Month: September 2008

education, health, healthcare, innovation, politics

One Thing We Don’t Want to Change

Christa Avampato

Thomas Friedman wrote a brilliant article in the Times last week about innovation in the U.S. At the moment, we are the most innovative country in the world, though that is changing. Quickly. And though there are a lot of people in the press these days talking about change, few are talking about innovation, much less the need to foster that effort in our people. And it needs to be addressed, head on. Now. 


We are spending a lot of time talking about how to save manufacturing. The trouble is we can’t save manufacturing if we don’t save the innovative processes that dictate what to manufacture. And we can’t save the innovative process and its wonderful outcomes without seriously addressing education – and that includes K-12, college, and graduate school, the latter of which is nearly becoming a non-negotiable credential for those who want a modicum of job and financial security. In the case of K-12 education, the improvement child health and well-being is critical. And without K-12 education, we don’t have a prayer. 

Despite the fact that I have been a fan of Barack Obama since his entry into politics, I voted for Hilary Clinton in the primary. Many people ask me why when she seems so divisive and polarizing. One simple reason – I believed she would fix healthcare, which leads to better K-12 education which fosters innovation that supports our economy and global competitive advantage. Healthcare is a root cause to so many other problems we have in the U.S., and around the world. And if were going to talk about priorities and what to focus on first in this next Presidency, my wish would be that we make good health for every American a non-negotiable goal.       
books, Hachette Book Group USA, relationships, religion

The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton

Christa Avampato

If you’re looking for a quirky, off-beat adventure, Clyde Edgerton’s new book, The Bible Salesman, is for you. My contacts over at Hachette Book Group sent me an advance copy to read through and at first I was skeptical. I’m not a religious person so I had a hard time imagining that I’d enjoy a book about a Bible salesman. However, I trust the insight and taste of Hachette so I gave it a shot. 

To be fair, the book gets going a bit slowly, despite the fact that it is a slim 238 pages. For much of that start we are inside the mind of Henry Dampier, the Bible salesman. It isn’t until we begin to see him interacting with the outside world that we understand how intelligent, though endearingly gullible he is. And then all of a sudden rather than trying to figure out why in the world this man appears so odd to us, we are routing for him as he gets more deeply involved with a ring of dangerous people. 
 
Edgerton does a wonderful job of weaving classic literature themes – good versus evil, love, danger, the combined hero desire and opportunity to take a life on the ride from ordinary to extraordinary – in a wholly new and entertaining way. The other piece of Edgerton’s writing that I find so brilliant in this piece is that he asks his readers to consider religion and its role in raising children by revealing how one life, the life of Henry, was forever molded and influenced by a fundamentalist upbringing. 
 
He doesn’t preach to us and he doesn’t tell us that a fundamentalist upbringing to harmful or helpful. He lays out a plot, explains Henry’s decision process and view of the world, and reveals how this character’s back story builds the main narrative of the book. With every page turn that we are uncovering a little bit more about this man who seems so simple on the surface and yet lives an enormous life underneath that sweet veneer. 
customer service, internet, technology

Another reason to love Verizon

Christa Avampato

I don’t know too many people who say they love their cell phone company. When I moved into my apartment about a year ago, AT&T, my cell phone company for 9 years, didn’t work. No signal. The only service that did get a signal on my comfy couch was Verizon. I was weary of switching. I didn’t love AT&T. They’re expensive, the customer service is awful, and I felt no affinity for the brand. But I was a victim of that sad addage, “I’d rather make a deal with the devil I know…” Until I couldn’t make that deal anymore – I had to get Verizon. My friends who had the service, especially Dan, raved about how friendly and helpful they were. I was skeptical, but I signed up. Now, I’m wondering why I didn’t switch years ago!


I had another recent wireless issue. For the past year, I have been able to tap into my landlord’s wireless network because he never locks it up. Up until a month ago, it always worked just fine. Lately, it’s flaked out on me repeatedly. I dreaded getting in touch with internet providers, buying my own modem, waiting for the installation tech o show up, not to mention the expense. 

And then I saw a commercial for a Verizon device that lets you take the internet with you wherever you go. The UM175 USB Modem. It was love at first site. Now my internet works in my apartment all the time, and it works everywhere else I go with my laptop too. No more concern over whether a coffee shop or vacation spot has internet access. I have my own supply ready to go. And it matches by white Macbook – an accessorizing queen’s dream!

And the customer service was fantastic. I walked in to my neighborhood Verizon store, was helped by two friendly Verizon folks, got an instant rebate and discount on service because of my employer, and was out the door with my internet in hand in 5 minutes. Seriously. It took 5 minutes to install on my laptop. Seriously. And I’ve been happily clicking away on the internet ever since, everywhere I go, all for about $30 a month. Who says you can’t love your wireless company?!  
books, charity, education, nonprofit

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Christa Avampato

I spend a lot of time reading books, magazine and newspaper articles, and watching TV programs that pertain to work being done by nonprofits and NGOS. I spent part of my career in the nonprofit world and have volunteered in my community for as long as I can remember as my mother is also very committed to service.


