Esther Kustanowitz - Consulting & Freelancing Whether you need a content plan, communications strategies, or a social media orientation, I can help you. Reasonable rates available - contact me at esther.kustanowitz at gmail.com.
Sometimes social media can be the bridge that brings people together for a much-needed embrace.
Today, social media is an integral part of our lives - some say it is too integral, too impersonal; that it discourages real connection and human contact. I count myself squarely situated in the other camp: the company of people who understand that social media is a tool, and how we wield it is what makes the difference in how we connect with each other and how we provide support to those who need it most.
"'Control' Alternating with 'Delete'," an article by Renee Ghert-Zand in the current issue of Hadassah Magazine (not yet available online but embedded below) makes the case for social media and more, exploring how 20s and 30s are dealing with loss. I'm honored to be included on three fronts - one, to have the privilege of sharing approaches that helped me even slightly during a difficult time; two, to share space with people (including the incredible Rebecca Soffer and Gabi Birkner of Modern Loss, and Times of Israel & Kveller's Sarah Tuttle-Singer, who has penned a few really heart-rending pieces on loss) who are doing really remarkable things with their grief in memory and tribute to those they've lost; and three, to be included in a demographic that I left a few years ago. (Although technically, I was still in my 30s when I lost my mother.)
This post was supposed to be about that article. It was supposed to have been filed under "Shameless Self-Promotion." But while I was writing this post, news broke that the three Israeli teens, who had been kidnapped 18 days ago, had been found murdered in a field. As news trickled in, we learned more details about when and how they likely died, and people started posting their feelings on Facebook and Twitter.
I seem to do this a lot, ask my friends what they've seen, what they're enjoying, what's making the rounds virally on the web. I delight at being among the first few viewers, and when something is good, I really enjoy sharing it. And so, I launch a new series here. ICYMI, for the uninitiated, means "in case you missed it." And as for "best things on the internet," my only parameters are that it's fairly new (generally in the first ten days since it hit the interwebs), deeply engages me on some level and makes me want to share it. And don't worry about me running out of material. I've tried to hit publish a few times now, and every time I'm about to, something newly awesome arrives. The content, it keeps coming.
For instance, this late-breaking - and I suspect emerging - battle between @LivviesCurls ("I have many different forms. I look best in the shower") and @MelliesHair ("The more you screw me over, the more height I gain"). That's right - Twitter is the space where two Scandal characters' HAIR(s?) are having a throwdown. And since I followed them this afternoon, they're following me back. So just to say that again, so you understand,"Two Scandal characters' HAIR are following me on Twitter."
Star Wars Filibuster (Animated). If you loved Patton Oswalt's Star Wars-themed filibuster on Parks & Recreation, you'll love this animated version, which takes his genius of a plot outline and renders it visually.
The Camp Gyno. I'd be shocked if you haven't already seen this advert for HelloFlo, a company that sends young girls monthly packages timed to when they receive their, er, monthly packages.
Badger's Star Trek episode. Breaking Bad's final season (or really the second part of the previously aired season that AMC was saving until August) launched Sunday night with a great episode - at its center was an incredibly strange, seemingly unrelated monologue by a minor character about his original plot for a Star Trek episode. And by the next morning, Vulture had made it into an animation (probably due to the success of the aforementioned Patton Oswalt filibuster animation). This is the speed of the internet, folks.
Tom Thum at TEDxSydney. Truly amazing beatbox work - tons of sounds and styles all coming out of one person's mouth. Really impressive and delightful to watch.
Life of a Stranger Who Stole my Phone. Hamid stole this woman's phone but forgot to disengage the "auto-upload" feature - so now the victim of the theft has a window into the perp's life that lends itself to snarky and hilarious captions.
Working at a Nonprofit. Yes, it's funny - the tropes, trials and tribulations of working in a nonprofit culture ring true to those of us who've been there (or who are there). But it also seems to present a set of fairly depressing problems, many of which could be addressed, toward the improvement of quality of life for the world's nonprofit workers. So is it comedy or a call to action? I guess we'll see. I may just be writing more about this...
And two Jewish-holiday themed clips: since 'tis the season to talk about repentance and acknowledging our misdeeds, IKAR challenges us to think about how we ask for and grant forgiveness. And for a more whimsical view of the guilt admission and repentance process, the e-Scapegoat from G-dcast allows you to confess your sins and send the virtual goat into the wilderness - as the site says, just like they did "in biblical times, only nerdier."
What are you watching? Why does it engage you? And most importantly, is anyone else being followed by television hairstyles?
I used to be very serious about my Oscar parties - inviting the right friends, having some lovely snacks and perhaps even dressing up a bit in mimicry of the red carpet madness. But then I found that people were betting on the results, being loud and talking over the presenters, and generally not letting me hear or experience the moments that would be water-cooler dissected at work the next morning. Now I have my Oscar party on Twitter, which allows me to dress how I want, multitask more efficiently, and to share my comments with the people who are hungry for second-screen content. (See here for my Golden Globes Twitter recap, as well as my liveblog of the Oscars back from 2009.)
