Susan MacTavish Best

Last updated

Susan MacTavish Best is the founder and CEO of Posthoc, [1] an organization that hosts community salon gatherings. She is also the founder of The Salon Host, [2] a 21st Century educational guide to hosting salons. [3] She was previously the founder of Best Public Relations [4] and Living MacTavish, a lifestyle guide. She has become known [5] for hosting salon-style gatherings [6] in Los Angeles, London, San Francisco, New York and Svalbard. [7]

Contents

MacTavish Best is a vocal proponent [8] of humans spending time together in real life in an analog style despite her decades working in Silicon Valley.

Early life and education

MacTavish Best was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada. MacTavish Best's mother is Laurie MacTavish Best [9] and her father is the Canadian scientist and politician Charles Alexander Best. [10] She is the granddaughter of Charles Best, the co-discoverer of insulin. [11]

She attended St Leonards School for eight years in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. [12] She graduated from Hamilton College [13] with a bachelor's degree in History and the George A. Watrous Prize in Poetry. [14] She spent one year at Oxford University where she was co-editor of the University's magazine, The Isis . [15] [16]

Career

MacTavish Best created and edited POSTHOC, one of the first online guides to San Francisco in the 90's, after studying at night school at San Francisco State University’s Multimedia Center. [17] Years later, she relaunched Posthoc as an organisation and community that hosts salons worldwide.

MacTavish Best founded Best Public Relations, a boutique Silicon Valley PR agency, in 1998. The company focused on working with technology companies and represented dozens of long-term clients such as Craigslist [18] for over 15 years, [19] [20] Esurance, Klout, Founders Fund, Smugmug, Olivia Travel, Quid, [21] YouNoodle, VentureBeat, MainStreet, and Playfish through to their acquisition by Electronic Arts. [22] She was also an executive producer for five seasons of craigslistTV, a documentary TV series spawned by craigslist. [23] [24] While representing Best Public Relations, MacTavish Best featured as a boss portraying herself on the unscripted BBC Children reality show "Beat the Boss USA" which aired in 2009. [25]

In November 2013, MacTavish Best opened up a pop-up shop called "Living MacTavish" SoHo, New York City, where she made the contents of her life for sale. In the evening, she hosted informal salons, concerts and discussions while serving a homemade dinner for the attendees. [26]

At the Posthoc salons, MacTavish Best weaves music and conversation together in front of an intimate audience. MacTavish Best interviews experts at Posthoc salons such as Marcelo Gleiser, Tim Draper [27] Jennifer Doudna, Rana Foroohar, Tim Ferriss, Dean Karnazes, Barbara DeFina, Pete Worden, Andy Strominger, Amanda Feilding, Anne Case, Angus Denton, Ruby Wax, Fab Five Freddy, Lauren Jauregui, Philip Ball, Gary Hall Jr., Douglas Rushkoff, Paul Rosolie, Josh Tetrick, David Gelles, Leandra Medine, Emily Chang, Conor Dougherty, Erich Schwartzel, Robert Lustig, Michael Pollan, and Ken Goldberg. [28] Musicians who have performed include Grammy winner Grace Weber, frontman for the Hothouse Flowers Liam O'Mainlai, Marianne Aya Omac and Gabe Harris (the son of Joan Baez), DJ duo Icarus, Aku (Florence & the Machine) and Queen Esther. Violinist Frank Almond performed on his once stolen Lipiński Stradivarius at a salon on prediction and risk where WorldQuant CEO Igor Tulchinsky and scientist Chris Mason were interviewed. MacTavish Best has also held poetry evenings in association with the Poetry Society of America. [29] [30]

In 2016, Calm launched their Sleep Stories app at a salon at MacTavish Best's home. [31] In 2017, Calm was named Apple's App of the Year. [32] In November 2023, Saturday Night Live produced a skit with Timothée Chalamet recording a Calm app sleep story that did not go as planned. [33]

In 2018 MacTavish Best was named one of America's Top 100 Party Hosts by The Salonniere website for the second year in a row. [34]

MacTavish Best has been recognised for her interior design style [35] and fashion. [36]

Susan MacTavish Best in front of her library in Los Angeles. Photo by Maria Jose Govea MariaJoseGovea MacTavishBestSalons.jpg
Susan MacTavish Best in front of her library in Los Angeles. Photo by Maria Jose Govea

During Covid, MacTavish Best hosted dozens of digital salons on topics from economics to geopolitics to hosting a weekly mental health salon with Zak Williams. She also launched The Salon Host to inspire others to gather people in their community [37] as the pandemic ended, and she has been credited for inspiring a new 21st Century trend [38] of salon-hosting. [39] [40]

Personal life

MacTavish Best spends time in Los Angeles’ Arts District, New York City [41] and the remote far Northern California coast. [42] In 2009, she was badly injured in a fire accident at her San Francisco apartment and she is a burn survivor. [43]

In 2023 MacTavish Best was signed as a model [44] to Grey Model Agency. [45]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salon (gathering)</span> Social gathering

