fortune--2020-09-06--Inside ‘Insta-Booking’: How couples are hiring wedding vendors via Instagram

Ed. note: This story was reported, written, and edited prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photographer Madison “Max” Pittman books at least one wedding a week using Instagram.
In fact, she used Instagram exclusively for the first nine months of her business, Max McQueen Photo, as she built out her website and established her online presence. Now that she does have a portfolio website, Pittman still finds Instagram to be the most lucrative tool. And increasingly, she says, her clients have grown up with the Internet. If they book everything from restaurant reservations to a date with an app, they expect to book a wedding photographer that way, too.
“People instantly know if they like my style and approach just by looking at my Instagram, and they know they can connect with me within a few seconds over direct messaging,” Pittman says of her Instagram profile, @maxmcqueenphoto. “I can send them links to my full galleries, photos, even posts by other vendors who I enjoy working with super easily.”
And she’s not alone. An overwhelming number of wedding professionals, from stationers and musicians to event planners, say that Instagram is the most important platform for their marketing. Gone are the days when couples would meet with wedding vendors in person to discuss details. Today’s couples are searching for, following, and even booking their wedding vendors via Instagram. Direct messages have become the new phone calls, and the feed is the new portfolio.
Pittman’s clients, Nick and Shannon, booked her via Instagram for their city hall nuptials. “All communication was over the app from the beginning,” she says. Max McQueen Photo
“The Instagram rabbit hole is a real thing, especially for engaged couples,” explains Marcy Blum, the event planner behind Marcy Blum Associates. “The platform is very visual. It’s very easy for a couple to see a wedding or design that resonates with them. Most couples will check out a planner’s Instagram before they are even interested in communicating with them.”
Blum is one of the top planners in the business and has more than 35 years of experience. She has more than 58,000 followers at @marcyblum. She’s embraced Instagram as a way to connect with millennial couples, many of whom are at the marriage stage, and showcase her brand, particularly her sense of humor.
“I write copy for everything,” Blum says of her posts, which a team helps plan and execute. “There are too many accounts that I follow, and the verbiage reads like a press release.”
Blum brings up an important perk of the platform versus other digital mediums: the ability to be authentic and personal. It’s the reason fellow event planner and designer Jove Meyer also aligns his company with Instagram—he goes as far to say that the social media brand powers his business. Jove Meyer Events (@jovemeyer) specializes in bold, modern celebrations and prioritizes collaborating with businesses run by women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Meyer says he doesn’t like to be put into a box and is attracted to clients who don’t either; Instagram’s free expression means they can easily find one another. He regularly receives direct messages inquiring about his services.
“Email feels so formal, text seems too personal, but Instagram is a fun way to chat about various subjects,” Meyer says, noting he will talk about non-wedding-related topics with current and prospective clients. “If we put ourselves out there, we have to be ready to be social and engage.”
Social contracts
Most wedding professionals—especially those who work with couples spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on their weddings—run their own business profiles. Brian Buonassissi, a destination event DJ who goes by DJ Brian B, says he “lives off Instagram” as part of his bookings. He gets four to five inquiries a week at @djbrianbofficial. “Connecting is a lot easier than many other platforms because this is both where the content creator and viewers are living,” he says. Part of his success is that he sticks to a formula for his posts and Instagram stories that reinforce he’s a “normal human not a huge corporation,” like some wedding entertainment companies. He appears daily to talk to his 11,500 followers on stories about his upcoming gigs, travel hiccups, and empowering fellow DJs. “My posting buckets are travel, music, and packed dance floors—that’s it,” Buonassissi adds.
Nearly 80% of wedding planning is done online, according to WeddingWire’s Newlywed Report, and wedding professionals often share, anecdotally, that couples want to hire vendors who feel like friends. Wendy El-Khoury, founder and director of Wedded Wonderland, an online wedding marketplace (@weddedwonderland), says couples look for emotional connections when booking wedding vendors. The fact that Instagram and direct messaging allow for immediate contact with the business owner and casual relationship building makes it the perfect place for the two entities to meet.
While a wedding caterer or florist is used to contracts and booking procedures, it’s likely the first time that a couple is hiring service professionals. Kaleigh Wiese, founder of event branding and stationery company Meldeen (@meldeenink), says the human component of Instagram puts millennial couples at ease when reaching out for something as anxiety-ridden and emotionally charged as wedding planning. Once they feel the vendor is less of a stranger, the couple is more easily swayed to a conversation over the phone to talk about how something unique can be created for them. Getting the couple to a phone call is important for final booking because so much of the wedding is tailored to a couple’s specific tastes, and emails are needed for sending official documents like contracts and invoices.
Each wedding professional has a system for converting the client from Instagram to a live conversation, but not until they feel a valid relationship after conversing online. Additionally, they all go over basics—including availability and style—via direct message. It’s vital, Meyer says, that pros do respond quickly; Instagram shows both parties in a conversation which messages have been seen.
There are other social media platforms that play a role in wedding marketing. Blum says that Facebook is best for her B2B relationships with other vendors, and Buonassissi uses YouTube to show videos of DJ sets and has a podcast about event music. Both Meyer and Pittman agree Pinterest has a huge sway with wedding decor and photography. And mobile payments are on the rise, says Wiese, who has seen a huge uptick in requests to pay by Venmo. “Many of our clients have never had a checkbook,” she explains. “They like that it’s instant; they keep a pool of money in their Venmo like a bank account.”
Wedding vendors who aren’t utilizing these platforms are slowly being left behind as the younger generation embraces social media as a way to find and book their weddings. Many sessions at wedding industry conferences and meet-ups include social media topics, and webinars and blogs abound with information on how vendors can better execute an Instagram strategy. For many, though, it’s simple: Just be themselves, and the couples will find them (with the help of hashtags). “Some industry peers don’t see it as a professional way of doing business,” El-Khoury says. “I say, it’s all about the context of communication, not mode. Millennials and Gen-Z will, without a doubt, continue using social media for decision-making and product purchases. This is how they connect with businesses.”
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fortune--2020-09-06--Couples spend thousands on a wedding photographer for that perfect shot

Trump ’ s ‘ wrong track ’ gambit : The president is betting that the worse Americans feel , the @ @ @ @ @ reelect him

