Category: media

adventure, career, media, story, work

Leap: Michael Vito’s Inspiring Leap Into Entrepreneurship with Third Place Media

Christa Avampato
A buzzing street market in Sunset Park’s Chinatown. Photo by Michael Vito

Michael Vito is a dear friend, Compass Yoga board member, and all-around rock star advisor. When I founded Compass, Michael was one of the first two people I consulted to read my 5-page plan. (The other was Lon Tibbitts, another dear friend, Compass board member, and rock star advisor – I am a lucky girl!) Michael very honestly supported my vision and laid out about 100 things that needed fixing in such a way that I felt even more motivated rather than crushed. His ability to weave a tale is pretty darn extraordinary.

In a way, we took the big Leap into working for ourselves together, several weeks apart after about a year of seriously talking about how on Earth we were both going to do the work we love and get paid for it. I’m very happy to share Michael’s story below, in his own beautiful words. To learn more about him, check out the Third Place Media site and his personal blog, Like a Fish in Water.

Michael Vito’s Leap
About two and a half months ago, I decided to take my list of “stuff I want to do when I have the time and money, someday” and just do it. I left my research and communications position at the Corporate Eco Forum and launched my own business, Third Place Media.

The name is based on the term of art used by urban planners to refer to settings other than home and work that support civic engagement and help build social capital. On top of this concept I’ve layered transit oriented development and walkable neighborhoods, two related forces that work best in tandem to reduce dependence on automobiles. I think the combination of the three creates more diverse, economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable communities that address the needs of a broad group of stakeholders.

I place myself in the role of 21st century storyteller. In order to help drive more of this kind of land use and development, I think there’s a need for rich narrative content to help communities understand what is at stake and what tools are available to create change.  Armed with cameras and a keyboard, I plan to get down in the trenches with local governments, planners, economic development organizations, community leaders and businesses, supporting their efforts to build better places. I will be offering both content development and communications strategy consulting to tie things together.

I’ve designated the first six months to be focused on pilot projects, designed to both get a feel for workflows and methodologies I’ll be using, as well as create a portfolio demonstrating the concepts. So far, I’ve spent plenty of time camping out in train stations and exploring of the communities built around them. I produced some prototype Third Place Media content that will be used by the newly formed South Orange economic development organization. I just wrapped up principal photography and will shortly begin the editing phase of a miniature documentary on 热闹 (rènao), the Chinese cultural affinity for noisy, rowdy, lively environments. Next month, my wife, daughter and I will visit our family in China. Both while there and during a short side trip by myself to Tokyo, I plan to photograph, film and document transit infrastructure, mixed-use development, and social phenomena in public spaces. All of these are things I would have done anyway, for no other reason than pure curiosity. Such is the magic of choosing one’s own path.

Looking back on the summer, it’s a little bit unbelievable to me how much ground I’ve covered, both in terms of the actual work and the emotional distance I’ve traveled since making my leap. I would never have anticipated how much and how intensely I could work (and still want to do more) after immersing myself in all of the things that really light me up. I’ve also lost what remained of my tolerance for the kind of uninspiring leadership and poor behavior to which I have been subjected in previous stages of my career. In my own approach to management, it’s my goal to make sure that the people who work with me never have to don the hard shell I needed to preserve myself. Regardless of position and level of experience, everyone deserves no less than complete respect, to do work that inspires their curiosity, and to be empowered to take risks and explore their creative potential. The great challenges of our time are too interesting and too complex to not bring everything we have to bear.

media, new media, New York, New York City, New York Times, news, newspapers

Leap: Get 12 Free Weeks to the Digital Version of The New York Times

Christa Avampato

Here’s my perfect Sunday morning: Waking up in a sunny room to coffee, CBS Sunday Morning, The New York Times, and Phineas.

The New York Times has been a big part of my life since I was a child. My dad relished the Sunday version. I remember him reading it cover to cover. We weren’t allowed to touch it until he was done with it and he was the only one allowed to touch the crossword puzzle, which he did in pen (as opposed to pencil.) Now you understand the yardstick I’m up against when it comes to measuring my own abilities.

