Mind Over Matter

Posted in Growing up by Eliza Dropkin

I was recently sitting with my friend Lizzie before she went onstage to perform at a student showcase concert. Eyeing the performers onstage I turned to Lizzie and said, “So do you just not have the part of your brain that recognizes this situation as terrifying?” (mentally referring to the concept of being able to switch off one’s inner critic to do something out of the ordinary in public). “No way,” she responded, “Every time I’m about to go up on stage or perform in front of people I get terrified, but I just tell myself, ‘You have no choice. These people came here for something, and you are going to give it to them.’ And then I just do it. I channel my nervous energy into the belief that I can do anything, and the confidence that I will.”

This idea, so simple and eloquent, really hit home with me. I forget sometimes, as I think many people do, that overcoming fears, whether rational or not, is a matter we as individuals are entirely in control of. So the next time you feel afraid, stop for a moment and mentally channel that feeling into the confidence to overcome your fear. Remember that you’re the one in charge.

In the meantime, check out Lizzie and her amazing band, RiverRan, here.

27May2013

Interview: SF Local, Drew Hoolhorst

Posted in Interview by Eliza Dropkin

Reblogged from The Fetch Blog // What's Happening in Your City:

This week Eliza interviews freelance copywriter and regular Bold Italic contributor, Drew Hoolhorst. Follow Drew on Twitter via @drewber and on his blog, Rocket Shoes.

You, Drew Hoolhorst, are a master storyteller. Who do you consider your earliest influences, and how has your storytelling evolved over the years?

Thank you, interview question, that's incredibly kind of you. Ready for the hokey answer?

On Graduating College

Posted in Growing up by Eliza Dropkin

“Life-changing events often happen in pajamas.”-Jessica Hagy

In four days I will graduate from college. I have never been more ready for something to happen in my entire life. I have made the most of my college career and the flexibility it allowed me. I felt from a very early point that the social style of my school was not for me, and I’m going to skip out on writing a lengthy rant about it (though I may have wanted to).

My move to California heralds more than just the end of college. My move is the product of four years of endlessly applying to internships, learning how to network, learning to distinguish who my real friends are, and finding a career path that I find exciting, challenging and rewarding. I’ve learned, too, that I will not let the expectations or judgements of others prevent me from achieving or even just doing what I want to do. (This has been helpful when it comes to choosing studying over drinking, though not as much when I don’t feel like listening to my gym instructor).

The only real drawback is the sadness of my parents about my migration toward the sunnier coast. The bittersweet irony of this is clear to me, as they raised me to be a strong and independent person willing to take risks and pursue dreams. I owe them everything (likely translatable to countless round-trip tickets from Albany to San Francisco, which I will willingly and happily purchase).

Growing up is always hard, and always unexpectedly so. It is comforting, however, knowing that over the last four years I have made lifelong friends and relationships (across the world) that will accompany me forward, into the unknown (and very bright) abyss that is my future.

So here’s to the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one.

8May2013

Facebook Isn’t The Sky, Everyone Can Relax

Posted in Facebook, Marketing, Social Media by Eliza Dropkin

I find the recent hysteria about the declining Facebook use of kids and teens to be pretty silly. What did everyone expect? That ONE social network would be cool for more than a single generation?

The reason this all seems funny to me is that I don’t view this as a problem, and advertisers shouldn’t either.

Facebook currently has somewhere around 1 billion users. Those users are made up of basically everyone you have ever met or could possibly meet. Change is hard for anyone, but the less-than-super technologically savvy take a while (if ever) to move from one social network to another. More to the point, most adults have no reason to leave Facebook. They’ve already learned how to use it, and a lot of their old friends and family members are on it.

So why should this be comforting to advertisers?

Before not too long it will be clear which new social network kids are moving to. Then advertisers can add those sites into their repertoire. Aside from the hyper-aware/overprotective parents, most aren’t going to hop on the bandwagon for whatever 12-16-year-olds think is cool. Advertise on both. Market to everyone. That’s the way the game has always worked and always will. Maybe it will be for the better. Maybe advertisers will figure out a better way to target their marketing towards adults on Facebook, and then find more creative ways to market towards kids elsewhere.

The secret to marketing is having a cool product with a compelling story- that people actually want and need. So maybe we should be focusing more time on making things that people actually want, and less time trying to sell people things that they don’t.

PS. Check out Cliff Watson’s awesome post, “Teens aren’t abandoning ‘social’. They’re just using the word correctly.”

6May2013

Life Is Eventful: How Getting Out There Got Me Here

Posted in Community, Events by Eliza Dropkin

Reblogged from The Fetch Blog // What's Happening in Your City:

We're taught from a very young age that there are certain major life events that will have significant importance and deliver at least a modicum of respect. Being born (though you aren't quite aware of that one), graduating from college, getting married, having children, buying a house, turning 50, etc. These are the Events with a capital 'E'.

What no one really tells you, however, is the way the other kind of events will impact your life.

If Marissa Mayer Succeeds…

Posted in Community, Credibility, Women In Tech by Eliza Dropkin

If Marissa Mayer succeeds in bringing Yahoo! back from the grave will it be attributed to hard work or good advice?

If Marissa Mayer succeeds will she be compared to Steve Jobs (in his 1996 resuscitation of Apple) or will she be heralded as “the female Steve Jobs”?

If Marissa Mayer succeeds will her haters still hate her or will they applaud her with the pretentious false air of having known she would succeed the whole time?

If Marissa Mayer succeeds will I have a better chance of being considered a person working in tech first, and a woman working in tech second?

And most significantly,

If Marissa Mayer succeeds will she go down in history as the person who saved Yahoo! or the woman who saved Yahoo! ?

22Apr2013

6 Tips For Not Letting Email Rule Your Life

Posted in Efficiency, Organization by Eliza Dropkin

I think everyone can agree that email is stressful. It’s surprisingly easy to let your email inbox keep you on a emotional leash without being aware of it. So I’d like to share with you the best ways I’ve found to fight back and keep email in its place (somewhere after maintaining general happiness).

1. Prioritize your email responses. It is important to remember that you don’t owe anything to people looking to monopolize your time without paying for it.

2. Keep your work email and personal email in separate apps on your mobile device. I use the mailbox app for work mail which has a nifty system for prioritizing emails, and the normal iphone mail app for my personal email accounts.

3. Don’t enable push notifications for your personal email. This way you only have to deal with personal emails on the go when you have the time. I enable push notifications for work emails on my phone, but use mailbox’s option to only show a “1″ flag for any number of new messages to cut down on potential stress.

4. Use the flag or star functions to mark important emails so you won’t forget about them later.

5. If your email load is truly immense, popping specific emails that you need to remember to respond to into a program like asana can be helpful. This adds an element of instant gratification when you check off the ‘completed’ box for said email.

6. Try not to get in the habit of sending personal emails from your work account. This will just make things more confusing. If you’re working with browser email, keep your work account open in a normal window and your personal email open in an incognito or private browsing mode window.

Eliza Dropkin

Work Hard, Play Harder