Author: 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.
Earth Day, environment, green, scruppies

Scruppies unite!

Christa Avampato

We couldn’t let Earth Day go by without another new vocabulary word in the lexicon of sustainability. This one is actually fun to say! Scruppies is defined as “socially conscious upwardly mobile persons.” Me (God-willing on the upwardly mobile part), for example.

I grew up in a rural area where being Green was just the way we lived. We’d never pollute the land we had to live on because, well, we had to live there. We bought food at the farmer’s markets because we were friends with the farmers. We shut off lights and rarely had air conditioning because it was just too expensive. We used items until they wore out, and then had them repaired rather than tossing them because that makes economic sense.

So now that I’m college educated twice-over and have a good job, I want to be financially independent and successful while also hanging onto my roots of only using the resources I absolutely need and doing my part to make the planet a cleaner, healthier place. Simple enough. Apparently, I’m not alone. There are so many of us who fit this category that we have numbers large enough to justify our own demographic segment: scruppies.

Persistence pays. Happy Earth Day to all!

The photo above can be found at http://www.newworldbiomass.com/images/earthdate.gif

creativity, music

Derek Paravicini – a musical marvel

Christa Avampato

I receive a daily email from an organization called Daily Good. I’ve blogged about them before – they’re about sharing inspirational stories across many different topics. I believe they provide a greater service than their humble mission statement states – they give me a big fat wake-up call, jolting me out of even a twinge of self-pity I may be feeling. They make me grateful.

Today, Stephen Moss writes about an incredibly special musician, Derek Paravicini. 27-years old, Derek has severe mental challenges that make him incapable of caring for himself. Still, his musical creativity is not only intact but far superior than nearly the entire human population. Play him a song, any song, once and he will repeat it back through the piano perfectly. 
To read Derek’s inspiring story, visit http://music.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329797892-122426,00.html

creativity, design, human factors, technology

Can technology self-adjust?

Christa Avampato

My friend, Jon, recently sent me an article from The Telegraph on websites that “grow and develop”, just as humans due, raising the question of whether or not technology can abide by the laws of Darwinism. Can websites be programmed so the ones that are most adaptive to change survive, and those that are rigid and “set in their ways” perish? This takes the idea of user-generated content to a whole new level.

Human creativity, collectively, is able to alter technology over a number of iterations with these websites. The colors, fonts, and usability changes as the technology collect information by users of what they found appealing or unappealing, the links they clicked (or didn’t click) on. Think of what this could do for blogs or mass media information sources? Bloggers and reporters are constantly guessing what type of content would be most interesting and provocative to readers. Imagine if the readers could play direct hand in the alterations?!

This technology is in its early stages, though it’s easy to imagine all the different paths this type of innovation could create for us, or rather the paths we would be able to create for ourselves. What technology could human creativity synthesize using the same process that nature has followed for so many centuries? This invention could be the very height of biomimicry. Learn more at about the project and Matthew Hockenberry, the director of the Creative Synthesis Collaborative at www.creativesynthesis.net.
environment, Google, green

Google-Powered Search Engine Goes Green with Blackle.com

Christa Avampato

“Green is the new black” is all over NYC lately – t-shirts, bags, TV commercials, street posters. Saving the environment is coolest hobby these days. Now Heap Media has partnered with Google to take a creative bent on search making “Black the new Green” with Blackle.com.

Instead of Google’s traditional white search window, Blackle.com’s window is black with white type, saving about 15 watts per search. I learned about Blackle.com through the Centerfor Biodiversity’s weekly newsletter that I receive each Friday. One blogger has estimated that if Blackle.com is widely adopted, it could save the world 750 megawatts / year. (This amount of energy would power 500 US homes for about 2 years!) In additional to savings energy, and ultimately money, the search engine is also a powerful reminder that protecting the environment is important. It keeps the cause top-of-mind.

Check it out at http://www.blackle.com/
To subscribe to the Center for Biodiversity’s weekly newsletter, visit http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

books, cancer, child, children, health, Randy Pausch

Meet Randy Pausch

Christa Avampato

If you haven’t heard of Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, you need to. Via his book (just released this week), his blog charting his fight against pancreatic cancer, and his You Tube videos, he is by every measure a man of great character, charisma, and strength. He will inspire you to squeeze every last drop out of life; his story will make you grateful for your health, your family, your friends, and your work.

Shortly after being diagnosed, Dr. Pausch gave what he called “The Last Lecture”, which is also the title of his recent book. With such little time left in his life, he wants to spend as much of it with his family as possible and he was worried that the task of writing a book about the lecture would consume too much of his energy. As with all worthy projects, if there’s a will, there’s a creative solution to get it done. Dr. Pausch literally spoke the lecture and the story behind it to his collaborator, Jeff Zaslow, on 53 one-hour bike rides. He rides his bike daily to keep himself in the best shape possible.

