Randi Zuckerberg's Blog, page 16
August 31, 2016
Radio Recap: Creative Technologist Andrea Lauer
Andrea Lauer is a costume, set designer and stylist with Broadway credits like ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Bring it On: The Musical.’ Andrea’s also a multimedia artist working with clothing and interactive and responsive technologies. Her recent fashion meets tech credits include the Museum of Mathematics and NYU’s Poly Tech Game Lab. She’s been nominated for an NAACP Award, honored at the Rock ‘n’Roll Hall of Fame and styled for everyone from ‘Saturday Night Live’ to ‘Sesame Street.’ So how does one go from Broadway to mathematics and back again? Andrea sat down with Randi on today’s ‘Dot Complicated’ to discuss it all!
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“Data is everywhere—it can be scary.”
“I’d always been curious about tech and always into fashion. I wanted to be a priest because of the Catholic garments.”
“The way sound moves through the air is fascinating when you break it down.”
“I had this thought about going from presentation to the real world and find the same amount of delight.”
“Tech is all around us? What’s the best way to enhance the experience of clothes?”’
“My first piece was a true story about a woman in asylum with no communication who used her corset and bedsprings to weave the story of her life.”
“I worked with conductive threads and touch sensors to tell the story of the past interweaved with the future.”
“Clothing is all sort of living vessels. To tell the story of a garment and how it was made is my dream.”
“Storytelling is a huge part of the fashion industry. The way someone walks or how a gown is worn is storytelling.”
“I’ve been told that I’m most inspired in the morning. I think it’s because the noise of the world hasn’t started yet.”
“There’s a period of hibernation in the morning if you want it.”
“Most of my ideas come from a place of the past. I’m constantly trying to reimagine telling the stories of the past.”
“Music and research are two parts of my process.”
“I look for someone to collaborate with who’s ready to dream. Someone who throws out all the ideas even if they don’t know how to pull them off.”
“When you can get in the room with people who can throw out anything and not be afraid to look silly or fail is who I want to work with.”
“I was asked to create an apparatus at the Museum of Mathematics on 25th Street. We came up with an infrared device on a child’s safety vest.”
“Material science, shape of the body and how the clothing feels is all a part of creating fashion tech.”
“I became obsessed with the idea that touch could dictate how you feel. It can translate fear or love.”
“I created gloves that had a pulse system and the pulse would be broadcast through surround sound.”
“Tech couture is something I can up with from watching YouTube and reinventing patterns so you couldn’t see the tech inside.”
“I was blown away when I first started using conductive fabric.”
“People were pushing the boundaries of sensors. They were getting active feedback. I thought, ‘Why not invent my own?’”
“I wanted to create a space of whimsy in fashion technology and wearable tech.”
“Fashion tech isn’t just about what you put on the body. It’s the experience.”
“I wanted to tell a story about women in the past in today’s world. I started with the first toolbelt women had in Edwardian times.”
“I started trying to create a place of joy from tech and beauty. I created a business called Risen From the Thread.”
“I am a tech and material science nerd.”
“I’ve been doing prototypes with my beta products for 9 months.”
“I work with all women right now. We’re recreating stories of the past for women of the future.”
“My digital dance card came from passing along info between two people.”
“I work with Meow Meow who’s really my muse.”
“My lace collar is laser and cut and etched and has tiny LEDs embedded in so it responds to sound.”
“I love the subtly of wearable tech in classical music.”
“Elizabeth Streb has been my longtime collaborator. She’s my artistic incubator.”
“STREB does extreme action events. In London during the 2012 Olympics I wanted to create a suit that fit the body of the type of STREB dancer.”
“I had to go to DuPont and figure out who was working in nanotechnology for garments.”
“When people took pictures of the dancers there would be these streaks of light that would enhance the experience.”
“The way I think of myself is a creative technologist and artist even those they aren’t part of my training.”
“Wearable tech and fashion tech is a world where no one is an expert. It requires hybrid skills and collaboration.”
“Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.”
“Don’t look back, forge ahead.”
“I admire people who are artists who create immersive spaces.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckeberg’ next Wednesday when she sits down with Brian Little. Only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 at 12pm ET!
August 24, 2016
Radio Recap: Back-to-School Tech & Etiquette
It’s the end of the summer, which means back-to-school time is upon us once again. And according to the National Retail Federation, which has been conducting its annual Back-to-School and Back-to-College surveys since 2003, 2016 back-to-school spending is set to reach $76 BILLION dollars, up from $68 billion in 2015. Shoppers will be spending an average of $674 per household of which 65% will be spent on apparel and electronics, which means $18.5 billion will be spent on tech products and accessories alone— a 6.2 percent increase over the past year. With more tech in the classroom and at home, how can students and family reconnect, what apps are best for back-to-school related events, and what digital etiquette should kids adhere to?
Today Randi sat down with digital expert Holland Haiis, author of Consciously Connecting, to discuss just this:
“Set your phone to 27 seconds to re-engage after you’ve texted or taking a selfie. So if you’re driving, 27 seconds can save a life.”
“Australia is going to have red and green curbs to let pedestrians know it’s safe to walk or not while texting.”
“Make sure you’ve got that dictionary app on your phone when you’re getting a tattoo.”
“I am not anti-tech even though the media promotes me as a digital detox expert.”
“Tech is here to stay. It’s wonderful on so many levels.”