Below are some of my tweets from last night, recapping some of Oscars' more memorable moments.
Red Carpet
Just opened a @tweetdeck column for #oscars, and the feed was moving too fast for even me to read.
Remembering how I tapped Brosnan as a future Bond in his Remington Steele days. Ohhhh, James...#oscars#castinggenius
Liam Neeson, now and forever, associated with the Schindler's List theme music. #oscars#oscarredforlife
"Les Miserabless." - John Travolta introducing musical medley. #oscars#jazzhands
Agreed. Skidoo. RT @rabbilaufer: My biggest criticism of this Chicago number? No jazz hands. #Oscars
Jennifer Hudson singing "And I'm Telling You..." still tweaks my tear ducts. #oscars#imgonnaloveher
#oscars staging: "Let's have Crowe walk out with Bonham Carter and Baron Cohen so no one boos him."
Jews. Hollywood. What a hilarious and astute observation. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the secret synagogue meeting. #not#oscars
Legit LOL. #oscars RT @ElBloombito: Yo soy bañning los songos de Les Miserables. Yo dreamed un dreamo that todos que stopped singingo.
I definitely just heard the announcer announce the presenter named "Nick Kroll Kidman." #oscars#canigetasoundcheck
Barbra singing "Memories" is a Hollywood kaddish. RT @Kveller: Now is when they say Kaddish. #toojewish? #oscars
My roommate when "Skyfall" won: "Adele has a last name?" #oscars
"This will be the writers' year, man." Quentin Tarantino, sealing my fate for 2013. Unless he means only one writer, and only a man. #oscars
In case you thought you couldn't like Jennifer Lawrence any more {TRIPS AND FALLS}. Ta-da! #oscars
Movie titles that can also apply to Jennifer Lawrence's loss of footing: Flight, Skyfall #oscars [subsequently added Djennifer Unbalanced and My Two Left Feet]
How do you like THEM apples? RT @BurtonJM: He can write, he can produce, and yes he can direct (& sometimes act): Ben Affleck
I totally just tripped on my dress and fell on the stairs up to my apartment. Do you love me even more now? #jenniferlawrencenation#oscars
Glad that this #oscars show carried through - to the very last moments - the apparent theme of "AWK-ward."
Thank you for joining @estherk for Oscars 2013...see you next awards season!
Anyone who's following Josh Malina on Facebook or @joshmalina on Twitter knows that the actor - an alum of various Acts of Sorkinalia (A Few Good Men, Sports Night, The American President,The West Wing) and other memorable roles (Psych, Big Bang Theory) and currently featuring as the resident "white hat" district attorney on Shonda Rimes' Scandal - is achingly funny. With the literal "to wit," here's his comment from a few hours before the Golden Globes Awards: "I love the Golden Globes! There's something touching about current waiters giving awards to former waiters. (In fact, my theory is that any Twitter backlash against Malina's Scandal character, David Rosen, stems from fans' disappointment that the role is largely dramatic and doesn't permit Malina to manifest his comedic timing as much as the fans would like. But I digress...)
But now, Malina proves that he's also sensitive, and a nice Jewish boy to boot - for his 47th (!) birthday, he's declared a campaign to raise funds for MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a national nonprofit organization working to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds. The intial goal was set at 1 billion dollars (and why not?), but in the accompanying campaign video, Malina notes it would be great if they could raise $5,000. Perhaps he should have targeted higher - the campaign is at $8,800 and rising, and his birthday isn't until January 17. (It would be great if he could mobilize his celebrity friends to match what the crowdfunding raises, too. That would send a powerful message.)
Besides the swag that Malina offers in the video below for higher donations, you too can get as you give - for a donation of $10 or more, @joshmalina will follow you on Twitter.
Mazal tov to you, Josh - on your birthday, on making the 40s look like not such a scary place, and for being an example of how your public voice can amplify the message that we can all do our part to make the world a little better while we're here. Kol hakavod!
For the first half of the Golden Globes I was multitasking and didn't pay any attention to Tweeting. And then Ah-nuld and Sly showed up, and it was on.
Here are some of my Tweets from the Golden Globes. As you can see, I spent the night wishing for more of the co-hosts, the worship-worthy Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (at left in a FoxNews photo). All Tweets were tagged with #goldenglobes (which I removed from the posts below) and sometimes other snarkiness (which I left in the posts below). I moved a few of them around in the chronology for the purpose of this post.
Enjoy, and see you at the Oscars! (Well, not at the Oscars. But probably online at the Oscars.) - EK
Best Foreign Film
Question: How do Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger know where to put their ties? I can't tell where their necks are.
