What started out as a bit of fun for Ivor Tymchak and Richard Michie has turned into a movement for entertainment, knowledge and democracy in Leeds.
Bettakultcha is an evening of PowerPoint presentations with a difference. Each presentation has to have 20 slides and each slide has to last for 15 seconds exactly. This makes for a punchy, five-minute presentation. The only other rule that Bettakultcha insists upon is that no commercial sales pitches are allowed.
Following eight events around Leeds, Bettakultcha IX will be held on June 7 in the Stylus nightclub in the Leeds University Union.
The last Bettakultcha attracted almost 300 people to the Corn Exchange last month - a long way from its humble beginnings a little over a year ago at Temple Works on Marshall Street when 60 people turned up to listen to 11 presenters talk about what they are passionate about. There was no heating in the building at that time and everyone had to keep their coats on and supply their own food and drink.
Its success has been built on online promotion through a blog and via twitter. A recent event saw the hashtag #bettakultcha trending nationally.
Tymchak, one of the co-founders who also comperes the events, said:
"This is a massive step up for Bettakultcha and we are proud to be playing in a venue which has seen the likes of The Who, Pink Floyd and Muse. Although Bettakultcha is not a band of musicians, but a changing band of presenters, in spirit it embodies the punk revolution of the late seventies and this great seat of learning is a perfect venue for the beautiful, free-wheeling, unpredictable, ideas cabaret, that is, Bettakultcha.
"What people like about the event is the randomness of the subjects and that they only last for five minutes so if they don't care for a particular presentation, another one will be along in a few minutes."
Tickets for the next Bettakultcha event on June 7 are £5 each and can be bought here.
The new venue was made possible by Tom Salmon, the marketing manager of Leeds University Union who attended the last Bettakultcha event and was so impressed he invited the organisers to hold their next event at the university.
Salmon also invited the Bettakultcha team to help organize and compare a national conference for the NUS on the 19 and 20 July, based on the Bettakultcha format.
"This heralds a new development for Bettakultcha" said Ivor. "It's a private event so it will be interesting to see if the magic can work with people who have never experienced it. It could sound the death knell for long, boring conference speeches and allow real passion to flow from those people who actually make up the heart and lungs of an organisation. I'm being serious; it could be a velvet revolution."
Will you be attending the next Bettakultcha? Have your say in the comments section below.