How I Grew to Treasure The Times
One summer Sunday I remember seeing the travel section of The Times Magazine. I called every 1-800 number and ordered a catalog to the far-flung corners of the world that I hoped to visit someday and they started piling up in our mailbox in droves. It felt like Christmas. I kept them stashed away under my bed and I’d look at them every day, dreaming of the days when I’d get to travel. I think I was about 8.

And that sealed the deal for me. The Times and I were partners for life. It gave me the chance to dream of what life would, could, and should be when I grow up. I’ve been an avid reader of it all of my adult life. It is the #1 news source I go to.

Getting on the Inside
A few years after my travel catalog spree, my fascination with the organization behind the paper caused me to read Gay Talese’s The Kingdom and the Power. 5 times. (My mother always stressed that I was a “special” child.) I never dreamed of working there, but I did want to know what life was like on the inside of that hallowed institution.

At SXSW 2011, I went to see the documentary Page One and had the chance to meet David Carr, one of my journalism idols. (I highly recommend the film; it’s incredibly well done!) At the end of the documentary, I had an excellent sense of why they decided to change their policy and begin charging for their online subscriptions. The level of in-depth reporting they do around the world requires a good deal of funding. I’ve benefited from it for so many years and I decided in that moment that once the new pricing went into effect, I would become a subscriber.

Win a Digital Subscription to The Times
And now I want all of you to have that chance, too! As a subscriber, I have the opportunity to give away a free 12 week digital subscription to The Times to someone who doesn’t yet have a subscription and I want to offer it up to the readers of this blog who constantly support me and my endeavors. Just leave me a comment on this post and I’ll select a winner at random on Monday evening, letting you know who the winner is on Tuesday.

creativity, imagination, innovation, media, Muppet, Steve Jobs

Beginning: Steve Jobs, Tim Russert, Jim Henson, and How to Honor an Icon

Christa Avampato

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” ~ Steve Jobs from his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford

I audibly gasped when I got the nytimes.com breaking alert that Steve Jobs had passed away. I turned to Twitter and saw that in the past few minutes the outpouring of gratitude and empathy had begun to build and would reach dizzying heights within the next 10 minutes. My favorite tributes were from Wired Magazine and on the Apple site itself. His was a passing heard and felt round the world, mostly by people who never had the honor to interact personally with him. Yet, he is with us all the time, in our homes, cars, and offices. We take Steve with us everywhere through his ingenious inventions and as the spark that so often lights our own imaginations. The legendary Apple ad “The Crazy Ones” continues to be an anthem for innovators all over the globe. Steve gave us something to aspire to – our highest selves.

I remember having this same wave of thankfulness flow over me when I heard about the passing of Tim Russert several years ago, and I remember the exact moment when I learned Jim Henson had passed away. They all died long before their time – Steve was 56, Tim was 58, and Jim was 53. All taken in the very prime of their careers, and in a short time they grew to be a part of our lives. They all share the magical gift of being able to make the seemingly complicated simple, approachable, and knowable for people from all walks of life – Steve in the field of technology, Tim in politics and government (particularly elections), and Jim in education and the power of television. All of these men were intensely involved in media, the creation and dissemination of information and knowledge. They defined our times.

Though the sting of Steve’s passing is obviously still being felt by so many, we can take comfort in how the legacies of Tim and Jim have thrived. Tim Russert’s CBS Sunday Morning, though not the same as when he anchored it, is still a top-rated show and a source of enjoyment and education for millions of people each week. At election time, we still miss his wipe board where he demystified the numbers for us. Jim Henson’s tributes can still be found in every corner where education is discussed and debated. Sesame Street is still a much beloved show. The Muppets are still iconic figures in our lives and the much-anticipated new Muppet movie will be released next month. The Museum of the Moving Image is currently showing a retrospective of Henson’s brilliant work in honor of his 75th birthday. (My post on that outing will be run this weekend.)

