Month: February 2008

Africa, books, child, children, technology

Child soldiers

Christa Avampato

I just finished the book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. Ishmael was a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Through his own bravery and with the help of the U.N., he was able to escape to the U.S. to begin a new life and start down his road to recovery. I finished the book in a couple of days – Ishmael’s honest and plain-speaking memoir make the book impossible to put down.

NBC Nightly News is also covering the issue of child soldiers this week with Ann Curry based in Congo. It is a frightening tale – these children are facing such devastating circumstances, hopped up on drugs and armed with some of the deadliest weapons on Earth. One boy said he has no way of knowing how many people he killed before he as rescued by the same U.N. program that saved Ishmael. 
I am very interested in volunteering time to help with programs like this one. I have left a message for Ann Curry on her blog and if I hear back from her on ways that Americans can help these children, I will post the information here. In the meantime, visit the NBC site covering Ann Curry’s trip: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23164955/
  
child, children, Disney, Kidscreen Summit, retail

Retail running to catch up

Christa Avampato

I am quite proud to say that I believe I am the sole retail representative at the Kidsummit today. One of the moderators in a meeting today said to me, “that’s great that you are here. You people don’t usually come to our events.” And she’s right. Retail in general is an industry that lags behind in almost every way. If you want to feel like an enlightened, terrifically-smart individual, go work for a retailer and keep your ear to the ground for news from other industries.

Why is this? Personal consumer consumption, and in turn retail, makes up the vast majority of our GDP. So why are we behind the times? As a whole, shouldn’t we believing the charge toward newness. In short, yes, we should. Though in reality, no, we don’t. And that must change. It’s no wonder that so much shopping is flocking to .com and independent retailers, and away from chains. The creators of truly innovative and new properties are fed up with the brick and mortar mentality. I don’t blame them – at times, I am fed up, too. Brick and mortar, as physical objects, can’t flex, can’t adapt to change. Their rigidity, sadly, translates to the mindsets of many, though not all, people who make their careers in retail. Unfortunate, yes. Inevitable, no.

In an effort to disclose my motivation in writing this post, without violating my company blogging policy (a violation of which could have me immediately fired), I think I am safe to say that I work for a retailer that is attempting to stage a turn-around. Welcome to the club, right? We only need to look to the front page of any major newspaper last week to learn that retailers are laying off managers in droves. The health of retail companies is directly and strongly correlated to the health of the economy. If the U.S. housing market leads the charge toward the dreaded “R” word, then retail companies will find themselves in a pinch in no time. Once Target starts reporting negative comps, you can be sure the rest will soon follow.

So how can I, a retail manager, possibly be optimistic about the immediate future of the industry? For one, I studied economics. The idea of cycles cannot be better illustrated that in the history of economies. They go up, they go down, and then back up again.

Two, while yes I do work in retail, I work in a department called Trend and Innovation. Some people think we don’t do anything of value because we do no blocking and tackling. I would go to the mat with anyone who takes that view – I would argue that to not innovate, to not pay attention to trend is to commit economic suicide. “Reinvent, or die.” Do I wish we took projects from concept to execution? Sure – my entire career has embraced the whole process, and I love that. I miss it. For all the sexiness surrounding jobs in “strategy” and “big ideas”, strategy is rendered useless in the absence of flawless execution.

Lastly, I draw some of my optimism from bars and pubs. At the first sign of recession, even in the midst of the Great Depression, bars prosper because of their ability to comfort people and provide a sense of community in times of sadness and distress. Retailers, particularly family-friendly ones, have the rare opportunity to also be places of community, inspiration. They can help people rediscover wonder and imagination, if they are willing to invest in imagination themselves. Disney flourished in the 1930’s, amidst very difficult economic times. That decade saw the birth of Pluto, Goofy, DOnald Duck, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Mr. Disney was a genius, not because of his education or professional background, but because of his ability to embrace the very best attributes of a child – the ability to “get through” by using his imagination.

child, children, entertainment, Kidscreen Summit, media, New York, Sesame Street, technology

"D" is for Digital

Christa Avampato

“This instrument [TV] can teach, it can illuminate, yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends,” he said. “Otherwise, it is merely wires and lights in a box.” ~ Edward R. Murrow

Some marvelous learnings from the Kidscreen Summit. I just finished a morning session entitled “D is for Digital”, put together by the fine folks at Sesame Street Workshop. The panel featured representation from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Sesame Street Workshop, Commonsense Media (a parent advocacy group centered around media), PBS Kids, and Media Kidz (a research organization).