“The shiny newness of tech has worn off. We’re exhausted. We have to be clear to set perimeters and boundaries.”
“Roughly 53% of all 6-year-olds have their own cell phone.”
“Children’s brains are not fully formed and they don’t understand boundaries.”
“75% and up 8-12 year olds have cell phones. Parents are onboard with having children have devices.”
“If you’re a parent and you’re on the borderline of getting your kid a phone, the minuses are kids can cheat on tests, the temptation to find things they shouldn’t.”
“Say, ‘This is not a toy, use it for emergencies only.’ Practice what you preach. Don’t text your kids random texts.”
“There are more split families than what we would like. But that requires a phone.”
“No devices at the table. Even the phone stack. Psychologists say that when we see our phone we’re still disengaging.”
“If you’re out, phones go in pockets. Off, no vibration.”
“When devices are down, you’re creating eye-to-eye contact that so many children have trouble with.”
“Consciously connecting is about being and less about doing.”
“When we’re conscious we find our power and follow our goals.”
“You have take a time out everyday, regardless of how long it’s for, and steep in the silence.”
“Creativity, ideas, and problem solving comes from steeping in silence.”
“Parents want to be aware of the surroundings of their kids. Have passwords, monitor their friends, what they’re liking. Pay attention, connect the dots.”
“There is fun to be had on devices. If you’re having a hard time getting your child to exercise, Pokémon Go is great.
“Remember our parents punished us with our Achilles heel—TV.”
“We need to go back to our vocabulary. We make words up, we slip with tenses.”
“There are two great apps, “Word of the Day” and the dictionary app to help us use words again.”
“Learn with your children, use different words.”
“If you’re a parent, don’t assume cellphones and iPads can come to school this year. Reach out to see if policies have changed.”
“Some schools allow kids to be friends with their teachers on social media. Some don’t.”
“Schools are embracing technology and certain apps and games to help children face differences in learning skills.”
“We know that allowing your child to game incessantly leads to tech addiction. They isolate themselves, they have insomnia, outbursts.”
“It is important to physically hold a book. What happens with our imaginations when we hold a book is we go deeper.”
“If I’m waiting for someone I have to stop myself from looking down at my phone.”
“If during off-school season if your child reads 20 min. a day, you’re child’s vocabulary will grow. Give the gift!”
Connect with Holland Haiis HERE
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ next Wednesday, August 31 when Randi sits down with fashion tech designer, Andrea Lauer. Only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111.
August 17, 2016
Radio Recap: Flexible Income for Women
Fashion brand Stella & Dot is a social selling company that creates flexible entrepreneurial opportunities for women through its mission to democratize entrepreneurship. Stella & Dot sells its wares both online and through its tens of thousands independent, in-home sales reps dubbed “stylists.” Founded in 2003, Stella & Dot has paid out over $300 million in earnings and it was all started with CEO and Founder of Stella & Dot, Jessica Herrin. Also joining ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ to talk about her experiences as a stylist is Lisa Keller.
J
ESSICA HERRIN
“I’ve always been the kid with the lemonade stand.”
“When I see a problem I just want to go fix it.”
“I was at business school for the incubations and opportunity.”
“You can self teach a lot. You can crack a book, join a network and learn that way.”
“When I started my first business I had to work 90 hours a week. There was a lot of having a business that ran me.”
“People want to be their own boss not a rung on the ladder of a Silicon Valley startup.”
“Even today I don’t love the term direct sales.”
“Home-based businesses needed to be redesigned—a new model around social selling.”
“I started with the mission of helping women to earn a flexible income.”
“When I began there was a lot of high end and low end jewelry but nothing in the middle.”
“When it came to picking the product category, that was all done analytically in my head.”
“Most of our stylists think of themselves as business owners not entrepreneurs.”
“Entrepreneur has so much risk in it, Stella & Dot does not have that risk.”
“I became a stylist myself. I was making jewelry in my living room and selling it in other people’s living rooms.”
“It is so challenging to start your own business because you have a million other things going on.”
“I did it one trunk show at a time, then got another person to do it, and another.”
“It’s very much like Fortune 500 company where the profitability is based on the number of sales.”
“There’s also the confidence gap and happiness gap that need to close, not just achieving particular levels in your career.”
“We train on time-mastering and goal-setting as much as we train on selling the newest look.”
“It’s not enough to give great product to sell, you have to make it fun and educational.”
“We create enabling technology to share rather than be the authority on fashion.”
“Our model is ‘retail nirvana.’ Stylists are so connected to the customers. There’s a lot of service.”
“Our community is so engaged. Our customers give fantastic feedback.”
“We all want to feel that when we get out of bed in the morning that we’re going to make an impact.”
“We have people who quit their waitressing job and paid off their school debt being a stylist.”
“We have so many women who supplement doing this because the other part of their life they don’t get in a traditional workforce.”
“Men are definitely the minority but they do exist at Stella & Dot.”
“My goal was to fix the business models that we’re out there.”
“We wanted to break through the dollars per hour people could make.”
“By putting myself out there in social media and posting things about my family as well as our products.”
“People want to connect with the person behind the necklace.”
“You don’t want people to start and think they can only sell to their mother and sister and then tap out.”
“Let word of mouth be your best marketing tool.”
“For all people in business you need to acquire customers. You have to like people and get beyond your fear of sales.”
“Share the value with what your offering. It’s the key skill we train.”
“You have to have an authentic product in service and engage with the influencers in your target market.”
