"Don't count the days, make the days count." Muhammad Ali

#WeGoAlong

Take Breaks in Between Riding Roller Coasters 

Here ye! Here ye! The next two weeks are about to be a roller coaster for the whole WGA crew and community. First things first, the boys will be having a little bit of a “warm up” this Saturday at Dragan Brewery in St.Catharines from 4pm-9pm. Beer pong, bean bag toss, axe throwing (they could be real or fake we won’t tell), food, drinks, drinks, and drinks. Did someone say drinks? Just a lot of water and herbal tea in order to curate the perfect vibe for the planned festivities.

Secondly, it has been months in the making but NASHVILLE is t-minus 5 days away baabbbyyyy. We are just going to leave it at that. Thirdly; the WGA club will be releasing May 18th. More details of what to expect will be in the upcoming newsletter and spread across socials - stay tuned.

Lastly, merch is still in the works. We received samples that I was less than enthusiastic about and we want to ensure every product we release is held to the highest standard. I anticipate late May/early June for the next release. 

That pretty much sums up the housekeeping so let’s get right to it.

#Trending

Will UGC reel in younger audiences?

Okay so I’m going to be honest. Our lovely Belinda who chooses the articles for me to write about put this here and two thoughts came to my head. 1) “Bush’s Beans” is a terrible name, and 2) people actually eat canned beans? I guess their $400 million annual revenue and 55 million pound production answers that question. 

So why are we talking about beans? The company has decided to call on creators to submit bean-themed content for a chance to have their video as a commercial. I am sure nothing sets the appeal for canned beans like a trending TikTok sound backed by whatever the hell people come up with. Bush will be live streaming a riff of videos at the "Can" Film festival that occurs in May. 

Creators can enter the contest by posting a 15-30 second video about Bush’s Beans on Instagram or TikTok and tagging it #BushsCanFilmContest. The winning creator will receive $50,000 which if they spend correctly will score them 25,380 cans of beans. BRB bathroom break.

#Trailblazing

Snapchat's Augmented Reality Shopping Upgrade

Let’s put the Metaverse conversation aside for this week and hop into speaking on another form of technology: augmented reality (AR). Indeed, I did have to look up the spelling for that one. So, Snapchat has decided to dabble in the world of fashion and e-commerce. They are bringing their talents from quick pic communication right to your bedroom (pause).

What are they doing? Initial tests for a "catalog-powered" shopping lens with retailer Ulta Beauty and makeup brand MAC Cosmetics showed positive results for augmented reality lenses that brands can directly link to their product catalogs. Basically, retailers can link actual products to a Snapchat lens, allow consumers to test out the product in real time and click their way to a purchase. Personally, I think this is a smart move. People are already using filters so why not let them throw this in. Dating apps are screwed now. 

From the test they ran, Ulta generated $6 million in sales and more than 30 million product try-ons during a two-week period. MAC's shopping lens was tried on 1.3 million times, and the brand experienced a 17x lift in purchases among women. Instead of showing two-dimensional images of their products to Snapchat users, marketers now have tools to engage mobile shoppers with immersive content such as virtual try-ons of cosmetics. 

The goal is to bring mobile users deeper into the purchase funnel after they browse products, transitioning them from passive social media users to active shoppers and paying customers. Kudos to you Snap. I truly hope this works out better than the spectacles you released in 2016. 

Interesting fact here;  29% of people younger than 25 said they complete a purchase on a social network without leaving the mobile site or app at least weekly, compared with only 12% of people ages 45-54.

#Traveling

Nashville Nights

As I touched on in the Intro, I do want to dive deeper into why we are choosing to do 3 meetups over the course of the next two weeks. I truly mean this when I say, none of this is possible without the support of every single one of you. From engaging with videos and posts, to gift donations on live, to purchasing of merch, none of this is possible without you wonderful humans.

Also, we seriously have a f*cking blast. The few meetups we have done have been nothing short of fantastic. My only suggestion is this: if Alex insists on Jager Bombs,  just know you are in for one hell of a ride.

Here's where we'll be: 

April 9, 2022
4PM - 9PM
Dragan Brewing & Wine
100 Grantham Avenue South, Unit 1
St. Catherines, ON

April 13, 2022
4PM - 9PM
Honky Tonk Central
329 Broadway, Nashville, TN

April 15, 2022
4PM - 9PM
Honky Tonk Central
328 Broadway, Nashville, TN

#WeeklyTopPicks

We Go Along Top Picks

#WillWeaverSongOfTheWeek
Wild Blue - John Mayer

Well, well, well, here we are a week before the big trip to Nashville, which for me means a week til seeing my favourite artist ever, John Mayer. I feel somewhat like a 6 year old waiting for Christmas to approach lol. I cannot express my excitement to hear this song live. For lack of a better term… it’s just THE JAM. It’s been out for about 8 months now and still every time I listen to it, I can’t help but to just dance a tiny bit... even if I’m at the gym. The first solo is very tastefully “Dire Straightsy” and the second solo is just John being John and for that, I love it. The GROOVE makes you MOVE. Hope you enjoy it and have a great week.

#Flix
High School Musical 2  | 2007 | Musical

It’s summer break and the kids of East High are out for some fun in the sun. Unfortunately, they are all broke and must get jobs in order to be able to afford to enjoy themselves.

#Facts
Random fact of the week

You lose up to 30 percent of your taste buds during flight. This might explain why airplane food gets such a bad reputation. The elevation in an airplane can have a detrimental effect on our ability to taste things. According to a 2010 study conducted by Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, the dryness experienced at a high elevation as well as low pressure reduces the sensitivity of a person's taste buds to sweet and salty foods by about 30 percent.

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