It is summer, and my brain is fried from too much sun, and I cannot write, but Heather Gold, she is brilliant, and reminds me, that I am… and you are, much more than what you or anyone says you are.  More here later perhaps, but I just wanted you to see this interview, it can’t wait for me to be ready. 

Officially, it has taken me three weeks to write the commentary that went along with this video.

Officially, I have been very busy.

Officially, this interview stands on it’s own.

Unofficially, I’ve been terrified to write any commentary about what Aliza Sherman is saying, because, to make a comment is to take a stand, and I’m not yet sure where I stand on how best to recognize women in tech.

Aliza Sherman is passionate about women in tech, and is no stranger to living in beta, reinvention, and juggling all of her passions at once. Long before she ran her company Mediaegg she hid behind the avatar CyberGrrl online and worked on pushing the envelope of what exactly the tech "norms" were, she did that until CyberGrrl didn’t serve here anymore and went on to claim her own name in the online space. She’s spoken at many conferences, written countless articles and even built an app entitled: Girls Can Be Anything, Paperdolls iPhone app for girls , She also has two books coming out this year: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Crowdsourcing and Mom, Incorporated. Aliza is nothing if not ambitious and driven and totally in your corner if you are a women trying to make it in tech, or anyone really.

Like Aliza, I want to see more women represented, like Aliza, I am more than comfortable with change, reinvention and building from scratch, but I wasn’t sure wether building on the current foundation is any better or worse than building a new foundation altogether, after all, this is an industry we’re talking about, not an individual.  Do the pricipals of living in perpetual beta apply to institutions, social classes, gender issues? Well, it took me three weeks to realize, but I’ve come to the conclusion that you can bet your ass they do.

When my teenager complains about the futility of the school system, I chime: "Learn the system, game the system, change the system.", if it works with homework, why wouldn’t it work for more grand revolutionary acts like having more women represented in tech? In my interview with Seth Godin he said much the same thing, (and I paraphrase) "what we’re going to find in times of change is that people will build around broken systems and invent systems that work."  At first listen, I thought it was ludicrous what Aliza was proposing but what Aliza is proposing when she says we build on a new foundation for women in tech is not so far fetched right now, and it’s truly in line with living in perpetual beta, changing what doesn’t work by building something that does and tweeking it along the way.  This doesn’t mean tearing down the old system and starting from scratch, change is harder when the the changes you want to make are institutionalized, however, building a new system can speed up that change, and often does, look at how iTunes and Netflix changed the music industry,  and that’s what Aliza is interested in doing, revolutionizing the way we women in tech. 

Do you remember five year plans? Do you remember your high school counselors and motivational speakers telling you that you needed to have one, that you needed to see yourself successful all the way down each step of the path for at least the next five years? I remember being completely freaked out about not knowing what I wanted to do in the next week, much less, five years from now. I remember thinking I was not going to succeed at anything if I couldn’t pick something and see it through the next five years… what if I picked wrong? I’d have wasted all that time. Why don’t authority figures ever tell us to make a rough outline about what we want, in pencil, in case it changes?

Seth Lester went to school for Philosophy, and realized along the way, that the five year plan for that profession didn’t appeal to him at all. So, he scrapped that idea, picked something he wanted to learn more about, and now travels around the country learning about coffee, making a living doing it as he learns, and adjusting the plan when needed. Seth is a perfect example of what living in perpetual beta is about. It’s certainly not about a solid five year plan, and less about flying from the seat of your pants, but more about pursuing your passionate without the shackles of knowing exactly what’s next or even being completely prepared for it. I personally love all the metaphors I can draw from Seth ditching his car full of possessions and making due with what fit in his backpack. It makes me think, what I am holding onto that I can let go of to ease the pursuit of my own passions?

I’m thinking that instead of a five year plan, maybe we need to start advocating instead for a rough outline of a five year adventure. What do you think?

When I was still life coaching, meeting with clients over the phone was my favorite. It allowed a sort of anonymity for my clients and myself. We could hide our outward appearance and reveal our inner thoughts, feelings, hopes, and fears. This was much easier for me than coaching face to face, where both me and my clients had to spend each meeting breaking through the perception of who one another were based on our outward appearance. I think about this every time I watch this interview with Sarah Dopp, founder of the website, Genderfork.  Here is a woman that at 17 knew that based on appearances, no one was going to "know her" so she started blogging anonymously, peeling off the layers of cultural conditioning and outward appearances to reveal the truth within, which is no simple thing no matter the cliche, the truth is rarely simple for anyone, much less someone who is wrestling with a large part of his/her identity, something that most take for granted, something as basic as gender.

