Bal Harbour

ho among us doesn't like to eavesdrop, or a least sneak into a conversation where someone important is talking? That's kind of what it's like to use Clubhouse, an audio-only app where you can pop into "rooms" where people are chatting about different subjects, from NFTs to fashion collabs to French bulldogs. Once in a room, you can simply listen, or you can raise your hand and partake. You can also start your own room, which makes you a moderator with the ability to invite people and control who speaks. "I was in a room the other day and Paris Hilton showed up," says publicist Daniel Bee. "She spoke eloquently and positioned herself in the NFT world with a bunch of good people. It's exactly like an online conference that we can all attend for free." Bee, an early adopter of the app, has pivoted his services to include connecting brands with entertainment influencers on social media, including Clubhouse. "Every legacy brand wants to get to their audience," he says. "Clubhouse might have a room of only 500 people, but it'll be the right 500 people. It's almost like narrowcasting as opposed to broadcasting." The app is the brainchild of two tech startup veterans, Paul Davidson and Rohan Seth. They didn't know each other when they both attended Stanford, but they later collaborated on Seth's non- profit, Lydian Accelerator, which is named for Seth's daughter, Lydia, and works to advance cures for children with genetic diseases. After bonding over the nonprofit, they knew they wanted to work together on a startup, but were hesitant to dive into the unpredictable social media landscape. As they pondered what problems their startup should solve, they kept coming back to the power of audio, particularly with the advent of AirPods. Though podcasts were wonderful, they were hard to produce, and Davidson and Seth were attracted to the sense of connection and interaction possible with live audio. "We kept coming back and saying, 'How do you fix that?'" said Davidson recently on NPR's How I Built This with Guy Raz. "And we eventually said, 'Dammit we have to build a social app again.'" From there things happened quickly. Clubhouse launched in March of 2020 with an invite-only policy, and took off among those in the know. It opened to everyone last July, and at press time, Clubhouse was seeing more than 600,000 rooms created each day. When I first logged onto the app, I didn't hunt for Paris Hilton, but I did wander the halls, as it were, peeking my head into panel discussions that I was not explicitly invited to. I felt a little sneaky. The first room was full of fashion insiders deep into the topic of luxury brands using NFTs and collaborating with musicians and streetwear designers to connect to a younger audience. They politely debated who's too big (Pharrell Williams) and who's just right (Tyler, the Creator). After that I couldn't resist dipping into a room about why men cheat on good women. When a man complained that women can't handle the idea of a threesome with their best friend, the room did not stay quiet, but the debate was remarkably civil. I moved on to a chat on sustainability leadership. Everyone seemed smarter than me, which gave me a sense of hope. The largest room I encountered that day had a whopping 740 listeners, attracted, it seemed, by a famous business coach. Talk flowed to vaccines. Marketeers name dropped their miracle cures; business coaches pontificated about immunology; a chiropractor made an absolutely loony anti-vax claim. No one questioned him. The moderator praised the room for being a "safe space." I hit the "leave quietly" button. In need of a mood boost, I perused my options, found the room devoted to French bulldogs, and headed in. Problem solved. You're Not Alone By Bi l l Kea rney THE CLUBHOUSE APP MAY OR MAY NOT HELP YOU FIND LIKE - MINDED PEOPLE, BUT AT LEAST IT'S ENTERTAINING. 220 BAL HARBOUR ILLUSTRATION BY AMALIA RESTREPO

• Cover