😔 How is this still a thing?

Plus: A man got 217 covid shots for no reason, steel yourself for the "kitchen shower," a baby sloth, and more. View Online Well, it was a fun 27-year run: The Philadelphia Phillies have put a stop to their beloved long-running $1 hot dog promotion. Once a morale lift for fans freezing their (sorry) buns off during dreary April games, last year saw the hot dogs themselves get a lift — through the air and onto the field — and that's how (sorry again) relished traditions go away. In today's email: Don't: At your next conference, kindly don't be a shithead. Eclipse economy: Path of totality = bath of prosperity. Weird week: A new kind of raincheck, Zuck's shirt, and more. Around the web: Big auto fails, encouragement tips, a wee sloth, and more. 👇 Listen: SXSW kicks off today and we're chatting with Hugh Forrest, the festival's chief programming officer, about its expansion and its future. The Big Idea Professional conferences are full of harassment Harassment runs rampant at professional conferences. Women in legal tech are speaking out. 2024-03-08T00:00:00Z Juliet Bennett Rylah A wave of #MeToo stories about abusive behavior at professional conferences has swept across LinkedIn. The accusations center around a legal tech conference, and began with an alarming incident that took place in January at Legalweek in NYC, per NPR. What happened? Shimmy Messing, co-founder of SaaS company Altorney, posted on LinkedIn about how he had been at a bar near the conference hotel with friends, including Stefanie Bier, director of security platform experience at Microsoft. Messing said a man began aggressively hitting on Bier, wouldn't listen when she told him to stop, and threatened Messing with a knife when he intervened. The man, Robert Cruz, was later arrested and fired from Reveal, the tech company he worked at. Reveal also noted he was not an official attendee of the conference. Then… … several other legal tech employees began detailing harassment and assault they'd also endured during Legalweek and other legal tech conferences, both at official and outside events. And then there came other stories from other conferences. Deeanna Fleener, a VP at Deloitte, shared several. But it's not just legal tech… … nor is it new. Other women have been talking about conference harassment for years, spanning industries including financial services, science, and tech — where 39% of women keynote speakers reported some kind of harassment. Another woman noted it didn't just happen surrounding conferences, but at business meals, meetings, and even over social media. What can be done? Apart from everyone just behaving? Some have suggested limiting alcohol, increasing security, and revamping behavior policies. Legalweek's organizers, ALM, have since issued a statement saying they condemn such behavior and will take steps to prevent it, including building an app where attendees can anonymously report incidents. And if you see something, don't be shy. In an interview with Harvard Business Review, employment attorney Asha Santos, who specializes in bystander training, said research shows a "helping effect" occurs when one person speaks out, prompting others to join in. Free Resource Make slideshow videos in minutes with AI Thanks to our Clip Creator team, storytelling on socials from scratch is easier than ever. Make eye-catching explainer videos for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Stories, and more. It's fast, magical, and actually simple. Just log in with your name and email to: CREATE. Describe what images you want in the clip. STYLIZE. Choose from pre-built templates with different layouts. EDIT. Change copy, colors, and images with the in-app editor. (It feels like Google Slides, and even lets you add your own pictures.) SHARE. Download the video and post it where you please. Bam. You're finished. No credit card needed, no watermarks included. Design snappy snippets for your business — and do it for free. Ship more shorts → TRENDING If you haven't seen the "kitchen shower" apartment yet, be grateful — it's a train wreck, even by New York City rental market standards. The strange studio's layout, with an unfinished, doorless shower space cozied up right next to the fridge, went viral this week. The kicker: the Nolita unit's $3.5k-per-month rent. SNIPPETS A Google software engineer was charged with stealing AI trade secrets after uploading 500+ confidential files to his personal Cloud account and sharing them with two government-affiliated Chinese tech companies. Not great: Americans lost a record $12.5B on online scams in 2023 — and that just covers the cases reported to the FBI. That's $2B more than 2022's total, with an increase in crypto investment schemes driving the jump. New combo meal? Taco Bell and KFC, Auntie Anne's and Cinnabon… Applebee's and IHOP? Maybe. Parent company Dine Brands Global said it's considering the joint venture after closing 46 Applebee's locations in 2023 and opening 33 new IHOPs. Amazon Prime released a trailer for "Fallout," the apocalyptic TV series based on the popular video game franchise, debuting in April. Netflix picked up its third live sporting event; it'll stream a boxing match between Mike Tyson and YouTuber Jake Paul on July 20. Robinhood is teaming up with Klutch Sports Group — a firm led by Rich Paul, LeBron James' agent. The partnership, which includes Paul joining Robinhood as a strategic advisor, comes as the financial company looks to enter the sports entertainment space. What year is it? Abercrombie & Fitch reported a 16% bump in sales last year, after shifting its focus to serving women in their 20s and 30s. Its stock price is up ~400% over the last 12 months. Finally, their in-store models can afford to put on shirts. Colossal Biosciences said it's getting closer to resurrecting the woolly mammoth, successfully creating elephant stem cells that can be reprogrammed to make different cells. Don't miss this... A year after partnering with OpenAI, buy now, pay later app Klarna released stunning numbers for its AI customer service assistant. What does this mean for their human agents? Chart Olivia Heller This year's solar eclipse is leaving a path of profits in its shadow An influx of tourists is stimulating local economies across the country. 