A Dispatch From Covering the Met Gala on Social
Internet outages, Advil, and Zendaya: GQ's Associate Director of Social reports from the seafoam carpet.
Working the red carpet is one of the social media job responsibilities that I just know I wouldn’t be good at. (Yelling out to a celebrity and having them ignore me would unfortunately crush me.) But I am in awe of the many talented social media pros who do this often as part of their role!
For today’s newsletter, I asked Katie Philo, Associate Director of Social at GQ, to keep a diary of her long day covering the Met Gala for GQ social. Her hour-by-hour account (filled with lots of photos!) details the snacks she brought, the moment she lost cell service, what it was like interviewing Nicholas Galitzine, and more.
This was Katie’s second Met Gala. During her first Met Gala in 2023, she led the GQ social team’s social output for the night—which resulted in a whopping 39M video views. Read below as she takes us behind-the-scenes on the mossy carpet.
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A Day in the Life of Associate Director of Social at GQ Covering the Met Gala
1:15 p.m. I leave my apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with a bag full of the things listed in an iPhone note of everything I can’t afford to forget. This includes: Advil, water, microphone, phone, phone charger, extra charging pack, wallet, and snacks. Emphasis on snacks. After subsisting on one Babybel over the course of 10 hours last year, I was not taking any chances.
1:25 p.m. Feel like the most overdressed person on the subway. Anyone with red carpet access at the Met Gala is asked to wear black tie or formal attire.
As I rush up subway steps, I’m glad I decided against wearing white.
Laugh to myself thinking about how the Met Gala attendees will be arriving after hours of glam and fittings in cars, and I’m riding the G to the E to the 6.
2:00 p.m. The hour long press check-in starts but I’m in Sweetgreen inhaling a salad. One important lesson from the previous year is that there will not be time to eat. So, naturally, I ate a pile of leaves as I frantically keep up to date with Slacks, emails, and social feeds—while simultaneously trying to preserve my phone battery for a big night of content capture.
2:35 p.m. Finally arrive outside the Met after trying to get down a number of streets that were closed off. Knowing I was about to be on my feet and in heels for the next eight or so hours, I try to skirt around the barrier but am told nicely by a cop to walk three streets down.
When I join the press check-in queue, I bump into fellow social media comrades Bailey Malone Kircher (of New York Magazine and Vulture fame) and Jillian Selzer (of Teen Vogue fame). I met Bailey last year and it’s nice to see some familiar faces.
3:01 p.m. The crowds are starting to build outside. Note: this crowd’s screams become an essential barometer to the scale of celebrity arriving.
When they scream, a Kardashian has pulled up outside the Met and you clutch your iPhone even harder for that content.
The press check-in closes and a line of glamorous journalists, writers, social media producers, photographers, file into the belly of the Met.
3:06 p.m. We check-in inside and are given our “press credential” which has a number and letter on it. This signifies where you’ll be standing in the red carpet press pen. I’m 7S (south). There’s a buzz of excitement in the air as crews perch on benches, lean against walls, and carry their equipment through the building.
3:11 p.m. I find a seat next to Bailey and meet another social manager, Arianna Shooshani, who works at Highsnobiety. This is my moment to test the RØDE wireless microphone since I recently got a new iPhone.
Couldn’t be surrounded by a better group of people to troubleshoot with—us social media folk know all! A couple of mic checks later, and I’m confident this mic is red carpet ready.
4:08 p.m. The time has come! We’re making our way towards the red carpet. The staff read out our assignment numbers like we’re boarding a flight. I guess I was sitting near the front of the plane because I was called last.
When I walk onto the carpet for the first time, it’s covered in a sea of content gatherers who, of course, have to gather their OWN content.
4:11 p.m. I get a few obligatory carpet snaps with a cast of characters in the background, including this dog.
4:27 p.m. Everyone is ushered to their positions in the press pen. I spot Bailey across the carpet dutifully glued to her phone.
4:28 p.m. Mic, check. Phone, check.
4:31 p.m. Check-in with the brilliant GQ social team working remotely on the “Met Gala 2024” text thread we started for the occasion and confirm that everyone can access the shared album I’ll upload video to.
Our Associate Social Manager, Carolina Gonzalez, Senior Manager of Audience Development, Alex Wedel, and Executive Global Director of Audience Development, Stephanie Williams, were all on the other end receiving my content and publishing to the masses.
The team are working in lockstep with the GQ editorial team to promote the pieces that go live online, and there’s so much synergy and knowledge-sharing in the lead up to and on the night. This is part of what makes it so fun!
4:39 p.m. We’re still waiting for the first arrivals to start trickling in, so of course there are a few more content opportunities for your on-duty social media managers.
Here’s a cute polaroid of various social managers from The Cut, Highsnobiety, Vanity Fair, Billboard, TikTok, and more. We were about to spend five hours together, so you naturally become fast friends.
5:00 p.m. I named this the “equipment hedge” because it was incredibly useful for storing microphones, phones, battery chargers, and the like.
5:02 p.m. Anna Wintour arrives and the Met Gala 2024 has officially begun. The co-chairs are usually in the first wave of guests, since they form a part of a committee ensuring the night’s success.