And while tributes to the work of these three icons are touching and thought-provoking, their greatest legacies live in the people whom they inspired, including you and me. They set a fire in our bellies and in our imaginations to do something extraordinary with our time. The best way to honor them and show our gratitude is to make our days as meaningful and creative as possible.

Steve, we miss you now and will continue to turn to the counsel you’ve left in speeches, in writing, and in your creative work as we wrestle through our own creative processes. “What would Steve do?” will be a phrase we turn over in our minds again and again as we try to design a better world. You showed us how to be a beginner and love it. Thanks for being here with us and showing us the way. We’ll do our best to carry on the great adventure into the imagination that you started. 

[I am a firm believer in the power of a well-crafted letter. If you’d like to send your thoughts, memories, and condolences for Steve, click here.]  

film, media, New York Times, news, newspapers

Beginning: Why I Decided to Re-Subscribe to The New York Times

Christa Avampato

I love the volume of news and information that literally flows through my hands on my phone. I can quickly and easily catch up on world events as I wait in line was and commute to work. I no longer print out directions or make lists for groceries and errands. I just store it all in my phone and it’s available whenever I need it. And still, I miss the newspaper on Sundays.

That changed today when my first paper Sunday Times in many years was delivered to my door. Two key events in the last few months led me to re-subscribe to The Times.

The front page
In March, I saw the premiere of the documentary Page One at SXSW. I was enthralled by the process that The New York Times goes through every day to decide what goes on the front page of the paper the next day. And the premiere, we learned that The Times would be moving to a subscription model of some kind in order to save its financials. After years of all we could read for free, the company had to make the bold move to protect itself in these turbulent media times. And in that moment I felt I had to subscribe to help protect The Times too. It is too big, too important, to fail.

A diary of epic proportions
A few weeks ago I went to the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival to see Tim Hetherington’s Diary. Diary is his autobiography in film form. When he submitted to the festival, he had every intention of being there for the Q&A. Sadly we lost Tim in Libya this Spring as he was there covering the unfolding conflict. His close friend, James Brabazon, described Tim as “a light so bright you could steer your boat by him.” He was nothing short of a genius with compassion and heart, and he spent a good deal of his career in journalism working for The New York Times among other top publications. My subscription money supports work like Tim’s, and it’s the least I can do after all that The Times has done for me for so many years.

My Sunday morning
6 days a week you’ll find me reading as many articles as I can on my phone and my laptop, taking in world-class digital content from The Times thanks to my subscription. (All subscriptions allow for full access to all digital content.) And on Sunday mornings, I’ll happily be on my coach, CBS Sunday Morning on my TV, coffee or tea in hand, Phineas next to me, reading The New York Times in black and white.

business, happiness, media, school

Step 116: Where the Hell is Matt Meets Darden

Christa Avampato

Inspired by the videos “Where the Hell is Matt”, a Darden student, David Shepro, made his own version, C’ville style. I went to business school at Darden so this video has very special meaning for me, but it’s got so much joy that it would bring a smile to anyone’s face, Darden grad or not. There’s something really unifying about a bunch of people dancing around with wild abandon in unexpected places. I don’t know why. There just is. We love the unexpected.

Welcome to the lighter, more joyful side of life at one of the world’s very best schools with one of the very best communities I’ve ever been a part of. For four and a half minutes, David showcases Darden’s amazing characters. I’m keeping this one in my archives to pull up whenever I need a great big smile. I’m so inspired, I think I’m going to do a little boogie break in my office right now. We could all use a little more dance in our day. Here’s to hoping this video makes you smile today, too. Enjoy!

Click here for David’s YouTube video.

Many thanks to my friend, Abhilekh, for passing this link to me.

media, technology

Step 57: Igniteshow.com – a New Site by O’Reilly Media

Christa Avampato

O’Reilly Media is at it again – offering up innovation and creative inspiration at the click of a button. In conjunction with Global Ignite Week, O’Reilly Media is serving up extraordinary ingenuity by and for ordinary people through their new site igniteshow.com. And here’s the best part – all the inspiring videos on the site are five minutes long, give or take a few seconds.