“Productivity is about saying, ‘I have 24 hours in a day how do I get it all done?’”
“This is a modern, on-the-go selling business.”
LISA KELLER
“As an independent stylist I’m able to sell on my own terms.”
“I started as a customer 7 years ago. Someone asked me to join their team and I just had twin girls. And then I had twins again.”
“I jumped in and learn as I go.”
“I found my sponsor on Instagram. I contacted her and asked her if I could join her team.”
“We have ladies from all walks of life.”
“I still think of myself as someone who’s trying to be an entrepreneur.”
“The way we get educated is we learn the inspiration about the new line.”
“Trunk shows could be a pop up shop at a restaurant or at your own home or someone’s backyard. It’s a very fun casual girl gathering.”
“You get connected to a sponsor as a go-to person to figure out the details and get support.”
“The support makes you feel less intimidated by the process.”
“We have team pages, we watch and listen to training calls, we have fashion shows to show what trends are coming up.”
“I try to wear and share.”
“I know what my best sellers are from trunk shows.”
“I got to a point in my life being home with my little ones that I felt like I was missing something.”
“I didn’t realize until I started as a stylist how much I needed this.”
“It’s been hard to find time management and not get distracted by a pile of laundry that I need to do.”
“I’ve even sat in my car because I can’t have a conversation in my house without someone interrupting.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ every Wednesday to learn the newest in business, tech, and entrepreneurship only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 at 12pm ET / 9am PT
August 10, 2016
Radio Recap: Food Tech
Food tech encompasses everything from middleman restaurant delivery to lab created plant-based meat. While the bulk of food tech funding has gone to food delivery startups—which raised nearly $5.5 billion last year and include two of the most well-funded food startups, China’s Ele.me and Germany’s Delivery Hero—other startups are also tackling unique food tech categories like subscription services for international snacks and neighborhood meal-sharing of home cooked dining.
Today we’re running the food tech gamut with two ends of its spectrum. Joining us on one end is Eitan Bencuya, the Head of Communication of DoorDash, the middleman delivery service for restaurants. On the other end of the food tech spectrum we have Emilie Baltz, a food technologist and creator of the Cotton Candy Theremin—yup, that’s right. Here’s the quotes:
“A food technologist uses technology to better our experience with food.”
“Things that bring us pleasure is what I’m focused on.”
“I like to be in more of the Willy Wonka world. So much is based on utility.”
“I always knew I wanted to work in food. My mother continued her French cooking into our home.”
“There’s nothing that so quickly puts a smile on someone’s face like food.”
“As industrial design grows so does technology.”
“The food design studio is at Pratt. The class introduces them to food as a product of design.”
“When we’re eating something we’re not just tasting. We have a multisensory experience.”
“Chefs have a great understanding of multisensory experiences.”
“We eat first with our eyes.”
“Kids lean over and smell something. That gives us a sign if this is safe to eat.”
“If you take a whole bunch of potato chips they each have a different sound and crunch to them.”
“If you deconstruct the sounds of what you’re eating you can have a more enjoyable experience.”
“I take great care to make a beautiful meal when I can, but otherwise I’m a regular person.”
“Cotton Candy Theremin is a project I co-developed for the New Museum.”
“How do we eat? Sitting, standing, what are the other ways we move when we eat.”
“When you’re playing the Theremin you move around the same way you make cotton candy.”
“Lickestra is a licking ice cream orchestra. It’s conductive ice cream cones, so as you lick it you create sounds.”
“Food is a collaborative medium.”
“As children we discover the world through our mouths.”
“Circuit of the Senses is a 4-stage dinner. Every room is a different course and a different sense.”
“I push people to feel the world in a new way. We come up against our own boundaries.”
“The LOVE Foodbook came about when I was the creative director at the Museum of Sex.”
“Food is such a clear, emotional portal into ourselves. Love we still grapple with.”
“I asked chefs and mixologists what love means to them through food.”
“There’s an interesting trend with frozen foods. The shape shifting of materials.”
“It’s important to connect to your motivations. Think what’s important to you then build out from there.”
“If you could deliver your memories to your door—WHOA!
“DoorDash is 3 years old. We bring your favorite food from your favorite restaurants to your door.”
“We started by helping small businesses. Our CEO’s mother is a small business owner.”
“People would call in to a store and want delivery. By and large store owners would say no. Tony saw store owners leaving money on the table.”
“Running a logistics network is hard. The idea for DoorDash was providing that delivery app for them.”
“People are always asking me for restaurant recommendations. It’s hard to keep up with everyone.”
“DoorDash texts you and gives you updates of where your food is.”
“One of the things we’re most excited about is our great selection of restaurants. We have chain brands all the way down to local favorites.”
“Sometimes restaurants approach us where they recognize us as a way to grow their business.”
“Sometimes we approach restaurants so they can think of a new way of doing business.”
“I’m a geek at heart and love technology.”
“While I was at Google I worked on Chrome. Simple tech is incredibly complicated under the hood.”
“DoorDash is a super simple front end, but to make all that happen is incredibly complicated.”
“We see orders for wings going up around the Superbowl. On Mother’s Day we see pancakes and coffee delivered.”
“We’ve seen ice cream ordered to the park. We’ve seen cakes delivered to weddings. The possibilities are endless.”
“How you experience food is paramount. We invested a lot into photography.”
“For those restaurants that you’ve never ordered at before, photography is important.”
