TEDxUCLA: Red Balloons Lead to Open Minds

When is the last time you allowed yourself a day of learning completely new ideas? The TEDxUCLA "Ideas Worth Spreading" event on October 27th lived up to its promise. TED (www.TED.com) is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. This was the second annual TEDxUCLA event and I couldn't have dreamed of a more interesting experience.

From the minute I pulled into the UCLA campus I knew I was in for a treat. Red balloons paved the path from the parking lot to the venue. I usually have trouble figuring out what building my classes are in at UCLA, but not that day! 

The real theme of the day was "OPEN" and I learned this important lesson before I even got to my seat. As I was walking to the building a man rode by on a double decker bicycle with all sorts of gear attached. I thought to myself, "There's got to be one of these oddball guys on every college campus." Inside, I saw a woman with a headset waiting to get in and thought "Geez, she can't even put her phone down for an hour?" 

They turned out to be Rachel Kann, an earthy, quirky spoken word poet and event emcee and Bobby "Tall Bike Bobby" Gadda, a bicycle activist and performance artist, both of whom entranced the audience with their independent, spunky spirits. 

The rest of the day was peppered with over a dozen unique, awe-inspiring takes on Science, Technology, Education and Design including a cardiologist who learned to be a better doctor by studying animal hearts and behaviors; a mechanical engineer with a PHD who explains science through comics; a professor of English Lit who brought Shakespeare to a maximum security prison with extraordinarily moving results; a scientist who studied cell textures to discover that cancer cells are softer than normal cells; and a law professor who challenged her students to view a case from all angles and helped free an innocent man.

Bookending the speakers were amazing multi-cultural performances featuring musicians, artists and our own time-lapse muralist Chris Rutterford, working in Scotland via Skype. Rachel lead us in a meet and greet stretch break and a kick-ass game of hot potato with 525 people from ages 20-80 tossing red TED beach balls around. 

Not an ordinary Saturday for me. I left invigorated and awestruck, clutching my red TED beach ball to remember the day.

SheSays LA: Step Left!

I learned early on in the digital age that there are two types of people: Those who love what they do and want to teach you everything they know; and those who don't want to teach you anything because you might move ahead of them. Luckily, the room was full of the former for SheSays LA's free event "Start Your Engine" last night at the super cool SapientNitro offices in Santa Monica.

Luz Plaza(@LuzPlaza) moderated a well-balanced panel of Start Up experts including Elizabeth Osder (@osder), SVP, Strategy & Business Development at JumpTime; Sheila Darcey (@art1st1c), Client Executive and Delivery Lead at SapientNitro (and a very gracious hostess); Kayla Green (@kaylagreen) Senior Global Account Director at iconmobile LLC; and Heather Seal (@hseal) Experience Designer at BLITZagency. I'm pretty sure Kayla and Heather will have new jobs before you finish reading this article--that's how fast moving this industry is!

Luz quoted a recent article in Forbes stating that women comprise less than 3% of top creative positions. Elizabeth wasn't surprised by that figure. She said she has often been the first woman to show up and she has the history to prove it. Elizabeth was the first female legally allowed to play in Little League!

What is it like to work for a start-up? Kayla described it as "fun chaos, like misfits in the wild, wild west." Heather said she took a risk and jumped in, leaving behind stability and a regular salary. Elizabeth likes to go where she will learn the most, not just for a better title. Sheila has taken on many roles in one company from HR to program management to the account side.

One recurring theme from the discussion was about taking risks with your career. More than one panelist talked about taking a step to the left, taking the road less travelled and having confidence in what you do. Sheila advised "You are a walking brand. Be influential in your message." The old school model of staying several years at one company or in one position is frowned upon. Now, two years is the average stint.

Luz asked the panelists to share the best advice someone told them. Elizabeth said "You're OK, you're in the right place." She joked "be willing to learn what you pretend to know!" Sheila said "it's a career, not just work. Leave the heaviness behind and have fun." Heather advised "You can do anything and go anywhere. Life is too short to be unhappy with your situation." Kayla paraphrased FB COO Sheryl Sandberg, "Don't climb the ladder, scale the jungle gym. Take a step left and right and experience the whole thing."

Thanks to SheSays LA and the four panelists for their inspiring insights into the paths they have taken.

Rate Me!

Do we have to rate everything we do, every service we are subjected to, every person we meet? Are any of these ratings really true? So much of the popularity of website like YELP and Amazon depend on our ratings. Are you going to go to a 1-star restaurant or read a 1-star book?