I love the TED videos and I frequently watch them. The trouble is that all the presenters at TED are rock stars, making them a bit inaccessible. All of the presenters on Igniteshow are passionate people who could be your neighbor, the guy in line in front of you at Starbucks, or the person you pass by on the street every day. They’re every day people who are working on projects that they’re passionate about. And O’Reilly is helping them share their passion with all of us. The presenters aren’t perfect. There’s nothing slick about most of the presentations. That’s my favorite part – they’re real, honest people out there fighting the good fight.

I plugged in “creativity” in the search box and a slew of videos came up on igniteshow.com. Here are three that caught my eye:

Choose Your Own Adventure, In Real Life – What drives you to take risks? That thing is your passion. What’s the idea you’re willing to go out on a limb for? That’s the thing that is going to bring you the most satisfaction in life. Get with people who get you excited to live your life – they’re the key to your happiness.

Visual Thinking: Boost Your Creative IQ – Connect the right and left sides of the brain by drawing, and everyone can draw. Drawing provides us with the practice we need to generate “innovation on demand”. Now that’s a service this world needs.

Creating Communal Creative Space – Space sharing among entrepreneurs, artists, writers, and freelancers is gaining popularity all over the country. These spaces provide us with access to resources, space, new ideas, and creative people. Want to know what the future holds – hang around one of these joints for a while and you’ll see what lies ahead.

From the O’Reilly Media press release:
“From March 1-5, 2010, roughly 10,000 people will congregate at more than 60 Ignites on six continents, as the first Global Ignite Week rolls across the planet. They’ll gather in local venues, grab a cold beverage, and watch a series of 5-minute talks from geeks, entrepreneurs, creative professionals, farmers, educators—people in their community who rise to the challenge of the Ignite motto: “Enlighten us, but make it quick.”

About Ignite
Ignite got its start in Seattle in December, 2006, as a personal project of O’Reilly’s Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis. They dreamed up an event where people could share their ideas over beer, and sent word out through their network. On December 7, two hundred Seattle geeks looking for “a fun night of geekery and networking” squeezed into a bar on Capitol Hill. They found beer, but so much more. First up, a friendly but intense competition to build the sturdiest popsicle-stick bridge. Then 25 intrepid locals took a turn on the stage for their five-minute Ignite talks. The consensus was that it was a blast. Word got out, and other communities wanted Ignite in their cities. Brady and Bre turned the event over to O’Reilly, and nearly 200 Ignites have been held, about half of them in the past year. As Ignite enters its fourth year, O’Reilly is launching Global Ignite Week to both celebrate and amplify the Ignite phenomenon.

About O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.”

comedy, education, media, New York Times, teaching, technology

My Year of Hopefulness – How-to with Howcast

Christa Avampato

Sunday morning is my favorite time of the week. I feel rested from Saturday, likely had a great time out with friends on Saturday evening, and I relax on Sunday morning doing anything that makes me happy. Usually it’s getting my coffee and reading the New York Times. Throw in a great feature story on CBS Sunday Morning, and I’m smiling from ear to ear all day. Sundays are a gift I treasure.

In this morning’s New York Times, I read about Howcast, a new company with a noble, elegant mission: “Howcast shows consumers engaging, useful how-to videos and guides wherever, whenever they need to learn how.” Its sole goal is to help people help themselves with just about anything. The range of content is immense: some are very serious, even life-saving, informative clips (how to treat someone for shock) while others are flat-out hilarious (how to fight off a vampire). The platform is easy to use and has a clean design. The videos are short and succinct. Best of all, community members can add how-to videos of their own, so if you have an expertise that you want to share with the world, now you have a clever platform to do it.