“We invest in the customer experience through reviews and scoring to encapsulate the delivery experience.
“Food may not travel as well as eating it in a restaurant.”
“Forgetting that extra side of ranch can make or break your meal.”
“If you’re able to integrate the delivery experience from the get-go, we provide a tablet for the back of house for the orders.”
“Thinking about delivery from the beginning makes it so much easier to work with a third party.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ next Wednesday when Jessica Herrin of Stella & Dot joins live! Only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 12pm ET/9am PT
August 3, 2016
Radio Recap: Corporate Responsibility Expert Susan McPherson
Susan McPherson is a serial connector, cause marketer, angel investor and, in this day and-age of business, most importantly Susan McPherson is a corporate responsibility expert. Susan also founded and hosts the bi-weekly Twitter #CSRChat and is the founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies—a communications consultancy focusing on the intersection between brands and social good. Here’s her thoughts on corporate social responsibility:
“Corporate social responsibility is never a dull moment.”
“The world we live in today is entirely transparent.”
“We are all connected. Consumers can open the kimono of a company and are in tune with what they’re doing.”
“I’d had 9 lives at this point. Most of my life was spent in corporate America. I always had one foot out the door serving for non-profits.”
“I would always bring that CSR good karma into the workplace.”
“We work with Coca Cola, JCPenny—we get to sit between brands and social good.”
“I left my job and started my own company the next day. No vacation, no time off.
“JCPenny is one of the most benevolent companies. They’ve been giving back since they were founded.”
“The adage about doing good and giving back after you’re profitable is wrong. You can attract, maintain and keep the best employees and customers.”
“B-corps register their company on their amount of giving back. Patagonia and Ben and Jerry’s were one of the first.”
“When I was 19 Ben and Jerry’s opened their first store in Vermont and Ben and Jerry themselves were scooping the ice cream.”
“Consumers have so much power in the wallets. Companies need to adhere to consumer demands.”
“We council our clients on how to be mindful.”
“The days of greenwashing are over.”
“People can be forgiving when companies when they admit to being wrong.”
“5-10 years ago you’d never see companies getting involved in social justice issues.”
“I cite businesses as being the reason we saw marriage equality happen. Microsoft, Kelloggs, and Dell pushed this.”
“Everybody wants the world to be a better place. I’m very much an optimist.”
“You can bake social good in from the get-go. There’s lots you can do no matter how small you are.”
“Ask your team, what would they like to see you stand for?”
“Look around your local community. If you put together something that benefits your neighborhood you have a better chance of getting local press.”
“I founded #CSRChat in 2010 accidentally.”
“Over the years #CSRChat featured Hilton Hotels, Cisco, Intel. The goal is to shine light on the organizations that are pushing the envelope.”
“Women’s issues have really taken off the last few years.”
“If trendy gets people thinking of something that should be thinking of, then I’m okay with the word trendy.”
“We need people who know how to code regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.”
“100,000 jobs initiative is about helping our unemployed youth get jobs.”
“Another trend is we’re seeing collaboration from companies tackling big problems.”
“The traditional means was a press release or a CSR report. Now companies are doing videos and infographics.”
“Allow your customers to have a stake in a businesses CSR.”
“Find out what the organization is all about. Who are the stakeholders, who buys their products.”
“What does success look like in 6,12, 18 months? We ask these questions up front.”
“There’s many companies that never talk about themselves. Toyota has done so many good things but never talks about it.”
“All departments need to be involved in CSR in business. Finance, marketing, CEOs, everyone.
“You can’t be a purposeful company without treating your employees right.”
“If you have an all male, all white board, you can’t sell to woman the way you should.”
“Greenwashing came out of companies jumping on the environmentally sound bandwagon. Companies we’re saying it but not doing it.”
“Survey Monkey is an inexpensive way to poll customers.”
“Packaging doesn’t have to be cardboard. Bamboo is so much more sustainable.”
“The average person uses 24 pieces of plastic a day.”
“Last year from Christmas I asked everyone to find give a donation in the person’s name they were given.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ every Wednesday at 12pm ET on SiriusXM Business Channel 111!
July 28, 2016
4 Apps for 2016’s Presidential Election
This is a free download on iOS, with Android version forthcoming. It puts you in charge of a digital regional office for the Hillary 2016 campaign. You’re tasked with turning it into a bustling campaign HQ by buying upgrades like new posters, office furniture, art, and more, by collecting starts—the game’s in-app currency. But you don’t pay real money for stars: you earn them by performing microtasks in the app, like syncing the 2016 Election Calendar to your own, or taking a quiz about the many, many, many falsehoods of Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Right now, the Hillary 2016 app rewards stars for things like filling out quizzes, but there’s nothing stopping the developers from letting players win stars from watching debates, tweeting links of support, signing petitions, and more. Exciting or not, it’s a clever way to keep inactive voters involved—and it’s easy to see how it lays a foundation for future features aimed at getting people involved on a more grassroots level. For example, one feature lets you find events to participate in on a local level, from phone banks to canvassing.
When it came to building the app, it wasn’t just farmed out to the lowest bidder—the app’s design team within Hillary For America has a pretty impressive mobile design pedigree behind it. According to the campaign, it included Stephanie Cheng, the senior product manager, who recently co-founded the game company Kooapps, and previously worked at DreamWorks Animation’s app division. Meanwhile, senior product designer Denny McFadden led the design team at the large nonprofit charity: water. Other employees have experience at Etsy, Timehop, and Livestream—From FAST COMPANY
2. Countable, available on Android and iOS helps users learn about the two presidential candidates while staying up to date on legislation that effects you and your area. Tell Congress your opinion with the Countable app which sends your voice to your lawmakers. “Your government made simple.”
