Lauren Ingram

I was super excited this week to sit down with fashion industry legend and ex-ASOS.com Responsible Sourcing Director Simon Platts for the very first discussion in our new podcast series: 'Ameba meets...' In each episode, we'll be meeting with thought leaders from the industry to chat about some of the biggest challenges facing the sector and explore some of the solutions that exist to help brands in their fight for survival. With almost 40 years' experience in the industry, from the shop floor to management level in some of the UK's favourite brands, Simon knows firsthand just how tough it is to do business in today's retail environment. It was so energising to hear him articulate the importance of always pursuing purpose and profit hand in hand, and why we should all commit to progress not perfection. We kept returning to the need for data clarity to give buyers, merchandisers and sourcing managers the information they need at their fingertips to make better decisions for more efficient and ethical production. We really couldn't have asked for a better first guest! Sharing a small snippet of our conversation below - you can tune into the full discussion here: https://lnkd.in/eGWuF4M4 Let me know what resonates most in the comments, and if you have any suggestions for future guests! Watch this space too for more collaborations with Simon and his consulting partner Katherine O'Driscoll in the new year #fashion #retail #AI #fashiontech #merchandising #sourcing #purposeandprofit #peopleplanetprofit #supplychain #supplychainmanagement #sustainability #ESG #responsiblefashion

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Hello, hello!! This is a shameless plug for the session I have pitched to run at SXSW London. It's called Work Play 101 and it's an immersive, playful, embodied experience based on a pioneering new framework - The 7Ps of Work Play. We explore how we can hack the way we work to bring more ease, flow and joy. If it sounds interesting/ fun/ enjoyable to you I would be oh so grateful if you would vote for it!! It will probably take about 5 mins - instructions below Here is the link to my workshop https://lnkd.in/e4g_Mnja And while you're there you might also like to vote for ✨ Nicola Cher Geismar's session Free Your Spine, Free Your Mind https://lnkd.in/e64HYctv ✨Jess H.'s session about how they adopted a 4 day week https://lnkd.in/ePPqCDmM Thank you, thank you! 🙏 INSTRUCTIONS -Anyone can register to vote. -Those who have submitted a session will be auto-registered and will see a Judge Tab has been added. -New users, please follow the registration process. A code will be sent to your email to complete registration, please check your junkmail. -Submitted Sessions will be live to view from 9am GMT Friday 6th December -Only completed sessions are visible -Sessions are presented via a “randomiser” -You can click one of the “Session Tracks” listed in the top right to view a certain category of submissions -You can vote for as many sessions as you want, but only each session once. -This is done by simply clicking the heart -The system will time out if you vote for more than 5 sessions in 5 minutes. This is to ensure ample time to read and review. -You can revoke your vote if you wish to -Public voting ends 5pm GMT Dec 19th DecembeR

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Sad to read the news that Workplace from Meta is going to be sunsetted next year. A lot of great companies achieved amazing things with it - not least some awesome ideas programs. Some of the highlights over the years for me include; - How proud the whole team were to support Nick De Blasio and the team at Nestlé in launching their InGenius ideas program on Workplace - Working with Stephen Lee and Irene Scardia to run Spark across the globe at Discovery Inc - Hustling to go from first meeting to launch to over 40,000 people with Scott and Justine (and later Alun) in about 2 weeks for AstraZeneca's award-winning AZ2025 campaign - Working with the partnerships team at Facebook/Meta on a really productive partnership (often over those lovely office lunches ;)) that began with Armin leading the way - Working with an absolutely huge (but shy) retailer to give a voice to millions of in-store colleagues Though the vast majority of our customers now use our apps for Microsoft Teams and Interact Software, we're here to do everything we can to help those still using the Workplace integration to minimise disruption as they navigate the path ahead. We'll be opening up our Teams and Interact Apps to those currently using Workplace, and connecting the dots with the Interact team who can help companies now scrambling for an alternative. Photo from one of the early and very swanky Transform events. Thanks for the memories - the only thing constant is change - onwards and upwards 💡