In the past few weeks I had to rate myself in my performance review, rate a series of speakers at a seminar I attended, rate an AT&T worker and review my brother's book.

I struggled with my self-evaluation. Last year I gave myself a slightly higher rating fancying myself as "a unique and beautiful snowflake." I received a positive, yet grounding evaluation. I marvel at those who give themselves and truly believe they deserve a 5. I know what kind of snowflake I am.

I attended a seminar in June on "Women, Wealth and Wisdom," in which the keynote speaker was a widely recognized spiritual leader and best-selling author. I was excited to hear her speak. While I marveled that she spoke without notes, I did not jot down any nuggets of wisdom. I felt that she eloquently spoke about "nothing." In the Q&A that followed, a woman who obviously admired the speaker, asked a question making broad generalizations about men in business. The renowned speaker artfully chewed her up and spit her into pieces for five minutes. Other much more inspiring speakers spoke throughout the day. When I filled out my questionnaire rating the speakers, I lied and gave her a 5. I didn't want to insult my host whom I admire. And I did learn a valuable lesson: don't believe the hype surrounding a public figure. The real 5 belonged to a female heart surgeon who literally had us all in the palm of her hand. I gave her a 5 +++.

After a mis-scheduled appointment with AT&T I was patiently waiting in my 9-12 window making sure I rushed to get everything done before 9 (meaning: get dressed). At 10:30 I checked online only too see the server was down. My guy showed up at 11. He got to work and told me he had to dispatch another tech to fix the phone line and he would go to lunch for an hour. Was that OK? Did I mention, this was a Friday and I was waiting to go to work? He finished up around 1pm. I gave him a 4 on his review. His supervisor called me to ask why I didn't give him a 5. Really? He was not "a unique and beautiful snowflake" either.

My brother was upset that someone gave him a 1 star review on GoodReads for his book, "Trading Manny." I had honestly just finished reading it and felt it had some great moments. While I agreed with some points in other reviews I didn't feel it deserved such a "hater" review. I wrote a review and gave him a 4. Unfortunately, my first and last name showed up. The haters are going to love that one!

So read between the lines when you see stars. Feel free to rate me but only if you are going to give me a 5.

Confessions of an Emmy Voter

It is my favorite time of year: Emmy Season! Since April I have been getting surprise packages in the mail. Every year I fear this will end and networks will go digital. I especially love to see the creative packaging since this what I do for a living too.

I am a member of the Television Executives branch of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences  http://www.emmys.tv/ --go figure! I worked at NBC for 13 years and I continue to pay my annual dues so I am eligible to vote for Programs.

I love TV and watching TV shows on a TV. I'm trying to embrace other platforms like my Kindle or laptop, but I am by large the traditional sit-in-my-lazyboy with dog on my lap kind of TV watcher. I still love Fall Launch (memories of my NBC boss saying every year, "This is the most important fall launch ever!" and she was right). The older I get, the more fickle I have become though. If I am not hooked after a couple episodes I move on.

There are a couple of shows I never started and wish I had like The Good Wife and Breaking Bad. I count on my friends and co-workers to keep me informed and will take buzz-worthy shows into consideration. Every year I have the same good intentions to watch everything I get in my coveted packages but I fall far short of my goal.

Here are some of the cool packages I got: a lunchbox from Food Network, ALL of Mad Men, a bunch of HBO stuff which is great because I don't subscribe, a cool dossier for Damages, a fun map of Portland for Portlandia and a douchebag jar from New Girl.

Despite my good intentions, I couldn't watch even a fraction of what they sent me. I couldn't even keep all the packaging and resorted to stacking them on a spindle.

My ballot has been cast and I'll find out on July 19 how my shows did. In August I'll get to do at-home judging for two program categories. I usually pick non-fiction specials because they are interesting and usually something I hadn't but should have watched. Had a tough time even picking 10 shows for best non-fiction series or reality series. Sorry Kardashians, just because you make a gazillion dollars over nothing does not make you Emmy-worthy in my book!

Plug Overload

PINKY is trying very hard to keep up with new technology. I admit to being a slow adapter. I have a TV that still plays VHS tapes. My other TV weighs 200lbs and is far from slim.

I can't listen to my iPod in my 2001 car because the plug always blows fuses. Just as well since I have an early edition iPod that looks like the cell phone construction foremen once carried. It would probably lower my MPG significantly.

