In conversation with Skylar Punnett
Skyler Punnett is a commercial artist and organizer of the popular Pecha Kucha series in Penticton, which sees guest speakers present 20 images, each of which they talk about for 20 seconds, all related to a central theme. The format was used for the PenTALKton event in November to spark dialogue on the ongoing Official Community Plan update. He recently completed the following question-and-answer session with Herald reporter Dale Boyd via email.
HERALD: What draws you to live in Penticton? Aren’t you from here originally?
PUNNETT: I did grow up here. What draws me here is the landscape. I love the mix of desert, forest, lakefront and alpine within an hour’s drive and the fact you can get somewhere quickly where there are no people. I lived in Vancouver for 10 years and was having to travel further and further to find places to gather some solitude. On the flip side, another big draw is the community and the sense that it is so easy to get involved here and feel like you are contributing to making this little town grow, in more ways than just population.
HERALD: You have been involved in a lot of community projects, like hosting the PenTALKton event. What motivates you to get involved?
PUNNETT: Bringing people together and changing their idea of what Penticton is. When I moved back just under two years ago, I was surprised to keep hearing people say nothing happens here. When I started with Pecha Kucha, we sat down and brainstormed potential speakers for the next year. In a couple of minutes, we had a list of 150 people doing unique and beautiful things in this town. We’re about a third of the way through that list and it keeps on growing. Things happen here. People are doing things. Great things. Unique things. Things that we all need to know about and support because they make our community brighter and change the way we think of this town and what it could be.
HERALD: What is Pecha Kucha and what interested you to take over as organizer?
PUNNETT: Pecha Kucha is a presentation style that came out of Japanese architecture school.
Their word, which is pronounced pretty much the way it’s spelt, means “blah, blah, blah,” and the format is meant to avoid that, in that each presentation is composed of 20 slides timed for 20 seconds each, so they’re short and sweet. I wanted to get involved for the reasons I mentioned above. It’s a great way to reflect a community back at itself. The speakers aren’t imported from the city or prestigious universities, they’re your friends and neighbours and coworkers or folks you didn’t know were around the corner sharing with you what they do, what they are passionate about.
HERALD: How has the community responded to Pecha Kucha?
PUNNETT: Amazingly! We’ve virtually sold out every show. Cannery Brewing has been supersupportive and are always stoked to host us. Presenters keep coming out of the woodwork to share their stories. The city got excited by the format and got us to host the PenTALKton event to present ideas for the Official Community Plan. I think my favourite thing about hosting it is getting to stand up there and look at an entire audience of engaged people excited to hear about what’s happing in the community around them.
HERALD: How long have you been an illustrator, and what kind of illustration work do you do?
PUNNETT: I’ve been an illustrator for 10 years or so, though I started working on contracts in 2004 or so, so it’s been a long process making it a full-time career. I’ve worked on comics, animation and video games, as well as branding and label design for craft breweries and distilleries and always continue to put out my own stand-alone work. My style is inspired by the natural world as it relates to our own, personal inner worlds of emotion, experience and dreams.
HERALD: How do you find Penticton as a city for entrepreneurs such as yourself?
PUNNETT: Penticton seems super-receptive to new folks with interesting ideas and a passion for getting involved. Cowork Penticton has been a major resource for community. Going somewhere every day that is filled with diverse and vibrant people engaged in doing their own things has been invaluable. Instead of going to work with a bunch of folks doing very similar things, I sit next to data scientists, hydrologists, web designers, translators, sales people, lawyers, journalists and even an improve-obsessed park ranger. The list keeps growing, as does my understanding of what I do in relation to all of these other people. Plus it’s a built-in social life. I can’t say enough about it, really!
HERALD: If you got a free plane ticket anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
PUNNETT: I have a free plane ticket waiting for me with the amount of Aeroplan points I have, but I can’t seem to get around to leaving this place. Off the top of my head, Iceland, Denmark or back to Guatemala, where I spent a long time in my early 20s volunteering at an orphanage in the jungle.
HERALD: What do you enjoy doing in your downtime?
PUNNETT: There isn’t much of that in this first year of setting up my business. Getting outside and exercising to counteract a lot of time at the drawing board. Back country skiing, hiking, etc.
HERALD: If you could only bring three movies or TV shows to watch on a desert island, what would they be?
PUNNETT: I’ve never seen it, but Survivor Man seems like a logical choice, just in terms of staying alive. Other than that, Curb Your Enthusiasm, though the finer points of picking apart human interaction might get lost on a desert island. And probably Red Dwarf. I think I’d empathize well with the last human alive stranded in deep space.