Ed. note: This story was reported, written, and edited prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photographer Jose Villa regularly flies around the world to shoot couples’ wedding celebrations, whether it’s a castle in Tuscany, a ballroom in Malaysia, or a private estate in Napa Valley.
But he’s more than just a guy with a camera. He commands tens of thousands of dollars for his time and his talent, one so in demand that he shot Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas’ multi-day wedding in India, snapped Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber’s “I dos” in South Carolina, hopped in a hot air balloon above vineyards to capture a wedding guest excursion in wine country, and spent seven days covering a destination wedding in Thailand. One recent gig took place across three different locations, including a beach town in the south of France and New York City.
It may seem like a crazy cost for “the big day,” but the fact is that most wedding photography today is no longer shooting one eight-hour event at a single location. It includes everything from engagement photos and pre-wedding shoots to bridal luncheons, rehearsal dinners, portrait lounges, afterparties, and even honeymoons—then, of course, the editing of thousands of images. For luxury weddings that cost six figures—or more—there may be several days of events, and destination weddings often mean hopping on long-haul flights and posting up at five-star resorts. Villa even has a team of shooters that assist and photograph from multiple angles.
Clane Gessel specializes in fine art wedding photography. Clane Gessel Photography
For photographers, weddings have become a very lucrative business.
“It’s not a backyard game anymore,” explains photographer Shawn Connell. “The skill of the photographer matters. Ten years ago, it used to be business people in weddings. But now it’s brilliant talent at the top of their game, with creative gear and equipment, which are pushing the definition of how to record a celebration.”
Wedding photography is practically a given for most couples, with 89% hiring a photographer, according to WeddingWire’s 2020 Newlywed Report. By comparison, 87% hire a caterer and 70% hire a florist. It’s also one of the biggest line items in terms of cost. The average couple spends $28,000 on the wedding, with $2,400 on a photographer. Those numbers, though, don’t accurately reflect a large portion of clients on the higher end of the scale, say luxury wedding photographers, who charge anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 for their services. Their clients are often spending hundreds of thousands, or even millions, on their celebration.
It has pushed wedding photographers into an elite league of their own, each carving out what specialty sets them apart. For Villa, it’s shooting film in a land of digital, and for Connell, it’s style. He forgoes posed shots in favor of a photojournalistic approach to the wedding. “It’s about moving quickly to capture portraits as the couple is moving naturally or the events unfold,” Connell says.
For Philip Van Nostrand, it’s all about his personality connecting with his clients. “Just because a photographer shows a great photo on Instagram doesn’t mean they are a great person to work with,” he says. Or, they are known for special add-ons: Gurminder Banga now sells a branded “Banga Booth” portrait studio for weddings, and Clane Gessel will book a fine art shoot, setting off to a cenote in Mexico or beaches of Kauai to capture the perfect shot.
“Wedding photography has always been the pinnacle of social photography, and it’s evolution parallels society’s evolution,” Gessel says. “Millennials and Generation Z see the value in traditions, but they are seeking curated pieces of art rather than just doing it because it’s what’s always been done.”
Beyond weddings, photographers will travel with couples for engagement shoots and on the honeymoon—for a pretty price. Clane Gessel Photography
Part of that big shift in weddings is technology. Now that everyone has a camera in his or her pocket means that couples don’t want wedding images that a guest could take on an iPhone. If a couple is paying for a photographer, they want to see that value in the creativity, skill, and service. This hasn’t hurt photography, say photographers, who actually believe that social media has pushed them to think beyond the old school mentality. “Apps like Instagram and Pinterest have taught us what one great image at a wedding can be,” Gessel says, noting that as couples have learned to discern between a person with a camera and an artist, the demand for skilled wedding photography has skyrocketed.
One big request? His fine art shoots. Gessel, whose work has also graced the cover of National Geographic, began applying the same composition rules from his landscape photography to his wedding business. It’s so popular that couples carve out time in the itinerary to make a shoot happen, often with the help of drones. He shot a couple’s wedding in South Africa, only to meet them in Namibia the following week for a fine art shoot on their honeymoon.
Today’s wedding photographers command up to $50,000 per event. Clane Gessel Photography
Villa started out in photography before digital became a thing. He stuck with film through it all, and now finds that couples seek him out since he continues to shoot with his 25-year-old Contax 645. (That said, he sometimes has a use for digital and since launched namesake presets that give a film look to digital images that he sells online.) He has also adapted to the growing demands of his clients, whether they want to be subject of their own styled shoot or simply geek out on photography.
“These clients really, really love photography, and even do photography as a hobby,” Villa says. “They love film so we connect on that level.” Those clients, he said, are the ones who may also have the budget for elaborate photoshoots to document their love. One recent couple hired Villa and his team, along with a stylist, designer dresses, and herd of horses, to do a couples shoot in Camargue, France, then Paris, and on to New York. “They lived this beautiful fantasy,” he adds. “It’s becoming a lot more common.”
A wedding shoot in shoot in Camargue, France. Jose Villa
It’s not always serious photoshoots; sometimes, it’s for the guest experience. As photo booths gained popularity at receptions, Gurminder Banga stepped up that offering for his business, Banga Studios: he produces a model-esque shoot for every guest. Dubbed the Banga Booth, it’s an elaborate studio set with wind machines instead of kitschy props and a live photographer rather than a button. He calls the activation an “experiential portrait lounge,” and the photos do indeed look more glamorous than your standard booth. “It’s engaging and captivating,” Banga says. “Whether it’s a power stance or a hair flip, the idea is to capture beauty and confidence in the guest.” The Banga Booth costs around $6,000.
The requests keep growing. Van Nostrand is now being asked to photograph engagement parties, something he typically didn’t do in his previous eight years in the business. Villa has inquiries to shoot bridal luncheons, private gatherings for the wedding parties, and even facials at a spa leading up to a ceremony and reception. On Flytographer, a booking platform for local photographers around the world, you’ll find numerous profiles advertising honeymoon shoots.
“I used to shoot 60 weddings a year, be there for eight hours and you’re done,” Villa says. “Now these weddings are so over the top. We’re talking five, seven days, sometimes multiple cities. I can only focus on a good 15 [weddings].”
“It takes me a day or two to recover,” he adds with a laugh.
A happy couple crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, N.Y. Clane Gessel Photography
The job isn’t easy. To start, carrying around two or three cameras for 12-plus hours at once is physically strenuous. Villa explains that while he may pull long hours, the real work starts after the last wedding guest leaves. He spends 60 hours, on average, editing photos for a two or three-day event. Sometimes there’s an additional 20 or 30 hours just for retouching. It’s a part of the job that clients don’t think about when they hear the price.
That’s also why it takes a few weeks for most couples to get the full wedding album. If a couple wants the images earlier, they can pay a premium as the photographer needs to hire additional editors to turn it around so quickly. Some top wedding photographers, like Connell and Gessel, have included this small perk: a teaser set of images they send to the couple within the first 24 hours.
“We can shoot portraits all day, but don’t,” Gessel says. “You’re not so much defining a moment in time as you are defining a relationship. There’s an insane amount of talent out there, and I’m pleased to see the demand grow as couples become more educated about what wedding photography can be.”
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fortune--2020-09-06--Inside the lavish world of weddings in the United Arab Emirates

Ed. note: This story was reported, written, and edited prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When New York-based wedding planner and designer Preston Bailey was first asked to work on a wedding in the Middle East more than 20 years ago, he admits he was surprised. The royal client had seen his book in London and inquired.
Bailey, however, didn’t know much about working in that part of the world. Fast forward to the present and his company regularly puts on elaborate celebrations in the Middle East, frequently in the United Arab Emirates.
“These weddings are very special for the simple reason that most of my clients are exposed to extraordinary luxury and talent,” says Bailey. “They hire us [because] they’ll love to see a design that’s never been done before. They are amazingly creative, not only in decor, but art installations and technology taken to another level.”
Dubai is increasingly branding itself as a luxury wedding destination. Abdulaziz Alnoman
Weddings in the UAE are often lavish, even deemed over-the-top by western standards, and it’s a quickly growing segment of the luxury wedding industry. Budgets can range anywhere from $80,000 to $250,000, on average. The culture and guest count, though, play a big role: some local Emirati weddings bring in 1,500-plus guests and multi-day Indian destination weddings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi can command six figures or more. It’s this high-end clientele pool where wedding professionals see the opportunity; so much so that Engage Summits hosted a luxury wedding conference in Dubai in March 2020, bringing together 250 attendees from 31 countries to see what UAE weddings are all about.
“It’s amazing to see how advanced the whole wedding event business has become in the Middle East,” says planner Colin Cowie, who has put events on in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar with his company Colin Cowie Lifestyle. “There is an incredible infrastructure that exists where they can do anything, build anything, and hire anyone. They want the cache; they are very brand-conscious and class-conscious.”
The key is transformation: converting a basic room, such as a hotel ballroom or an industrial structure, into a dream land. It’s full of over-the-top amenities such as millions of imported flowers for massive installations, dinner with fine-dining chefs, elaborate dessert setups, and themed bars for everything from designer perfume to cheese from around the world. It may all live in a temporary structure built specifically for the wedding. Sometimes there are additional structures just to house the materials, like air-conditioned warehouses for boxes of botanicals. For Bailey, he’s crafted ceilings featuring millions of hanging crystals and entire floors made of fresh flowers.
Zainab Alsalih, founder and director of Carousel Weddings and Events in Dubai. Daniella Baptista
“The size of these weddings makes it difficult to do weddings in outdoor spaces, so we are often asked to recreate outdoor themes indoors, such as a garden or Italian meadow,” says Zainab Alsalih, founder and creative director of Dubai-based Carousel Weddings and Events. She notes that noise restrictions, weather, and privacy concerns also impact the decision to largely host Middle Eastern weddings inside. “We have had weddings with 500 living orange trees to recreate a Sevillian orange grove and custom chandeliers with flying crystal birds,” Alsalih says.
It’s not an easy task. Alsalih has booked venues weeks in advance for build-outs of massive installations, including theater-like stages for the bride and groom to sit. There may be another stage for a surprise performer or live musicians. Food is an important element, so fantastic culinary displays are expected as are floral arrangements, with couples spending upward of $500,000 on florals alone to be flown in from Africa or Holland. It all boils down to the idea of personalization. Each and every wedding has to be truly unique and personal in the tight-knit community that is the UAE.
A reflective catwalk centers the ballroom in this wedding reception designed by Abdulaziz Alnoman. Abdulaziz Alnoman
Wedding designer Abdulaziz Alnoman explains that it’s important to go above and beyond expectations, and the market of vendors has followed suit. It used to be that flower shops handled arrangements for weddings organized by a family member; now it’s a team of creative designers like himself. “Designers are now providing as many services as possible to create a complete aesthetic,” says Alnoman, who works throughout the Middle East from a home base of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. “Weddings feature specific materials chosen according to a client’s particular theme and taste.”
“Most of the time there is no actual ceremony; it’s just a big party,” explains Dubai-based photographer Daniella Baptista. She’s captured weddings in the UAE for a decade and says no two have been the same. Baptista literally, not figuratively, entered through the rabbit hole for an Alice in Wonderland-themed event and documented the first wedding ever at the Dubai Opera, which included an all-female orchestra. And Baptista has photographed weddings from various religious and cultural backgrounds, including Christian, Hindu, Chinese, and Muslim.
One challenge is that many local weddings must think creatively about the segregation of men and women. Middle Eastern weddings vary based on how conservative the family may be. Traditionally, women and men are separated for the party, with men having a small gathering with the groom and women celebrating with an over-the-top reception filled with performances, chocolate tastings, and designer outfits. The ballrooms may be side-by-side, but the two groups won’t see one another. That’s changing, says Alsalih, as some couples are opting for mixed gender receptions. The couple may even enter in a grand procession with musicians and dancers; she noted that it’s trendy to have a song composed using the couple’s names. In either case, it’s a community affair and that means average wedding sizes are much higher than in the U.S. or other western countries. It’s not uncommon to have a guest list exceed 1,000 people.
Hospitality is integral to weddings. Every event includes hostesses who offer guests sweet treats and tea, help guests to lounges, and generally provide a smiling face. Planner Bibi Hayat explained that there is “every type of bar except the traditional one.” Chai, coffee, chocolate, cheese, and perfume are common. (Most of these weddings do not include alcohol.) Bathrooms turn into glam zones and desserts can feature the best licorice in the world or even a branded Ladurèe macaron station. It extends to the guest experience outside of the reception. Alsalih’s couples have booked yacht cruises, desert safaris, and even takeovers of luxury hotel spas for their friends and family.
Laying down new ballroom carpet, decor installations that take weeks to build, private transfers via helicopter—these are just a few of the many amenities booked into Emirati weddings. Abdulaziz Alnoman
The destination wedding business is growing, too. Vandana Mohan, founder of The Wedding Design Company in New Delhi, India, says that the UAE has become a major market for Indian weddings thanks to its proximity to the country and great range of hotels and resorts; there is always one to fit the budget. Indian weddings are also known to have large guest lists and the massive properties can easily accommodate the group. Beyond that, though, the UAE is home to many Indians who live and work among the ex-pat community. Indians feel comfortable there, and, she adds, it’s easy to find Indian food for the celebration. Plus, the visa process is seamless.
Cowie shared that some of the UAE’s luxury weddings are not that different from other high-end weddings in other parts of the world in terms of services, but it’s the scale that’s actually mind blowing—and sets them apart. His most recent event in the Middle East had 4,500 guests and plenty of custom decor elements. “The scale of creating that type of luxury for four and half thousand people turns weddings into a million-dollar event,” he says, noting it’s sometimes more. “The level of quality and service is far more sophisticated, far chicer, and far more elegant than what we’re doing in the west. They want the very best, and they’re willing to pay for it.”
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fortune--2020-09-06--‘Don’t wait to be perfect:’ 4 top startup tips from a unicorn’s founder and investor