I finally gave in a bought a Kindle Fire which forced me to get a portable WiFi gizmo since my 2004 iMac is cloudless.  And because I could no longer do anything but read email on said Mac, I upgraded to a MacBook Air. I soon found out that I needed an external disc drive too. PINKY does not want to think about how much keeping up with technology is costing.

The inside of my house is starting to look like my yard at Christmas when I have 25 lines of lights plugged into 2 outlets. Each gizmo has its own cord and charger, mostly USB compatible but often with oddly shaped ends. Four gizmos are plugged in simultaneously into one outlet. Often I wander from room to room with something that needs to be charged. I have a drawer of oddly shaped cords and plugs that I am afraid to throw out.

Part of the joy of new technology is it's portability. I can take it with me everywhere I go! As long as they are charged that is. Since they all have slightly different functions, there are days when I have all 4 devices with me and all their plugs. I even have a solar charger in my car in case of an emergency. Soon I will need a digital Sherpa to accompany me everywhere.

My friend recently remodeled her office in her 50's style ranch house similar to mine. She had a major problem with wires going everywhere and hated the way they all stuck out. She came up with the perfect solution to hide all those annoying cords (plugged into one outlet!)

The old guitar case trick works like a charm! Luckily, I have one of those too. How are you handling the wires, plugs and chargers in your world?

Social Censorship and Nothing

When I first started on Facebook in Fall 2008 I was in a competition with my office mate to add as many friends as possible. As I mentioned before, I was most thrilled to connect with my former classmates. I still enjoy FB and log in daily to catch-up with my Friends.

I'm going to admit now that I don't even know some of my Friends. And in the course of embracing social media and connecting to everyone one has ever known or known of, does this force us to censor ourselves?

Are we saying what we really want to say?  By being connected to every family member and co-worker are we really being ourselves? And to those who fully embrace a no-holds barred approach to sharing, do you sometimes cringe for them a little?

How many times have you been with your Friends and started to say something and they respond, "Oh yeah, I saw that on your post." No need to talk then! If you miss one of their posts you may be out of the loop on a life-changing event.

We know how important Social Media is to business. It's really our only safe complaint zone (as long as the complaint is not about your own business.) We want to know that someone out there is listening and we get little rewards knowing that they are.

I just wonder if we are all so connected now that we will run out of things to say. I am still trying to embrace Twitter, but I secretly think it is a stream of "nothing." The iconic actress Joan Crawford was known for writing thank you notes and then thank yous for the thank you, etc. She would have loved Twitter.

In the end, will Social Media end up like "Seinfeld," a really great show about nothing? Not that there's anything wrong with that...and don't forget to follow me on Twitter @jetsonlg and I will Tweet you back!

Defending Ink on Paper Vol. 1

I have been in a book club (The Best Book Club Ever!) since August 2010. I have always been very good at buying books, but not so good at reading and finishing them. The BBCE! has changed that for me.

I have been busy taking Personal Financial Planning classes at UCLA Extension the past couple years. I enjoy the challenge, but did not realize how time consuming the courses would be. Reading a 900-page textbook in 12 weeks is not an easy task. So for BBCE! I started "cheating" by listening to some selections on audio books. I figured it wasn't really cheating if the book was unabridged.

I enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible" on audio. I had read it several years ago, so I thought an audio listen would be okay. One narrator doing five southern accents gets on one's nerves after disk 8 but I don't think the book lost any impact in translation.

Around this time, Border's Books shut down, limiting my book buying options. A tragic moment in book history.

Our next book, "The Lost City of Z" by David Grann, was a true, gripping account of '20s explorer Percy Fawcett who was obsessed with finding a city in the Amazon. I realized I was missing out on intricate maps and pictures of Fawcett and his crew by being exposed only to the audio book.

I finally broke down and bought a Kindle Fire for our next selection, "A Wild Sheep Chase," by Haruki Murakami. I was thrilled by how easy it was to download the book from Amazon. I greedily downloaded several free public domain books too for my portable library. After carting my 10lb textbook around I was giddy.

But a funny thing happened at BBCE! with this book. There is one section of the book where a character talks inrunonsentenceslike this. I was sure my Kindle was messed up and I was a little pissed. I checked by friend's hard copy and saw that was indeed intentional. The Power of Print, example one. Another friend listened to the audio, so she didn't experience this at all! She also missed out on the one random strange drawing in the book. We all had different experiences reading that book via hard copy, ebook and audio.

What else is being lost in the translations between the printed page, the audio book and ebook? Are you getting the full story?