#micro blurbs for the win

[twistedstack]

Coming back here to micro blog about random interest.

[cisthoughtcrime]

Ok, more seriously, here's some actual advice:

THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT: For argumentative writing, always keep this progression in mind: Claim ➡️ Evidence ➡️ Analysis ➡️ Significance. You've probably heard some version of "say what you're going to say, say it, then say what you've said" but I've now read enough bad undergraduate essays to know that many people misinterpret this advice and just say the same thing three times. What you really should be doing is saying what you're going to prove (Claim), providing proof of your claim (Evidence), spelling out what that evidence means in the context of your claim (Analysis), and then explaining how that proves your claim and what it means for the larger point you're making (Significance). This pattern should guide your writing on both a micro and macro scale: in an essay or dissertation, each section (micro) should make a Claim and support it like this using all four of these steps, such that all these little claims can then be used as Evidence to support your thesis/central argument (your macro Claim) in your conclusion (your macro Significance). Since your thesis/central argument is your Claim, make sure you state it clearly and early!

Before you start writing:

Don't start with a Claim and then go hunting for Evidence to support it. Instead, start by looking at the Evidence and drawing your own conclusions about what it all means. This usually involves realising that you have unanswered questions and that your Evidence is missing some puzzle pieces, so you do more research to get as complete a picture as you can. Once you think you understand what the Evidence means, write out your interpretation of it as a Claim: this becomes your central thesis, the thing you're trying to prove in every sentence of your writing. Yes, I do mean every sentence. Don't waffle, don't bother with frilly filler, don't think you need to cushion your points in soft pap. When you recap or give summary, you're only giving whatever context is necessary to prove your point.

Once you have your Thesis Claim, break it down into the little Claims that convinced you of your thesis in the first place. What are the points you need to make before someone else buys your perspective? I like to think of persuasive writing as getting to write down your mid-shower devastating winning argument against an imaginary hater where no one can interrupt and you say everything perfectly. To do this well, identify your little Claims and what Evidence supports each of them. If you want a good grade, anticipate counterarguments and prepare Evidence to defend against them too. My pro tip is using the margin notes in Word to annotate each bit of Evidence with reminders to myself about how it fits into the larger point and how I plan to analyse it.

Always do at least a rough outline before you start writing! A strong argument is always clearly-structured. Don't be afraid to signpost clearly to your reader by explicitly stating each little Claim and why it matters for your Thesis Claim. It may feel stilted at first, but it will become more natural with practice and it will make your final draft stronger.

Writing

Like I said above, go through Claim ➡️ Evidence ➡️ Analysis ➡️ Significance. Caroline Criado-Perez's Invisible Women does this very well and clearly (although it's written for more of a general audience than an academic one), and I'd recommend looking to her text for good examples of implementing this pattern. The central Claim of the book is summarised in the blurb: "... in a world largely built for and by men, we are systematically ignoring half the population." She supports that thesis Claim by proving multiple smaller Claims; for two examples, the claim that the male body is treated as the default and the claim that this default is harmful to women. She provides copious statistical Evidence for each of these claims, offers her Analysis of the statistics, then explains what that means for women and the world we live in (Significance). Two important take-aways to add here: (1) her Thesis Claim is not actually as simple as the blurb makes it sound, but the one-sentence version of it boils it down to the bare essentials so that she can add nuance to the Claim with each round of additional Evidence. (2) The two example claims I picked illustrate how to built a cumulative argument; the second claim relies on the first claim being proven (you can't argue that a male default is harmful to women if you haven't first proven that there is a male default in the first place). As a high schooler or undergraduate, you're less likely to be expected to build a cumulative argument -- it takes time and a lot of forethought unless you're already experienced doing it, and even then it can still be one of the trickiest parts of planning your writing. If you're a STEM person, you can think of this whole pattern as the Arts equivalent of a mathematical proof. We don't have the fun short-hand and logic symbols (as much as I've wanted to put ∴ in my text to save a few words), but we build the logical support line by line in a similar spirit.

If you're writing and you feel like you've hit a dead end, it usually means you need to re-write the previous sentence. When you find yourself staring at the last sentence you've written, ask yourself "so what?" and then answer on the page. If I'm pausing my work, I like to save my document leaving a sentence incomplete where I left off. This way, as soon as I come back to working on it, I have a sentence I can complete immediately (feels like I've made instant progress) and if I don't remember where the sentence was going, that lets me know to refresh my memory on the course of my argument.

Avoid sweeping claims and generalisations unless you can provide evidence to defend it. If you haven't examined literally every single instance of something, don't make any claim about it with the words "all" or "every". If you have examined literally every single instance, then absolutely do use "all" or "every" and be sure to include that this is a comprehensive survey of the evidence and explain clearly why it matters that your claim is omnipresent.