It’s not the easiest time to be a female CEO, says Aileen Lee.
The longtime venture capitalist—who is also known for coining the term “unicorn” for private companies valued at $1 billion or more—says that the stressful moment we’re all living in has led people to be more critical of female and young CEOs than they would be otherwise.
“You’ve just got to be super careful about everything you do because people are just looking to throw stones at every female CEO out there,” says Lee, who is the founder of venture capital firm Cowboy Ventures.
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It’s one of the many matters she hopes she can help Guild Education co-founder and CEO Rachel Carlson navigate. Lee was an early investor in the education technology startup that hit unicorn status last year. The two spoke last week as part of Fortune Most Powerful Women’s “Paying It Forward” virtual series.
Guild works with companies to offer tuition reimbursement, online programs, and degrees to their employees. And Carlson says that one of her challenges right now is being a mission-driven company amid the pandemic. “Our employees expect more out of us, and that’s okay” she said, “but in this chapter it’s been really, really hard to acknowledge when we can’t do as much as we had hoped.”
Carlson gave the example of childcare. Guild is building a daycare center, but it can’t open due to COVID-19. “At the end of the day there’s only so many things I can do to step into the homes of our employees,” she says.
During the session, Carlson and Lee offered up some tips to startup founders.
Don’t wait to be perfect
Carlson says that she knew a lot about Lee before the two met—she’d heard her speak in one of her Stanford business school classes, and she had a classmate who worked for her. But Lee was the last person Carlson talked to in the entire fundraising cycle because she wanted to make sure she’d perfected her pitch before she connected with the people she admired most. “I’ve slowly gotten better at that,” she says.
Lee notes that despite what’s going on in the broader economy, it’s a “total bull market all the time” in tech-related business. “Investors are more open than ever to basically see you early and give you feedback,” she says, adding that startups may get offers sooner than they expect because people are “quite preemptive nowadays.” Don’t wait until your idea or pitch deck is perfect, she says, before meeting with a small handful of people.
Look for advisors, not just investors
Carlson says she’s learned that building relationships can be powerful, but that doesn’t mean relationships with 100 investors. Get to know a few people well—not because you want them to invest in your next round but because they can help you look around the next corner.
Build a board that meets your needs
Carlson says early on, whenever Lee or Michael Dearing, one of her professors at Stanford, would give her a piece of advice, she felt like it was the gospel. She would go home and tell her now-husband about it and lay awake at night thinking about it.
At one point, she decided that she should move the business to her hometown of Denver, where she knew she wanted to raise her family. But Dearing told her, “That’s like leaving Italy in the Renaissance. You’re in San Francisco for a reason.” She went home told her husband, “Okay, we can’t move to Denver.” She says she’s learned how to bring board members the right topics but not with “0% conviction or 100% conviction,” and identify where she wants their help refining her thought process. (She did, in fact, move to Denver.)
Lee says that boards are essential in helping articulate the key risks to the business and in identifying areas where the business should accelerate. The big question to ask is, “What are the skill sets you need to have around the table,” she says. As the company scales, you want to change who’s on the board to meet your new needs. “A shared value system and a level of trust is really important because it’s easy to get sideways,” she says.
Find investors and customers who fit your mission
Carlson says that she was always transparent with every investor that Guild was going to be a B-corp, which balance purpose and profit. The company is now pursuing becoming a public benefit corporation, which has a legal framework that holds a company accountable for its bottom line from profit and social impact perspective. “It sets a bar for us,” Carlson says. “It’s really helped lay the table stakes of what we believe in and care about.”
A year and a half ago, Carlson says Guild was in conversation with a pizza chain, when its CEO said some racist things. Guild didn’t want to deny frontline pizza delivery staff the chance to participate in the program, but also didn’t want to be “band-aid tied to simply helping them repair their brand,” Carlson says. Guild ended up walking because the chain didn’t have the budget. “These are tough conversations you have to have internally,” she says.
Lee says that in tech in particular, there are lots of challenges around gender and inclusion of underrepresented groups. She says Cowboy Ventures will have a conversation with a potential portfolio company, and say, “Tech has a bad reputation for a good reason.” If they partner up, “we’re partnering to build a modern company that has an inclusive culture and goes out of its way to hire and take chances on people and build a diverse team. You have to be down for that.”


fortune--2020-09-07--3 things investors need to watch in the week ahead

Airbnb CEO : The pandemic will force us to see more of the world , not less

Last week was certainly a roller coaster for investors—from the S&P 500 reaching all-time highs, to two major tech stock splits, and a market correction to top it all off.
But while investors may be relaxing poolside for the Labor Day holiday, strategists argue there are a few key things that should be top of mind for the week ahead.
Election mode begins
Historically, analysts say the day after Labor Day isn’t just for recovering from your long weekend: it’s officially the start of election season, and markets are likely going to be keyed in even more to what’s happening in Washington.
“While this is a year unlike any other, often we regard Labor Day as the start of the homestretch of the presidential campaign season,” notes Bankrate.com’s senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick. “I think there’s a legitimate ongoing debate about whether the market is potentially anticipating a Biden victory or a Trump victory,” he tells Fortune.
Currently, most national polls put Biden ahead, but Hamrick points out that investors “have to take into account the standing of the polls has been known and well-understood for some time, but we also understand that wasn’t terribly instructive in 2016.” And while some analysts have argued a Biden presidency wouldn’t be a deathknell for markets, Wells Fargo Investment Institute’s senior global market strategist Sameer Samana suggests it would increase “the level of uncertainty.” Trump is a “known known for markets,” he tells Fortune.
But for investors looking to trade on the election, Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, has a word of caution: “The economy drives what the policy priorities are, so I think it would be treacherous to try to pregame this to any significant degree.”
Analysts are already projecting an especially volatile patch in the event of a contested result. In that sense, Samana suggests “in many ways the market probably hasn’t started to discount just the level of uncertainty.”
Stimulus progress?
Senate Republicans are set to vote on their own legislation this week for another round of stimulus amid a stalemate on Capitol Hill over what the next package should look like. The bill is expected to be around $500 billion and will likely include more enhanced unemployment benefits, more Paycheck Protection Program loans, and funding for a vaccine, testing, and schools.
That $500 billion, though, is still a far cry from the Democrat’s recent proposal of $2.2 trillion, and strategists say stimulus is very much on the brain for markets.
If a deal is made soon, Hamrick believes “the market could get a short term lift from any positive development with respect to relief, because what we’re really talking about is applying some much-needed first aid to the economy,” he notes.
But the problem may be that markets are banking too heavily on a deal getting done at all. With the current stalemate in Congress, “I don’t think not getting [another stimulus package] is priced in,” argues Sonders. “I believe there’s more downside risk if we don’t get something than there is upside possibility from these levels if we do.”
An inflation snapshot
The Fed has made it clear with its new policy to keep inflation around 2% that low rates aren’t going anywhere—a boon for investors in equities, which analysts have long called the only place to find yield in this environment. That’s why those like Sonders think the inflation numbers shown in the Producer Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) (which track the average change in the price paid for consumer and producer goods and services over time) released Thursday and Friday, respectively, should be “pretty interesting both long term and near term.”
In the short term, Sonders notes that the PPI can give investors an idea of whether the manufacturing side of the economy is picking up steam (she says it appears to be), while the CPI should give insight into how prices are popping higher following the shutdowns. But the longer term issue that might mean “more inflation than people are expecting is I think we are shifting from what I think has been a purely monetary policy regime … [to] the onus [being] now on the fiscal side,” says Sonders. And “historically, fiscal policy dominance has meant much more inflation.”
While those long term implications remain to be seen, last month, the PPI jumped 0.6% in July while the CPI also rose 0.6%. Although “one inflation read isn’t going to change the Fed’s mind, … if inflation data were to start to heat up, … that could be really interesting because in some ways … the Fed [will] at least have to explain what their thinking is if inflation were to tick back up,” notes Samana.