3. PolitiFact, available on Android and iOS, lets you check the truth behind any claims made by the two presidential candidates. Produced by Pulitzer Prize-winning website PolitiFact, a venture of the Tampa Bay Times, fact-checks, stays up to date, and let’s you know which politicians, political groups, and pundits are telling the truth. There is also a flip-o-meter, which measures the latest policy flip-flops going on in Washington.
4. 2016 Presidential Election App
The best 2016 election app! Follow the 2016 Presidential Election with the latest news on debates and primaries. Get the complete 2016 debate schedules for Republican and Democratic candidates with details and push notifications. Also includes a selection of the latest news on all candidates in an objective, nonpartisan format.—From iTunes
July 27, 2016
Radio Recap: Live from the Democratic National Convention!
Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg was LIVE from Radio Row at this year’s 47th Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. The DNC started Monday, July 25th and runs to Thursday July 28 With over 18000 hotel rooms within a 15 minute walk of the arena, well over 50,000 people have flocked to support and protest this year’s DNC.
Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama gave a passionate speech everyone can’t stop talking about & Bernie Sanders offered his support and full endorsement of Hillary. Tuesday was roll call and Hillary took the nomination. Bernie gave her all his votes and Bill Clinton told the story of their lives.
Today, President Obama and Vice President Biden are scheduled to speak. Tomorrow Chelsea Clinton will introduce her mother, the Democratic nominee for United States President.
This DNC, Lena Dunham, Snoop Dogg, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Cyndi Lauper, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry are just some of the celebrities lending their support to the DNC. Not to mention the slough of city and state officials from across the country: Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, Senator Elizabeth Warren, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, & Senator Cory Booker, who was in talks to be vice president before Tim Kaine.
Fun facts: The first DNC took place in 1832 in Baltimore, Maryland. Martin van Buren was the Democratic nominee. The DNC costs $84 million and hopes to bring in over $200 million to the city.
It’s been a tumultuous few days after DNC emails were hacked and released but spirits are high and the speeches have been inspiring. From what was at first a divided arena on Monday has really started to unify. The theme of DNC this year. Unity.
Sitting with Randi today to discuss politics, democracy, the DNC, and journalism were Ana Kasparian, political pundit of the The Young Turks, Mayor of Baltimore / Madam Secretary of the Democratic Party, Stephanie Rawlings Blake, and special guest, news correspondent Dan Rather. Here’s the quotes:
“The DNC is chaotic but it’s also extremely exciting. You’re in the heart of it with media.”
“As a pundit, you deal with individuals who you might not agree with.”
“The Young Turks started back in 2002. Cenk decided he didn’t want to be a lawyer, he wanted to be a political host.”
“TYT didn’t get much visability until 2005 with YouTube. Before we knew it videos took off.”
“Young people would watch the celebrity gossip stories and then would get political news that was digestible.”
“The RNC focused on negativity, the DNC focuses on hope, change. At the DNC we need to see more attacks on Donald Trump and why Hillary can fix that.”
“People need to be convinced that Donald Trump can’t win.”
“The similarities with the DNC and RNC is sadly the divison.”
“Bernie Sanders followers actually walked out and occupied the media tent. Mainstream media did not cover it.”
“Neutrality needs to be mandatory. The DNC kept scheduling the debates on weekends because they knew no one would watch. That came out in the emails.”
“Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepping down is just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Russia has invested a lot of money in Donald Trump. He’s getting criticized for those ties. He’s talking about dismantling NATO just to appease Putin.”
“What’s worse, someone’s who running for president and doesn’t know who a world leader is or someone who is tied financially to other world leaders?”
“Tim Kaine is a good choice depending what Hillary’s strategy is. “
“TPP is one of the reasons that Sanders supporters are weary of Clinton.”
“Voting for a third party right now could be disastrous in defeating Donald Trump.”
“Those who supported Sanders liked him because of his ideas. His ideas contradict Clinton’s.”
“Digital media is serving as a primary news source for younger voters. The reality of CNN is you don’t get in depth analysis. They love the drama. What about the policy?”
“You have a huge portion of the electorate thinking Hillary and Donald are the same person.”
“On TYT we encourage our viewers to get their news from other sources. We’re humans, we make mistakes too. Be as informed as possible.”
“In terms of Facebook, its revealing to me we have a problem with media literacy.”
“On social media you see people sharing satarical news stories thinking they’re real.”
“I wasn’t experienced in online bullying. It’s a relatively new thing. What I’ve learned is to remove myself from it. I stopped reading comments.”
“Twitter has gotten better with the mute button.”
“It’s important to get constructive criticism.”
“My advice to Dan Rather is to keep doing what you’re doing and adapt to the media.”
“The pros [to getting news online] is people are interested in the news. Even if they get it from Twitter and Facebook.”
“You don’t want your neighbor doing surgery you want a trained professional. You want a real journalist giving you your news.”
“Context, depth, perspective, including historical facts, that’s real journalism.”
“We have to deal with things as they are, not as you would prefer them to be.”
“I do Twitter and Facebook to reach people.”