I’ve wrestled with what to write for this post. I wrestled with the fear of writing the wrong thing, I wrestled with appearing unsympathetic, or too sympathetic, or too divergent from whatever path you may think I’m on, and this is only a blog post, I can’t even wrap my head around the issues the gender variant community might encounter in a single day, like finding clothing that fit their bodies as well as their identities (Genderfork recently launched the Genderplayful Marketplace to deal with this.) No wonder people who are shaping a new gender identity are flocking to this community policed support group, all of them anonymously struggling against (for) the same things.

I love what she says at the end of this, that we think we’re alone – and then we realize there are thousands of voices alone in the same way, together, and we realize, we aren’t alone anymore.

That’s real power isn’t it – that’s  the revolution.

Let the Hollywood types have their film fests… I have…THE INTERNET Please join me Monday the 7th of March at 8pm CST (Chicago Standard Time)  as I kick-off what I like to call "Sweet Baby Jesus, Finally!" but you may refer to as the day when I reveal to the world  the full 40 minute director’s cut of Life in Perpetual Beta on Ustream! I have reserved a few of the Director’s Cut DVDs that I packaged and designed myself to give away during the event, so bring your best trivia brain… or bribes… and a few of you will win signed copies! (not as good as a car under your chairs, but all I have to give) Starting the day after the the initial kick off party (at midnight March 8th CST)  the director’s cut will be available to watch in the viewing room of Life in Perpetual Beta or directly on Blip.tv  any time you want, day or night… whenever you get the craving to be inspired by a poorly edited brilliant soundbyte… Life in Perpetual Beta v. 1.0 will be there!

If you want a DVD

I saved several Limited Edition Director’s Cut DVDs to give away during the Ustream on Monday night, but there are now 25  available on Amazon, if you want to pick one up to impress your friends, I’ll even sign it.

If you will be attending SXSW this year, I’ll be speaking on Saturday, and again on Tuesday, be sure to find me if you’d like a $5 copy of the DVD minus the fancy case.

Know of someone you think I should interview? Let me know.

Life in Perpetual Beta is still continuing as an interview series, and I hope to compile several films about all the amazing people out there living and working unplanned, creative and passionate lives. If you know of or are someone who should be interviewed, drop me a line with contact info!  movie@lifeinperpetualbeta.com

For more on reinvention subscribe to Life in Perpetual Beta, "Like" on Facebook, or "Follow" on twitter.

(to see this video on iPhone/iPad/iTouch click here)

When I went to the Myspace offices to interview Sean Percival, I wasn’t sure what I was doing there, I mean, I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to continue making the Life in Perpetual Beta interview series anymore, I felt I was just going through the motions of scheduling interviews while I figured out what was next. I’ve felt that way a lot since I  finally finished making the film (You can buy a limited edition DVD on Amazon), which is why what Sean had to say about how easy reinvention is with today’s tools was so right on time. He mashed it all in there, from being a "nobody" with no college degree to finding his voice online, to stepping into an executive role at Myspace… and he didn’t leave out the part I think most of us need to hear, that there is a lot of experimenting in between making that transition. Hindsight makes everything look linear, but when you’re in it, he’s right… it’s a lot like dating, you never know what’s next. 

I’m kind of stuck in the doorway of what’s next, unsure about when or how to or why to walk through. I don’t know if I’m ready to do any promotions or blog updates, I’ve even blown off submitting to film festivals or talking seriously to film distributors… am I scared?… yes… am I ready to reinvent who I am (again) from a creatives coach, to a curious filmmaker, to a strategic film promoter and producer?.. I don’t know. I’m even dragging my feet on updating the website to reflect all the things that’ve happened in the last year… which is why the last post was from Gnomedex, almost 7 months ago.  You all think I’m fearless, but I’m letting you know I’m shaking in my boots right now just writing this small admission of my fear of reinventing myself from a curious bystander with a camera to a strategic central player in my success. Why should being successful on purpose be any more frightening than pretending that it’s happening "by accident"? Has something like this happened to you? What was the most frightening reinvention you’ve experienced and how did you survive it?

For more on reinvention subscribe to Life in Perpetual Beta, "Like" on Facebook, or "Follow" on twitter.

I went out to Seattle recently to premiere Life In Perpetual Beta at a party sponsored by Whrrl. It went beautifully and was indeed the place to be that night during Seattle Geek Week, you can see photos and comments here. My flight was supposed to leave the next day, however was extended when I got a last minute invite to speak at the Gnomedex Conference (it’s been called the poor man’s Ted Conference.) I excitedly said yes before realizing that I had less than 2 days to prepare a 30min presentation to one of the most hyper critical, smart, and connected audiences I have ever known.