fortune--2020-09-07--Airbnb CEO: The pandemic will force us to see more of the world, not less

A second lockdown proposed by Trump would get more support from Americans than one proposed by Biden

In the first month of the pandemic, Airbnb faced a loss of $1 billion due to canceled bookings, leading CEO Brian Chesky to declare: “Travel as we knew it is over.”
Getting on an airplane, he postulated, was not something consumers would be ready to do for a long time, leaving travel plans to be dictated more by safety precautions than whimsy. Fast-forward a few months, and his outlook hasn’t fundamentally changed. But what once sounded like a cataclysmic doomsday prediction has given way to a more nuanced view of how travel is evolving—not dying.
“Some things will return and some won’t,” says Chesky, forecasting what travel maylook like on the other side of Covid-19. “It one day will be stronger than it ever has been. But when it comes back, full force, it’s going to look different.” Among the things that’ll be missing, he predicts: overtourism, business travel, and, to a lesser extent, loyalty programs.
Chesky also sees the rise of new and more varied destinations to visit, including—yes—resilient cities.
The comments come at a critical time for Chesky and his company. Airbnb has wrapped up its summer with an unlikely comeback story, having U-turned from a 90% drop in bookings and reporting $400 million in adjusted second quarter losses to notching a 22% year-over-year increase in consumer spending in July and filing for its long-awaited initial public offering. “On July 8, we had guests book more than 1 million nights worth of future stays in Airbnb listings,” Chesky tells Bloomberg Pursuits. “It was the first time in four months—since March 3—that we hit that threshold.” (The number is similar to an average day’s sales in the first 90 days of 2019, during which Airbnb booked 91 million room nights.)
This doesn’t mean that Airbnb is out of the woods. Company-provided data show that while travelers are booking almost twice as many remote stays as last year, home rentals in urban markets—Airbnb’s bread and butter—are still struggling. For Labor Day, high-density destinations are making up just 20% of the site’s bookings, down from 40% last year.
Other statistics released by the company as part of a fall trends report indicate that long-term rentals are still in demand, even as summer breaks wane—and that spontaneous stays, planned just a few days before departure, are on the rise—no surprise, given the unpredictability of travel restrictions across the world.
But Chesky has a lot to say about the future of travel that can’t be captured by sheer numbers. What we’re seeing, he says, “is a massive revolution” that’s “changing the face of travel forever. Some people are waiting for the world to get back to what it was. But change rolls forward—not backwards.”
A tale of two travel industries
Americans waiting for their passports to become relevant again may be comforted to hear that Chesky doesn’t see different pictures for European and American vacationers. While inter-regional travel has been greenlighted throughout the Schengen Area, cross-border trips still represent just 15% of Airbnb’s bookings.
That said, there’s still a tale of two travel industries. They’re defined less by border restrictions than by the potential for domestic tourism. Take the U.S., France, and the U.K. “They’re so vast, but they’re also popular destinations,” he explains. “So even though they lost cross-border traffic, they’re seeing booms in domestic travel.”
By contrast, Chesky points to parts of Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. These destinations, he says, “rely on people to fly there. You don’t have a huge demand of people who live in the Bahamas who also want to stay in a resort in the Bahamas.”
Germany is a further example: “They have a really strong economy, but Germans usually leave Germany when they travel, so they’re not doing as well as France, where there are a lot more destinations that locals have an interest in booking. At least that’s what the data spells out.”
Chesky says the same contrasts exist stateside, with Hawaii being particularly hard-hit and accessible Charleston, S.C., winning out.
All this suggests that tourism-reliant, fly-to destinations will need to diversify their economies in the short term to weather a protracted drought in visits, while overlooked spots near big cities will continue to experience success. But in the long term, everyone stands to win, Chesky argues. Spreading travelers to more destinations, rather than concentrating them into a few lucky resort spots, he says, “is more sustaining than people think,” in spite of our collective pre-Covid-19 proclivities.
The future of cities
“It used to be that the vast majority of people would travel just to a handful of cities—you know, the big, iconic, international capitals,” Chesky begins, referring to such selfie-stick-saturated tourism hubs as Amsterdam, New York, and Venice, Italy.
The well-documented phenomenon of overtourism, he says, has finally found its tipping point. Not only are these crowded destinations inaccessible to cross-border travelers, but they run counter to the what people now crave: nature, space, and room to breathe (without the threat of aerosolized droplets from a stranger less than six feet away).
“The genie is out of the bottle,” Chesky says. “People are now discovering small towns, small communities. They’re discovering national parks, falling in love with the outdoors, and realizing they can go to all sorts of other places. This is an irreversible trend.”
If 20 cities previously made up a majority of Airbnb’s business, none of them now captures more than 2% of the company’s bookings—and consumers are spreading out almost evenly to thousands of small and rural destinations instead. That spells opportunity for Airbnb, which features plenty of unique, rural home rentals on its platform—particularly in markets that don’t have enough density to be served by large hotels.
Some hotel brands are positioning to compete with Airbnb on that front. Take Getaway House, whose accommodations outside 13 major cities are more like secluded cabins, or Loge Camps, an outdoorsy brand that renovates motels near naturally pristine settings.
So where does that leave cities?
“Definitely, this is not the death of cities,” Chesky asserts. But the short term does involve a steep climb.“Here’s what’s going to happen: People will migrate away for the coming years, and then prices will go down. Then, a new generation will discover cities as more livable and more affordable, and it will probably lead to a renaissance.” How long will that take? Chesky says three to five years—or more. “The bigger the city, the longer I think it will take to recover.”
Looking in a crystal ball
In the long term, Chesky sees trouble for one sector in particular: business travel. This comes at no small cost to Airbnb, which has for years marketed itself to corporate travelers and companies as a convenient, money-saving solution.
“Even when the world gets the pandemic under control, business travel won’t come back the same way,” he states, adding that people will simply have fewer reasons to get on a plane when remote work has facilitated so much collaboration from afar. That’s a problem for the industry: Business travel has typically represented the lion’s share of profits for airlines and hotels. It’s also one for Airbnb, though to a lesser extent. If companies aren’t paying for trips, consumers won’t be racking up points as they used to, says Chesky—“so that whole [loyalty] game is kind of changing, too.”
And what of Airbnb’s motto, that its purpose is to “foster human connections”? Chesky believes it will continue to be relevant in a post-pandemic world, even one in which social distancing pervades. “When the crisis hit, and we lost 80% of our business in eight weeks, you know, it was really really important that we have clarity of what we’re going to focus our energy on. And what we decided to do was get back to our roots, to get back to basics, back to human connection.”
Right now, that doesn’t mean hanging out with your host, Chesky admits. “The kinds of connections we’re seeing are people using Airbnb to reconnect with those they already know and love,” he explains, pointing to family getaways and reunions with friends around a large kitchen table.
“We are at—possibly—the loneliest time in human history,” Chesky declares. There may not be much he can do about it right now, or for the foreseeable future. Eventually, he says, “there will be a yearning to meet new people once again, and when it’s safe to do so, we’ll be there at the ready.”


fortune--2020-09-07--Federal money for the $300 enhanced unemployment benefit is running out. Here’s what to know

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As of Friday, 45 states have been approved to send out $300 per week in federal funds on top of regular unemployment benefits.
But just as states like Minnesota and Iowa start to pay out the enhanced $300 weekly federal unemployment benefit, the funding is already about to run out. This week Arizona announced the $300 checks could stop as soon as next week.
Here’s everything jobless Americans should know before the program runs out of funding.
When will the funding run out?
Once it became clear Congress wouldn’t reach a deal to replace the $600 enhanced benefit—which expired the week ending July 25—President Donald Trump signed a memorandum last month to provide the $300 enhanced unemployment benefit.
And that $44 billion allocated by Trump for the enhanced unemployment benefit, which comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is expected to run out soon.
The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget had expected the $44 billion to run only through Aug. 29. The money has made it past that week; however, states like Arizona are preparing for it to dry up as soon as the week ending Sept. 12.
FEMA has yet to announce when the funds will run out. And it’s unclear if Trump can bypass Congress again to add additional funding.
Approved states are guaranteed at least three weeks’ worth of funding for the $300 benefit, according to FEMA.
I haven’t gotten $300 check yet. Will it get back paid?
The White House has made it clear the enhanced $300 weekly benefit will be paid retroactive to the week ending Aug. 1. And approved states are in the process of retroactively paying these benefits back to the week ending Aug. 1. Some states have already done so.
Who is eligible for the $300 weekly benefit?
Out-of-work Americans need to be on unemployment rolls in states approved for the benefit.
And the $300 weekly benefit is only going to jobless Americans who are already receiving at least $100 in state unemployment insurance compensation. That is a smaller pool of recipients than the $600 enhanced checks, which weren’t limited in this manner.
Is it possible to get $400 extra instead of $300?
Kentucky, Montana, Vermont, and West Virginia have announced they’ll throw in an additional $100 per week from their own coffers, raising the enhanced benefit to $400 per week. Once approved, Kansas plans to do the same.
Will Congress provide more funding for enhanced unemployment benefits?
Both Democratic and Republican leaders support extending some form of enhanced unemployment benefits in the next stimulus package. The problem? The two sides are in disagreement about other items in the bill and its total price tag.
And Democratic and Republican leaders haven’t negotiated since Aug. 27.
The consensus on Capitol Hill is nothing will get signed before the end of September—when U.S. lawmakers are required to approve more federal funding to stave off a government shutdown.
Are states still getting approved for the $300 benefit?
This week Delaware, Illinois, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and North Dakota got approval to send out the $300 per week enhanced unemployment benefit. That brings the list of approved states to 45.
Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, and New Jersey are all in the process of getting approved.
However, South Dakota has turned down the $300 federal benefit, citing a strong economic rebound and no need for the additional aid.