“There should be some teaching no later than the 7th grade about being skeptical, not cynical, not to believe everything you see and hear.”
“There was an old saying in journalism, ‘You trust your mother but you cut the cards.'”
“They used to want us to read and answer every letter we received. Now while we’re on the air people are reflecting. You get instant —up to a certain point.”
“You may not want to hear about what’s happening but it’s important.”
“It’s important for a journalist to say ‘my job is not the be loved, it’s to be an honest broker of information’ and hope the listener will respect that.”
“I’m very grateful to be here. I love covering politics. I started covering remote council meetings and worked my way up.”
“What happens here matters. This is the dance of democracy.”
“There’s nothing decided here. At one level it’s one long infomercial for the parties, but it’s all part of the process.”
“Covering politics is the most fun you can have out of bed.”
“You can curse the technology but it’s part of the reality.”
Advice to Ana Kasparian: “Don’t lose your idealism. Most get into journalism because they want to do something that matters and counts. Ratings and deadlines and pressure and money can squeeze the idealism out of you.”
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS BLAKE
“It is good to be here especially because my week has been extremely Dot Complicated.”
“I look forward to the DNC as much I look forward to getting the Ravens in the Superbowl.”
“I’ve been trying to build bridges between the Clinton and Sanders and campaigns.”
“I feel like I have goosebumps the entire time. To be so involved at this national level.”
“I wanted to be so excited taking the roll but I also wanted to be sick. You know those YouTube comments that call you out? I was so nervous.”
“Operationally this DNC has been very smooth. It’s capturing the spirit. Internally, it’s been our willingness to embrace the differences.”
“I’m proud that we didn’t sweep problems under the rug.”
“When Secretary Clinton says we are stronger together, it’s true. It’s not just a slogan.”
“I’m an attorney by profession. It requires you to be balanced. That same level of professionalism is required at the DNC.”
“Bernie supporters fought for a seat at the table and when they got there they used it and fought harder. They should be proud.”
“Politics and democracy is participatory. It’s not take your marbles and go home time.”
“My office does everything from certify the delegates, send out meeting notices and weekly updates.”
“I am the immediate past President of the US Conference of Mayors.”
“Anyone who ever sought office understands that 80% of people living in the US live near and in metropolitian areas. We need to invest in our cities and job training.”
“We need stronger collaboration with our federal law enforcement officers.”
“I benefitted greatly from the support of mayors around the country in 2015 after the tragic death of Freddie Gray. I wanted to be there for the mayors who needed me.”
“The challenging part is the tone of the country. There’s a lot of discontent. How do we channel that energy into solutions? The rewarding part is everything I get to do as Mayor, Secretary—I am extremely blessed to have a career that I am called to do.”
“I have not always been a fan of social media when it comes to government. People can oversimplify complicated issues in 140 characters.”
“No medium is perfect. As with everything, I try to focus on the positive. I am one of the top tweeting mayors in the country.”
“The recent videos of police shooting will show you what’s both good and bad about social media. Transparency is good. The bad thing is they rarely show the entire story.”
“It’s important that we understand the productivity of the American worker has gone up substantially. We have to pay people for the work that they do.”
“There’s not one delegation that’s not a true reflection of the people they represent. We cannot afford to divide our country and think we’re going to stand tall.”
“We believe in democracy and protecting the right to vote. It’s what will make us stronger.”
“I was up there taking the roll call and trying not to cry. You want to be in the moment and truly experience the weight of what happened. My role was to have an efficient roll call.”
“I’m known for being calm, cool, and collected in stressful situations.”
“To my daughter and children left unborn, this is a truly momentous occasion.”
“One of the things I delight in is seeing all the representations from all the different districts. I want to be out there on the floor trading pins, wearing crazy hats.”
“This is an opportunity to have fun. Life has its ups and downs. Why when you have something that’s wonderful do you want to diminish it?”
The DNC ends Thursday evening with a speech from Democratic Presidential Nominee (and FIRST WOMAN EVER nominated) Hillary Clinton. Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg airs LIVE every Wednesday on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 at 12pm ET/9am PT.
July 22, 2016
3 Craziest Pokémon Go Stories …. According to Us
Augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go has now achieved record Apple Store downloads in the first week, is more popular than Facebook (in terms of time spent), and has been personally responsible for the break up of at least one couple, the discovery of a dead body, and helping people lose weight. But what are the craziest Pokémon Go stories? Here’s what we think:
3) BROOKLYN MAN COMPLETES ENTIRE U.S. POKEDEX
FROM BUSINESS INSIDER: Nick Johnson publicly declared himself to be the first Pokémon Go player to catch all of the 142 Pokémon that we know are available in the US.
According to the original video games that Pokémon Go is based on, there are 151 total monsters. We know that there are 142 you can catch in the US, plus three more exclusive to certain international regions, but nobody can account for the whereabouts of the other six.
He said he’s lost “about eight pounds, but I was walking eight miles a day. My endurance walking/jogging has definitely improved. Either gym or poke walk probably will do the trick, just do whatever gets you motivated to exercise! For me Pokemon go made it fun to exercise in a way the gym does not.”
Johnson’s journey to Pokémon mastery took a lot of doing and some long nights, he tells Business Insider, but it was worth it to fulfill his childhood dream of catching ’em all. His tips:
He chose water-type Squirtle as his first Pokémon because he didn’t realize that he had a choice. He would have gone with the fire-type Charmander, in reflection of his choice of Team Valor, the game’s red team.
