Charitini

"Women: Your Secret ROI Engine" @ BenchmarkNY, May 9, 2012

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:21:59 -0400

"Women: Your Secret ROI Engine" @ BenchmarkNY, May 9, 2012:

Very excited for BenchmarkNYC next week - inaugural conference addressing social media ROI with some great speakers including Jon Steinberg from BuzzFeed, Steve Krakauer from CNN Digital, Curtis Hougland from Attention - and Megan Berry from LiftFive, Cindy Gallop from IfWeRanTheWorld, Kristin Maverick from the Barbarian Group, Erin Newkirk from RedStamp and Lisa Joy Rosner from NetBase avec moi in this killer panel:

Pinterest, Groupon, Facebook, Zynga- it’s no accident that where huge engagement is to be found, so too will you find a majority of women. Women are hyper-networkers and message magnifiers, and are often the first to discover trends (and create them). This isn’t just about adding pink to a button (please, don’t), it’s about the power of women drivers, from beginning to end, at every level of strategy (including the people making it!). There are powerful magnifying effects of leveraging hidden constituencies (if you doubt, consider “The Hunger Games” and its $500 million box office). The Barbarian Group’s Kristin Maverick, LiftFive’s Megan Berry, IfWeRanTheWorld’s Cindy Gallop, NetBase’s Lisa Joy Rosner, and Change The Ratio’s Rachel Sklar, will explain how women are your secret engine of ROI. Men, this is for you, too.

The rest of the schedule is here. If you’re interested in coming go here and use this discount code: Benchmark7224. And if you want to know more ping me here.

Knight News Challenge: CTR & TheLi.st

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:57:34 -0400

Knight News Challenge: CTR & TheLi.st:

changetheratio:

So! CTR is on the move. We love how far we’ve come (seriously, that #changetheratio hashtag is like the best batsignal ever, flashing to us from far and wide) but we know that more can be done. We need to scale. Enter TheLi.st - and, hopefully, the Knight Foundation News Challenge. The blueprint for what we plan to do is below.

newschallenge:

1. What do you propose to do? [20 words]

Scale the private listserv I run for female leaders in technology/media into an open network of and for women.

2. Is anyone doing something like this now and how is your project different? [30 words]

No. This segment is vastly underserved. There are massive information asymmetries between men and women that broaden over time. This network will correct them through curation, crowdsourcing and social connection.

3. Describe the network with which you intend to build or work. [50 words]

I plan to formalize The List (at www.TheLi.st) as an email newsletter featuring curated news, original features and key resources for entrepreneurs. I plan to build an associated social network with profiles featuring members and, where germane, their rates. This will vastly improve visibility, access and opportunies for women.

4. Why will it work? [100 words]

I have already seen it work - incredibly well, and incredibly fast - within the context of the private, ad-hoc listserv for women that I currently run. Women sharing information, contacts, opportunities, war stories, giving each other props and encouragement, using each other’s wisdom, networks and resources to pull each other upward - it has been incredible to watch. There is huge demand for this, one I can’t fill alone, on the side. It’s not just for women - The List will be a key resource for anyone - and, as a portal to amazing women, for VCs as well.

5. Who is working on it? [100 words]

Right now it is just me. I have an extensive network of terrific women involved, whose incredible contributions power the listserv with multiple postings (and incredibly high repeat viewership) per day, but I run and moderate the listserv, organize events and make connections among members and provide offline connection that I am desperate to automate. I have concepted a shared-equity model of 20 advisers, mostly women, each with 0.5% of The List, helping it grow and develop. Thus far, eight are on board.

6. What part of the project have you already built? [100 words]

I come to this table with a listserv of almost 300 women, and a deep bench of nominations and requests to join. I also come with an extensive network across media, tech, business and entertainment that I have been working with consistently in the process of building Change The Ratio, the not-for-profit organization/movement I co-founded in spring 2010 to elevate and de-invisibilize awesome women through increasing visibility, leading to increased access and increased opportunities. Almost two years later, Change The Ratio is a well-known brand ready to be taken to the next level.

7. How would you sustain the project after the funding expires? [50 words]

Sponsors, advertisers and premium events - on one hand, creating incredible learning and networking opportunities for our high-level membership, and on the other, providing sponsors and advertisers access to their brain and market power via targeted campaigns and visibility opportunities. This network is already amazing - wait ‘til it scales.
Requested amount from Knight News Challenge: $250,000
Expected amount of time required to complete project: 12 months (4 to build the infrastructure, 8 more to become self-sustaining)

Total Project Cost: $500,000

Name: Rachel Sklar

Twitter: @rachelsklar

Organization: Change The Ratio

Country: USA (via Canada)

changetheratio: Hey Girl, Ryan Gosling thinks you should earn a...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:56:24 -0400

changetheratio:

Hey Girl, Ryan Gosling thinks you should earn a helluva lot more than 77 cents on the dollar.

Introducing: Equal Pay Day Ryan Gosling [The Daily Muse]

Fact. Come!.