fortune--2020-09-07--How this year’s 40 Under 40 are surviving the pandemic

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Like everyone worldwide, this year’s Fortune 40 Under 40 have faced the challenge of dealing with a pandemic that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and has resulted in millions more quarantined and working from home. But it’s through adversity that true leaders emerge.
Fortune asked the 2020 honorees how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted their lives and work.
Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.
On adapting to a work-from-home-at-all-times life…
Adelina Grozdanova, 36
Cofounder and head of investor group, Upgrade
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom! I used to think that to close business, we always have to fly and see clients in person. I learned that virtual meetings can be equally successful (and save time)!
I also learned that it’s important to remain engaged with business partners through challenging times. Never presuppose what business partners are thinking, but reach out, stay in touch, and find out if you can be helpful to them. It is surprising how many opportunities come out of it.
Jamal Raad, 35
Cofounder and campaign director, Evergreen Action
I sometimes take calls from my bed, and my dog attends more of my meetings than he used to. I’ve learned that everyone is struggling in their own way through this. Try to be patient. Try to be kind. Try to be generous. We are all humans trying to survive a pandemic in our own ways.
On setting boundaries between life and work…
Ambar Bhattacharyya, 37
Managing director, Maverick Ventures
Before the pandemic, work had pretty defined boundaries. Either you were working or you were not. However, in this pandemic, we no longer have those boundaries. Everyone I meet is bringing more of their personal life into the work setting. I’m seeing—and giving—glimpses of spouses, kids, pets—or the lack thereof. Many people have been directly impacted by COVID-19. So many people are in really hard situations.
This has been a profound change for me in terms of empathizing with others. Beyond acknowledging everyone’s personal situation, it has required me to embrace that there are many moments over the course of a day where work comes second, and personal situations come first. And I’ve certainly been on both ends of that, and I have seen others accept these realities too. I hope this drive towards human empathy continues well beyond this moment in time.
Keia Cole, 39
Head of digital experience, MassMutual
As a team, we need to be more innovative to manage shifting priorities, adjust to the new external environment, and accelerate the delivery of certain products and features.
When the pace quickened, I was terrible about setting boundaries between my work and home lives. I worked as soon as I was ready in the morning and often until it was time for dinner at night. I was missing my time spent in transit—the subway commute and travel to our other offices—when I would catch up on personal email, interesting articles, or just unplug. I now build in the equivalent of my previous commute time during my day, whether that is meditating or catching up on television during the morning, or ending the day for a scheduled Peloton ride with my colleagues.
Elizabeth Hamon Reid, 39
VP engineering, Google Geo
The biggest change that I’ve made as a result of the pandemic is that I have to be more intentional in a number of areas. Lines between work and family blur unless I set stronger boundaries. I don’t have the same implicit sense of how my team and colleagues are doing, so I need to be more proactive to check in. The challenge of prioritization doubled or tripled, so I try to be more deliberate about where I’m spending time.
On improvising when the old ways of work aren’t coming back…
Lucas Joppa, 38
Chief environmental officer, Microsoft
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love whiteboard sessions, drawing out new ideas, strategies, and even budgets.
In the time of COVID-19, that in-person ideation time is gone, and it is difficult but not impossible to replicate. Doing this successfully requires formally scheduling what used to be impromptu planning sessions and using new collaboration tools. Where whiteboards used to draw the team together, we now use white space—unstructured time together to see a problem from all angles. This white space is an often forgotten workplace element in the new, hyper-calendared world.
Julia Cheek, 36
Founder and CEO, Everlywell
I have learned that some “ways work was done” aren’t necessary. Two of the executives I’ve hired since March, I’ve still never met in person. Moving forward, we’ll be flexible on how work gets done and how we can think differently about virtual and in-person time. And of course, I’ve gotten to see a lot of milestones with my son that I would have missed otherwise! So that’s the silver lining for me.
On paying attention to one’s mental health…
André Blackman, 38
Founder and CEO, Onboard Health
A big lesson during this time has been how vital it is to take time to invest in your mental health—whether through meditation, quiet alone time, or a walk in the woods—not only because of the events of this year but because of how much it improves your focus, happiness, and ability to thrive despite hardships.
David Rogier, 37
Cofounder and CEO, MasterClass
You mean besides sweatpants? Kidding. I was always taught to separate emotions from work. During this pandemic, that’s impossible. Emotions are too front and center. Instead of pushing them aside, I bring them up and ask others to do the same. We talk about our feelings in executive meetings—after all, this pandemic has impacted everyone, and we’re all being tested in new ways. Not only that, but I believe developing emotional intelligence among leadership in the workplace better serves both employees and your business as a whole.
On working with others during times of crisis…
Rebecca Mann, 39
Global head of enterprise partnerships commercial development, Western Union
I feel that I better understand how much we need each other. None of us were ever meant to go through life alone, especially a trying time such as this one. I’m not sure any of us knew just how much we relied on human connection and personal interaction until we began a global quarantine. Fortunately, with technology, we’ve been able to close the gaps in many ways we never thought possible, but I for one will never again take my own need for connecting with other people for granted.
Stacy-Marie Ishmael, 36
Editorial director, the Texas Tribune
I have had lots of experience both managing and being a part of distributed teams operating on demanding timelines to manage complex work. I have no experience in surviving a pandemic. What’s changed is that I am even more acutely aware of just how important it is to make accommodations for people before they need to ask for them, and that no one can both do good work and be in video calls for 8-plus hours a day.
On ensuring that no one gets left behind and civil liberties are preserved…
Charlotte Clymer, 33
Writer, LGBTQ advocate, and consultant
It’s made me rethink how labor structures are formed and enabled and what kind of responsibility I have in them. Wherever we are in our professional lives, we have an obligation to ensure that no one gets left behind, and what’s quite clear is that America has been leaving behind a lot of people and most of them are women, people of color, and those living on a minimum wage. This pandemic presents an incredible opportunity to restructure the way we do business in this country. We can become an equitable and ethical culture in how we think about labor.
Carmela Troncoso, 37
Assistant professor, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
For me the pandemic changed everything. By a series of coincidences, I ended up working on a contact-tracing app for COVID-19. This changed my goals as I had to leave almost all my professor roles to become the technical lead of an app development to create an alternative technology that could be adopted by governments in few months so as to avoid the creation of surveillance infrastructures.
What I learned is that with a good team a lot of things can be achieved. Organization and communication can get support from society, and that can change everything, including what governments plan to deploy.
Jose Antonio Vargas, 39
Founder, Define American
As an undocumented entrepreneur, I’m used to physical limitations that lead to mental and emotional blocks. I haven’t left America since arriving here in 1993; if I leave, there’s no guarantee I’d be allowed back. I haven’t traveled outside of the U.S. for 27 years; I see the world online and experience other countries through movies, television, books, etc. Because I am here illegally, there are certain things I cannot do, forcing me to always think outside the box and figure out how to open windows when doors are shut. I always have to adapt. In some ways, my undocumented condition prepared me for the limitations of pandemic life. I’ve learned and valued my resilience even more.
On what really matters…
Max Cutler, 29
Managing director, Parcast at Spotify
From a personal perspective, the pandemic has forced me to slow down and reflect on what truly matters in both my work and personal life. I’ve had to become more comfortable with saying no to projects and activities I don’t want to do. Life is short, we should do what we love. I also discovered I am not as good of a cook as I thought I was.


fortune--2020-09-07--How this Black woman tech CEO learned to be ‘unapologetically ambitious’