The only way I can describe the experience is: loud. People are shouting to celebs as they arrive. I sound the alarm on the text thread and thumbs are poised on phone and laptop keyboards.
5:15 p.m. Co-chair Chris Hemsworth becomes our inaugural piece of GQ content for the night. I capture a sequence of him posing with his wife—decked out in Tom Ford.
We prioritize publishing on TikTok and Instagram, the two principal platforms for engagement and video.
We had a record breaking year for video views the year prior, boosting them by 2000% YoY. So in 2024, we want to increase our output again. This includes a mixture of red carpet interviews, arrival footage, red carpet moments and images.
5:44 p.m. Queen Zendaya arrives. It’s dramatic. It’s perfect. She’s serving. It’s prime #content for both Instagram and TikTok. Naturally, we added the Challengers soundtrack to the Reel.
6:08 p.m. Our very own Will Welch arrives and makes a beeline over to GQ! It’s always nice to see Will, Global Editorial Director of GQ, on the red carpet and I get a GQ Fit Check of him wearing a black velvet tux by Evan Kinori.
6:58 p.m. I interview the lovely Nicholas Galitzine who recognizes me after a number of past red carpet encounters.
Not every celeb stops for interviews, I’ve heard it can be an incredibly daunting experience since you arrive alone with no publicist in tow as they do with most other red carpets. While journalists scream the names of celebs they want to interview, it’s not always guaranteed they’ll stop and talk.
7:25 p.m. Ariana Grande hits the carpet and it feels like we’re at the peak of the arrivals. There’s a fast flow of celebs and this is when those “Met Gala” moments really start to happen. You know those unlikely pairings, chance encounters, banter-ful exchanges that burn their way across the internet like wildfire.
7:45 p.m. The internet was spotty for a good hour and my trusty shared album stopped updating. I try to send content via iMessage. Still not working. Trust me, this is a stressful experience for any social manager who’s trying to get content out fast.
7:56 p.m. Kim Kardashian and Lana Del Rey are engrossed in conversation, so of course, I capture it. I text the crew to let them know of this “Met Gala Moment”.
We stay in constant communication throughout the night, and prioritize content based on who GQ has covered in the past and who we know our audience is excited to see.
8:20 p.m. Another Met Gala “moment”: Barry Keoghan being asked what he thinks of “Espresso” (“amazing”) and Sabrina arriving very soon after (cue this very cute moment).
8:29 p.m. Another fun carpet encounter between Shakira and Cardi B. The world can only wonder what they’re talking about. (How to walk up stairs in their dresses perhaps?) People at home see all the photos and high-res videos, but it’s these candid, human moments that give celebs are “just like us” that usually travel the furthest online.
9:01 p.m. Why wear one outfit when you can wear two? Co-chair Zendaya arrives in a second outfit for the night to close the carpet. Last year, we waited for Rihanna and A$AP Rocky to arrive until after 10 p.m.
We all collectively know this is the final piece of content we’ll be gathering tonight.
9:08 p.m. One final attempt to get a better picture on the carpet sans dog, albeit looking more disheveled than five hours prior.
9:26 p.m. Hop in an Uber home because my feet are throbbing and shoes must be taken off immediately (sorry to my Uber driver). Down a bottle of water because, despite planning, I once again did not eat or drink anything for the duration of the night.
I now realize that even if I had brought snacks last year, I would not have eaten them because I could turn away for one second and miss Bad Bunny arriving.
10:10 p.m. Arrive home. Immediately open up my laptop to join the crew on Slack.
They’ve done an amazing job publishing content throughout the night. Some of my favorite posts included this watch round-up, Talented Mr Ripley crossover, and this viral video of Stray Kids. Cut together one final video of Cardi B arriving for TikTok.
11:29 p.m. After one final hour-long push, we collectively decide to call it a night. There’s plenty more content to be published the next day. We’ve published a whopping 19 Instagram posts and made a list of priority posts for the next day, which include a Getting Ready with Barry Keoghan and 30 more videos—a variety of Getty slo-mo and iPhone footage we didn’t prioritize the night before.
11:59 p.m. One last scroll because I want to see how GQ’s content is performing and the internet never sleeps. And now, I really must.
Thanks so much for reading! A few quick things:
There are some great new jobs on the Link in Bio Job Board. This content creator position at Traeger sounds really cool. Also some great roles at The Met, Substack, FRONTLINE, Online Optimism, Cerebelly, Thesis, and more.
I talked to POLITICO about the TikTok ban! It’s a quick, informative 15-minute chat.
Speaking of TikTok, what’s up with their algorithm and why is it showing people viral videos from 2023?
It’s been amazing to see what comedian Erin Hattamer has done with project #PasstheHat. I encourage you all to check it out here. Awhile back I donated to Joe JaYYab, a creator from Gaza, so he and his family could evacuate. They made it to Egypt but are now raising money for his neighbor. You can join me in donating here.
Okay, that’s all. See you next week.
this was a really fun letter! i loved this play-by-play. and also reminds me that people who work in social should be paid 10x more for their labor, especially at events like these.
I got stressed just reading this timeline!