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On average, it takes up to 12 months to produce ONE book. 📚 However, one founder has discovered a way to use AI to speed up the process without compromising on quality. ✨ On the podcast this week, we’re joined by Georgia Kirke, Founder of ClioBooks.ai, who shares some fantastic insights into how she’s using the latest AI developments to shake up the publishing world. 🌍 Tune in to find out: 📖 How Clio is disrupting the publishing world 💼 What this means for you as an investor 💡 Why you should specifically look out for tech companies that merge machine capability and human ingenuity to create value We've also got a great blog that covers this topic: https://hubs.li/Q02s-f6H0 P.S. We have now revealed our new early-stage and growth AI fund. 👀 If you want to find out more, you can register your interest here: https://hubs.li/Q02s-7P90 #EHEVentures #AIInvestment #Investors #TechFunding #FastGrowthFunding

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Done! Rishad Tobaccowala so much of what you have already written about work has supported the foundation of my own platform around the future of work. Excited to finally read this!

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🚨 WE NEED YOUR VOTES!!! 🚨 Born Social is set to take the stage at SXSW London, but we need your votes to make it happen! I'll be hosting a panel with two of the biggest powerhouse voices in the creator industry Grace Beverley and Charlotte Stavrou (née Williams), in which we will dissect one of the most challenging conversations in the creator industry: fair pay 💸 As creator collaborations explode in scope and complexity, one question remains unresolved: What is fair pay? The industry often answers this with a ‘finger in the air’ approach, fuelling pay disparity. The debate over what creators are truly worth has become outdated and fragmented —yet it’s a conversation brands can no longer afford to ignore. We'll be exploring a new blueprint for fair pay and the untapped potential of pricing standardisation in the age of AI. Sound like something you'd be interested in? Then vote by following these steps: ✨Register to access the voting portal (link below) ✨ Head to the Creator Economy category ✨ Find and vote for "What Am I Worth? Rethinking Fair Pay for Creators"

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SoSquared turns 2 today 🎂 It’s been 2 years since we launched the first version of our platform and what a journey it has been. 💚 Built a community of over 2,500 active creators on the platform 💚 This has resulted in a whopping 35,000 applications to campaigns 💚 And led to over 4,200 collaborations being completed (that is nearly 6 a day) 💚 Been at the heart of the growth of TikTok Shop and built an incredible partnership 💚 Worked with some of the best in the industry, from brands, agencies and marketing gurus 💚 Built a great team of 8 which is soon to be joined by 2 more 💚 Personally spoke on more stages than a politician  💚Countless awards We’ve seen incredible highs and the lowest of lows, long days & nights and plenty of bad language. “If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product you’ve launched too late” (carousel is a scary trip down memory lane). But we did launch too late and I will share more about that in a series of post over the next couple of weeks. So many lessons can be learnt from your first startup and I am extremely grateful to all the amazing people I have built around me as part of my own ecosystem. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be sharing what is next for SoSquared, our brand-new product, our continued mission to professionalise influencer and content marketing and make it scalable for all businesses and agencies. Stay tuned and stay bullish 🎯 #startup

