Sara Critchfield

Sara Critchfield Speaking Topics

• Divergent Thinking: How to Ask and Answer Questions That Shape the Future

  Drawing on her work at Upworthy, Sara Critchfield lays out how switching from tactical questions (how do I make this go viral?) to questions that solve humanity’s most pressing problems (what’s worthy of going viral?) will change the face of the news. The truth is that no media organization can "make" something viral without the audience's participation! In this talk, specifically geared toward college audiences, she shares her insights on virality, the future of media, and finding a meaningful career path. Why does important stuff get buried on the web? Why is it so hard to market good content? And how can you solve problems and make a difference in any organization? It’s all about divergent thinking, she says—a concept that is applicable to students entering any field. You have to ask bigger, better, and different questions than everyone else in your industry—then you have to figure out how to answer those questions. Critchfield equips students with the tools they need to ask, and answer, the questions that will lead them to a valuable and successful career.

• How To Intentionally Build A Kick-Ass Company Culture In A Virtual Workplace

  The difference between remote work (a physical headquarters coupled with satellite sites or telecommuters) and distributed work (an intentional workplace format where every employee from the CEO to the secretaries works virtually and is held accountable to building the virtual environment) is profound. As we move into the future, more and more companies are shifting away from physical workplaces into virtual workplaces. This has become one of the largest boosts to worker satisfaction and productivity and in the past century, but also calls for intentional planning to implement policies and practices that will translate the best methods from physical locations into the virtual space. When your entire staff is online and spread out across the country, how do you build morale? Encourage cross-team collaboration? Leverage serendipity? Communicate new information? Police ethics? Make people feel connected? Manage and/or surface emotions? What particular challenges do extroverts versus introverts face in a virtual environment? How can you tell if your staff is absorbing knowledge, feeling engaged, overworking or under working? All the tips and tricks straight from one of the country's premier virtual companies: Upworthy.

• The Human Algorithm: Why Social Media Optimization Is More Powerful Than Search Engine Optimization

  As of March 2013, social media surpassed search engines as the largest discovery source for news and information. That means SMO (social media optimization) will make or break your marketing strategy over the next few years. While SEO (search engine optimization) techniques made traffic predictable and steady (great for advertising-based revenue models), SMO techniques tend to rely on hit-based traffic and user engagement. In this talk, Sara Critchfield explains how Upworthy is pioneering a way to get traffic from social platforms that is just as predictable and stable as SEO-based traffic, by investing in human pattern discovery in conjunction with algorithmic pattern discovery—not just algorithms alone. Content creators and marketers need to know how to appeal to the people who have the power to hit the "share" button. By discovering the human algorithm, valuable information can be leveraged for better results, less marketplace vulnerability, and higher ROI.

  Formulating a theory of the human algorithm as it relates to your specific audience and product is essential for every company to do from scratch; it cannot be boiled down into a one-size-fits-all strategy. This customizable keynote breaks down this complex methodology and explains how to generate exponentially more traffic and conversions than a SEO strategy could ever provide alone. And, Critchfield dives into the practical how-to: effective social media marketing techniques; achieving virality through the three main ingredients in Upworthy’s success story—packaging, product, and distribution; and emotion-driven decision making that contextualizes big data and balances data-driven decision. This talk is an absolute must-hear for any company trying to get ahead of stagnant digital marketing strategies and make real inroads online.