Good Morning and hello friday

Exhausted, but in the very best way. This week’s Holiday Party at Ludlow House was the first time in 2 years that I got a sizable group of friends together for a celebration. I was nervous going in – would people show up? Also, I hadn’t hosted this-size party at Ludlow House before. Would they come through on all the details, decor, etc? I needn’t have worried. Panos Kourakos, the GM, and the whole Ludlow Team nailed it. Not only was it a beautiful event, the vibe was absolutely spot on. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover how many new friendships had been forged over the course of the pandemic, e.g., I met neighbors Sierra and Stephen early in the pandemic while we were both hanging out/drinking wine, on our buildings’ abutting fire escapes. Our friendship flourished via Instagram over the next 2 years while they temporarily decamped to Colorado. They’re now back (living in Brooklyn), and I finally got to meet them in person at the party. Another new friendship sprouted on the MET rooftop where I met Maryline. We’ve similarly become Instragram friends and met socially for the first time at Tuesday’s holiday party. That kind of easy, serendipitous way of meeting like-minded people is one of the things I find most exciting about living in NYC.

I’m also trying something new on the video today. Am attempting to provide more in-depth info so that you don’t necessarily need to read as much. I need to perfect it but I am inspired by my favorite podcasters who are all so good at casually entertaining and informing. That is one of my goals for 2022 – to up my game when it comes to communicating thru video. I want the videos to be conversational, fun, and insightful.

1. [watch] Recap of the week’s happenings

2. Ludlow House, booked solid with holiday parties, including our little soiree.

Ludlow House, 3rd floor, turned into a winter wonderland. 💕💕💕

Again, major thanks to Team Ludlow for making it such an incredible night for us. New tradition is born!!

3. law firms (and others) offering supersized bonuses

• Firm after firm is striving to make their associates happy with stratospheric bonuses. (Source: AboveTheLaw)
• Cravath Swaine & Moore, whose holiday bonus announcement set the market scale for major U.S. law firms, said this week that it will pair those year-end payouts with additional “one-time” bonuses to match rival firms. (Source: Reuters)
• Lawyers, especially younger ones, are also finding it boosts their careers (and perhaps the size of their bonuses), if they actually show up at work versus zooming it in. (Source: NYT)
• Tyson Foods is also handing out $50 million in year-end bonuses, ranging from $300-$700 to its 80,000 frontline and hourly employees (none of whom have the luxury of working from home). The company has invested more than $500 million in wage increases along with “thank you” bonuses for frontline workers over the past year.

4. Getting Zoom-Fired for falsely claiming 8 hours of work while only averaging 2 hours a day!

• By the time you get this, CEO Vishal Garg might have gotten “cancelled.” But I kind of doubt it. As of this writing, he has apologized to remaining staff for zoom-firing their colleagues but he remains committed to firing freeloaders.
• Besides the zoom firing, he also blasted his staff via email for not being fast enough: ‘You are TOO DAMN SLOW. You are a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS and…DUMB DOLPHINS get caught in nets and eaten by sharks. SO STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME.”
• Interestingly, Twitter’s new CEO is also on a jag about the need for speed. It was a recurring theme in a recent 30-minute interview detailing how products needed to be shipped faster. He also stated that Twitter has been slow to address shifts in user behavior.

5. MrBeast: 23-year old creator on youtube with 84 million subscribers and 156MM views of his squid game re-creation

MrBeast got on my radar recently which I would feel really badly about except standup comic Andrew Schulz also just got into him (so I’m late to the party but not THAT late). I recommend you watch the 3 videos below – in sequence – to understand i) what it means to be “a creator on YouTube” vs. a YouTuber, ii) to experience MrBeast’s fun, non-violent version of Squid Game, and iii) to learn what makes MrBeast’s videos so “sticky” and engaging.

i) watch Andrew Schulz and his homies discuss what makes MrBeast so intriguing (13 min video from start to 13:30)

Note: for some lame reason, YouTube is not allowing me to embed Schulz’s video. However, here is the LINK – hopefully it will work (watch from :00 to 13:30).

