Social Media Style Stars & A New Job

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I drafted this nerdy blog post on March 9th.  I'd planned to post it the next day since I was leaving for San Francisco on the 11th to start a new job and wanted to break the big news here. But my grandmother passed away on the 10th and all my plans changed---including the ones I had for the blog.


So the draft has been sitting here for four weeks. It's been this strangely poignant reminder that our best laid plans at times go completely astray. Figured I'd post it anyway because that's also how life works: you roll with the punches and make things work. xo


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In mid-February, I spent 10 days in NYC for work.  My company was sponsoring Social Media Week events across the city and I was covering many of the sessions for our blog as well as live tweeting insights. For a week, the world's leading brains shared all the ways social media is changing business and society. I actually got paid to write about my favorite topic: how technology is transforming how we think and how we experience the world.  It was my personal nerd pig heaven.

Only one complaint: the outfits. Like most of the conferences I attend, there were no peacocks in sight. Most people throw on the garden variety "business meets tech crossed with blah" uniform. Very few bold colors or prints. And fabulous, of-the-moment accessories? Forget about it. The conference overlapped with Fashion Week...but you'd never know it. Wah-wah.

But there was a silver (and fashionable) lining to this conference. There was a track at the Hearst building focused on publishing and content. Decided to check out a few sessions and at the very least, peep pretty people in the Hearst elevators dressed for NYFW. A girl's got to get her fashion fix however she can.

One of the sessions I attended was titled "The New Ghostwriting." It's a topic that fascinates me. Little known fact: I worked at eHarmony about five years ago and I used to ghost-write for the founder.  Yep, the white haired dude in the commercials. Since then the real time nature of social media has changed everything about ghostwriting so I was curious to learn more about today's approach.

To be honest, I also chose the panel because a fashion Twitter star was on the panel. Aliza Licht is the senior vice president of global communications at Donna Karan.  But for those of you who love Twitter half as much as I do, she's @DKNY.  She is held up as the gold standard when it comes to social media for fashion. Her voice manages to be completely her own and yet completely on brand.  Probably a function of more than a decade representing the company.

 And she got major points for being the sparkliest speaker at all the sessions I attended---a welcome change for my unicorn-starved eyes. But the most insightful person on her panel was the chief blogger for the Obama for Change campaign (the young kid in the tie.) His passion, authenticity and humility were beyond refreshing.  I interviewed him for my company's blog and he couldn't have been lovelier.

My absolute favorite Hearst panel of the week featured three more fashion heavy hitters: street style photographer/blogger Tamu McPherson of All the Pretty Birds and two of my most favorite street style darlings, Jo Hillman of Harper's Bazaar and THE Kate Lanphear of Elle. AH-MA-ZING!

Best dressed panel at Social Media Week, hands down, no competition. 

I mean look at the shoes!!! Unicorn central.

And the hair on these editors: both blond, two extremes, equally ferosh.



Best of all, the discussion around how blogs today influence design and commerce was thoughtful and insightful in ways I honestly didn't expect. Kate was particularly, DELICIOUSLY, articulate. She came across as v. smart and even more self-effacing. My girl crush on her has reached a new level.

Here she shares how the economy and the Internet have changed what she covers in the pages of Elle. Try not to pop a lady boner. 

That one panel highlighted how so many of my personal and professional passions have converged in the past few years. As part of my job, I blog and tweet about business. In my personal time, I do the same about fashion. More and more often, the two intersect. 

My mom (who was on the trip with me and attended some of the drier sessions with me) loves to point out how much this personal blog has helped shape my professional voice and expertise in the digital space over the last few years.  That was never the plan but it's ironically how life has unfolded. I initially fought so hard to keep the two separate. Now not so much.

And I anticipate the two will only become more and more intertwined. I just accepted a new job at....drum roll...Twitter!!!! As a bonafide Twitter addict, I'm beyond thrilled that one of my passions is becoming my work. I truly believe Twitter is changing the planet---how we connect and share and discover content.  I am so proud to be a part of that revolution, as both a user and an employee.

I signed my offer letter (cutest ever, right???)  on the last day of Social Media Week.
If that's not a sign, I don't know what is. Wish me luck ;)