Working For The Mouse

Last summer I was offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to host videos for Disney Cruise Line. I was apprehensive about the assignment since it was so different than anything I have ever done but in hindsight, it was an amazing learning experience and a career highlight!

Enjoy the fruits of my labor below! 

An introduction to Disney Cruise to Alaska

Top Five Family Activities on a Disney Ship

Top Five Things for Kids to do on a Disney Ship

Top Five Things for Adults to do on a Disney Ship

Highlights from the port of Juneau 

Highlights from the port of Skagway

Highlights from the port of Ketchikan

Top Five Things to do in Juneau

Top Five Things to do in Ketchikan

Top Five Things to do in Skagway

Letting Go Of My Peanuts

Friday, April 29 will be my last day at CBS Interactive and CNET.

I joined CNET in January of 2008, six months before the network was acquired by CBS. I moved from San Francisco to New York City for this position with much trepidation. I was alone and inexperienced. Little did I know that this job would afford me invaluable TV experience, as well as lead me to my precious family.

I am proud of the work I have done here and proud of the friends, colleagues, and viewers that I've met. If you are reading this blog, you are probably one of those people and I am grateful for you.

So what is next for me? I am hoping the answer is "A lot!" I have a few irons in the fire but no big announcements as of yet.

So why leave? The simple answer is that it is time. I have been hosting a daily technology news show for over 4 years, if you consider that Loaded is an extension of my previous show, Textra. I love this show but I am ready to challenge myself in new ways. Please allow me to put it allegorically.

I once read a story about how people in India used to catch monkeys. They put peanuts in a jar that was nailed to the floor. When the monkey walked by, it would reach in for the peanuts and be trapped because its hand could not come out of the jar while it was full of peanuts. The monkey did not realize that it would be free if it just let go of the peanuts.

The peanuts are a metaphor for the things in our lives that we cling to. We all hold onto things that entrap us. It could be a job that you are a little too comfortable with, a friend that drains your energy, anger, or resentment. In my case, CNET represents my peanuts and those peanuts are hard to let go of because I am comfortable here. I love it here. I am proud to be a part of this team. Nevertheless, I feel that it is time to see what else my career has to offer and I'll never do that while I cling desperately to these peanuts.

I hope you will continue to follow my career. I will keep you abreast of upcoming projects on this site and on Twitter. Meanwhile, thank you for your continued support and interest. I hope you will stick with me as I let go of my peanuts.

The Journalist Formerly Known As Del Conte

Maybe I am more famous than I thought because I keep getting this response when I tell people that I am changing my last name:

"Oh but you're keeping Del Conte on air, right?"

Who am I, Madonna? Do I need a stage name and a real name? I'm not an entertainer, I'm just a reporter. If people want to follow my career, they will hopefully remember my name, right?

I never thought I would change my name but I surprised myself when I married a wonderful man four weeks ago and actually wanted to take his name. We became a family this summer when our little boy was born. He was an unexpected surprise and I did not want to get married just because I was pregnant. There are many ways to raise a child in these modern times and I felt strongly that a forced, unhappy marriage would not be the best environment for my baby. I wanted us to wait and decide to get married if and when the time was right because we loved each other. Not because we are forever bound to one another's lives due to the child. In the end, we married because we wanted to solidify to one another that we are a committed team and a family.

I have accomplished a lot under the surname Del Conte so I was hesitant to change my name. I felt like it was my brand. My identity. I was afraid that I would have to start all over again with a new name and I'm sure there will be some confusion.

I considered keeping Del Conte for professional use and Morris for personal use but that started to get confusing. Will my paychecks go to Morris but my email address will be Del Conte? Will my driver's license say Del Conte-Morris? What about registering for conferences? Will my badge say Morris but publicly I am Del Conte? It all was a little too much to manage and in the end, I decided that I am just not important enough for two names. And if I kept my name professionally, who would I be keeping it for? TV producers? Viewers? Twitter followers? I don't think those are the right reasons. 

So I am now legally and professionally Natali Morris. It isn't as "romance language" as my maiden name but it is romantic in a different way. It says that I am part of the family called Morris, which includes my husband and my baby boy. It is meaningful to me and that is saying something because I usually hate ceremony, ritual, tradition, pomp, and circumstance of any kind. Weddings embarrass me. I revolt against diamonds. And I really don't want to lie to my child about Santa Clause's nonexistence. Yet I wanted to have the same name as my husband and son.

I feel myself justifying the name change a little when people show surprise that I would leave behind a beautiful name like Del Conte. Why am I explaining myself? Why can't I just say, "It's Morris now" - end of story? Has women's liberation made us ashamed of old world tradition?

I am not advocating that married women change their name. To each her own. I think it is a beautiful thing to take on your husband's name and I think it is a beautiful thing to keep the name of the family you were born into. I am only sharing my choice so that I can stand up for it once and for all. It's Morris now. I am proud of that. 

Maternity Leave Update

I am on the other side of parenting now. My son was born on July 26. I chronicled my birthing experience here, if you are interested.

Thank you all for your encouraging words on my previous post. You were all right! Parenthood is worth it! Every pain, worry, and frustrating minute of it is worth the joy of being this little guy's mommy. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

I'll see you back in the working world soon! (But not too soon!) 

Maternity Leave: I'll Be Back

I start my maternity leave on Monday, July 26. This means that I will be taking a 10-12 week hiatus from Loaded, The 404, and my work with The CBS Early Show. For those of you who watch those broadcasts, first of all, thank you! Second of all, they are well covered so please continue to watch! 

I am grateful for a small break in the daily grind. I love my job but life is more than work...or so I am told. A friend of mine said this when I told him that I was pregnant: "I just don't know what life is about if it isn't about family." It is time for me to find that out for myself and give my new baby my undivided attention for the next few months. 

I am nervous that the news business will leave me behind. Or forget about me. I know that sounds silly but I have vested myself heavily in my career. For so long it was all that I had, living all the way out here in New York City, so far away from my family in San Francisco. It is only natural to have some separation anxiety. 

I can admit that I am sometimes caught up in the publish-fast-publish-first world of technology news. If I read something and see that 5 people in my feed have already Tweeted that news, I feel woefully behind. How am I going to feel when I am a day or two behind a story because I am on an infant's sleep schedule!? I really don't know. But in my experience, when you let go of something you are obsessed about, you normally find its true value in a way that you had not anticipated. 

So I'm letting go of Natali, the workhorse. Not forever. Just for a few weeks. I hereby dub myself Natali, the mommy. And that is forever so I want to start it off properly. I have been blogging about the experience on my Mommy blog, aptly named Mommy Beta, which I hope you will read, subscribe to, comment on, and enjoy.

Wish me luck! I'll see you Twitter or Facebook or somewhere in between. I'll be back shortly and I promise to be able to talk about more than just baby monitors and spittle!