“The Last Lecture” is a 75 minute talk that dispenses the wisdom he’s gained that he wishes he had time to pass on to his children. The subtitle is “Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”. To date, 10 million people have logged on to watch the video on You Tube and through the Carnegie Mellon site. Join them!

Lecture on the CMU site: www.cmu.edu/randyslecture
A recent article in the New York Times Health section about Dr. Pausch:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/health/08well.html?em&ex=1207886400&en=227dcc7269e91cb6&ei=5087%0A
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Randy’s blog: http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html
Buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Lecture-Randy-Pausch/dp/1401323251/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208265354&sr=8-1

creativity, insomnia, stress, work

Omnitasking: the latest buzz word to feed our frenzy for efficiency

Christa Avampato

I’m scared. Really scared for all of us. Instances of insomnia are rising, stress levels among Americans are at an all-time high. At this rate, burn-out may actually become a diagnosable disease. In my bio on this blog you will read that I am a “recovering multi-tasker.” Like most people recovering from an addiction to anything, it’s my continuous commitment to myself to not get caught in the trap of always thinking I must do 18 things at once.

So imagine my horror when I learned about the latest term in task-ology: omnitasking, meaning that you are working on tasks at every moment from everywhere. I was almost seized by tremors and an enormous migraine just thinking about being an omnitasker. Zippo downtime. Frightening.

I also think this may be the universe’s reminder to me that it’s time to back away, slowly, from the frenzy and the pressure that reading posts like http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK2FR8DTV9Q2KS1 cause me. With omnitasking, there is no time for reflection, or even enjoying the task at hand. You must always be looking ahead, to the next task that needs completion. And that kind of behavior kills creativity, literally forces you to ignore any kind of intuition senors that we may have.

There have been a lot of scientific studies that come to the conclusion that multi-tasking beyond a certain point actually lowers our IQ. Taking that one step further, does omnitasking do away with our intelligence altogether?

live blog, New York Times, news, writing

Live Bloggers on the Inside: the Iraq Hearings

Christa Avampato

Photographers, main stream media journalists, and videographers have a tough time getting into some spaces and collecting the information for their stories in real time. This past week, General Patraeus testified in front of Congress at the Iraq hearings. Though film crews could not immediately get the scoop into stations across the country, bloggers in the court room were getting the information out into the streets on cyberspace as the testimony unfolded. The Lede blog from the New York Times did a terrific job covering the conference. Check out the coverage of the Lede blog at http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/watching-the-iraq-hearings-with-petraeus-and-crocker/#comment-380099

I am especially interested in this kind of coverage because of my experience in live blogging. This is just one poignant example of the power of immediate publishing. While newspaper and magazine articles, as well as newscasts, have some time to work through the material and polish it up,l live bloggers give the story and the feeling of the event as it’s happening. It’s the next best thing to a ringside seat at any event.

All of this leads me to believe that it’s possible that live bloggers are the go-to journalists and archivists of the future. Why wait for the nightly news, or for the morning paper, when you can virtually be at the event yourself? Even old world media is adopting what many companies in other industries have known all along: speed is life. And if the largest of the media institutions are to survive, live bloggers may be just the lifeline they need.

blogging, career, New York Times, sleep, time, work, writer, writing

The occupational hazard of blogging and other creative outlets

Christa Avampato

This week, the New York Times ran a story on three prolific bloggers who, it is believed, blogged themselves to death. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=media) The stress of the constant need to publish as quickly and as often as humanly possible caused them to fall into poor health. Several friends immediately sent me the article, knowing that I try as best as I can to publish daily on my own blog. I don’t always make it, though I am always on the look out for new content and new ideas.

I feel terrible for the families and friends of these writers, the oldest of which was only 60. It is always tragic to see anyone consumed by what they love. I read the article closely, several times, and there are a few things that on the surface I feel may have saved these people. I hope by sharing them with you that they may help other people who feel obsessed with their jobs for whatever reason.

I completely understand insomnia – I’ve suffered with it for most of my life. I understand anxiety about money – I grew up in a family with very little, and only recently have been able to breath a bit easier about my finances. There were a few huge things in my life that have made a difference in my level of anxiety – I consciously decide to not be a workaholic, and I practice yoga every day, no matter how short an amount of time.

When I worked in DC, some of my office mates would make fun of me because at 5:30, nearly every day, I was out the door. I would feel angry about their teasing sometime, though most of the time I let it go. My mom works herself to the bone. I mean to the absolute brink. It was painful for me, as a kid, to watch her. A year and a half ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and from her recovery bed, she was on her computer. Some call this dedication. There’s no denying my mom is a dedicated woman; unfortunately, she is dedicated to a fault. A very large fault, that very easily could cost her, and her children, her life.