2024-03-08T00:00:00Z Sara Friedman We're exactly one month out from the total solar eclipse on April 8 that will blanket North America — the last of its kind until 2044. And the sun is taking a page out of Taylor Swift's book, causing big economic ripples in small towns. The 10 cities along the path of totality (i.e., where you can see a total eclipse) are experiencing tourism surges. This happened back in 2017 during the last total eclipse: South Carolina saw 793k out-of-state visitors spend $269m, and Wyoming welcomed 473k tourists who spent $167m. April's planetary event is shaping up to be even bigger: Between 931k and 3.72m people could travel to the path of totality on eclipse day, according to GreatAmericanEclipse.com's data model. All those travelers could mean total spending between $321m and $1.28B. Kayak has seen hotel searches increase 15x for the dates around April 8 compared to the year prior, and flight searches are up 304%. In Mazatlan, Mexico — one of the cities along the path of totality that is most likely to have favorable viewing conditions — demand for flights is up 950%+ YoY. Delta even added a second special eclipse flight from Dallas to Detroit after its Austin-to-Detroit flight sold out. Eclipse economy While visitors spending money and stimulating the local economy is certainly a good thing, the sudden rush of tourists is new for some small US cities. Little Rock, Arkansas, has a population of just ~200k+, but is expecting 100k+ eclipse visitors. In Preble County, Ohio, local businesses are introducing eclipse-themed products for the expected ~40k+ visitors — 2x the county's population. If you're in the path of totality, don't forget to wear your protective glasses. And if you can't stomach the price of a plane ticket, maybe some eclipse merch can soften the blow? Fit The Bill There are thousands of companies valued at $1B+. How many clues do you need to identify today's billion-dollar brand? Clue 1: Known as one of its industry's "Big Four," this conglomerate, through its dozens of agencies, serves other companies going through an identity crisis. Clue 2: In the late 1920s, its French founder said, "Advertising is a rotten business but one day I will wipe out the shame." Ain't happening, but gotta applaud his noble effort. Clue 3: Sure, it's a Paris-based company, but its various subsidiaries have birthed many pieces of Americana: Coca-Cola Santa Claus, the Marlboro Man, the Jolly Green Giant, and the Pillsbury Doughboy. 👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇 That was odd Weird Week: A vax superfan, a $25m+ catering gig, and a hotel that controls the weather (kinda) A look back at this week's wildest headlines. 2024-03-08T00:00:00Z Brad Wolverton This Singapore hotel tries to guarantee your vacation won't get rained out. Guests who lose two whole daylight hours to rain while visiting the InterContinental Singapore may be able to get reimbursed for that night's stay. The good weather guarantee is something the hotel's general manager described as "the next level of ultimate luxury travel," but they aren't running a charity here: The deal only applies to guests who've booked suites, which range from $633 to $3.3k+ per night, and the reimbursement comes in the form of a one-night voucher for the hotel that expires after six months. BTW: It rains 171 days per year, on average, in Singapore. A German man turned himself into a walking science experiment — deliberately getting 217 covid shots over 29 months — for seemingly no reason. At one point, he was flagged by the German Red Cross and detained by police under suspicion of selling vaccination credentials, though that ultimately wasn't the case; why he did it is still unclear. Researchers, who reached out to study the 62-year-old after reading about him in the news, say he could've stopped after the recommended three doses, finding no evidence that the additional shots made him more or less immune to the virus. Meanwhile, less than 25% of US adults have gotten even a single dose of the most recently recommended vaccine. Weddings are expensive affairs, but this one will probably take the cake. The son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani — CEO of Reliance Industries and the world's 11th-richest person — celebrated his wedding with three days of pre-wedding festivities. We dove into the absurdity of the lavish event on Monday, but some details that have trickled out since are juicy: The party's catering contract was worth $25m+ and involved 65 chefs; Rihanna's follow-up act was none other than magician David Blaine; and then there's party guest Mark Zuckerberg, who wore a ~$2k sequined shirt with a tiger embroidered on it, outshining the world's most basic green polo worn by fellow guest Bill Gates. The Ambanis' celebrations have already cost $150m+, and the actual wedding isn't until July. (World hunger, who?) AROUND THE WEB 📺 On this day: In 1993, MTV aired the first episode of "Beavis and Butt-Head." The show's creator, Mike Judge, would later create "King of the Hill" and co-create "Silicon Valley." 🚗 That's interesting: The biggest failures in automotive safety. 🗞️ Newsletter: Get tech, science, and culture news delivered to your inbox for free by signing up for Gizmodo's daily newsletter. 🧠 How to: get people at work to take advantage of available programs and opportunities. 🦥 Aww: Behold, a baby sloth. SHOWER THOUGHTS A gallon of gas is a similar price to a gallon of milk. SOURCE SOURCE A good average song length being between 3 and 5 minutes is something all of humanity collectively and silently agreed upon. SOURCE SOURCE Walking through a mall, almost everything you see is future garbage. SOURCE SOURCE There's no one at the DMV weighing or measuring people. SOURCE SOURCE When people live on the moon and Mars, they might develop a new accent. SOURCE SOURCE via Reddit SHARE THE HUSTLE Hey. Don't keep us a secret. Refer just 3 people and we'll send Hustle essentials as a thank you. Share this custom referral link: https://thehustle.co/join?ref=7598767985 Your referral count: 0 Today's Fit the Bill answer is Publicis Groupe (Market cap: $26.84B) Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah, Sara Friedman, and Singdhi Sokpo. Editing by: Ben "Makes the wurst hot dog puns" Berkley. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. PODCAST JOBS CONTACT US The Hustle, 2 Canal Park, Cambridge, MA 02141, US. Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and unsubscribe.