Shellye Archambeau has spent her career breaking tech’s gender and racial barriers for Black women.
After climbing the ranks at IBM in the ’80s and ’90s and becoming president of Blockbuster.com, she took over an enterprise software company now known as MetricStream and ran it for 15 years—in the process becoming one of the first (and still very few) Black women to be CEO of a Silicon Valley tech company. After stepping down as MetricStream CEO in early 2018, Archambeau embarked on what she calls her “phase two.” She’s now serving on the boards of Verizon, Nordstrom, Okta, and Roper Technologies, where she’s involved in directing those companies’ responses to the coronavirus pandemic and the sweeping national reckoning over racism.
She’s cautiously optimistic—“for the first time”—about the country’s changing attitudes toward the latter, in part because “we are actually talking about race,” Archambeau tells Fortune. “It used to be so taboo that race wasn’t even one of the things that people always said you can’t talk about in polite company!…So the fact that we are actually talking about it everywhere—I see that as different.”
Archambeau has also written a new book, due out next month, called Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers and Create Success on Your Own Terms (HBG Grand Central). Part memoir and part guide for other women and people of color trying to navigate corporate America, Archambeau’s book is matter of fact about some of the institutional biases she faced in her ambition to become a CEO, and the career pivots and family sacrifices she made along the way to achieve that goal. It’s also a remarkable tribute to her husband, Scotty, who retired early in their marriage to take care of their two young children, and who died of cancer last year.
During a recent phone conversation from her home in Silicon Valley, where she relocated after spending the first few months of the pandemic with her daughter’s family in Florida, Archambeau discussed how the Fortune 500 companies she’s directing are responding to social injustice, her outlook on the tech industry’s diversity track record, and what it means for Black women to be unapologetically ambitious. The following Q&A has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Fortune: When you picked the title of your book, did you know that “too ambitious” was going to be a phrase in the news around Kamala Harris?
Archambeau: Isn’t that funny? No, I had no idea. As matter of fact, I had the entire book written, and I was still working on the title. I wanted “ambition” in the title, I knew that. Because especially for women and people of color, if we’re told we’re ambitious, it’s a negative, not a positive. And then “unapologetic”— I think women are raised from birth to apologize. We apologize to smooth feathers, to bring attention, to show empathy. And we need to stop doing it. Because the other half of the population, they don’t get it—they keep hearing us apologize, and then they figure that it’s all our fault, whatever it is. Everybody should be ambitious, and you don’t have to apologize for it.
Given your lived experience, and your focus on helping other women and people of color achieve their aspirations in corporate America, what sort of impact are you seeing from the protests against systemic racism and police brutality?
There are definitely increasing opportunities for African-Americans in general, as companies look around and say, “Oh, okay, you’re right. We don’t have…or we do need more …” et cetera. I do believe that in general, it is creating opportunities, which is a good thing. The work that comes, and it’s not work that I begrudge at all, is mainly as companies and individuals are processing, frankly, a lot of new information and perspectives that they just didn’t necessarily have before.
Some Black women and men I’ve spoken with recently have raised some skepticism about whether or not we’re going to see all of this conversation and awareness around racism actually translate into action and change. Do you share that skepticism, or do you see businesses taking action to make sure that this isn’t just talk that goes nowhere?
I’m cautiously hopeful. For the first time, actually. Here’s what’s different: This time, the protests and the awareness and the people speaking out on these subjects—the people reflect the country. There is diversity. During the civil rights movement, yes, we had supporters, but it was really being led completely by African-Americans. And now you do have protests or events held to raise awareness in communities where there’s very few African-Americans engaged, because they don’t live there. So it’s wonderful to see America reflected in the outrage and the concerns, and that is different.
The second thing that’s different this time, is that we are actually talking about race. It used to be so taboo that race wasn’t even one of the things that people always said you can’t talk about in polite company! Religion or politics [or money or sex], right? We never put race in that category. That’s how below the radar it was—we didn’t even mention the fact that we couldn’t talk about it! So the fact that we are actually talking about it everywhere, I see that as different.
The third thing that’s different is during the civil rights movement, businesses sat on the sidelines. They expected the government to solve this. And this time, businesses appear to be engaging in it. They’ve at least taken the first step in terms of having conversations about this. None of that was happening back in the ’60s. So those three elements are what gives me hope.
What makes me cautious is, this is not a quick fix. It took us hundreds of years to get to this point. Hopefully it will not take us hundreds of years to get out of it, but it’s going to take years. I’m concerned that people will get tired and move on to the next topic of the day. And this is hard. Some of the institutionalized racism has been built in for so long that you don’t even realize that it’s the foundation, because we’ve built everything on top of it. So making changes that are deep is hard.
On your boards, what is that conversation like in terms of concrete internal steps that your companies are taking to be in this for the long haul?
The first step is, they have an overall view and statement on what they believe and how they want to act. They’re in engaging with their community—and not just the Black [employees], because everybody needs to be in the conversation. Right now everyone’s at the phase of building out the actions they’re taking, and are going to take. With a few of my companies, we’ve actually rolled it in with ESG. So we’re getting regular reports on what we are doing and [figuring out] how are we going to measure progress. I do believe it’s important that the tone starts at the top. Boards should absolutely be asking their companies, What are they doing? What are their plans going forward? How are they going to measure and evaluate whether what we’re doing is effective or not effective? Just like you would for any other significant initiative or program within the business.
Has the tone of the conversation changed? Has everyone always agreed that racial diversity, and gender diversity for that matter, is this important? Or do you feel like some of your fellow directors are more open to the conversation now?
It’s absolutely changed, frankly because we didn’t talk about racism. Very few people outside of the Black community actually had any real understanding of what it was like to live being Black, or to work being Black. And I don’t fault them for that. Companies and most individuals, they didn’t tolerate [more] overt racism. But this notion of all the different microaggressions that can occur, or just the lived experience [of being Black]—that they didn’t understand.
And now we’re talking about it. Awareness is absolutely the first step, and it’s hard to fault people for not fixing things they weren’t really aware of. But now companies and people are seeing it. So now if we don’t make changes, what that actually means is that we know there’s a problem. We know there’s a class of our population that are being treated as less than citizens, and less than people. And we’re okay with it. And, you know, God help us if that’s where we end up.
You spent 15 years running a company in the tech industry, which has very few CEOs who are women, especially women of color. Tech companies also have been criticized for hiring very few Black and Latinx employees. What’s your view of the tech industry these days and do you see it making needed changes?
I definitely see a number of tech companies that are proactively now trying to focus on this. This is one of those areas where it’s hard to say that anyone’s doing enough until you actually start to see the results. And I think it’s important to realize that we also need to be encouraging people. One of the things that frustrated me is that several years back, a number of companies in tech started publishing their diversity numbers, which I thought was a good step: “Hold us accountable, here are our numbers. This is our baseline.” And they got totally beat up for their numbers.
Now, they didn’t publish the numbers saying, “We’ve been working for 10 years on this, here’s our results.” What they said is, “This is now important. We’re going to start working on this.” So if we keep beating people up for actually being vulnerable, and working to get better, we’re encouraging people not to be transparent. We should definitely hold them accountable for progress now they’ve done it. But give them time. We also want to make sure that we are supporting the work that needs to be done to get to the outcomes.
In your book, I was so impressed with the early, pre-marriage conversation you had with your husband about, “This is what I want to do with my life and, in order to accomplish that, I don’t want to be the person at home taking care of the kids.” And then he eventually took early retirement to take care of your children and support your career, which still feels relatively unusual.
I’m a firm believer in being intentional. It just helps you improve the odds that you can actually make happen what you want. And don’t keep it a secret. Let the people around you, who live with you and who support you, know what you want. If you don’t tell them what you need, the universe can’t help you. We do that at work, right? We have to be doing that in our whole lives. It’s all about getting buy-in and support, making sure you have a common vision for what you’re trying to do together and achieve.
As you write in your book, as a teenager you set a goal of becoming a CEO—and achieved it by age 40. When did you decide it was time to step down as CEO and focus on your boards?
I had always planned for a phase two. I didn’t know when I would want to pull the cord, but I wanted to make sure I had the right skills and experience to be able to serve on boards, advise companies, do some writing and speaking, have more flexibility. But the reason I did it when I did, at the end of 2017, was because my husband had been fighting a terminal cancer.
We had agreed about seven or eight years prior, when we found out he had the cancer, that we were going to live life first and fight cancer second. There were times before 2017, one in particular where I didn’t know if he was going to make it. I mean, he was just on death’s door—he’d lost weight, he couldn’t walk, it was just awful. I said, “I think I need to step out.” And I’ll never forget him looking at me and just telling me, “If you step out, then what am I fighting for? We agreed that we’re living life first. And if you step out, it’s all about the cancer and I’m done.” … We had some really hard times. But we did live through it, and we built great memories.
We found out in 2017 that he was now in his final stage, and it was the right time for me to pass the baton and have more flexibility, so that we would have no regrets. My husband passed away last year. We had a terrific, terrific marriage. And as I told him all the way to the end, knowing everything I knew, I’d marry him all over again.


fortune--2020-09-07--Paris Hilton was the original influencer. Now a new documentary lets viewers see past the facade

