Talk20 Hutch is a testament to the power of connection. 

It was born in July 2013 when Kari Mailloux and Patsy Terrell met for the first time at Metropolitan Coffee after multiple people had said they should meet. Kari, having just moved back to her hometown of Hutchinson, told Patsy about her involvement in a Talk20 in South Carolina (Talk20 Spartanburg) and said she'd like to do it here. Patsy loved the concept and knew the Hutchinson Public Library would be the perfect spot. She asked Library director Gregg Wamsley to meet with them, and he said an immediate, "Yes!" 

The first Talk20 Hutch was held on January 24, 2014 in the upstairs auditorium of the Library, and it overflowed into the hall and onto the floor, with nearly 150 people in attendance. It moved to the main floor of the Library for the second and each subsequent event, with the Library staff getting continually more creative about how to fit in more chairs. Attendance has more than once surpassed 400. 

Thank you to Greg Holmes for recording and editing videos of all of the presentations through the 7th edition, and thank you to Lucas Singleton for capturing the 8th edition and beyond. 

Thank you to Zack Clobes with Heartland Credit Union for providing the second screen on the balcony.

Thank you to the dozen or so who have attended every single Talk20 Hutch. 

People often ask who's putting Talk20 on. Simply, this is a labor of love.

 

The Library is making it all possible, from the chair you're sitting in to the screen you're watching. It couldn't happen without that support.  It was Kari and Patsy who coordinated all of the speakers and put together the evening until Patsy's sudden passing in June 2017. Now, it's Kari, Jackson Swearer, and Ryan Diehl who collaborate to get 10 storytellers at the podium twice a year.

Talk20 is an example of what can be done when ideas and people connect. But it has to start somewhere. If Kari and Patsy hadn't both been open to meeting someone new at the suggestion of a mutual friend, this wouldn't have come to be. And if they hadn't taken action beyond that, it would have just been a nice chat over coffee. You have ideas and people that need connection, too. They're waiting for you to build those bridges.