A salon is a gathering of people held by a host. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate". Salons in the tradition of the French literary and philosophical movements of the 17th and 18th centuries are still being carried on today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suze Orman</span> American financial advisor (born 1951)

Susan Lynn "Suze" Orman is an American financial advisor, author, and podcast host. In 1987, she founded the Suze Orman Financial Group. Her work as a financial advisor gained notability with The Suze Orman Show, which ran on CNBC from 2002 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freada Kapor Klein</span> Venture capitalist, social policy researcher and philanthropist

Freada Kapor Klein is an American venture capitalist, social policy researcher and philanthropist. As a partner at Kapor Capital and the Kapor Center for Social Impact, she is known for efforts to diversify the technology workforce through activism and investments. Her 2007 book Giving Notice: Why the Best and the Brightest Leave the Workplace and How You Can Help Them Stay examines the reasons people have for leaving corporate America as well as the human and financial cost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VMware Fusion</span> Software hypervisor developed by VMware for Macintosh computers

VMware Fusion is a software hypervisor developed by VMware for macOS systems. It allows Macs with Intel or the Apple M series of chips to run virtual machines with guest operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Linux, or macOS, within the host macOS operating system.

This is a technical feature comparison of different disk encryption software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna David (journalist)</span> American journalist

Anna Benjamin David is an American publisher, author, speaker, podcast host, and television personality.

Lucidchart is a web-based diagramming application that allows users to visually collaborate on drawing, revising and sharing charts and diagrams, and improve processes, systems, and organizational structures. It is produced by Lucid Software Inc., based in Utah, United States and co-founded by Ben Dilts and Karl Sun. Lucidchart is used by companies such as Google, GE, NBC Universal, and Amazon.

This is a comparison on mobile operating systems. Only the latest versions are shown in the table below, even though older versions may still be marketed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zerlina Maxwell</span> American television personality and writer (born 1981)

Zerlina Maxwell is an American cable television host, political analyst, commentator, speaker, and writer. She writes and speaks about culture, gender inequity, sexual consent, racism, and similar topics from a liberal perspective. She describes herself as a survivor of sexual assault and a "survivor activist".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xojo</span> Programming environment and programming language

The Xojo programming environment and programming language is developed and commercially marketed by Xojo, Inc. of Austin, Texas for software development targeting macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, the Web and Raspberry Pi. Xojo uses a proprietary object-oriented language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinder (app)</span> American online dating app

Tinder is an online dating and geosocial networking application launched in 2012. On Tinder, users "swipe right" to like or "swipe left" to dislike other users' profiles, which include their photos, a short bio, and some of their interests. Tinder uses a "double opt-in" system, also called "matching", where two users must like each other before they can exchange messages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariah Paris Balenciaga</span> American drag performer and television personality

Mariah Paris Balenciaga, or simply known as Mariah, is the stage name of Elijah A. Kelly, an American drag queen and television personality, best known for competing on the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race (2011) and the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2020). Since appearing on the show, she has been featured in a number of web series produced by World of Wonder, such as Wait, What?, Transformations, and Fashion Photo RuView. Balenciaga released her first single, "Mug 4 Dayz", on November 19, 2013.

Jonathan Levy is an American social networker and author. Levy created a series of dinner parties known as the Influencers Dinner, to encourage influencers from different industries to interact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curse LLC</span> Network of gaming websites

Curse was a gaming company that managed the video game mod host CurseForge, wiki host Gamepedia, and the Curse Network of gaming community websites.

Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit created by Google. It is used to develop cross platform applications from a single codebase for any web browser, Fuchsia, Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. First described in 2015, Flutter was released in May 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evie Shockley</span> American poet, academic

Evie Shockley is an American poet. Shockley received the 2012 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Poetry for her book the new black and the 2012 Holmes National Poetry Prize. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2018.

iOS 12 2018 mobile operating system

iOS 12 is the twelfth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. Aesthetically similar to its predecessor, iOS 11, it focuses more on performance than on new features, quality improvements and security updates. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4, 2018, iOS 12 was released to the public on September 17, 2018. It was succeeded for the iPhone and iPod Touch by iOS 13 on September 19, 2019, and for the iPad by iPadOS 13 on September 24, 2019. Security updates for iOS 12 continued for four years after the releases of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 for devices unable to run the newer versions. The last update, 12.5.7, was released on January 23, 2023.

