’s “readymade” plastiglomerate (a newly designated geologic formation of sand, coral, and plastic); Maika’i Tubbs’ attempts to replicate platiglomerate’s geology; and Mary Babcock’s weavings of plastic fishing line found on the shores of the Hawaiian Islands.

“I compose each piece of marine debris into an interesting and ambiguous object.” In Nurdle in the Rough from PechaKucha Night Honolulu Vol. 27, Kathleen Crabill shares how she started transforming ocean plastic into conversation starting gems. Crabill is an ocean lover who grew up on the Big Island. She went on to receive a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University with a concentration in metalsmithing. Bringing her skills and desire for healthy oceans back to Hawaii, she started a business called Nurdle in the Rough Jewelry.

This week's City Focus highlights the lovely seaside city of Long Beach, CA. With its delightful ocean view and intriguing sites such as the infamous RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach is home to a number of California's most popular tourist sites and renowned art and music centers. Long Beach natives often display their fascination for the arts and local culture by hosting numerous community events including PechaKucha Night. Have some fun in the sun and at night, chill with the cool creatives of Long Beach at PechaKucha Night Long Beach Vol.9 on May 31st. Hope to see you there!