Social entrepreneurship should be Philadelphia’s regional distinction: my Pecha Kucha presentation

Social entrepreneurship is an opportunity for Philadelphia to create a regional distinction for attracting and retaining startup talent, was the central theme of my Pecha Kucha presentation Saturday night.

It was an extension of my writing on social entrepreneurship here.

The lightning talk event, in which a dozen speakers use 20 seconds for each of 20 images to give a five-minute perspective, was having its ninth iteration locally, after having been launched by graphic designers in Tokyo in 2004. See the slides from the presentation below.

Philadelphia’s Pecha Kucha [pronounced peCHA kuCHA] is held in part-time yoga studio, part-time neighborhood anchor Studio 34 and organized by a pair of Wharton students, though the 50-person crowd was largely made up of 30 and 40-somethings who lived near the Baltimore Avenue corridor of Cedar Park neighborhood in West Philadelphia.

My opinion is that Philadelphia’s considerable quality of life problems — violence, poor education, dirt, blight and more — are an opportunity for mission-driven business solutions to be based where they are most needed among large markets that have investment, marketing opportunities and access to more of both.

Soon, I’ll post the audio and the video of the presentation.

“In the U.S., political power flows from economic power, not the other way around” Tom Wicker in 1996 on shortcomings of Civil Rights movement speaking on the Charlie Rose Show.

The whole night was a treat, as I preceded Pecha Kucha by visiting the high-end modern Southern fusion-based Marigold Kitchen, in a renovated 1907 West Philadelphia rowhome, which has received great reviews by Craig Laban and Philadelphia magazine. Also, though cold and snowy, I got my first more thorough Baltimore Avenue experience, having landed there by the 34 trolley.

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