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:37:49 -0400

Fact.

Come!.

Change The Ratio: The XX Voting Bloc

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 23:16:00 -0500

Change The Ratio: The XX Voting Bloc:

changetheratio:

It’s barely two months old, but 2012 has already been incredibly interesting - and specifically, interesting for women. From an instant bestseller focusing on the Obama presidency as a partnership with the First Lady to the massive Komen backlash to the sudden and furious contraception debate, the power and influence and voice of women have suddenly been impossible to ignore.

I say “suddenly” because, well, it hasn’t been so impossible in the past. Even in 2008, in a historic race with the first-ever viable female presidential candidate and a (sometimes scarily viable) female vice-presidential candidate, the race was less about issues relating to women as a whole than these women, and what they represented and how they challenged us and the national paradigm. But we didn’t see the raw flexing of collective muscle that much - except in the case of the PUMAs, older women and Hillary supporters who felt they’d been rendered invisible, and were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. Suddenly this demographic group came together, and swung around a pretty hefty political chip: their vote.

That chip, mostly ignored over the ramp-up to 2012 (hi, GOP race!), has now come sharply into focus. Women as a raw demographic unit exercise incredible power across every element of American life. They control the lion’s share of household spending, drive product, move merch, and unleash markets. They are the engine of the online social explosion - and they put their money there, too. So it only makes sense that in 2012, that raw demographic power would bring its heft to electoral politics.

In 2012, far more than in 2008, there is social media - an amped-up, globe-spanning Facebook and Twitter; the incredible instant window of Instagram; even a budding political tool in Pinterest. In 2012, our social networks are so far developed as to regularly supplant the distribution tools we relied upon in 2008. And in 2012, those social networks are making the difference for women, flexing political might with a fist that swings larger, comes faster and hits harder than ever before.

There’s more.

How I Got From The Superbowl To Showtunes In 5 Easy Steps

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:22:47 -0500

…and this was BEFORE “Brotherhood of Man!” Since I have oft-emphasized the secret link between sports and showtunes, I found this amusing. It all started by clicking a link on the SportsGrid newsletter…

1. Here’s How To Fake It Through Your Super Bowl Party - SportsGrid. On the top of the page I noticed something more apropos to my interests…

2. This Super Bowl Ad Is Already Facing Sexism Accusations - SportsGrid. It linked to a few other accounts, one which I duly clicked upon, like so…

3. Watch Telaflora’s Super Sexist Super Bowl Ad - Jezebel, which had as a link on the side that caught my attention…

4. Octavia Spencer Fires Back Against the Media Who Won’t Shut Up About Her Weight - turns out this was a collection of news nuggets, which I faithfully read down through bits on Blake Lively, Brad Pitt, Katherine Heigel (OH I’M HUMAN CUT ME SOME SLACK), Michael Fassbender (see? To get to Fassbender, you must weather the Heigl), Demi Moore, Jami Lynn Spears until…until…

5. Taylor Swift Out As Eponine - Crazy Days & Nights, which was linked to in Jezebel’s roundup. They suggested I watch new-movie-Eponined Samantha Banks’ version for the 25th anniversary concert, which I happily did. Kid can sing.

Just wanted to memorialize this before I forgot. Smash reminded me. That was one helluva baseball number. Wow.

“It’s like Pandora for cats.” So many gems....

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:06:09 -0500

“It’s like Pandora for cats.”

So many gems. Awesome from husbo-wife team Kate Imbach & Tom Conrad.

fauxlaroids: Rachel Sklar at Key Foods. Just saw this! Wow...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:52:40 -0500

fauxlaroids:

Rachel Sklar at Key Foods.

Just saw this! Wow this was ages ago. Hi Nikola!

maura: Liza. Pet Shop Boys. Follies. Aaaaaaaaaaaa Um WOW

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:47:21 -0500

maura:

Liza. Pet Shop Boys. Follies.

Aaaaaaaaaaaa

Um WOW

"What is real? What is fake? What is Kardashian? I think 2012 will demand that we say so up front."

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:11:27 -0500

"What is real? What is fake? What is Kardashian? I think 2012 will demand that we say so up front.":

Predictin’.

Filter bubbles burst, blind spots shrunk, curation over SEO: Rachel Sklar’s predictions for 2012 [Nieman Lab]

changetheratio: Last-minute charity top-off? 115 donors helped...

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:51:34 -0500

changetheratio:

Last-minute charity top-off? 115 donors helped 2,856 kids - now that’s a ratio I can get behind! BONUS: Used the old-skool Gotham filter, for kicks. Pretty please & THANKS: bit.ly/LizzieRach

(Taken with instagram)

2011 end-of-year karma!