The very last Pokémon he needed for his collection was Omastar, which he evolved himself. He says that he would have caught it a day earlier when two appeared in his vicinity — but then Verizon cell service cut out for 15 minutes, denying him of his prize. “Shout out to Verizon, you the real MVP,” Johnson jokes.
The second-to-last Pokémon that Johnson needed, Porygon, was also the hardest, and required a trip to Jersey City. “I may or may not have seen it on the radar and then ordered an Uber to drive me around until I found it,” Johnson says.
The best spots in New York City for catching Pokémon are Battery Park and Grand Army Plaza in Central Park. The latter is where Justin Bieber was spotted playing, and on any given night, there are 300 or so people gathered there for Pokémon hunting purposes, staying “well until the morning.”
His best tip for would-be Pokémon masters: “Buy some good walking shoes.” He also recommends that if you’re going to spend real money for in-game items, then the egg incubators are the best bang for your buck.
2) TORONTO BAKERY CHARGES PEOPLE BASED ON POKÉMON TEAM:
A Toronto bakery called Waffle U posted a sign saying customers on Team Valor get their treats half-off, while Team Mystic customers have to pay twice the normal charge.
FROM BLOGTO: “That’s right, owner and PokeMaster Alex Puzo first started offering discounts to Team Valor on Sunday. If you’re not playing yet, the Pokemon Go teams are kind of similar to the houses in Harry Potter.
Puzo was (unsurprisingly) neutral towards Team Instinct, however he wasn’t too kind to Team Mystic; if members of the blue team wanted one of his epic-looking waffles, they were supposed to pay double.
But once in store, Puzo ended up giving all trainers a discounts. “Everyone who comes here knows that I play it, they play it now as well, it’s becoming a growing community.”
Redditor Dubiono posted a photo of the sign on Monday, the same day Puzo took it down. “I had to take it down within two days,” he says. “The lineup was behind the building and I just can’t make that many waffles.”
1) DRIVER CAUGHT ON CAMERA SLAMMING INTO COP CAR WHILE PLAYING POKÉMON GO:
FROM PIX11: A man playing Pokémon Go while driving ended up colliding with a Baltimore police officer’s parked patrol car early Saturday morning.
The officers had just responded to a 911 call and were standing on the sidewalk around 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday when one officer’s body camera recorded the accident.
They were standing steps from the vehicle when, suddenly, a tan-colored Toyota RAV4 slammed into the patrol car at high speed.
No one was seriously injured, and when officers caught up to the driver he seemed more embarrassed than anything.
The driver got out of the car holding his phone so police could see the game, and said, “That’s what I get for playing this dumb a** game.”
“#PokemonGO is not all fun and games,” Baltimore police tweeted. “Here is a video of a distracted driver who struck one of our cars. #PlaySafe.”
Do you have a crazy Pokémon Go story? Tweet us @DotComplicated and let us know!
July 20, 2016
Radio Recap: Sex Toy Tech
What do a clinical psychologist and mechanical engineer have in common? No, it’s not the set-up for a joke. They’re each one half of Dame Products—a sex toy company founded by women, for women, and 80% staffed by women.
Alexandra Fine graduated from Columbia University with a Masters in Clinical Psychology concentrating in sex therapy and Janet Lieberman is a MIT graduate with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering focusing on consumer product design. Together Alexandra and Janet created the brand behind Eva, a uniquely engineered and wholly original couples’ vibrator aimed at closing the pleasure gap. Eva is also Indiegogo’s Number 1 crowdfunded sex toy to date as Dame recently hit their $1million mark in pre-sale revenue. Janet and Alexandra discussed sex toy tech and the business behind the adult product industry on today’s ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg.’
“I’m such a GIF porn fan.”
“In the world of sex we have excelerators and breaking points. GIFs are good way to not break the moment.”
“I fell out of love with therapy and wanted to own my own consumer goods company.”
“I became a therapist because I thought we could be more fluid with our sexuality at the age of 6.”
“With sex, teachers aren’t thinking about what the children should know. They worry about if they should be the one to tell them.”
“When I was working at Makerbot I was thinking about what I wanted to do in the back of my mind. I was also a sex toy user.”
“If people who were product development experts couldn’t figure out how to make a sex toy work, then I knew there was a better way.”
“When women didn’t laugh about my joke about making well engineered sex toys, I realized that there was a need.”
“I had given up on finding a co-founder. But when we met it was marriage on the first date.”
“A lot of sex toys companies are started by porn producers.”
“If you have a vulva you’re going to be more excited about making these products than men are. It’s not sexist.”
“Even those these products are for women, they shrouded the products in shame and slapped a porn star on it.”
“There’s a big cultural wave going on in feminism and that women like to use vibrators and its acceptance in mainstream culture.”
“It was 15 years ago that Sex in the City had the Rabbit episode.”
“You have to believe in your company. I thought we were going to do 4 million dollars.”
“You have to be practical and see what other successful campaigns in your industry has done.”
“It was like going through puberty again launching the Indiegogo campaign.”
“Make sure that you show the concept that this can definitely get made.”
“Have people use the product beforehand. Make sure it works.”
“Don’t run your crowdfunding campaign until you have made your prototype.”
“That first few days of your crowdfunding campaign are especially crucial.”
“Be ready to go with your product. Build confidence around your product.”