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Two months ago I wrote a post about where Bachtrack.com was with the leaving Twitter/X thing and the questions we were asking ourselves to try and find our way to a decision (read that post in full here https://lnkd.in/egdtivb5). Having just spent the last two days at our thrice-annual Company Meeting, and finding ourselves in a new place post-US elections, I thought I'd check in and see how things were faring. Some interesting happenings have been spotted on the alternative platforms we chose to join alongside X: Bluesky and Threads. Initially, things were pretty quiet. We replicated our Twitter content there and saw a little bit of action, but not anything to write home about. But since the events of last Wednesday, there has been a big change, and it seems to be happening on Bluesky. Our Bluesky account has seen a 280% increase in followers in just 10 days. Our editor, Mark, the man behind our X account and who has also been posting on Bluesky for us, reports that interactions on Bluesky posts this week surpassed interactions on X for the first time. A smaller increase can be seen on Threads (7%). And we are down just short of 1% in X followers. What does this mean? It's a hunch, but personally, I think that Threads is where a "general" audience is heading, and Bluesky may be where the "niche" audience is heading. By that, I mean the community of classical music, culture, arts etc. people, which was so strong in early-mid period Twitter. Whilst this is not yet enough to mean we are ready to abandon X altogether, it's a significant trend and one we will keep our eagle eyes on. Because it raises another question: should arts and culture organisations seeking safe harbour from X choose a platform where "people like them" are hanging out? Or should they choose one where "people yet to be converted" are? I suppose that depends on the organisational aims for social media. And I'll leave that for another day! Should you fancy joining us, we are: 🦋 @bachtrack.bsky.social 🧵 @bachtrack And if you are still there: ❌ @bachtrack

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My first holiday break at Google was incredibly anxiety-inducing. I had just joined a new team & I was the only associate. Three weeks before Christmas, we were asked to push a really big project. My director was like, “Hey, I need your help. Numbers, slides – ASAP.”I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh, I am so out of my league. This is gonna take forever." A few weeks pass. It’s the week before my holiday break. The work wasn't going to end & I was afraid to tell my director that I couldn't finish it. I was afraid of looking bad. The last day, my director emails me: “Hey, we need 16 other things ASAP.” I replied, “Hey, just so you know, I have vacation coming up & today's my last day. ”He replied, “OK.” That was it. I went on vacation so worried. I thought I'd lose my job or my director would think I was terrible. I even thought I’d get fired. But in January, everything was fine. Nothing happened. The director found someone else to help, they finished the project, I got rewarded for my part, and we moved on. This is a reminder that deadlines are created by humans. They're artificially created. It’s okay to take vacation & time off to recharge. You'll be okay. If this is not the case with you: https://bit.ly/3TnmpJh

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Hot off the press: new research by SheSays on what work should be like. Favourite highlight: "the biggest thing that’s missing from current workplaces is truly fair and flexible work policies". Emphasis on flexible which should not be confused with hybrid. #futureofwork Great work Charlotte Read and the whole SheSays team

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The We Are Social Think Forward report turns TEN, that's a decade of reporting the shifting trends across social 🎂 This years it's all about The Liveable Web - exploring how people are reshaping the digital landscape and seeking a more balanced online experience. Download and dive into the report below 👇 https://lnkd.in/ewVy_e9T

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I had a super interesting chat with Jordan Newman, Head of Content Partnerships from Spotify, and I have to share this with you. We got into how podcasting is evolving, and here’s the thing—video podcasts are taking over. It’s wild to think about how far we’ve come from the days of just audio. Jordan talked about why video is a game-changer and how it’s helping creators connect with their audience on a whole new level. He also gave some solid advice on monetizing podcasts (because who doesn’t want to get paid for their passion, right?). Spotify’s really opening up new ways for creators to build sustainable businesses around their shows. If you’re into podcasting or even thinking about starting one, trust me, you’ll want to listen to this. Jordan’s insights on the future of podcasts, especially video, could be a game-changer for you. Here’s the link to the full episode—give it a listen when you can! 🎧 https://lnkd.in/gkVxGghC

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We're ramping up our Chiliz YouTube channel to bring more engaging and educational content about the sports blockchain and crypto space. 🎥✨ We need a nimble video agency that can quickly turn around dynamic, informative crypto content. Here’s what we’re looking for: - Script Writing: Capability to craft compelling narratives around Chiliz and crypto education. - Video Production: Proven expertise in producing high-quality YouTube videos consistently (aiming for one to two videos a week). Got a recommendation? If you've worked with or know an agency or freelancer who fits this description, please drop their names or tag them here. Thanks! 🙏 #Chiliz #Crypto #Video #Content

