Social Seen: Cool crowds gather for Movember launch party, Pecha Kucha event

‘Movember’ only a week away, and hairs are already bristling

I hear it starts with a tingle on your upper lip, a collective stirring rooted in the fight for all mankind.

It’s a hairy journey eradicating all sense of logic, fashion and unique personal style. Some shall emerge dashing and debonair; others shall provoke distress and discomfort.

Brace yourselves: November’s Movember is only a week away, and for a full 30 days, The Moustache shall reign.

The first signs of the movement surfaced at MKT in Old Strathcona at the Movember Edmonton launch party last Tuesday.

Changing the face of men’s health since 2007, Edmonton Mo’ Bros, Mo’ Sistas and supporters came out for libations and a Movember Canada presentation on the 2012 campaign, coined “Movember and Sons.”

Alongside notorious Movember spokesmen Seth Glick and Ryan Jespersen of Breakfast Television, the crowd vowed to surpass last year’s numbers ($43 million was raised in Canada), and spread the word from one generation to the next about prostate cancer and men’s mental health. Visit Movember.com to register a team or donate directly.

Spreading the word — or words, rather — on any topic, from niche botany and rap music to that epiphany you had in the shower, was the objective on Thursday night at Edmonton NextGen’s 14th Pecha Kucha at the Myer Horowitz Theatre at the University of Alberta.

Pecha Kucha, which means “chit chat” in Japanese, is an idea-generating event featuring a series of presentations in a 20-slide by 20-second-perslide format that makes caring about the world we live in so very cool. Just take a peek at the crowd. One presentation from ATB Financial President Dave Mowat, called “Light it up, #yeg!”, urged Edmontonians to consider adding bold and bright lights to the city’s bridges. Inspired by iconic bridges in Vancouver and New York, Mowat asked: “Have you ever seen Groat Bridge at night on a postcard?”

Photos: Caroline Gault/ Edmonton Journal From left, Movember Canada’s Mike Miller, Mo’ Sista Crystal DeCosta and Kate Tonowski, Movember Canada’s Ryan Branting, and Mo’ Sista Meredith Bongers at the Movember launch party at MKT.

Michel Feist, left, and Donna Gamble, photographers at Ampersand Grey, join Terry Gamble at Edmonton NextGen’s Pecha Kucha Night 14 at the Myer Horowitz Theatre.

David McBryan of Venture Publishing joins Puneeta Sandhu of Amplomedia, left, and Erin Monaghan of 29 Armstrong at Edmonton NextGen’s Pecha Kucha Night 14.

Jonny Sullivan joins Kenna Kaklin, left, and Julie Garcia at Movember Edmonton’s launch party at MKT.

Matt Graff of Drive Solutions, left, and Lance Johnson of Amplomedia at Edmonton NextGen’s Pecha Kucha Night 14 at the Myer Horowitz Theatre.

University of Alberta student Amanda Strachan, left, and blogger Danielle Fuechtmann at Edmonton NextGen’s Pecha Kucha Night 14 at the Myer Horowitz Theatre.

From left, Marissa Greniuk, Tad Hargrave and Tommy Kalita at Edmonton NextGen’s Pecha Kucha Night 14 at the Myer Horowitz Theatre.

Seth Glick of Clear Skies, left, models his sculpted mo’ with Breakfast Television host and Movember advocate Ryan Jespersen at the Movember Edmonton launch party at MKT.

Gur Manhas, left, and Henry Singer’s Sonny Sekhon at the Movember Edmonton launch party at MKT. Manhas and Sekhon are raising money for Movember on a team called North of Lipsky.