Day: March 15, 2011

apple, blogging, creativity, technology

Some sparks are flying between me and the iPad

Christa Avampato

I am currently at the Apple pop-up store in Austin. The store was late breaking news development that geeks here at SXSW are very happy about. The line for the new iPad is currently extended around the corner.

I have been slightly skeptical about tablets, worried that I would be duplicating my Droid X, which I love, and my MacBook which I love even more. However, I began to covet the glowing machine at SXSW because my laptop is heavy to carry around all day and blogging on my DROID is a less than ideal.

I took myself over here to the Apple store before grabbing some lunch in preparation for my SXSW talk this afternoon. From first touch, I developed an infatuation for little Mac Jr. Successful first date, though I need a little more time before I decide whether or not we’re destined to move in together.

I’m cautiously optimistic, and smitten.

Uncategorized

Beginning: The End of Whining

Christa Avampato

“There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” – Madeline Albright

I went to two sessions at SXSW yesterday that offered lessons from whining. One session was predicated on bias against women in comedy. The moderator of that session did a lot of whining while her panelists offered more empowering messages. The second session was a conversation with Felicia Day on her web series The Guild, which centers around gaming. She offered a message of authenticity as a way to quit whining and get something done.

As women, it’s an easy out to blame the boys club for our road blocks, and some times it’s true. They get in the way. The boys club is like a bad penny that we can’t get rid of. The hopeful message is that new media outlets give us a way to have a voice and by-pass the establishment. An authentic, articulate message is a powerful potion. And no one can take that away anymore.

Have an idea for a book? Write it and self-publish, blog, or collaborate with existing online resources. Have an idea for a show you’d like to produce? Put it together and get it out online. Same goes for music, comedy, art, business, and a myriad of other fields. The tools to create now belong to the people, not the elite, and certainly not to the boys club establishment. They missed the boat, big time, and in whining all we’re doing is delaying our own development by lamenting the upcoming demise of an establishment that deserves to crumble.

Get over it and create. The only roadblock to our own personal fulfillment is us.