Some cool and interesting properties that are worth viewing:
Panwapa.com – an on-line community for kids tat features characters who live on an island that floats around. Kids can navigate between five different languages on the fly, can create an avatar in a number of global settings, and encourages acceptance and exploration of different cultures around the world. One of those things that will make you say “I wish I had that when I was a kid.”

Okami – a Japanese video game property that interests boys and girls of a variety of ages.
Word Girl – my boss and I read about this property during the mid-summer when the New York Times ran an article on it. Word Girl is one of the newer properties for PBS, and on the web platform, kids can submit their favorite words as well as play a variety of games to build vocabulary.
Sesame Street Video Player – currently in Beta at videos.sesameworkshop.org – parents and kids can find Sesame Street video clips tagged with character names, text, and, best of all, education concepts such as “sharing” or “friendship”.

And some facts:
The average age of on-set for digital media use is 6.5 years old, down from 8 years of age just two years ago.
96% of tweens and teens use some sort of social networking
71% of parents have had some on-line issues arising with their children
81% of parents say that the internet has helped their child’s learning
The difficulty of “rating up” – a Bain sudy has found increasingly that what used to be considered PG-13 or even R-rated material, now largely is rated as PG or even G content.
Kids are their own programmers – they choose when, where, and what to watch
Kids spend 45 hours per week interacting with media, 30 hours per week in school, and 17 hours per week with their parents.

Trends:
Proliferation of virtual worlds
Casual gaming
Video content and user-generated content on the web
On-line curriculum building separate from educators – PBS is exploring ways to build series of games to lead kids, particularly pre-schoolers, along a path in skills such as literacy by batching and sequencing the games.

The big opportunities:
Focus on literacy
Creative problem sovling
Other skills that kids will need a global economy
Few video games of educational promise really exist today. This is an area of tremendous opportunity for developers and producers of video games.
The bridge between research, industry, and the nonprofit world – the most exciting possibility for me since I have experience and passion in all three areas.
The use of media devices such as cell phones to distribute batches of content in snippets – playing into the trend of our “snack culture”. PBS has done some work around literacy for pre-schoolers in which everyday their parents received a text message from Elmo encouraging them to look for things like foods in the grocery store that begin with the “letter of the day.” After the study, kids who participated were fond to know their alphabet song better and have an increased awareness of the learning opportunities that are all around them.

In conclusion, Sholly Fisch of Media Kidz, made an excellent point that is the underlying driver for the expanded research currently being done on kids and media: kids today are faced with constant change and the increasing need for comfort with ambiguity, though kids are still kids. They still need to be encouraged, loved and cared for. The challenge and opportunity for all of us in the youth space lies in how can we use media as a tool to deliver a rich p-to-date experience to kids that nurtures them in this world of uncertainty and change.

career, dreams, family

Dragon, Fish, and Chameleon in the Middle

Christa Avampato

Recently, I read a magazine advertisement by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Please put aside that this is a boring big 4 (or is it 5 or 6) accounting firm. The ad features a woman (in accounting?), Gail Vennitti, a principal at the company, explaining how her placement in the family line up – middle child – make her well-suited for her job. This is exciting to me. I am also a middle child, and most of the time the connotation of being in the middle is not good. To complicate matters, I was boring in the year of the Dragon, under the zodiac sign of Pisces, and on the Day of the Aerialist. I am by all accounts a dreamy-eyed wandered. Yikes! Who the heck am I???