Before there were influencers, there was Paris Hilton. The original reality television star was one of the first to build a public persona in the way so many people do online today.
In a new documentary, Hilton expresses some regret about “being stuck with a character.” “It would be an expensive divorce,” she says onscreen of the risks of abandoning the “rich, dumb blonde” act that made her famous.
The Hilton Hotels heiress, who defined early reality TV on The Simple Life and even, some say, invented the current iteration of the selfie, tells a deeper version of her life story in This Is Paris, a YouTube Originals documentary airing later this month. While Hilton now disavows some of the more negative comments she made to the film’s director Alexandra Dean—”I was at a different point in my life. I wasn’t really happy,” she tells Fortune of her earlier skepticism of her legacy. “Now I’m in a completely different place. I’m excited for the next phase in my brand.”—the movie’s message as a whole is one she is determined to spread far and wide.
The film chronicles Hilton’s life, including darker chapters that she hasn’t yet discussed during her two decades in the public eye. When she was a teenager, Hilton says, she spent 11 months at Provo Canyon School, a “behavior modification school,” where she says she suffered emotional and physical abuse. Hilton has joined other women who attended the school and similar establishments as teenagers in the #BreakingCodeSilence movement, an effort to reveal abuses at the institutions that make up what they call the “troubled teen industry.”
“My ultimate goal is to shut these places down,” Hilton says, adding that she believes it’s an aim that’s within reach. Provo Canyon School didn’t respond to a request for comment from Fortune, but has added a statement at the top of its website: “We are aware of a new documentary referencing Provo Canyon School. Please note that PCS was sold by its previous ownership in August 2000. We therefore cannot comment on the operations or patient experience prior to that time. We are committed to providing high-quality care to youth with special, and often complex, emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs.”
This period in Hilton’s life continues to shape who she is today; in the documentary, she frequently mentions how her ultimate goal is to earn $1 billion—a fixation she says is influenced by a need for control she developed after attending the institution as a teenager.
To reach that goal, Hilton is continuing her flagship ventures in the beauty and travel industries, launching her 27th fragrance in 17 years, creating her first makeup line, expanding her audience through TikTok—she “definitely [doesn’t] want it to be banned”—and adapting to a COVID-era lifestyle in which she no longer travels 250 days a year.
Hilton says that she’s been successful in these industries (even her own hotel properties abroad are doing well enough through the pandemic, serving as residential housing rather than destinations for short-term stays, she says) thanks to “having that relationship” with her fan base. “I’ve seen a lot of people come and go,” she says of celebrity forays into fragrance, the industry in which she’s seen the most success. “It’s a difficult business to sustain.
“You’re selling the dream, the lifestyle; that’s what it’s really about,” Hilton says of her own fragrance empire. With This Is Paris, the perfection of that dream may crack a little—but not entirely.
To other entrepreneurs, Hilton offers this advice: Build your brand—one you could be “stuck with” as she said onscreen—around something that matters to you. “It’s important to know everything you’re building online is going to be out there forever. It’s important that you delve into exactly what you’re passionate about.”


fortune--2020-09-07--Why the coronavirus pandemic has made 5G more essential than ever

While 2020 has introduced challenges no one expected, recent advances in emerging tech have enabled companies worldwide to quickly react and adapt in uncharted territory. Whether it involves switching to virtual meetings or managing companies remotely, we’ve seen a distinct change in the way we work, and simultaneously in consumer behavior.
Increased streaming and online shopping and less in-person socializing have led to consumers’ growing need for a reliable and quick way to virtually communicate on both a personal and professional level. In the U.S., it’s estimated that more than half of the current workforce is working remotely—and three in five U.S. workers who have been doing their jobs from home during the pandemic would prefer to continue doing so.
This shift in how consumers are working, socializing, and consuming products and services is forcing manufacturers to rethink how to solve one of today’s biggest consumer pain points: staying connected.
Prior to 2020, companies across the technology industry had been heavily investing in, researching, and developing the next generation of connectivity: 5G. This new technology will provide consumers with several benefits, including connection speeds that are as fast as fiber, more reliable connections, smoother streaming, and video calling with less buffering. (The first 5G-capable phone was introduced by Motorola a little more than a year ago, using the first commercial 5G chipsets from Qualcomm Technologies. Both companies stand to benefit from increased use of 5G products.)
But that’s the future. Where are we today?
Tech companies and industry players are taking part in the expansion of 5G on a global scale. A forecast from Ericsson suggests that 5G subscription uptake will be significantly faster than that of LTE (4G) in 2009, when the technology was first going mainstream. With 25% to 30% of consumers expected to continue to work remotely for multiple days a week by the end of 2021, the question becomes: How are we helping more consumers stay connected?
Mobile manufacturers can address current obstacles to 5G adoption by creating products that span various price points and enable users to connect to so-called sub-6 or mmWave 5G networks—which means they are connected to whatever flavor of 5G technology is available in their respective markets. While early 5G smartphones were offered with constricted spectrum compatibility and premium pricing, those launched in 2020 are reaching a wider consumer base.
However, broadened 5G devices and networks alone won’t solve the current consumer need to stay connected. The technology industry must develop other 5G applications that will impact the everyday consumer.
One way to accomplish that is by opening the doors to telemedicine at a global scale. By virtually assisting remote consultations and surgeries, 5G will help health providers offer remote access to the care that patients need, as well as alleviate some of the associated costs. The 5G network will also equip patients with monitoring tools that measure vital signs, medication adherence, and more, giving doctors a more accurate, real-time look at a patient’s information—and providing for a more personalized care experience.
5G can also help the consumer shopping experience become increasingly virtual. 5G will enable better virtual and augmented reality experiences. For example, shoppers will be able to try on clothing and choose furniture without ever touching the products or leaving their house.
Just as it took time for 4G to enable GPS tracking and real-time streaming, the full swath of 5G’s benefits is yet to be realized. While a lot of work still needs to be done, we’re confident that by the end of 2020, we’ll see 5G reaching more people in more places. Once it does, the opportunities that come from 5G will be global in scale.
Cristiano Amon is president of Qualcomm.
Sergio Buniac is president of Motorola.


fortune--2020-09-07--How nonprofits are catering to millennials and rethinking the charity gala for younger generations

Editor’s note: This story was reported, written, and edited prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Say “charity gala” and what immediately comes to mind are men in suits, women with pearls, and a stuffy hotel ballroom with a dance band. The stereotypical nonprofit fundraiser equates to old-fashioned and expensive, with a seat at a table costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars to swig Champagne with the barons of society. While it may have some romance, it’s not intriguing to your average millennial, who is poised to be the next generation of donors for hundreds of nonprofits.
Compare that to The Birthday Party Project, whose annual fundraising gala involves creative costumes: Dress as your favorite toy or a night at the movies—whatever the theme suggests. It still costs hundreds of dollars per person to attend, but it also still raises hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s an entirely new look at what kind of event will engage their community of supporters: millennials, who are looking for an experience to enhance their connection to a cause. And it’s representative of the distinct gap in the philanthropy world between the nonprofits that actively capture the attention of the younger demographic, and those struggling to do so.
“Millennials want to give to a nonprofit because they feel connected to it,” says Paige Chenault, founder of The Birthday Party Project, which throws birthday parties for homeless children at transitional living facilities. “It’s easy for nonprofits to fall into the trap of ‘That’s the way we’ve always done it’ and rely on a typical gala. But we’ve found that millennials want to feel like they are a part of something. We can maximize their ability to feel connected and empowered.”
Chenault explained that her annual event raises between $550,000 to $600,000, despite taking a nontraditional approach to the idea of a gala. Instead of a sit-down dinner, it’s cocktail-style. It’s not in a hotel ballroom but rather an offbeat event space such as a warehouse. There are interactive moments primed for Instagram, like a giant slide and ball pit for the toy-themed party. There is always a mix of music with a live band and a DJ, a full open bar, creative catering, and photo booths, plus an afterparty. Though she and the organization are based in Dallas, attendees fly in from all across the country.
“Larger, more established nonprofits sometimes operate in such a corporate way that they’ve forgotten to share the ‘why’ behind their cause in creative ways,” she says. “Because their messaging can be stodgy and rote, it’s easy for people to feel disconnected and don’t feel the urge to act.”
A live auction at “The Birthday Project Turns 8” in Dallas on Jan. 25, 2020. Courtesy of The Birthday Party Project
Nonprofits host fundraising events to do just that: raise funds for the organization to execute its mission. Most nonprofits tend to have an annual tentpole event, one that attracts their steady set of supporters. It not only requires a ticket to attend but likely also has a silent and/or live auction to raise additional funds.
It goes beyond the actual dollars, though, as recruiting and retaining a committed group of donors is essential to a nonprofit’s longevity, says Laura Tomasko, policy program manager at the Urban Institute. That can lead to even more money. She cited Giving USA’s 2018 report, finding that individuals gave an estimated $292 billion to charitable organizations, which is significantly more than donations by foundations, corporations, and bequests. “Individuals [are] the biggest source of giving to charitable organizations,” Tomasko says.
For many nonprofits, it’s essential to recruit new philanthropists to keep the funds coming in. That’s why organizations have established young patron committees as well as throw fundraising events geared to this audience. Often the ticket prices are lower, and the parties are more fun, says Erica Taylor Haskins, founding partner of Tinsel Experiential Design, which has designed galas for numerous nonprofits over the past decade, including the Guggenheim and the Whitney Museum. “Beautiful flowers on the table won’t cut it,” Haskins says. “Our clients are looking to us to give them permission to shake things up.”
The key to capturing the next generation of philanthropists is all about fun. Courtesy of Ashraf Hamideh/Osh Images
That may mean a “tasteful S&M” performance art installation of bondage and ballet, which she did alongside contemporary artist Brendan Fernandes for the Guggenheim’s Young Collectors Council Party. Or it’s neon light installations with metallic Mylar centerpieces, immersive photo booths that are more mini-movie than photo strip, and a musical lineup that includes four rotating DJs. For her events, she always include “artifacts,” as Haskins calls them, or vignettes primed for social media—a way for the event to extend beyond the physical room. For last year’s Whitney Art Party, that was the photo booth. “We overheard one guest refer to it as her ‘$300 Instagram content,’” Haskins says.
Making an event social media friendly is a huge factor in promoting engagement and getting more young donors in the room. They share it with their friends and followers. “Young patrons aren’t interested in dropping into an organization’s family and attending a gala once a year,” says Courtney Knights, development director at the Public Art Fund. “They wish to engage. We’ve found the best way to capture the attention of millennials is through other millennials.”
The Public Art Fund, which collaborates with artists on free exhibitions in public spaces in New York City, added an afterparty to its spring benefit in 2014. Taking place after the 400-person formal dinner, it’s geared specifically toward younger people and costs less than one-third of the spring benefit’s entry-level ticket. A set of millennial cochairs, who serve as ambassadors, oversee the party planning—right down to the DJ—including the social media strategy and sponsor recruitment. Many of these cochairs also opt to join the nonprofit’s Young Patron Circle to take part in other programs and events throughout the year as well as assist on the artist projects and games component of the main spring benefit. This cocktail hour interactive exhibition changes each year, but last year it involved attendees competing against one another in a cookie-cutter-themed puzzle challenge designed by artist Zak Kitnick.
Nonprofits are engaging with millennial donors by thinking outside of the box. Courtesy of Ashraf Hamideh/Osh Images
Allowing millennials to take charge aligns with their desire for leadership opportunities, says Knights, which retains a solid group of young patrons year after year. There’s a similar approach at Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, which banks on the stories of their mentors and mentees to establish an emotional connection with attendees. They often feature young professionals as the speakers for their major fundraising events. “When millennials witness the impact firsthand—and hear from other young professionals who are serving as life-changing mentors—they realize that they also have the ability to create positive change,” explains chief executive officer Alicia D. Guevara.
The organization puts on a major gala each year, Sidewalks of New York Dinner—which raised more than $2.2 million last year—but it also spun off a separate annual fundraiser aimed at a younger demographic. The Big Night Out features casino games, cocktails, silent disco, auction, and DJs as well as a host committee made up by millennials. It’s a tactic increasingly enacted to make millennials feel more comfortable taking part in a nonprofit’s fundraiser. Organizations ranging from Lincoln Center in New York City to the Perez Art Museum in Miami and the United Nations all offer programs specifically for the sub-age-40 philanthropist.
A tablescape produced by Tinsel Experiential Design. Courtesy of Ashraf Hamideh/Osh Images
The mere presence of a young patrons committee, however, doesn’t mean millennials will come, and some nonprofits still find it challenging to engage with the audience. Not all nonprofits can afford to hire events professionals to throw their galas, though Chenault mentions this industry is underutilized by nonprofits.
Even if they do, adds Haskins, it takes some coaxing to step outside of their comfort zones. “It’s a challenge to consider: ‘How to attract this demographic that values experiences and won’t be enticed by a snoozy ballroom dinner?’” Haskins says. “That probably isn’t by doing the same old thing and hoping someone buys a ticket.”
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fortune--2020-09-08--Apple’s ‘most ambitious’ new store is a departure from its signature design