Holy shit, it’s a big stage and I can’t hide behind anything. What was I thinking?!

The above presentation is the result. Pay attention to how often I say "right" – this is because I needed to see them nodding to see if they were paying attention as every single head in the audience was bent over a laptop.

PS. Big things happening with the movie, and more interviews coming down the pike, stay tuned.

Life In Perpetual Beta

World Premiere

Date: May 26th

Time: 6pm

Place:

Charlie Chaplin Theater

St. Augustine College

1345 W. Argyle Ave.

Chicago, IL 60640

 You have no idea how excited and nervous I am to announce the world premiere of my very first documentary… hell, my very first film… ever. Or maybe you do know, maybe you know what it’s like to put your heart and sweat into a project and see it through to it’s fruition, to send it out to be judged by a jury of heaven who knows… but I hope it’s you. I hope you will join me in watching what two years of crowdsourcing, DIY filmmaking, and asking questions has gotten us. I hope you come out and see what 45hrs of interviews looks like edited down to 40 minutes of documentary.

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Pledge to help finish this film 

It’s hard to believe but the first edition of Life In Perpetual Beta is almost complete, and yes, I am just as surprised as you are that I’ve actually managed to get this far. Who would have thunk that a year ago a woman with no experience, no connections, and no idea what she was doing would be in the final stages of wrapping up a documentary film? I didn’t even think it was going to happen, yet, here I am, writing this blog post, answering emails from distribution companies and scheduling screenings at conferences, and I couldn’t have done it without you.

Every time I thought the project was too big for me, you stepped in with encouragement, every time I was faced with an obstacle I just couldn’t overcome, you showed me a way around, and when I admitted I couldn’t even afford the airfare to get to an interview with Seth Godin, in less than 10 minutes, you not only got me a plane ticket, but had arranged a place to stay, paid for dinners, and offered enough cheer-leading to ensure that I would float to New York on a cloud of gratitude.

 At the risk of sounding like an absolute cheese ball, it has been a Cinderella story between you and me, only we are all going to the ball, and Prince Charming isn’t a person but a movie we’re all so excited to meet. The clock’s about to chime, but this dance is going to go on well past midnight.

All that’s left to finish and show the first Life In Perpetual Beta film (yes, there will be more) is a little professional work on the audio and all the things that go into premiering it at film festivals and distributing it on DVD, it’s going to cost around $7000 and I was invited to raise the funds on Kickstarter to do it, only this time I’m offering more than a t-shirt for your support, I’m offering early release DVDs and tickets to film festival screenings,  I’m offering private group screenings and Q&As with whichever of my 40 interviewees I can get there, I’m offering copies of the original interviews and and rights to make your own cut of the film. Kickstarter is an all or nothing fundraising platform, so if I don’t raise $7000 by June 6th, Life In Perpetual Beta gets nothing. If I do however – our film will be honeymooning with audiences all over the world.

Please pledge to support Life In Perpetual Beta on Kickstarter and after you do, tell everyone who it will make a difference to to do the same, digg it, stumble it, tweet it, reblog it. The money won’t be taken out of your account until we reach our goal in June, and June really is the perfect month to break out those glass slippers.  

Thank you so very very very much, 

Melissa

"There is something in the act of being and doing who you really are that even though people don’t agree with it they connect to it. There is something superhuman about being yourself."

Unlike most of the interviews here, Baratunde Thurston wasn’t suggested to me by my online community, I met him by chance and in person one fine evening in a very crowed room in Austin Texas. We were just in the right place at the right time – together.

 I realize that I may have been a little naive or elitist in thinking that having a large online network that helped me source interviews would bring me a good cross section of American culture.  A close look through my interviews (although each unique and brilliant) revealed that almost every interview is with a white male.  In the past I would ask my network specifically for suggestions of women and minorities that would be integral to the larger Life In Perpetual Beta story, but short of Oprah, no one could think of any other good interview candidates. I resigned myself to assuming  that surely my social circle would eventually produce some of these amazing people, but up to this point, they haven’t. I wonder if my social network suffers from the same naive thinking as I did? I bring this up not to shame myself or my community, not to stir the pot, but to point out the flaw in thinking that the internet connects us all, has already made us one big amalgamated multicultural family. Certainly the potential is there – but it’s up to us to do the connecting, it’s up to us to broaden our filters and see what’s out there.  

 I’m flabbergasted that I had to take my social networking goggles off to meet Baratunde, his story and lifestyle fit life in perpetual beta so well. Had I not been paying attention, or paying too much attention to my own social circle, I would have missed his brilliance and wit, although I’m certain I could not have missed his superhumanness across even the most crowded of rooms.