Some of my favorites from this morning’s hunt through Howcast:
How to Survive a Bear Attack – I was laughing out loud
Fantastic collection of Yoga poses – their sports and fitness collection is extensive, from how to dribble a soccer ball to how to roast the ultimate marshmallow
Websites an resources on how to learn a foreign language
How to get your home ready for a dog

The search function is robust; I found the info I needed quickly. The load times of the videos were much shorter than I expected and the resolution is high. There are also wikiguides on topics should you choose to read the information rather than watch a video. And while other sites require account creation with a username and password, Howcast can sync with a Facebook account, allowing users to participate immediately to comment, vote, and favorite videos. Whether you’re looking for useful, timely info or a source of smart entertainment, Howcast provides it anywhere you are, exactly when you need it. DIY really is the new luxury and Howcast helps you get it.

Follow them on Twitter @howcast.

business, entrepreneurship, Examiner, media, technology

NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: Interview with Brian Moran, President of Moran Media Group

Christa Avampato

I met Brian Moran, President of Moran Media Group, as a result of this column. He sent me an email after reading my post about the similarities of running a business and running a marathon. Brian’s entrepreneurial beginnings are a great lesson for all of us on the myth of job security and turning a challenge into a life-changing opportunity. He was kind enough to share his experience and advice during my recent interview with him.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m7d6-Interview-with-Brian-Moran-President-of-Moran-Media-Group

blog, entrepreneurship, Examiner, media, New York City, New York Times, social media, technology

NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: "You’re the Boss"

Christa Avampato

The New York Times has a new blog about entrepreneurship called “You’re the Boss”. Covering a wide range of topics, the blog’s authors hope that they can create a place where entrepreneurs can “compare notes, get advice, learn from one another’s mistakes, and keep up with the important changes coming out of Washington.”

For the full post, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m6d18-Youre-the-Boss–a-new-blog-about-entrepreneurship-by-the-New-York-Times

business, career, Fast Company, health, media, New York Times, politics, women

My Year of Hopefulness – Women on the Rise

Christa Avampato

I read an amazing article this week in the New York Times about women who are finding the athlete side of their personality later in life. As recently as 30 years ago, women were discouraged from competitive sports, particularly from running. As a runner, that fact still stuns me and makes me grateful for the times when I was raised. For my mom and for millions of women like her, the road was not easy along any path, particularly when it comes to being fit and active. That is a recent phenomenon. One I am very grateful for.

The article left me thinking about what other areas of life have been off-limits to women that are now seeing the tide turn. Certainly in women being entrepreneurs and controlling their own careers. Great strides have been made in media – there are so many to name in that field. From Oprah to Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour, Arianna Huffington. And the list goes on. I am always proud of how many female business journalists have been featured as our media chronicles this latest economic downturn. I often think that women are running the reporting from Wall Street: Maria Bartiromo and Erin Burnett are terrific examples.

I am now reading a book entitled Another Day in the Frontal Lobe. It’s the story of Katrina Firlik, a young neurosurgeon. She was the first woman accepted into the neurosurgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Certainly in healthcare, and particularly in fields like neurosurgery, women like Dr. Firlik are paving the way.

Technology is seeing its fair share of women on the scene. Ning co-founder Gina Bianchini, Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz, and Charlene Li who authored the book Groundswell while at Forrester Research, immediately spring to mind. Having made great strides in this industry, women have a long road ahead. Fast Company recently ran a feature on some of the most influential women in tech. It’s a good read and I highly recommend it.

In politics we are lucky to have so many women taking the helm. I am very proud that Secretary of State Clinton heeded the calls during this difficult time that America’s reputation is facing around the world. I cannot imagine anyone better suited for the job. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shirley Franklin, and Janet Napolitano are other shining examples of the many that serve in all levels of government.

I consider fields like energy, transportation, and engineering and wonder how women will make their marks in those areas in the coming years. It will be exciting to watch and to take part in that development. With so many incredible female role models to learn from, women are poised for take-off.

The photo above was taken by Filip Kwiatkowski for The New York Times.