Best Screenplay
I'm adding "this is a damn surprise" to my list of go-to exclamations. #qt#quentintarantinoftw
For all his bluster, I think Quentin Tarantino still really loves being part of Hollywood. Like he remembers he's a video clerk made good.
Need. More. Tina & Amy.
Best Actress, Comedy or Musical
Loved Amy's canoodling with Clooney during the nominees' announcement.
If you happen to be in the queue for a store to open at midnight tonight so that you can partake in Black Friday specials, or if you're asleep right now because you're getting up at 4am to make sure you're up and at the mall by 5, don't look for me. I won't be there. But perhaps I could inspire you to think differently about consumption this holiday.
The last month has seen devastation on the East Coast due to Hurricane Sandy, and the resurgence of violence in the Middle East. There are people who need serious help to rebuild their lives. And there are people who need an iPad Mini. If you're one of the people in the latter category, enjoy the lines at the Apple store. I don't begrudge you your technology, or wanting to get the best price, even if you lose a few hours of sleep (or a toe in the stampede). But maybe this is a chance for us to think about how most of our shopping is for things we want, and not things we need.
Most of us are lucky - our shopping habits operate from a place of privilege, a sign that we have enough to survive, we have shelter and food, and can spend additional cash on ways to improve that life with additional decorative, style or entertainment options.
But there are ways that you can help people who really need their basic shelter and sustenance needs met, and ensure that people feel your concern and your care across the miles. Here are five ways - they're options for you to consider, in thinking about how you can help provide to people in need as you go about your shopping business.
Those of us who have been watching the USA Network show "Covert Affairs," also sometimes known as "poor man's Alias, but with Piper Perabo playing gorgeous spy Annie Walker and with a hot blind guy working tech," have been delighted by the occasional appearance of Israeli actor Oded Fehr actually playing an Israeli. The delight has continued as Fehr, playing Mossad agent Eyal Lavin, often breaks out into Hebrew when he's impatient, a detail that is doubly delightful because a) the Hebrew is actually correct and well-pronounced (Fehr, after all, is legit Israeli), and b) the impatience with Americans that causes Lavin to mutter almost to himself in his native tongue is authentic and well-known to many of us who have visited Israel over the years.
There have been three appearances by Eyal Lavin so far over the course of the three seasons - the most recent one a few weeks ago, in "This is Not America" (see trailer embedded below), and it was one of the most Israel-centric television episodes I've seen. From the opening sequence, featuring music by Matisyahu, to the use of Hebrew, both with and without subtitles, and even extending to some cultural truths ("when I get voicemail, I hang up" and "everyone's been touched by terror - it's the reality of life in Israel") there's more Israel education in this one episode of this spy show than there is at most Jewish events. (More commentary after the jump.)
(I know my blogging pace has been erratic, but that doesn't mean that my brain is empty - on the contrary, there's lots going on, being processed and hopefully eventually churned into a product. But I will try to post here more often. Thanks for staying tuned. :))
The webinar (now available online with an intro from Seth Cohen and embedded below) was sponsored by a conference I attended after the GA in November, called NetWORKS – convened by the Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation to bring together people who represent major networks, Jewish innovation projects and who are able to mobilize social capital. (More of my notes about this webinar - including a note about an interesting crowdsourcing project involving the Knesset - are available after the jump, which is after the video. If the video embed does not appear below, click this link.)
I've been on an exhausting conference circuit these last four weeks, but one conference I wish I'd had the time and money for was the indie sensation South By Southwest (SXSW). This year, SXSW featured a panel on "Jewish Synergy," convened and presided over by Chaviva Galatz and Susanne Goldstone Rosenhouse (of @JewishTweets fame).
Below is an embed of the entire session, which runs over an hour. But to help you out, I've included my own breakdown of some choice moments - including shoutouts to many innovative initiatives you may know - below. (All times are approximate, so if I'm off by a few seconds, don't sue me.)
25:00 - Someone who submitted his idea to LA's Next Big Jewish Idea search expresses frustration that he wasn't able to get community support for his idea
27:00 - Susanne delivers shoutout to and explanation of the ROI Community as a place for people from all over the world with "amazing big ideas"
32:40 - You don't have to be a millionaire to support these projects. "You can give $10," Susanne says.
34:30 - A cute baby gurgles off-camera. We later discover it is @mottel's baby, Berel.
38:30 - Over Twitter, @ffidler has asked what we can learn specifically from this Jewish panel that we can't learn from a non-Jewish panel?
47:36 - Chaviva calls her blog "a public service announcement for Orthodox Judaism and Judaism in general," and talks about the #shabbatshalom hashtag.
51:10 - A discussion of how the Jewish community responded to the Japan disaster by setting up funds; "Why don't Jewish organizations tell everyone when we do things for the non-Jewish community?"
