Making the business case for curation 💼 Robyn Kerkhof, Blinkist

08/01/23 • 41 min

“Back in the day, curation was mostly a job in museums and art galleries. It took the Spotifys, Twitters and Netflixes of the world to really popularize curation as a valid business need. I’m proud to say that we were amongst the first ones to identify the business need for that discipline.” — Robyn Kerkhof, Blinkist

Curation has long moved out of the ivory tower of the art world. These days, anyone with taste and the will can be a curator. Sometimes curation is automated with a “human in the loop” providing oversight. Sometimes there’s no oversight at all.

However the sausage is made, the goal is usually to get the right content to the right person at the right time. When you make connections like this, the results are powerful.

Robyn Kerkhof, the Director of Content Discovery at Blinkist, knew that a curation function could impact her company’s bottom line, so she made the case for it internally. How did she do it? How did she measure success? And what did she learn along the way?

Other highlights, inspiration and key learnings:

The art of curation at Blinkist
Mixing AI and human talents
Balancing personal taste when curating for a brand
The qualities of the most effective curators
Robyn’s culture picks

👋 Say "hi" to Robyn.
🔎 Browse the companion Storyboard to get the episode, plus Robyn’s own favorite culture picks.
➕ This podcast was created by Flipboard, the world’s first social magazine, where enthusiasts are curating stories they recommend across thousands of interests. Learn more

However the sausage is made, the goal is usually to get the right content to the right person at the right time. When you make connections like this, the results are powerful.

Other highlights, inspiration and key learnings:

The art of curation at Blinkist
Mixing AI and human talents
Balancing personal taste when curating for a brand
The qualities of the most effective curators
Robyn’s culture picks

Previous Episode

Boosting art and photography 🖌 Sabine Stoye, Mastodon

“The problem is more to find what one wants to curate because, well, you have to find your way...[Mastodon] is a great place because you have incredible choice and a rich and creative crowd out there.” — Sabine Stoye, Mastodon art and photography curator

You may have heard about a Twitter alternative called Mastodon. The service is a decentralized social network made up of independent servers organized around specific themes, topics or interests. It’s one of the largest platforms in the Fediverse — a space that Flipboard cares deeply about and sees as pivotal to the future of social media.

What’s it like being a curator in this new world? Ask @ViewFinderCurator, aka Sabine Stoye. A linguist with a passion for the arts, Sabine shares why she’s made her curatorial home on Mastodon and what she looks for when boosting artists and photographers on the platform.

Other highlights, inspiration and key learnings:

The Fediverse, explained
How she thinks about curating on Mastodon
Juggling identities as a curator
Why the Fediverse is a good place for curators
Sabine’s culture picks

👋 Say "hi" to Sabine.
🔎 Browse the companion Storyboard to get the episode, plus Sabine’s own favorite newsletters and his curated picks.
➕ This podcast was created by Flipboard, the world’s first social magazine, where enthusiasts are curating stories they recommend across thousands of interests. Learn more.

Next Episode

Elevating writers and newsletters 📝 Hannah Ray, Substack

“Good writing is simple writing. I think that goes for the curation part, as well. I will try and strip myself from the equation as much as possible. You’re like a spider with your tentacles out everywhere, looking and pulling in things from different reader recommendations, dashboards and things you know about the company, and trying to spin it into something really interesting.” — Hannah Ray, Substack

The firehose of great things to read has only become more overwhelming since Substack came on the scene in 2017. The platform is home to so many excellent newsletters on topics like the history behind today’s politics, inspiring images and ideas, music and culture, and even beloved pets. As of May 2023, Axios reported over 17,000 writers earning money there, with the top 10 making more than $25 million annually.

With so many editorial options, it’s helpful to have a guide to help you find the worthy stuff. Inside of Substack, that’s Hannah Ray, Storytelling Lead. Hannah’s job is to find and elevate amazing writers, especially the ones who might not naturally toot their own horns. Hannah brings experience from The Guardian and Instagram to the role.

Other highlights, inspiration and key learnings from the conversation:

How Hannah approaches curating newsletters for Substack
Tools she uses to discover writers
Her advice for how writers can grow and get featured
Curation guardrails at Substack
Why having an editorial background can serve in-house curators

👋 Say "hi" to Hannah.
🔎 Browse the companion Storyboard to get the episode, plus Hannah’s own favorite culture picks.
➕ This podcast was created by Flipboard, the world’s first social magazine, where enthusiasts are curating stories they recommend across thousands of interests. Learn more.