“Eva is a clitoral vibrator that has wings to nestle into the labia so it can be worn during sex.”
“We wanted to make a couples vibrator that wouldn’t get in the way.”
“There are always iterations and product changes.”
“I knew it was going to be the hardest to get the wings to work. What was going to fit the general size of women’s labias?”
“By the time we finished the alpha and beta testing, and changes we were making were effecting the fit of most women.”
“We kept having tweak everything often.”
“I do think we’re more a hardware company than a tech company.”
“Technology is so much more than software. Clothing companies are more than retail.”
“When we look at our business model, we are truly a consumer goods brand.”
“We kept the software and electrical side of our business simple to make sure we kept our brand robust.”
“To have something held in the labia during sex is a technical advancement.”
“The process that we use requires a lot of iteration and software testing.”
“We can’t iterate and get products out there as fast as software companies can.”
“We actually had to try really hard to make sure we weren’t making decisions based on gender.”
“We’ve been really lucky to have amazing candidates apply for jobs of every gender!”
“You have to validate the reason you’re making their product. Find how many people have the problem to kick off market research.”
“You can’t watch 5 people use a sex toy prototype of the product in a one-sided mirror.”
“There’s definitely pre-conceived notions of every industry not just sex toys.”
“We have a father and son investor team and the dad had no problem telling us about his experiences using the product with his wife.”
“People like investing in markets they know and understand.”
“Sex is a human experience that literally everyone in the boardroom has had.”
“When you’re comfortable then the conversation can stay comfortable.”
“People love talking about sex and they often don’t get a chance to.”
“There are very few generalizations that people can make about sex.”
“45% of people who buy our product are male.”
“Most people find out about us through PR and press.”
“We knew that our biggest challenge was explaining how Eva works. The first drawings we got were so medical looking.”
“A little cartoon makes something that people feel uncomfortable with be able to understand.”
“We have an employee vibrator program to get people to do reviews.”
“Reviewing vibrators is so much less fun that you think it is.”
“We’re always taking feedback from customers trying to make the best product possible.”
“We want to make the world a happier place one vagina at a time.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ LIVE from Radio Row at the Democratic National Convention. Special guest Ana Kasparian of The Young Turks to join! Only on Sirius Business channel 111 at NOON ET!
July 15, 2016
Using social media to fight shaming
Playboy model and radio host Dani Mathers posted a picture body shaming a naked woman at a Los Angeles gym to her SnapChat account. She captioned the photo with, “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either.”
LA Fitness, the gym Mathers was at, has not only banned her from the gym—but has banned her from LA Fitness gyms for life. She also lost her job c0-hosting a morning show on a local LA radio station. This comes after a long line of body shaming incidents in the past two weeks : Jennifer Aniston has recently fought back from critics after wrongly assuming her pregnant after seeing vacation photos of her in bikini. In an essay on the Huffington Post Aniston said, “I resent being made to feel “less than” because my body is changing and/or I had a burger for lunch and was photographed from a weird angle and therefore deemed one of two things: “pregnant” or “fat.” Not to mention the painful awkwardness that comes with being congratulated by friends, coworkers and strangers alike on one’s fictional pregnancy (often a dozen times in a single day).”
Also from the Hollywood side of body shaming, Rose McGowan wrote a piece in The Hollywood Reporter responding to a male critic’s judgement of Renee Zellwegger’s potential to act after having plastic surgery. In her essay in THR, McGowan uses male celebrities as potential body shaming bait—calling Hollywood beauty standards sexist and unfair:
“To illustrate what women in the public eye go through ad nauseam, I have replaced Renee Zellweger’s name in your article with those of male actors.
The movie’s star, LEONARDO DICAPRIO, already had his “Did he or didn’t he?” moment back in 2014, and I had followed the round-the-world scrutinizing of his image that went along with it, but this was different. Watching the trailer, I didn’t stare at the actor and think: He doesn’t look like LEONARDO DICAPRIO. I thought: He doesn’t look like JAY GATSBY!”
Teenagers have, too, been jumping on the anti-body shaming bandwagon as well with the widely popular #DontJudgeMe hashtag. From ABC:
“… teens are posting thousands of videos with the hashtag, “dontjudgechallenge,” mocking glamour shots by intentionally making themselves look exceptionally unattractive.
The hashtag has been used more than 2 million times in less than two weeks.
“Essentially the idea was, ‘This is not what I really look like, but you judged me,’” Dr. Kavita Ajmere, a child and adolescent psychologist, told ABC News. “I think that’s the awareness that they wanted to create.
The trend started off as a campaign for teens taking a stand against body-shaming, attempting to make themselves appear less attractive by painting on thick unibrows, acne, missing teeth and wearing glasses, then transforming into what they perceive as “beautiful.”
But now the popular hashtag is causing backlash online with thousands criticizing it, saying the videos don’t empower people but rather mock them, doing more harm than good. “Shouldn’t ‘Don’t Judge Me’ mean you shouldn’t care about what someone looks like at all?,” online user Campbell Urrutia asked in a video. “You shouldn’t care about if they’re hot or not.””
Using social media in a positive light brings people together. It goes hand in hand with last week’s post. But NOT to hurt others—only to help. Stand up to body shamers by wearing your heart on your SCREEN. Be proud of who you are and don’t let others tear you down. Remember, being skinny or overweight or curvy or thin or whatever you look like is OKAY, telling someone how they should look is NOT.