I talk to friends about their nonprofit work and my company gives generously to a whole host of these organizations. I have a carefully chosen few organizations that I donate to and if friends send me a notice that they are running a race or taking part in some other way to raise money for a charity they believe in, I’m good for a donation. Lately I’ve been feeling the need to do more and I’m not sure if that means joining a board, lending my business expertise on a pro-bono basis, or committing a great amount of volunteer time. Maybe it means starting my own nonprofit. 

Because of my interest in education, especially that of girls in developing nations, I picked up a copy of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The book charts the course that Greg Mortenson took to building schools first in the village of Korphe in Pakistan, then all over that country, and most recently in Afghanistan. I was so moved by Greg’s story that about 50 pages through the book I went to the website to make a donation. He is compelling, engaging, passionate, and he’s in the field for all the right reasons. 

Greg believes, as I do, that education changes the paradigm. We cannot hope to ensure our own national security and that of our allies if we do not take make the effort to provide basic education, particularly to women, in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. We cannot go in with guns a-blazing a la George W. Bush, obliterate an entire nation to rubble, and then walk away with a defiant “take that” tossed over our shoulders. Our behavior in the Middle East makes me hang my head in shame. 

The way to peace is through books, through education, and through nurturing the imaginations and curiosities of children. Greg and his nonprofit, the Central Asia Institute, are doing that effectively, efficiently, and safely. I couldn’t imagine a better use for my charitable giving.    
friendship, personality. relationships, Real Simple, relationships, simplicity, technology

iwantsandy.com

Christa Avampato

I think my mobile life is about to get more complicated. I have never had a Blackberry (or Crackberry as the case may be) before this job. It wasn’t essential to my other positions. Now with this new job, some work travel, and managing multiple cross-functional projects with tight deadlines and heavy execution components, I will need one. So here we go…


I was a little nervous because I was trying to figure out how I’d link my personal calendar and my work calendar if I have two devices. What a pain. And now I’m beginning to see that mobile applications are going to play a big role in our lives very soon. Who wants to be beholden to any single device? I want my schedule, documents, endless numbers of lists, etc. accessible 24 hours a day, wherever I am, from any device.

My friend, Ariel, constantly teases me about the fact that many times I can’t get right back to people when they leave me a message. If I take a week to return his casual phone call, I’m still hearing about it months later. Recently he joked “Christa, your social life is so active you need your own assistant.” I laughed. Sure I’ll get an assistant, as long as he or she works around my schedule, manages all of my life details with little effort on my part, and promises to never leave. Oh, and I’d like him or her to work for $0. “Ask and you shall receive,” my mother (Sandy) always says. And that’s when I met another Sandy that I think will quickly become indispensable. Real Simple Magazine introduced us. 

Sandy is a virtual assistant who emails and /or texts me any and all reminders that I set up simply by sending her an email to a special address. She has text recognition capabilities, handle calendars, to-dos, goals, contact lists. The only downside is you have to learn Sandy-eez. In order for everything to be logged correctly be Sandy – you have to speak her language and use her specific shorthand. That’s not so bad though – I mean, after all, she is keeping you completely organized for free and working 24/7 with a cheerful personality.

And the only other fix I might recommend – I’d love to be able to personalize my assistant and give him or her their own unique personality and look. Maybe that’s Sandy 2.0?   
gaming, science, video games, will wright

Spore: the moment gamers have been waiting for

Christa Avampato

I’m not a gamer – my hand-eye coordination is about as good as my sense of direction, which is to say it’s non-existent. I’ve never played a Wii or an X-box or a PS2 (or is it PS3 they’re on now?) And yet, I am completely fascinated by the growth of the gaming industry and because of my interest in customer engagement am passionate about finding ways for businesses to use gaming in a constructive business-savvy way.


Enter Will Wright, a legend in gaming, creator of the Sims, who has just released his latest, greatest, and long-developed project: Spore. Borrowing from the ideas of the Green movement and the biological evolution, Wright has created a game that allows players to create worlds, actions taken within those worlds, and then deal with the fallout of the consequences over centuries of time. One of the oddest things about life is that we can make all of these choices and decisions about our environment, our economy, our relations with foreign worlds, but because of the long time span needed to see the full effects of our actions, we often don’t live with the results. Our children, our children’s children, and so, deal with the messes we make. 

Wright carries a profound belief that if we could see first hand the damage or delight we cause decades after our passing, we would make more choices that have a long-term benefit. And to top it all off, we have fun along the way creating different creatures. We get to run the world, or rather a simulation of it, for a little while. 

Tonight I was telling my friend, Dave, about my sketch comedy writing class and how the difficulty of writing this genre gave me so much more respect for comedians. With Spore, I believe that we could all benefit from playing Boss of the World for a while – maybe we would be able to see that running this planet isn’t as easy as we think it may be. We are now being faced with tough decisions about our future; Spore gives us a way to try out scenario planning in a cost-effective, entertaining, and informative way.        

As Ellis Marsalis said to his son Wynton “earn your prejudices.” Meaning, before you go giving your opinion on how to run something, try it out first. Thank you, Will Wright, for dedicating a decade of your life to this project for the sake of the planet. 

For photo above, click here.