Last week, I went to an event about mixed-, virtual-, and augmented-reality at DC’s Newseum. My dear friend, F.J., told me about it and being the technology fiends that we are, we went over there together with our friend, Anisha. We tried on some new gear to get a sense of what’s happening in this new and rapidly emerging field. I drove down the streets of Cuba, Anisha took a flight with the Blue Angels, and F.J. explored a shipwreck. The degrees of quality varied, but the fun of seeing the future was equally palpable in all of it. We then sat together to hear a talented panel of journalists and media makers talk about how these technologies are altering the very real world of human experience in a broad sense, and the field of journalism and storytelling more specifically.
An intense amount of capital is pouring into MR, AR, and VR. Competitors in hardware and software are firing on all cylinders. Storytellers are undergoing a massive mind shift and stretching their imaginations to the nth degree. The future of this technology isn’t even clear enough to be called hazy. We are all, admittedly, fumbling in the dark trying figure out how, if, when, where, and why to take this new avenue.
I’m thinking about how to use it for
Project Rubeus. Prestigious outlets such as The New York Times and the Washington Post are experimenting with mobile, immersive stories. The fields of healthcare, education, media, nonprofit, and travel are bending this new channel to their will to literally take students, customers, and consumers to places they never even imagined they could go.
I am intensely excited about this possibility and opportunity, as a business woman, technology lover, and writer with a passion for learning, teaching, and sharing. At the Newseum that night, a portal to a new, strange, and wild world opened and I happily walked through, virtually and literally.
Published by Christa Avampato
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
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Christa Avampato 