Even today, I will come in early, I will work on things at home at night, but I never, and I mean never, allow myself to fall into the habit of staying in the office past 5:30. On occasion, I get it – deadlines pop up, and an occasional late night is necessary. When I went looking for a job after business school, I was adamant about finding one that afforded me a life and time to live it. This is a conscious choice – I ALWAYS have more work, I could always be doing more. I choose to let it lie for the next day. I could very easily become a workaholic; it’s in my blood. I fight that temptation every step of the way, and I refuse to back down in the face of my impulse to work “just a little bit more”.

Yoga, quite honestly, saved my life. It helped me forgive a lot of sadness and disappointment. It helped me cope during times of extreme stress. It gave me the strength to get up, again and again, with an open heart. It is a discipline. After years of practice, I can sleep, in relative peace. And when I can, where I can, I am out in the world singing yoga’s praises, sharing my knowledge about it. Everyone needs a healthy release – yoga is mine.

Anything in the world can get the best of you – food, drugs, gambling, smoking, love, an obsessive hobby, and yes, work, no matter what field you’re in. You have more control over you than anyone in the word, whether you realize it or not. At every moment we have a choice. If we are doing something, anything, that harms us, it’s easier to blame someone else. Our boss, our romantic partner, our friends. The truth is others control us when we allow them to. Ultimately, our happiness, the very activities that compose our lives, are all choices. And choosing what to do among many options is the hardest, and most important, task we have. I consciously remind myself every morning that my time is the most valuable resource in the world, and I treat it accordingly.

Chef Duff, children, crayola, food, New York, retail, toys r us

Let Crayola Eat Cake: Chef Duff from Ace of Cakes Visits Toys R Us Times Square for the 50th Birthday of Crayola’s 64-count Box

Christa Avampato

My grandpa was a candy maker so loving sweets of all kinds is in my blood. And my sweet of choice: cake. So when my boss, Bob, mentioned that I could join him at the Toys R Us Times Square store for the 50th birthday of Crayola’s 64-count box, I was ecstatic. Chef Duff from Ace of Cakes would be there presenting the centerpiece of every good birthday – the cake. It took 15 people two days to craft a perfect over-sized replica of the 64-count Crayola crayon box. And I can verify for you that after meeting him, he is as much fun and as down-to-Earth as he appears on the show, one of my favorite programs on TV. 

I arrived slightly before 9:00am, and the second floor of the store was already buzzing. PR, cameras, lights, even Dr. Crayola! And in the middle of all those glorious spotlights, this stunning cake and Chef Duff situating it to make sure it looked absolutely perfect at the unveiling. Bob did some b-roll prior to Dr. Crayola taking the stage, and then we had to hurry off to get Bob back for a meeting at the corporate office. 
The golden anniversary of Crayola’s 64-count box was a smashing success – a PR manager’s media dream: all the major networks, happy kids, and smiles filled with cake. To celebrate the occasion, Crayola held an on-line poll of kids to choose eight new Crayola colors. Looking at them, you have to smile. After all, they have names like “super happy”, a bright, sunny yellow. Who doesn’t have happy, creative memories of spending childhood hours coloring? (Fun fact – every year, U.S. children spend a collective 6.3 million hours coloring!) And what better way to celebrate than to let them all eat cake with Duff?!  
If you’d like to check out some pictures of the cake in the making at Charm City Cakes, visit http://www.charmcitycakes.com/noflash/index.cfm?rd=blog
art, creativity, health, New York Times

What we can learn about creativity from those who suffer from FTD

Christa Avampato

Today’s Health section of the New York Times explored the case of Dr. Anne Adams. She had a rare brain disease known as FTD, frontotemporal dementia. The frontal cortex of her brain, which controls reasoning and planning, began to deteriorate while her right posterior brain, the part that controls creativity, blossomed. Her art, like that pictured at the top of this blog post, grew in complexity.

Just as someone who is blind develops a more keen sense of hearing, Dr. Adams’s creativity grew at the expense of her reasoning. An extreme case, the more Dr. Adams let go of her rational mind, the stronger her creative senses became. Eventually FTD overcame Dr. Adams, though the experience of her last few years has much to teach us about the artistic capabilities that lie dormant in all of our minds.

What if we could put reason aside, temporarily? What if we could silence our inner critic, what if we could put aside judgements and inhibitions, and just pick up a guitar, a paintbrush, a pen?Create whatever it is that floats in and out of our minds, without trying to connect the dots. What creative possibilities do have within us that we, unconsciously, silence every day for the sake of reason? Dr. Adams provides a strong example of our potential.