Gail takes a unique spin on her middle child attribute. As middle children, Gail and I have at one time or another had to be all things to all people. We have to negotiate in a variety of situations – sometimes were the older child, and sometimes we’re the younger child. We are forced to be empathic; to operate in an ever changing world. We fight to be individuals, though recognize the value of being part of a group. In short, we grow comfortable with ambiguity at an alarming rate. Like chameleons we change ourselves to suit our situation, never once being disingenuous. We change when change is needed.

To complicate matters, my Piscean sign and Chinese year make me equally interested in art and science, with an intense imagination and a fierce sense of love and loyalty to causes and people I care about. I have passionate opinions, and love beautiful things. I have a somewhat split personality – there never seems to be an end in what interests me. I can fit in with a batch of surgeons, and in the same breathe address a crowd of cartoonists.

I used to be embarrassed by all of this. I wondered why I could never seem to have one defining interest, and people nearly always seemed confused by my dual-nature. As I get older, like Gail, I am beginning to see my duality as a bonus. It’s the ability to live in the world of the imagination with my feet firmly on the ground that I hope will ultimately lead toward a fulfilling and rewarding life with tangible results that at one time could only be dreamed of.

career, child, children, kids, Kidscreen Summit, retail, work

Kidscreen Summit Prep

Christa Avampato

I’m at home getting ready for the Kidscreen Summit, which begins tomorrow. Over 1330 companies in the field of youth entertainment will be represented and we will noodle through a number of issues to learn about new products, services, and ways of doing business. New technologies and entrepreneurs looking for a break will abound. I know I should be excited. Truthfully, I am terrified.

My fear stems from several things: 1.) my company has paid a fairly large amount of money to attend, and I am its sole representative at the Summit despite the fact that I’ve only been there for 7 months; 2.) as a result of #1, I feel a tremendous pressure to find something cool to bring back to validate the expense. This is not good – it’s kind of like working very hard only to get promoted or to make money. Wrong motivation = missed learnings and poor decisions; 3.) I’ve been in this field 7 months – seriously, what will I have to contribute in a conversation with people who have dedicated their entire lives to youth entertainment?

I hate fear; and I hate the feeling of stress it imbibes. I have to calm myself down. So let’s take these fears one at a time. 1.) though the money that was paid seems large to me, it’s within our budget, and for three days of learning that could give the company a competitive advantage, it’s a drop in the bucket. Check. 2.) There is cool stuff to be had – one only need to look at the agenda and list of exhibitors. I’ve have to be on another planet to miss all the cool stuff that will be available. 3.) I had this same fear when I started business school. In a finance class, what could I contribute coming from a nonprofit and theatre background in a room full of investment bankers. As it turns out, a lot. The beauty of tremendously complex fields, it turns out that no one has all the answers, regardless of how long they’ve worked in a field. Times change, and industries change with those times.

Okay, I feel a bit better. But what is really going to get me over my fear of this Summit – two things. First, I am pretty darn lucky to have a boss who believes in me enough to send me as a representative to this conference. Second, if wifi and an electric outlet are accessible, I’ll be live blogging from the Summit. It’s amazing how many fears can be dissipated if they can be formulated into a story. Check back tomorrow for the latest update….

design, environment, green, New York

Biomimicry – creative inspiration for designers

Christa Avampato

If we, a designers, truly inspect and respect what nature has to teach us, then the creative inspiration around us is limitless. Business Week’s Green Design blog has recently published an enormous amount of new information, largely through pictures, to its site. No doubt that the contents are getting increased attention due to the U.N. General Assembly discussions this week around climate change.

The most fasincating posts to me are those relating to biomimicry, a new discipline that studies intently studies nature and then mimics nature’s designs and processes to solve human problems. How much time do we spend trying to reinvent the wheel, and then in the process chase our own tails? We need look no further than out our own windows to be inspired by new and innovative thinking.