52:25 - Susanne says that the fastest growing population on Facebook is women in their 40s, noting "our moms are on there." (Ouch.)
55:00 - Chaviva suggests that we have to pace ourselves when it comes to media, to taper our media consumption.
1:00:00 - Baby Berel makes an appearance on-camera.
1:01:14 - The session officially closes and schmoozing ensues.
Whoever you are and whenever you're there, if you chose to be in Vegas, you’re probably there because you crave, at least a little, to suspend logic, reason and thought, or because you yearn to reintroduce your serious self to its more spontaneous side. But for 1200 Jews imported for something called TribeFest, the pull to the desert was something more. These Jews, ages 25-45, took the confusing cacophony of Sin City, and added to their agenda of cocktails, craps and clubbing an exploration of Jewish identity.
For me, TribeFest came not quite at the end of two months of conference-going. Most of these were Jewish conferences, each with an intense, exploratory vibe. From the BBYO International Convention to LimmudLA and Jewlicious, those conferences were marked by serious investigations of Jewish life, leadership, culture and identity in sessions large and small, but all of them managed to feel intimate and interactive. TribeFest was a slightly different animal, largely - I believe - because of the size, but also because of the location.
With the location (and imperative to socialize) providing a formidable distraction to the programmed content, it’s a wonder that anyone went to any sessions at all, especially my Tuesday “morning after the last night of Vegas camp” session on careers in the Jewish communal world. But they came, not just to that impossibly scheduled session, but to all of them. In fact, they came in droves – there was a huge line to hear my longtime friend Sharon Pomerantz and author Joshua Braff speak about their respective novels, and I was almost closed out of the “Work the System” session, which would have been its own story had I not been rescued by someone from JFNA who understood that it was important for me to be in that room. At the standing-room only session, passionate attendees tuned in for specific notes of how to encourage collaboration between Federations and innovative initiatives, and in fact, in a challenge of the word “innovation” itself. (Anyone have audio or video footage from that session? Please share…)
At (and after) several sessions, I overheard people yearning for a more interactive framework - breakout sessions of 60 people didn't provide people with the intimacy they wanted, but perhaps had no right to expect from Vegas (or from a conference of this size). I have the impression that many sessions could have gone well into overtime by answering all of the hands that flew up in a room. Of course, it would have been great if we could have managed to filter out "non-questions" - when a speaker asks "any questions?" and people raise their hands and speak without asking any kind of interrogative statement used to test knowledge (but that's not important right now).
Some may have wandered in and out during plenaries (word on the ground is that non-sports fans may have found “Lunch with a Legend” – one of the least diverse sessions at TribeFest - skippable), or traded session attendance to take in a show (or a nap) before the evening festivities, but participants are to be commended for an overall impressive attendance record. And as uninspiring as some sessions and speakers were, others resonated with standing ovations. The incomparable and undisputed TribeFest champion was Alina Gerlovin Spaulding, who spoke passionately and personally about how the Jewish community transformed her life and that of her family when they emigrated from Ukraine - this moment was a watershed, concretizing for many the importance of structures like the Federation in helping families in need. (For a short play-by-play of the conference, see Jewcy.)
I would be surprised if any PhD theses on Jewish identity were born over those few days in Vegas, but there was a palpable feeling of Jewish excitement at specific moments. In the opening plenary, the Hebrew Mamita’s delivery of her eponymous spoken word piece - an exploration of her own Jewish identity and pride - caused a vibrant cheer to erupt at its conclusion. Many identified with the presentation by actress Mayim Bialik, who spoke candidly about her Judaism. (A partial transcript is here.) VideoJew Jay Firestone called it Birthright meets Burning Man in his video synopsis. (My video synopsis is being held for editing by my editor, me.)
In the less-than-a-week time period since the 2.5 day conference ended, there’s been some nostalgic yearning for the energy and people left behind. Twitter, in particular, has hosted a lovefest of energy and private jokes, over the #tribefest hashtag and beyond; Facebook, too, has swelled with wall postings and reminiscences, as new friends communicated across the miles. Just now, people are beginning to upload photographic proof of the good time had by all, and edit videos in a way that conveys said good time, hopefully in a way in which no Jewish professionals lose their jobs. Not that anything untoward would ever happen to a bunch of Jews in as wholesome a place as Vegas...we're just overly cautious that way.
I know the #tribefest hashtag won't last forever - but I'll watch it as long as it's there; like credits rolling at the end of a movie, I'm with them until the final frame fades into the distance, fades to black, and then it's over.
[Here's my first video report for the ROI Community filmed shortly after I arrived. Plus, in case you missed it, here's when I became a one-name sensation, much like Cher and Madonna, of course, but in a Jewish Twitter context. Other videos and photos to come, no doubt.]