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Looking for a great read that explains the interconnections between emerging technologies? Sick of lazy tech writers who ask which technologies will "win" without understanding that they're all connected? Want deep dives into the future of work and VR; how to think like an AI native; and the future of experiences and mobility, among many other topics? Check out the Fast Future Blur, a collection of collaborative essays written by the faculty of the The Fast Future Executive! Available now wherever books are sold. https://lnkd.in/e2YsEa2T

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I finally had the opportunity to watch the full video Headline Media posted of a panel we hosted in London with LocalGlobe a few weeks back featuring insights from some of the best marketers we have worked with over the years such as Lauren Berkemeyer from YuLife, Yael Wissner-Levy from Lemonade, and Matthew Jones from Cowbell. It’s a true masterclass. Will try to share these great insights as they pop up.   Below is Yael Wissner Levy discussing how storytelling was a key element in Lemonade's GTM strategy from the ground up long before product hit market.    I get asked what the 40 or so unicorns we have been lucky enough to play with have in common. First, they are overwhelmingly second timer founders. As second timers, they know where to put their investment of time and resources right out of the gate for the best long-term outcome.  Almost all of them put storytelling at the top of the agenda early in the lifecycle of the startup. I promise you, these are hard-core tech guys so they don’t instinctively gravitate towards, or even like storytelling or marketing. BUT they do know that making “Phuking A” hires to run marketing or brand as early as possible and well before the product is ready increases the chance of adoption, and a massive ROI on their investment down the road.      Faye Co-Founder Daniel G. shared a similar experience with me at the event described, but gave credit to Viola Ventures Omry Ben David for encouraging them to grab the incredible Lauren Gumport during early days.  Needless to say, it is clearly paying off (Lauren and the Faye team are crushing it...).   Point is…dealing with storytelling and marketing is indeed a nightmare before product is ready, but the people with the most experience and success know that it is twice as hard to play catchup down the road with your positioning. Without building a significant brand narrative out of the gate, you will end up leaving money on the table. Enjoy.

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So great to see Sahil Jhamb at Meta speak tonight at the Shard for 'Engage With Ecommerce' event on Meta's AI growth for the discovery engine, where he covered the new data point model to become less dependant on pixels. Event Overview: This means outside of a social graph, we see content that's outside of our immediate circles. This pays dividends as over 3.9b ppl use the platform due to the high level of retention. The Meta latis dynamically adapts from the signals created, and allows small businesses to learn from the data served to them. Biggest Takeaway: Insta reels are the bridge behind the social graph and discovery engine. Reels deliver a full funnel strategy and the reason for this is because the data points created from short form video is not only allowing the sharing of content to grow reach, but they also nurture stickiness because the relevancy means the users tend to spend more time on site. This means those users have a higher revenue potential for smal businesses! 💪 Humble reminder: Upper funnel activity, with the use of UGC, is STILL a great point of entry with low risk to scale. This is why working with Insta and TikTok influencers provides growth across your funnel. "Sound on" remains important, with 9:16 still massively the frontrunner when it comes to format optimisation to maximise the chance of delivery to reach the user who convert! Thanks Quickfire Digital - Shopify Plus Agency for putting on such an informative event! #ecommerce #events2024 #socialmedia

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Here's a business idea: Convince Ogilvy's Rory Sutherland to invoice for every unauthorised video clip of him, tell him where they are (Instagram is a good start) and claim ten percent. Instant millionaire* * Possibly. On a more serious note, his 2024 Nudgestock video on Youtube is work 30 minutes of your time. https://lnkd.in/eb_gsizR To be fair, with my 35 years in data/big data/machine learning/AI he's made me stop and think a bit. Algorithms optimise for time saving and decisions to a single answer. All very interesting messages and stories. Machine with options, we kind of do with classifications and neural network outputs, there are predictions with percentages of how accurate it thinks it is. Would much change if we gave the second option instead or n number of options? Time to mull things over a bit more. Thank you Rory, appreciate the keynotes they are a joy.

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