Finally, these sets of articles and the principles of biomimicry have provided me with the vocabularly to articulate why the environment is such a precious resource and why I am so passionate about its protection. To lose any part of it, be in flora or fauna, is to lose hundreds of thousands of years of design study. The wisdom encapsulated in a snail shell or the leaf pattern of a maple is irreplaceable. To lose that wisdom, in my eyes, is an awful as book burning or the banishing of the freedom of expression. As Mayor Bloomberg intimated this week, to not protect the environment is tantamount to terrorism.

Have a look at the Green Design site at http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/di_special/20080211sustainable.htm

corporation, creativity, research

6 myths harmful to the creative movement

Christa Avampato

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” –Erich Fromm

Though this article is a few years old, the principles of the study it describes still hold weight, and sadly the myths are all too prevalent – particularly at companies where old thinking reigns. Teresa Amabile, the author of a new study on creativity in the workplace, heads the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School and is one of the country’s foremost explorers of business innovation.

In summary, she busts the following myths when discussing corporate creativity:
1. Creativity Comes From Creative Types
2. Money Is a Creativity Motivator
3. Time Pressure Fuels Creativity
4. Fear Forces Breakthroughs
5. Competition Beats Collaboration
6. A Streamlined Organization Is a Creative Organization

Read the full article from Fast Company at http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/89/creativity.html

FAO, New York, retail

Spicing up FAO Schwarz

Christa Avampato

I’ve had some experience with celebrities from my time working in theatre. Now that I’m currently not directly connected to the enertainment industry, that experience has diminshed somewhat. I’m always curious about how celebrities deal with not being able to do normal things like grocery shopping.

After my shock at how busy the Apple store on 5th Avenue was today, I toddled over to FAO. I was greeted by a Peter Rabbit taller than I am and a toy soldier. Just as I was about to enter the store, a stretch SUV pulled up and a mass of photographers were pushed to one side. I stood in between the Peter Rabbit and the toy soldier – they had no idea who was in the car either. Enter, Posh Spice, a.k.a. Victoria Beckham, and her pint-size, adorable son.

I snapped a photo of her, amidst dozens of other flashes going off and following her into the building, or at least attempting to. The good folks at FAO wouldn’t let the paparazzi in the store so they hung around at the door, and would wait for her to exit with whatever goodies they picked up inside. Mrs. Beckham wasn’t smiling, and neither was her son. I am sure that celebrity has its perks, though I imagine it reaches a point of diminishing returns. If a trip to FAO can’t put a smile on someone’s face, then what can? And is celebrity really worth that?

environment, green

The Everyday Environmentalist

Christa Avampato

I have been a supporter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Sierra Club and at one time worked for Conservation International (CI) because I am passionate about the planet and helping to protect it. TNC has launched a site called “Everyday Environmentalist” in an effort to create a central platform for people to share their green tips on-line. The tips range from the practical like taking the stairs rather than an elevator to the creative such as 101 uses for a bike trailer.

Have a look at what’s posted, and then post your own eco-tips at http://www.nature.org/activities/everydayenv.html

imagination, vision

We Need More Than Eyes to See

Christa Avampato

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” –Helen Keller

Today my boss was telling me about someone he knows who is so color blind that the man’s wife needs to help him get dressed in the monring. His world is one of varying shades of gray, and nothing else. And I wonder that must be like to never live in color, to never even be able to understand it. I feel the same way about a lack of imagination, or an inability to see possibility alongside reality. There is something so spectacular completely missing from that picure, too. A lack of imagination is just another form of gray.

The amount of opportunity that exists in this world is staggering – the possibilities to shape our lives, our business, our physical environment, our relationships are endless. The sheer number of options is so great that it seems impossible that we would ever feel boundaries. And yet, boundaries are inescapable. We live in boxes: those we put ourselves in, those we put others in, those others put us in, and those other people put themselves in. We make our world small rather than opening it up. We concede to the level road of gray rather than making the climb in color.

Our vision and imagination are assets, and to not make full use of them is to waste the resources we are God-given. In a time when we have so much latitude to invent an original life, we owe it ourselves to live the greatest life we can envision.

The above photo can be found at http://inexorablyloved.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/sunny-eyes-012b.jpg