Blake Griffin’s favorite podcast is Huberman Lab.
“I guess I am a gym bro, now that I think about it."
Good morning everyone. It's Juneteenth, the federal holiday marking Black emancipation from enslavement. It’s also the newest federal holiday established in 2021 by President Biden.
Today’s letter includes: Frenchette’s team and A24 are opening a restaurant, just because you live in a $7mm house in Amagansett does not mean you can afford a fresh fish, a California steakhouse is coming to East Hampton, a writer was detained by border control because of what he wrote on Substack, and Goop is opening 20-30 new stores.
☀️ There’s a serious heatwave hitting New York over the next week, and I want to know your top suggestions for summer in the city. Email them to emily@readfeedme.com ☀️
Last night, I went to an event hosted by
, Don’t Let Disco, and Merit. Guests were invited to Melanie’s apartment to drink Ghia, and make charms for tote bags that were pre-filled with customized cosmetics from Merit. This event had the Feed Me Seal of Approval. You know why? It was both thoughtful and easy. Some people stayed for fifteen minutes to make a sparkly charm, get free makeup, and leave. Some stayed for hours to make new friends/network (lines are blurred these days) and try several flavors of Ghia. There was also something to do because Don’t Let Disco’s Ashley Moubayed sets up these gorgeous buffet bars of trays and glass beads at their events. And nobody brought home makeup they didn’t want, because Merit sent out a form ahead of time for guests to choose the products that made the most sense for them.
Every morning I open my inbox, and receive 3-4 invitations to “brand events.” The two most common formats of events are a) seated dinner and b) DJ booth accompanied by a room full of people drinking free drinks. Other formats include panel, reading, screening, dinatoire (a new term for me, I like it), and standing around a store at night.
These events are most often in Manhattan, and are thrown for a variety of reasons including: a new collection, a new scent, a new menu, “summer,” an issue release, a product release, or a newsletter release. Sometimes there is no reason at all.
Throwing a party to market your business (which mostly means Instagram Stories from accounts with blue checkmarks) is an age-old concept, but I think there are too many and most of them are bad. Which makes me wonder what drives people to show up – or stay home – when invited to this many parties a week.
As
wrote this week, “Events are free labor with scope, you’re showing up in exchange for a canapé and a BFA photo. Choose wisely.” started a similar conversation last week on Substack (and in one of our group chats), “Have been thinking a lot about the potential for (and limits of) monetizing events and irl connection!!!”I started making a list of the reasons why events go wrong:
You’re asking your guests to celebrate something that isn’t worth celebrating. New fragrances and newsletter launches don't require events. Neither does the change of season, or holidays. People are exhausted from getting dressed up, coordinating transportation, and taking off makeup every night. Respect your guest list's TIME.
Seated dinners often suck. Your experience is directly correlated to your seat mate's phone usage, interest in speaking with you, and humor. Two sides of the table can have totally different vibes. Plus nobody eats.
Budget. If you don't have the money to throw an event you'd want to leave the house for, don't throw an event.
I’ll keep thinking of more in the comment section.
📱 Have tip for Feed Me? The hotline is open for (anonymous) texts: (646) 494-3916 📱