Key takeaway from Schulz/Flagrant 2 podcast:

1. MrBeast is the biggest star on YouTube – routinely gets 60MM views on his videos
2. Recreated a safe/fun Squid Game that cost him $3.5MM just to create the sets. The winner (among the 456 contestants) also won $456K.
3. The mainstream culture and media hasn’t previously tapped into him. Anybody not regularly getting their entertainment from YouTube, has no idea who he is.
4. He’s a creator on the YouTube platform as opposed to being a YouTuber. Andrew and his crew feel this is an extremely important distinction.
5. He got over 7MM new subscribers to his YouTube channel because of Squid Game.
6. He gets 10X the views of any TV show but network execs can’t “see” his potential, even as their ship is sinking.

ii) MrBeast’s Squid game has 156MM views. Really FUN even if you’ve not watched the Netflix original. Also very insightful gender dynamics! (note who is left at the end)

iii) Tutorial (masterclass) on why his videos work so well

SUMMARY:

• MR BEAST : THE MOST FAMOUS PERSON ON YOUTUBE
• WHO IS HE? James Steven Donaldson, 23 years old, better known by his online alias MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, businessman, and philanthropist. He has been credited with pioneering a genre of YouTube videos that center on expensive stunts. He’s located in Greenville NC where he just purchased a $10MM production facility. His mom runs the business side of things.
• He’s a NEXT LEVEL Casey Neistat.
• All that said, when I listen to longform interviews with him, I pick up a strange vibe. I do think he is brilliant but there’s something “off” about him. He could go bust any second.

6. Jimmy O. Yang. LOVE THIS GUY!!!

• Another discovery from Joe Rogan, back in June 2020, when I first gave up TV and switched to longform podcasts.
• What I love about Jimmy Yang is that he reflects what I hear and experience when I trek down to Chinatown for my weekly hair blowout and where I buy vegetables and fruit from Chinese street vendors (and also, where in the past, I belonged to the Chinatown Y).
• Yang has 761K subscribers on YouTube (including me). Many of his videos have over 10MM views. He also has a cooking series on YouTube.

7. Adele!! Does anyone else think This is too much of an ask?

• According to a notice on the Ticketmaster website, in order to enter the venue, all attendees are required to have been fully vaccinated (14 days past final vaccination shot) and have received a negative COVID-19 test within 48-hours of the event.
• Tests administered via an at-home kit will not be permitted.
• We will see how this goes. I for one would not go thru the hoops of getting tested when I’ve already been vaccinated (and boosted!). So take that, Adele!!

8. Yo! whipped cream is the hot new trend!!

“I chose Whipshots because it fits more of my style — I am not a hardcore liquor drinker. I like things that are sexy and tasty. I was one time planning to partner to create a margarita brand, but it’s just not me. Whipshots is more fun.”

Cardi B (Source: Miami New Times)

• Cardi B entered the world of celebrity-branded booze with the introduction of Whipshots, a boozy, vodka-spiked nondairy whipped cream. It’s in partnership with Starco Group, a California-based company that specializes in chemical technologies.
• The launch party went down during Miami Art Week at Pharrell Williams and David Grutman’s Goodtime Hotel.
• The vodka-infused whipped “cream” comes in three flavors; mocha, caramel, and vanilla, all of which contain 10% ABV. Cans are available in three sizes, priced at $6 and up.
• Every day during the month of December, fans have the chance to purchase their own Whipshots with Whip Drop, a release program that drops 500 cans each day via whipshots.com, powered by the Spirits Network.
• THIS IS GOING TO BE MAJOR!! Especially post-pandemic when everyone is looking for something decadent and crazy/sexy.

9. not so major: Bold red lipstick from Violette_FR

• Violette is a makeup artist and influencer with 303K followers on YouTube.
• In 2017 Estée Lauder named her their Global Beauty Director.
• Now she has launched her own brand Violette FR with a huge cult following. The red lipstick Petal Bouche sold out immediately. It’s a red hue that purportedly suits everyone. NOT TRUE. And on top of not liking the color, it feels dry and yucky on my lips AND it gives me a headache. I applied it twice, and each time, I got a raging headache.
• DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE ON THIS ONE. Not recommending this product!

10. Quote of the week: from bill Gates’ lips to God’s ears 🙏

“In a couple years, my hope is that the only time you will really have to think about the virus is when you get your joint COVID and flu vaccine every fall.”

Bill Gates (Source: GatesNotes)

And that’s a wrap.

I’m still beaming from ear to ear after Tuesday’s Holiday Party. It was so exhilerating to have friends (old and new) come together and celebrate the season. My friend Jourdan noted that there was “so much joy in the room.” YES!!!! I agree 100%. And on that note, here’s wishing everyone a great weekend . I’ll check in with you all again next Friday.