photo credit: Robert Scoble

I am unstructured in an organized chaos sort of way. I have a lot of interests. I’m involved in a lot of projects. Some may call that a lack of focus. I call that their lack of vision. Mine is a constant struggle between what makes money and what is meaningful. I feel I’m finally reaching a stage in life where it’s possible to balance both. I’m not trying to change the world, I just want to make an impact in the lives of people who intersect mine.

Bio below helps to give you an idea of where I’ve been and how I ended up here:

Act I

Christine Lu is a self professed geek girl, sinophile and foodie who grew up in Southern California, received her BA in International Relations with a concentration on East Asian Studies at Boston University. In 1991, her parents moved to China to introduce the first maternity brand to the market and thus began her China learning curve. She spent every summer during college in China including one summer as an intern for the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai in 1996 which gave her a first insiders look into multinational companies entering the China market and got her hooked on the fast paced growth that was transforming the country.

After graduating from BU, she lasted 6 months in a cubicle at AT&T’s Business Markets Division in Boston before moving to Shanghai in 1999 at the height of the dotcom bubble.  With a stint as a clothing designer and marketing manager for her family’s clothing retail business, she attempted to start an e-commerce site for women in China about 6 years before its time because hey, it was the dotcom bubble and all the cool kids were getting funded. The company was incubated then rolled into TV Shopping Network (TVSN), a joint venture funded by Duty Free Shoppers founder Robert Miller’s private equity firm Search Group, Prudential Assets Management Asia and IAC’s HSN (Home Shopping Network). Following the 2000 dot-com crash in China, Christine served for five years as Marketing Director for TV Shopping Network and oversaw the company’s business development and spearheaded the company’s internet, direct marketing and mail order business units in China.

Act II

In 2004, Christine moved back to the U.S. That same year on October 28th she lost her older sister to suicide. Christine’s current life as she now leads it began when her sister’s ended. It took on new meaning a year later with the birth of her son.

These events are the motivations for what she does today in regards to the kind of people she surrounds herself with, the causes she supports and the business initiatives she’s involved in.

In March 2007 Christine created The China Business Show and served as the Executive Producer and Host for its launch on Entrepreneur Magazine’s podcast network.  The show has since evolved into The China Business Network – a membership organization re-launching soon to fulfill a need for connecting individuals involved in cross border trade & investment with China. Christine remains a founder, shareholder and advisor of The China Business Network.

Based on her belief that knowledge should be shared in an open free thinking environment that allows new ideas to thrive, Christine is launching several digital media initiatives including Cilantro Media, Chinameme and cross border events such as TEDxShanghai. She is honored to be supported by experienced partners in China and the US and is assembling a seriously *kick ass* group of advisors and mentors who get where she’s been and what she’s trying to do.

She is also collaborating with photographer and digital strategist Kris Krug on a book called Chinameme, Volume 1 which will feature a collection of portraits, images, essays and insights of a cross section of people that make up the fabric of Shanghai today. Christine and Kris will be publishing this book under a Creative Commons license. It will launch next year during the Shanghai 2010 World Expo.

*If you are interested in supporting a proof of concept project bringing together Creative Commons and China knowledge, please email me.