Vary your sentence structure. If you have three sentences in a row that all start with "This means that..." you will contribute to your reader's drinking problem. If you find yourself doing this, you don't have to start over from scratch -- just chop up and reorganise the sentence you already have. The best results come when you organise your sentence so that a keyword relevant to the following sentence is closer to the end.

If you know what you need a sentence to say but the words just aren't coming to you, put some placeholder text and highlight it in red so you know to come back to it. This can help you maintain your writing momentum without having to pause and figure out how to say it perfectly. I can't tell you how many of my footnotes currently look exactly like "Though this argument is broadly applicable, special consideration for BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH." I'll come back to them later, but it's not worth interrupting my flow when I'm in the zone.

For introductions: I've heard teachers in the past describe a funnel on either end (introduce broadly then go specific, then take your specific conclusion and put it back into a broader context). I think it's well-meaning and sometimes useful advice, but it can also end up with an intro that starts off "When in the course of human events..." and is just uselessly vague. The introduction is where you provide the necessary context for your central claim. What question are you answering, why do they need answering, what ambiguity or mystery is there that creates a need to write anything? If I'm writing about the Lord of the Flies, I might start off by introducing a common interpretation of the story as being a commentary on mankind's inherently savage nature, then explain that the commentary is inherently biased by the context in which it was written and by the author's own experiences of the world, and then build to my thesis claim by suggesting that considering these factors as biases rather than ignoring them as neutral background can provide fruitful new insights into an already well-explored text (my thesis claim here would be the core theme of what those new insights are).

For conclusions: I think the funnel bit here is actually good advice, but only for the very end of your conclusion. Most of your conclusion is weaving together the little Claims you made in each section, treating them as Evidence now that you've proved them, and summarily Analysing them together to produce the grand conclusive Significance (the "so what?" of the whole paper, the nuanced version of your Thesis Claim). I recommend ending on a crisp, strong, conclusive sentence, though you could also end by putting your conclusions back into the context of what they add to your field of study (what have you done that's new? what does it mean for future work? how should this change the way we think about the topic?).

If you're rusty or inexperienced with this type of writing, you can practice using any argument you're passionate about. If your claim is "these two characters are in love", you can provide evidence (scenes with exchanged looks or touches, lines about one another), analysis (this line echoes a line previously said about a romantic partner, but is now applied to this other person), and significance (this implies a romantic undertone, which is strengthened by [further evidence]).

A particularly great method for practice is writing a structured argument against a batshit conspiracy theory. Arguing in a comments section doesn't count. I'm talking about actually reading through the conspiracists' claims, writing down every claim you need to fact check and every question those claims raise, doing research to find what reputable sources on the topic say, and using those sources as evidence to support your counter-claims.

The most valuable and educational writing assignment I ever had was from my high school English teacher, who told us each to read a non-fiction book we knew we would disagree with, and then write an essay addressing its claims. I chose Persecution: How Liberals are Waging War Against Christanity by David Limbaugh (which was, of course, horseshit) and I learned so, so much in the process of working to prove him wrong. Even ten years later, I really do think that was the single most influential writing assignment I've ever done. I highly recommend trying it.

I know this is a horrifically long post, so I'll cut it off here. If this is of interest to people, I'll happily answer more specific questions about this type of writing and I'll do my best to give examples.

Good luck and happy writing!

Please, do share with us your writing process. i'm returning to academia after years in the workforce and I'd like to learn to have a better relationship with my writing. reading what other are doing really help.

thanks for asking! here's my tried-and-true strictly regimented writing process broken down into easy to follow steps:

Procrastinate

Hate yourself while procrastinating

Think really hard about the things you're not doing

Progress-tinate (get shit done, but not the writing)

Organise all your research notes and group it thematically according to which bits of evidence best support which points

Call that good enough for the day and congratulate yourself on making good progress

Sit down to write and realise there's never been a better time to clean the oven while you put all the washcloths in the laundry

Have one random anxiety-fueled writing binge during which you draft 50-70% of what you're supposed to have done all in the course of 8-15hrs

Take a few days to recover while still feeling guilty but tricking yourself into thinking you're ahead

Shit out that last 30-50% in the final 24-48hrs before your deadline and only skim it all the way through once

Regret

Good luck!!

[lovecanyon]

please collab with @satanhalsey !!!!

