Slack Co-Founder Champions Hiring Diversity at White House's First South by South Lawn

At the inaugural South by South Lawn: A White House Festival of Ideas, Art and Action on Monday, Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield explained that it's easier to implement diversity in hiring practices when companies are small, and by doing so, companies are more likely to be aware of a broader array of problems that it can try to fix.  Hiring practices are "much harder to change when you have thousands versus dozens of employees," explained Butterfield during the festival's Fixing Real Change panel. Moderator Jenna Wortham, staff writer at The New York Times magazine, had asked Butterfield why he champions diversity in hiring and what the messaging app has done to make sure it is hiring women and people of color at a time when "Silicon Valley has been hostile to diversity" and maintained "wealth disparity [that is] still very racially disparate." "There are arguments that diverse teams will have better business results, and that seems plausible, but that's not why we do it," said Butterfield, arguing that there are more benefits to diverse teams than a company's bottom line.  He also noted that when companies do hire women and people of color that they need to "double down on ensuring we don't fail them when they get to the company." Butterfield added that: "Tech lives inside a society with systemic racism. Is it exacerbated? Maybe it is exacerbated by people who only care about money." If companies and executives only care about making money, they may end... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2016-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #staff writer #messaging app #silicon valley #wealth disparity #racially disparate #diverse teams #business results #bottom line #hire women #systemic racism

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The dress is white and gold. Or, why BuzzFeed won

The Internet phenomenon known as "what color is the dress" showed just far ahead BuzzFeed is from traditional publishers -- and just how badly traditional publishers want to be BuzzFeed. The problem is the race to out-BuzzFeed BuzzFeed can't be won,and in the process there's a good chance... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Walliams and Jeffers win Red House awards

Books by Sophie McKenzie, David Walliams and Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers were today (21st February) announced as winners at the Red House Children’s Book Award 2015. Walliams’ Demon Dentist (HarperCollins Children’s Books) won the Books for Young Feaders category, while Split Second by... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #david walliams #sophie mckenzie #drew daywalt #oliver jeffers #crayons quit


I read only non-white authors for 12 months. What I learned surprised me | Sunili Govinnage

Reading science fiction, chick lit and fantasy novels by people of colour for a year brought home to me just how white my reading world wasIn 2014, I managed to read 25 novels. All of them were written by people of colour. That was the result of a small challenge I set myself: not to read books... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Susan Golomb Joining Writers House

Veteran literary agent Susan Golomb, whose clients include Jonathan Franzen and William T. Vollmann, will be starting at Writers House on March 1. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fourth Estate hires Anna Kelly

HarperCollins imprint Fourth Estate has appointed Anna Kelly to the position of commissioning editor. Kelly, who is currently assistant editor at Hamish Hamilton, will take up the role on the 17th March. Kelly said she is “very excited” to join the company. “Fourth Estate is home to a dazzling... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chicken House partners with film company Altitude

Chicken House and Altitude, a film production company, are teaming up to develop book and film projects simultaneously. “Instead of waiting for a final book to take into movie production, we will find scripts or treatments together and develop them at the same time,” said Barry Cunningham, m.d.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Minimum Wage, Diversity Top Concerns at Wi10

The high energy that has marked Winter Institute carried over into sessions where booksellers spoke about the challenges ahead, from dealing with minimum wage increase laws to creating a more equal partnership with publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Black & White signs teenager's Wattpad trilogy

Scottish independent publisher Black & White Publishing has acquired a three-book series by 17-year-old Estelle Maskame, which has already had 4m hits on Wattpad. Maskame has more than 125,000 Twitter followers and her Did I Mention I Love You? (DIMILY) trilogy has had 4m hits on digital... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Founders of Electric Lit; Black Balloon Launch New Publishing Venture

Catapult will launch in fall 2015, with Padgett Powell's story collection, 'Cries for Help, Various.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lahiri wins DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

Jhumpa Lahiri has won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015 for The Lowland, published in the UK by Bloomsbury. Lahiri was named the winner of the $50,000 prize at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival taking place in India this week. The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is open to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chicken House acquires debut from Lucinda Martin

Chicken House has acquired Moth and the Nightingale, a middle-grade children’s novel from debut author Lucinda Martin. The book, described as a “subtle and surprisingly modern interpretation of the lonely, bookish child”, tells the story of Henry, a young girl whose life changes when she meets... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Books buys exploration of memory

Random House Books has bought a “fascinating exploration of the workings of human memory”. Senior editor Harry Scoble acquired UK and Commonwealth (excluding Canada), US and exclusive European rights to The Memory Illusion by Dr Julia Shaw from Kirsty McLachlan at David Godwin Associates. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Memorial Held for Coffee House's Allan Kornblum

Approximately 250 people--a mix of Minnesota’s book publishing community, Coffee House Press authors, and others--celebrated the life of CHP's founding publisher, Allan Kornblum, in a memorial service in Minneapolis on January 17. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook founder’s book club choice sends sales rocketing

Mark Zuckerberg’s selection of The End of Power by Moisés Naím sparks ‘seismic change’ in the book’s fortunes, with 18 months’ sales outstripped in daysHow to be a winner: the books that inspire Mark Zuckerberg and other high flyersWhy would Mark Zuckerberg recommend The End of Power? Facebook... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Long live the ebook – it’s a champion of the printed word | Philip Jones

With the public promiscuously hopping from one format to another, reports of the e-reader’s death look distinctly prematureWe have barely stumbled into 2015 and already some commentators are calling time on the ebook. The analysis was provoked by Waterstones’ managing director, James Daunt, who... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IDW Acquires Indie Comics House, Top Shelf

In a major acquisition in the comics marketplace, IDW Publishing has acquired Top Shelf Productions. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook founder launches book club

A book club started by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has already had almost 140,000 "likes". Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2015-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Melville House Sells Out of 'Torture Report'

Announced earlier this month and officially on sale today, Melville House's edition of the document known as the Senate Torture Report, is going back to press. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Benay Founder Neil Charles Reshen Dies, 75

Neil Charles Reshen, an accountant and business manager who represented such entertainers as Willie Nelson and Miles Davis before founding the publishing management firm Benay Enterprises, died December 6 in the Bronx. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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INgrooves Founder Robb McDaniels to Resign

Robb McDaniels, founder and CEO of INgrooves Music Group, and who oversaw the launch of the company's ebook division, INscribe Digital, will step down at the end of 2014. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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