Chief Marketing Officer Doug Gruse to Participate in PechaKucha Event

Every second will count for Empire State University’s Chief Marketing Officer Doug Gruse during PechaKucha, a Japanese-inspired storytelling event on Nov. 1 at Brown’s Revolution Hall in Troy.

Gruse is one of seven presenters taking part in the program, which was organized by the Young Professionals Network of the Capital Region Chamber. Performers will present a PowerPoint slide deck consisting of exactly 20 slides, with only 20 seconds of commentary per slide.

“I’m expecting it to be the most stressful 400 seconds of my life,” Gruse joked. “When YPN approached me about the program, I was excited to take part. I actually enjoy challenging myself, and I think the constraining format is an interesting exercise in self editing.”

Gruse plans to explore the creative parameters of Artificial Intelligence during his fast-packed talk by tasking ChatGPT to rewrite a classic horror story.

PechaKucha was developed in 2003 by an architectural firm in Tokyo as a fun, informal way for people to share their work, ideas and hidden talents. The innovative concept has led to performances in more than 1,200 cities worldwide.

The program, which will be held from 5 to 9 p.m., also includes performances by Mara Afzali, a litigation attorney and aerial circus arts instructor; Gabby Fisher, co-founder of Micropolitan Matchmakers; Rachel Malik, an executive coach; writer Jennifer Taber VanDerwerken; artist Jade Warrick, aka TrashKid; and Ben Williams, executive director of Connect Center for Youth. Brittany Lawton, CEO of Highly Caffeinated Marketing, will serve as emcee.

YPN is selling tickets for $30 for non-members ($175 for a table of eight) at:

https://capitalregionchamberofcommerceny.growthzoneapp.com/ap/Events/Register/DLy5nD8L?mode=Attendee