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Grrl Profile 5.0 Laura MacMahon (Atomic Producer)
It was my privilege to meet with Laura for some evening refreshment and conversation, only to find that she is even more fabulous in real life than online. Laura got started in television, radio, and video production in Germany, while serving in the U.S. Army. After that she lived and worked in such exotic locales as London, Hong Kong and Rome. Once back in the States, she got into online work, starting as a proofreader on Microsoft's Cinemania, and quickly moving to producing positions at Microsoft and other local companies. Since July of 1999, Laura has been happily toiling away as Producer for the Experience Music Project SoundLab Gallery. And in her surely precious spare time, she faithfully maintains and updates the Seattle Webgrrls site.
Here she answers some questions about her career, goals, and passions!
Job: Producer - Experience Music Project
Web site: Atom-O-Vision
Joined Seattle Webgrrls: June, 1996
Motto: To endure is to inspire ...
Your e-mails on the Webgrrls are from "Lazarus." How did you get that
name?
Ahhhhh ... the Lazarus nick! Well the story of Laura-to-Lazarus is a
long, intriguing tale, to be told only over an unfeasibly extensive period of time :).
What does your job at the Experience Music Project entail?
Well, first off I want to give the official spiel: Experience Music Project
celebrates and explores creativity and innovation as expressed through
American popular music. Currently, I am Producer for the
Sound Lab Gallery.
This is the one gallery in the museum that allows visitors hands-on
experience with actual musical instruments and recording equipment. The
purpose of the gallery is to inspire visitors to get a physical taste of
something they may have never before tried: drums, keyboards, bass, guitar,
dancing, singing, sampling, multi-track mixing, etc.
I work in direct harmony with folks who create content, design, audio, development, fabrication, testing, and installation of the 3D activities. I am driver of the team schedule, overseeing media production deliverables (such as source material, copy, voice-overs, image acquisitions, AVIs, MP3s, WAV files, and Intellectual Property clearance). I coordinate beta testers, communicate status to my boss, manage outside vendors, juggle machetes, order in lattes and pizza, plus a hundred other tedious things that would take too long to list.
The biggest kick for me is seeing software and digital graphics interface with MIDI and musical instruments to teach people something exciting, ancient, and modern all at once. It really is magic and I am both proud and delighted to be part of Seattle's history-in-the-making.
You are also the Webmistress for the Seattle Webgrrls site. How did that
come about?
Well, basically, I got sick and tired our site being perpetually out of
date. I mean we are Webgrrls, and our URL was looking rather orphaned and
pathetic. The then-Marketing Grrl, Kim Brooks, did a call for volunteers to
help out with the Summer Picnic and International Webgrrls Day (1999) and,
since I had been webmastering at my previous employers, I volunteered to do
the all the updates and keep the content current.
It has been a blast and I hope that the Grrls will continue to use our site to compliment the list communication. There will be plenty of opportunities for members to assist with webmastering once the new redesign gets underway. I am very encouraged with the numbers of volunteers who have stepped up to the plate to help out. We've grown so large [3,500+ members] it's become quite a feat to keep up with everything.
What have been the biggest challenges in your career?
I would say getting over my feelings of personal insecurity and fears of
confrontation. Moving forward in one's career is, for me anyway, all about a
serious work ethic coupled with a steady sense of confidence (and a bit of
humor tossed in for good measure). I think women in general tend to
personalize and internalize inevitable difficult matters or conflicts,
which can prove to be counterproductive in getting the job done, especially
under super-mad deadlines. Learning the art of listening, and practicing
assertive communication, even in the face of unfair assumption, moody colleagues,
or screaming clients, has been an ongoing lesson for me. I think I'm finally
at a space now where I am comfortable using these particular, hard-won skills
(growing older does in fact afford a certain wisdom).
The other challenge has been embracing balance in my personal life.
As a classic workaholic, learning to "down-tools" and go do anything other
than work-related activities still remains an accomplishment. Thank goodness
I have a geek-tastic partner who understands and tolerates my career and
other weird, inexplicable passions.
Do you have business role models to whom you look for inspiration?
Not really in the "business" sense. However, I have great admiration for any
women who step out into the world and attempt to do whatever needs to be done to
achieve career dreams and beyond (think Marilyn and Madonna - heh!). Even if the women fail the first time round, at least they found the courage to try - and maybe even to try again. I have a strong appreciation for the pursuit of redemption. Having said that, I have also had many mentors in my lifetime - both female and male - to whom I am very, very grateful. Without their
influence, guidance, tolerance, and belief in me, I would not be where I am today. I love and respect each and every one of them and will do so for the rest of my life.
How do you see the role of women in technology changing?
I see the role of women in technology in a stage of perpetually forward motion and
expansion. We are limited only by our fears and self-doubt. But the truth is
we can do anything in any capacity, and communities such as Webgrrls
have proven this to me time and time again. Evolution rocks!
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Okay, at the risk of sounding airy-fairy ... I would raise up my mighty
Goddess Spirit, as if it were a juggernaut, and wash the globe over to destroy all venom
of misogyny, racism, homophobia, hatred, and ignorance.
What's up with your "Atomic" fascination (as seen on your massive
Atomic Hot Links page)?
This is also a really long story, but I'll try to make it short. One summer day,
while serving in the Army - and because I had a basic security clearance - I
was asked to transfer some classified military footage from one format to
another. The films were of soldiers and animals (circa 1950s) participating
in Atomic Bomb tests at the Nevada Proving Grounds. I won't go into details about my shock and
horror at watching these movies but, afterwards, the experience rendered me
totally anti-nuke.
From that day forward I have been rather strangely obsessive with educating myself about the history of all things Atomic, and the duplicitous selling of its uses to the world at large. When this particular genie was let out of the bottle, we had no idea what we had done, nor how many people would suffer as a result.
My site (Atom-O-Vision) allows me a tiny corner on the Internet to help educate people of both the amazing history and the serious dangers of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear radiation. Strange, I know, but there you have it.
What are you reading now?
"Picturing the Bomb" by Esther Samra and Rachel Fermi (granddaughter of Nobel Laureate and brilliant Italian Physicist, Enrico Fermi). It's a completely fascinating and often haunting historical documentary which presents the first photographic record of The Manhattan Project, spanning 1942-1947. Many of the pictures featured are gathered from private collections of people who were actually participating in the deep, dark secrecy. The book also contains never-before-published, de-classified military images which totally blow me away. And, as a perfect complement to the photos, the accompanying text is equally compelling.
I also indulge in both "Vanity Fair" and "Harper's" magazines on a regular basis.
What are your future plans and dreams?
To carry on moving forward in my career, keep my perspective on life, attempt to choose happiness over stress, give something back every now and again, plus dream of a better future where communities such as Webgrrls can help guide women to the roads of career fulfillment and beyond.
Finally, name five links to web sites that you like:
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As a member of the Seattle Webgrrls mailing list, I often have the strange but modern experience of starting to feel familiar with people through e-mails alone. While it doesn't compare to face-to-face contact, e-mail does give you a sense of the sender's personality and attitude. One list member whose e-mails made such an impression is Laura MacMahon - better known on the list as "Lazarus." She often sends gentle reminders of list guidelines or helpful pointers to useful information, and has provided a calm, sane balance for our occasional heated debates.