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Susan MacTavish Best

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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]

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

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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

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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

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

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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]

References

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  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.
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