My Email Signature, Explained

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:51:00 -0500

In 2011, in some capacity, I am and/or have been an adviser to or otherwise highly involved with these companies:

lover.ly
dailymu.se

siftee.com

hashable.com

sbnation.com
honestlynow.com
kapost.com

mediaite.com

citypockets.com
techstars.org
teachAIDS.org

(I’m a proud mentor with TechStars; have been editor-at-large at Mediaite since we founded it, in a title chosen specifically for its flexibility, since I am no longer involved as I once was, by a long shot; worked for Hashable in varying capacities over the past year; I guess I should change “SBNation” to “Vox Media” now that they’re all fancy n’ blowing up n’ stuff; and if I can do even any small thing to help TeachAIDS make the world a better place then wow, am I honored. Oh and, of course, Change The Ratio - I’m the co-founder and I clearly live & breathe it every day. what can I say? I love the ladies.)

THIS: Rick Webb on SOPA

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:31:26 -0500

THIS: Rick Webb on SOPA:

rickwebb:

As a major donor to Obama’s last campaign, I get my regularly-scheduled call of them trying to get me to be a bundler. For the last couple months, whenever they call, I tell them that SOPA is a very big deal to me, and I will not donate until he takes a position against it, as written now.

“I…

Two fun things: (1) I attended a fantastic weekend event at the...

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:18:08 -0500

Two fun things: (1) I attended a fantastic weekend event at the Ace Palm Springs wherein a bunch of Jews celebrated Chanukah, and (2) what amounts to my parents’ winter hometown newspaper, The Desert Sun, wrote about it and quoted me.

On Sunday, Rachel Sklar of Los Angeles recapped the weekend by singing a parody of Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song.”“This was just a great weekend,” Sklar said.

(I am not of Los Angeles and I definitely said more than that, but why quibble.)

The adorable little moppet pictured above is Odessa, 5-year-old daughter of my friends (and fellow Rebooters) Craig & Rebecca. Related: She’s also my new style icon. Girl can rock a jeanjacket, striped stockings and hipster skirt like a champ.

Also there was hilarious comedy from Jason Nash, Moshe Kashen & Morgan Murphy, music from Brian Joseph & Terra Naomi (and my fab accompaniest, Adam Stern), and just a gret time with great people. Huge kudos to Jill Soloway, Julie Hermelin & Rebecca Odes for putting together an amazing weekend. I love Reboot.

Jews in Coachella Valley Gather for Hanukkah [The Desert Sun]

Also: Slideshow!

Trailer for Episode 15 of “The Salon” on The Jewish...

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 01:57:52 -0500

Trailer for Episode 15 of “The Salon” on The Jewish Channel, which I co-host with the wonderful Forward editor Jane Eisner (I am Andy Richter to her Conan). Good show, incl. #Occupy Judaism, sex-segregated buses…in NYC, how hard it is for some Jewish women to get a Get (Jewish divorce, the specialty of “Women Unchained” director Beverly Siegel), Herman Cain & Steve Jobs (feat. awesome Verge gadget guru Joanna Stern). Also with the very cool Jo-Ann Mort. I do love doing this show.

Charitini's back!

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 01:37:51 -0500

Charitini’s back after! One person noticed - my mom. Backstory: For the past week, Charitini.com has annoyingly pointed to something called Accel Studios. The dude from Accel had no idea what happened, and his claim that he did not hack my wildly popular secondary tumblr was substantiated by the fact that his own website is itself defunct. My pal & helpmate Phil Bump fixed it for me. Something happened on Dec. 11th and either I was hacked or I clicked some weird link. In any case, going back over my browser history for Dec. 11th was harrowing. Do I really spend that much time on the Internet?!? Geesh.

Anyway, Ma, here is Charitini, for when you are bored of my Twitter.

#LAExodus (and my song) makes The Desert Sun, my parents’ winter...

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500

#LAExodus (and my song) makes The Desert Sun, my parents’ winter hometown paper. They are proud. You can just make out “Rachel Sklar of Los Angeles” in the 5th para. Yay factchecking! (Taken with instagram)

Um, something weird is going on with my tumblr.

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:53:01 -0500

So this is a test.

Validation: Being written about in your university magazine. My...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:34:16 -0500

Validation: Being written about in your university magazine. My time at U of T was such a petri dish of awesome.

"Imagine, if you will, a man who, as Speaker of the House, orchestrates the impeachment of a..."

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:32:12 -0500

“Imagine, if you will, a man who, as Speaker of the House, orchestrates the impeachment of a President for an adulterous affair with a White House aide twenty-six years his junior while he himself is conducting an adulterous affair with a congressional aide twenty-two years his junior, having earlier left the first of his three wives while she was hospitalized with cancer. Imagine a man who attributes these behaviors to “how passionately I felt about this country.” Imagine a man who, told he can’t sit in a front section of Air Force One, shuts down the government. Imagine a man who becomes the only House Speaker ever to be disciplined for ethics violations. Imagine a man who, in a country just staggering out of the worst recession of the past fifty years and facing the threat of worldwide economic collapse, proposes to hire small children to work as janitors, mopping floors and cleaning toilets in their schools (or their orphanages, perhaps). Imagine that man as Commander-in-Chief.”

- Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker. (via langer)

I want this read out loud at the top of every newscast in the country.