COVID-19 infection lingers in the gut , even after it clears the respiratory system , researchers say

This is the web version of Business By Design, a weekly newsletter exploring design’s transformative influence on industry and enterprise. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.
Singaporeans have speculated for months about the origins of the mysterious orb floating on the waterfront next to the city’s iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Was it a museum? A new-fangled theater? Some said the structure resembled the lair of a Hollywood supervillain—or a Death Star from another galaxy.
Construction crews finally pulled away scaffolding and canvases two weeks ago, confirming what many residents of the city-state already had guessed. The orb is an Apple Store, designed by Foster + Partners, the London-based architecture firm that designed Apple’s otherworldly new headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The new store—number 512 for Apple globally since its first in 2001 and the third in Singapore—opens Thursday. But Apple offered a sneak peek on its website yesterday, billing the orb as the company’s “most ambitious retail project” yet.
Apple Marina Bay Sands. Credit: Apple
The structure is remarkable in many ways. It’s the first Apple store to sit directly on water. Though connected to the waterfront by a wooden gangway and to a nearby shopping mall by an underground tunnel, the sphere appears to bob in the marina like, well, an apple.
Apple describes the orb as “a first-of-its-kind, all-glass dome structure that is fully self-supported, comprised of 114 pieces of glass with only 10 narrow vertical mullions for structural connection.” The glass is lined with custom baffles contoured to block daytime glare. The company says the dome was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.
Credit: Apple
Images of the interior show sunlight pouring through an oculus at its apex. A ring of trees shades customers as they peer into Apple products displayed on the company’s trademark maple tables. The store includes an enormous “video wall,” which Apple says will serve as the backdrop for Today at Apple sessions featuring local artists, musicians, and creators. There’s also an underwater “Boardroom” on the lower level for training sessions with developers and entrepreneurs.
And at night the glass dome glows. Early images of the exterior suggest the structure is a departure from Apple’s signature minimalism. In many photos, the orb’s lower half is suffused in purple, green, and gold light, while one side projects a neon red image of the Apple logo that casts a shimmering reflection across the bay.
9to5Mac reports that the sphere’s nighttime glow is meant to evoke the design of traditional lanterns carried during Singapore’s mid-autumn festival.” It is certainly lighting up Instagram.
Credit: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images Suhaimi Abdullah—Getty Images
Not everyone is a fan. “Beyond hideous,” groused one reader under this report in Dezeen.com. “How did this monstrosity ever get past the veto pen of the design directors at F&P or the team at Apple who get tasked with maintaining order and brand standards?” fumed another.
In fact, the store is a coup for Foster + Partners, the firm Apple has retained to design all its freestanding stores since 2016. Hong Kong, where I live, is choc-a-bloc with F+P projects, including HSBC’s Hong Kong headquarters, the Hong Kong airport, and the ambitious new West Kowloon Cultural District.
But for the past decade, the most distinctive feature of Singapore’s downtown skyline has been the Marina Bay Sands complex designed by Boston-based Moshe Safdie. You may recall MBS from the money shots in Crazy Rich Asians, with its three curved skyscrapers topped by a cantilevered skypark resembling a giant surfboard. At the base of those towers, Sadfie designed two angular ‘crystal pavilions.’ The northern pavilion remains, and is occupied by Louis Vuitton. But the southern pavilion, which used to house a flashy nightclub, is the site of Apple’s new store. Now, like a cheeky photo bomber, Apple’s orb bobs in the marina and uses Safdie’s towers as dramatic backdrop.
More design news below.
Clay Chandler
clay.chandler@fortune.com
NEWS BY DESIGN
Do it
Nike is launching its first maternity sportswear collection, designed to adapt to women’s bodies during at all stages of pregnancy and post-birth. The Nike (M) range includes a sports bra that allows for breastfeeding as well as leggings with a more elasticated waistband. More importantly, the maternity wear reflects a rethink of what women can do while pregnant. It comes a year after Nike itself faced a congressional inquiry for reducing sponsorship to pregnant athletes.
Light ahead
Following a nine-month competition, Los Angeles unveiled the winning design for the city’s new streetlights—a modular pole that can be adjusted to provide lights at different heights. Dubbed Superbloom—for how it’s constructed as a “bouquet” of different “stems”—the new standard streetlamp, designed by L.A.-based Project Room, has options for shade and advertising attachments as well as 5G modules.
Richard Rogers
Award-winning, 87-year old architect Richard Rogers has retired from the firm he founded in 1977, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Per the studio’s constitution, Rogers’ name will be dropped from the practice within the next two years.
Medaling
The 2020 London Design Medals were announced this week with Paola Antonelli, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Yinka Ilori and Ken Garland claiming the prize. Previous winners have included Es Devlin, Tom Dixon and Zaha Hadid.
Passport cover
Taiwan revealed a new passport design that removes the island’s official English name—Republic of China—to avoid confusion with passports issued by mainland China, a.k.a. the People’s Republic of China. The redesign is classy, but unfortunately not nearly as fun as these submissions created and voted on by the public.
EVENTS BY DESIGN
September
London Design Festival has decided to go ahead September 12-20, with a stripped-down offline program that will target Londoners much more than international visitors. Other events will be online. The organizers are still figuring out how exactly to proceed.
Design Matters in Copenhagen appears to be carrying on, too, September 23-24, although it is now selling tickets to view a livestream of the event.
October
Dubai had, perhaps, the misfortune of hosting the World Expo this year. Originally scheduled to open in October and run until April next year, the Dubai Expo 2020 has been delayed until October next year instead. World Expos come but once every five years, so perhaps waiting one more year is okay.
November
Dubai’s inaugural architecture festival, d3 Architecture Festival, will run November 11-13 on the sidelines of Dubai Design Week. The event will focus on sustainability—an existential issue for the desert city.
QUOTED BY DESIGN
“People with disabilities have always confronted barriers between their bodies and the built world, and their long-held questions are relevant with a new intensity for all of us: Is a desirable future one that only restores what was lost?”
Sara Hendren, a professor at Olin College of Engineering, writes in the note of her book What Can a Body Do?: How We Meet the Built World. Hendren’s focus is design and disability, taking the view that disability is a mismatch between a person’s body and the tools society has provided. Hendren points out that in the time since her book was commissioned, the pandemic has reshaped how everyone interacts with the world.
This week’s edition of BxD was curated by Eamon Barrett. Email him tips and ideas at eamon.barrett@fortune.com