#154: Back, back, back again!
Digital accessibility feat. the Biden campaign CTO, more than rainbows, an exciting announcement, and free guides to LGBTQ+ ERGs and Zoom presos! Whew!
Hello. Happy June :)
In this edition #154 of The World’s Best Newsletter:
Digital accessibility lessons from the team behind the 2021 Presidential Inauguration and Campaign
Y’all, pride is more than rainbows.
The threat of digital ad fraud
We came, we broke everything. Oops?
Pride-Out-Of-The-Box: Free Guide for ERGs
Back, back, back again :)
Quote of the week: Having a hidden disability in Silicon Valley
1 - Digital accessibility lessons from the team behind the 2021 Presidential Inauguration and Campaign
June 15th at 2pm ET in partnership with Perkins Access - register here.
I’m so SO delighted to be sitting down next Tuesday with the CTO of the first virtual inauguration in history, who also served as the Deputy CTO for the Biden for President campaign, Laila ElGohary. Can you join us?
We’ll explore what made this inauguration so accessible to all, and what they specifically did to ensure accessibility across all digital platforms.
You may not be planning an inauguration soon, but we’re going to be joined by my friend (and softball teammate) Taylor Snook, an incredibly knowledgable accessibility consultant at Perkins Access, who will be sharing key lessons for how ANY digital experience can be more inclusive of everyone.
Hope you can join us at this free, live webinar event June 15th at 2pm ET.
2 - Y’all, pride is more than rainbows.
A few days ago, despite being a Boston-based member of the coastal elite (LOL), I had the pleasure of addressing the Texas LGBT Chambers of Commerce alongside UT Austin lecturer and greenwashing expert Valerie Salinas-Davis.
We laid down some hard truths about marketing in/around LGBTQ+ pride month, and I can’t thank the chambers enough for organizing such a passionate group of business leaders. Watch the full replay here.
My takeaway from the event: As always, the sentiment is… we want to do the right thing. But, it falls on our community, those of us who are LGBTQ+ within the organizations we serve, to push back and ensure our movement is not merely co-opted under the guise of allyship.
We deserve real protection, real support, and need our allies to join us in calling out performative allyship.
Pride has always been a movement calling for social change. It’s how we’ve earned the rights we have today - and how we’ll continue to in the future.
Read the writeup of our session in the Dallas Voice, "More than rainbows in June" and stay tuned. Much more to come on this topic :)
3 - The threat of digital ad fraud
2021 is setting new records for ad spend. WPP’s GroupM forecasts a record-setting $651B to be spent this year, up 10% over last year’s COVID slump.
But, with great spend comes… you know the rest… great fraud.
Ad fraud - digital schemes scamming ad networks - are estimated to be stealing 20% of this global ad spending, representing billions wasted.
I so loved digging into this topic in a recent episode of Experience TV, my live show about the experience economy in partnership with Oracle Advertising & CX. My guests were Mike Zaneis, CEO of TAG and Sam Mansoor, principal product manager at Oracle.
4 - We came, we broke everything. Oops?
I have to give huge kudos to Jay Baer, his team, and the team at Terminus for a super creative virtual event, Break Sh!t.
Read a recap of the day’s talks in Diginomica.
It featured a bunch of speakers you know and love tasked with answering the Q:
What is one thing we should BREAK in marketing today?
The winner, by audience vote, was Oli Gardner, who won a generous donation to the charity Project Respect. The Terminus team ensured all of our organizations received a donation, which for me meant raising some funds for the critical work of the ACLU. Thank you!
You can watch ALL of the 14 min sessions on-demand here, and catch my short talk on performative allyship here.
PS: Big shoutout to the event’s musical entertainment… Saxsquatch!
BONUS RESOURCE: How to not suck at Zoom presentations
Hey, speaking (ha) of Oli… he has a new venture, Be the Keynote, where he’s giving away all of his secrets to his public speaking.
(He didn’t ask me to send this, I just think it’s incredibly valuable.)
Grab his new Guide to Giving Virtual Presentations on Zoom featuring tips like:
Establish what you want the audience to experience
Reduce your big idea to a small one
The characteristics of a shareable slide
And much more. Congrats Oli!
5 - Pride-Out-Of-The-Box: Free Guide for ERGs
Out & Equal, a fantastic organization promoting LGBTQ+ equality within workplaces, is out (ha) with a new resource for employee resource groups (ERGs).
Check out An ERG Guide to Celebrating Pride Virtually in 2021.
I personally love the talent show and pride trivia ideas…
6 - Back, back, back again :)
I AM THRILLED to be your host again this year for the 2021 Adobe Experience Maker Awards. This live, virtual gala celebration recognizes great customer experiences, digital transformations, and the resilient, inspiring humans making it all possible.
Tune in LIVE on LinkedIn (RSVP here) Wednesday June 23rd at 8:00pm ET.
7 - Quote of the week: Having a hidden disability in Silicon Valley
“I have always related to Wile E. Coyote… As someone with a hidden disability, I’ve always fallen off that cliff, which is why I love that mangy old coyote. He always got up. He knows the pain of having a goal at the tip of his claws only to have it yanked away at the last minute on a technicality, by someone who made it all just look so damned easy, so “normal.” It’s exhausting.”
Friends, I am working on a few big things this Pride month. If you come across a campaign you think would be relevant for my upcoming film/book, Woke-Washed, or a number of articles I’m writing this month, please send my way!
Sending you good vibes and good times,
Katie Martell
Twitter | LinkedIn | Website