<i>Ludo King</i> Free-to-play video game application

Ludo King is a free-to-play mobile game application developed by Gametion Technologies Pvt Ltd, a game studio based in Navi Mumbai, India. Gametion is owned by Vikash Jaiswal. The game is developed on the Unity game engine and is available on Android, iOS, Kindle, Windows Phone and Microsoft Windows platforms. The game is a modernization of the board game Ludo, which is based on the ancient Indian game of Pachisi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karla Jurvetson</span> American psychiatrist, philanthropist, and political organizer

Karla Jurvetson is an American physician, philanthropist, and major Democratic donor. She has particularly focused on supporting candidates who are women, people of color, and from underrepresented communities, and she is a prominent activist in the movement to protect voting rights and American democracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lazy Susan (restaurant)</span> Restaurant in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Lazy Susan was a New American restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Montavilla neighborhood, in the United States. The business opened in early 2020, just prior to the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, and closed in July 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "HOME". POSTHOC. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  2. ↑ "Home Page". The Salon Host. 2023-04-28. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  3. ↑ "Salons offer way to open homes and minds". Marin Independent Journal. 2021-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  4. ↑ "Welcome to Best PR". www.bestpr.net. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  5. ↑ "How a SoHo Salon Host Spends Her Sundays (Published 2019)". 2019-09-27. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  6. ↑ "Susan MacTavish Best: How to Throw a Poetry-Foodie Salon". Sauté Magazine. 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  7. ↑ "Meet The PR Pro Whose Dinner Parties Are The Hottest Ticket In Silicon Valley". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  8. ↑ Reeves, Benjamin (2019-08-28). "Episode 3: How Susan MacTavish Best Is Changing the World One Dinner at a Time". Worth. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  9. ↑ Best, Henry B. M. (2003-06-01). Margaret and Charley: The Personal Story of Dr. Charles Best, the Co-Discoverer of Insulin. Dundurn. ISBN   9781459712751.
  10. ↑ "Susan MacTavish Best wants you to unplug, unwind". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  11. ↑ "How to Host the Ultimate Lavish Holiday Party". Sunset. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  12. ↑ "Susan MacTavish Best at home in loft on high". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  13. ↑ "Because Hamiltonians Party: Susan MacTavish Best '95". Hamilton College. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  14. ↑ Pitkin, Jo (2010-01-31). "The Watrous Prizes". Kirkland College. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  15. ↑ "The Isis | Est. 1892". 2023-08-03. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  16. ↑ "Susan MacTavish Best at home in loft on high". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  17. ↑ "Meet Our GirlGeeks of the Week: Susan MacTavish Best". www.girlgeeks.org. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  18. ↑ WIRED Staff. "Why Craigslist Is Such a Mess". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  19. ↑ "Craigslist enlists Best PR to boost media outreach" . Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  20. ↑ "Craigslist's silent emergence". 2005-08-04. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  21. ↑ Rao, Leena (2010-09-15). "Quid Emerges From Stealth To Map The World's Technologies". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  22. ↑ "Meet The PR Pro Whose Dinner Parties Are The Hottest Ticket In Silicon Valley". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  23. ↑ "Susan MacTavish Best | HuffPost". www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  24. ↑ "craigslist tv". YouTube. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  25. ↑ Jen Chatham (2009-11-04), Beat the Boss USA EP1 Part 1 , retrieved 2018-03-27
  26. ↑ Designs, Charlemagne Web (2013-11-13). "Susan MacTavish Best Brings Her California Living Room to SoHo - Beauty News NYC". Beauty News NYC. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  27. ↑ Gee, Alastair (2014-03-29). "To Fix California's Problems, an Investor Suggests Breaking It Up". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  28. ↑ Arsenault, Bridget. "Meet The Party Planner Every Tech CEO Wants To Work With". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  29. ↑ "Spring Benefit - Poetry Society of America". www.poetrysociety.org. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  30. ↑ Arsenault, Bridget. "Meet The Party Planner Every Tech CEO Wants To Work With". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  31. ↑ Lee, Stephanie M. (2016-12-11). "A Silicon Valley Party Tries To Put Guests To Sleep". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  32. ↑ Graham, Jefferson. "Apple's favorite app of the year wants you to unplug". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  33. ↑ Calm Sleep Story - SNL , retrieved 2023-12-02
  34. ↑ Nordstrom, Leigh (2018-03-20). "The Salonniere Names America's 100 Best Party Hosts". WWD. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  35. ↑ Wilder, Shelby (2020-11-24). "A Homey Party House in SoHo". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  36. ↑ Ennis, Suzanne (March 6, 2019). "Clothes-Minded". San Francisco Magazine.
  37. ↑ "Marni Jameson: Salons offer ways to open homes and minds". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  38. ↑ "It's Time to Bring Back the Experience of the Salon. Here's How to Do It". Veranda. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  39. ↑ "Smarty Party (Published 2021)". 2021-08-28. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  40. ↑ McCarthy, Michael (August 16, 2021). "Welcome To The New Era Of Salons—Brought To You By Susan MacTavish Best".
  41. ↑ "Entertaining, Susan MacTavish Style". Toque. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  42. ↑ "How to Host the Ultimate Lavish Holiday Party". Sunset. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  43. ↑ "How a Burn Victim Reclaimed Her Life by Hosting Dinner Parties: 'I Needed People Around Me'". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  44. ↑ "Susie Skye - Modeling Portfolio of Susan MacTavish Best". Susie Skye - Modeling Portfolio of Susan MacTavish Best (in French). Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  45. ↑ "Grey Model Agency". www.greymodelagency.com. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.