INSTAGRAM BLURB

older!harry x y/n

collab with @satanhalsey

MASTERLIST | PATREON

-

liked by harryfan2, harryfan5 and 527,964 others

pagesix Pleasing’s CEO Harry Styles was seen in Italy with girlfriend Y/N L/N yesterday on what it seems to be a work trip. A close source tells us they both are going strong and don’t plan on breaking up anytime soon.

view all comments

harryfan7 what am i supposed to do with this information

harryfan3 SHE IS SO PRETTY

harryfan9 the age gap though…

harryfan6 it’s not your relationship so don’t worry about it

harryfan4 most likely they are aware of their age difference 😭

harryfan10 are you guys forgetting they are literal adults

harryfan12 i am jealous

harryfan14 already loving this couple

harryfan11 SHE’S ONE OF THE PLEASING MODELS OMG

harryfan13 y/n really won

harryfan15 harry bing cropped out of the photos is so funny

liked by harrystyles, yourinstagram and 1,702,466 others

pleasing Y/N L/N for Pleasing. Find your Pleasing.

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harryfan16 WHY IS SHE SO GORGEOUS

harryfan18 i don’t know if i wanna be her or be with her

harrystyles My pretty girl.

yourinstagram i love you h!

harryfan17 i hate my life

harryfan19 no but they are really cute 😭

niallhoran i’ve been waiting for this moment

harryfan21 y/n dating harry AND being a model for pleasing is really slay

annetwist so beautiful! 🤍

harryfan23 i am so obsessed with her

gemmastyles a true goddess

harryfan25 going feral

liked by harrystyles, annetwist and 3,840,712 others

yourinstagram a table for two! 🍝

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harryfan20 SHUT UP

harryfan22 i. love. them. together.

harrystyles Me, you and Italy is truly the best thing ever.

yourinstagram i seriously adore you, my love

harryfan26 i just want what they have

harryfan28 congratulations 😭

zayn lovebirds

harryfan30 feeling jealous

louist91 have fun children!

harryfan27 this relationship brings me so much joy

gemmastyles keep on sending me photos of you two! 💕

harryfan29 harry and y/n are just that couple

liked by yourinstagram, zayn and 4,906,128 others

harrystyles The love of my life.

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harryfan31 this has me sobbing

harryfan33 it’s such a flex to say you’re dating harry styles

yourinstagram i love you h!!!

harrystyles Well I love you more baby.

harryfan36 sleeping on the highway tonight

harryfan38 they are perfectly made for each other 😭

gemmastyles the cutest couple ever! 🤍🤍

harryfan32 y/n really is the one then

niallhoran i thought i was the love of your life?

harryfan34 she’s so cute

annetwist a true beauty!!

harryfan35 this post has me violently crying

liked by harryfan42, harryfan44 and 729,309 others

voguemagazine Couple Harry Styles and Y/N L/N both attended Pleasing’s launch party for their new micro collection yesterday.

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harryfan40 they are the moment

harryfan43 I CAN’T ANYMORE 😭

harryfan45 enough

harryfan47 i actually love them omg

harryfan49 they literally ate so bad

harryfan41 and when i jump off a cliff???

harryfan46 i’m sorry but harry and y/n are just so hot together

harryfan48 RIGHT

harryfan50 y/n is gods favorite

harryfan52 i want the both of them

harryfan54 she wins at everything

harrystyles via instagram stories

yourinstagram via instagram stories

-

tag list: @harrysmatcha @harryspinkpillow @helen-with-an-a @florencepughily @peterparkerbae @toji-dabi-wife @fallonx @drphilssoulmate @cherriesrae @alienorknight @valluvsu @ivegotparticulartaste @ayeshathestyles @hazgoldenstyles @eiffelmezarry @tsukishimawhore @renatavieira @michellekstyles @eleanordaisy @shawnsblue @academiaghosts @japanchrry @agustdpeach @hannahnikohl @whoscamila @ch3rryrry @msolbesg @newyorker14 @futuristicpalacegardenpsychic @youusunshineyoutemptress @eunoiamaa @kaitieskidmore1 @cherryfragrancx @ssuziess @milkiane @golden-hoax @flwrmuse @sunshinemendes8 @your--sweetest--downfall @melllinaa @iluvjj @tenaciousperfectionunknown @cashtons-wife @stellarossii @scenesofobx @manifestrry

[tommydarlings]

Jarley Quinn ↬ t.h

A/N: Wow, one of the longest things i ever wrote! got this idea after i watched the joker and Harley Quinn birds of prey and i thought it would be nice to write it... I hope this doesn´t flop, sorry if it´s crap. anyway, enjoy! :) ily,liz <3 

pairing: Tom Holland x reader 

warnings: violent actions, mentions of nearly blowjob?, swearing

w/c: 1.8k 

Requests: OPEN

Summary: Your win an Oscar for your amazing role as Harley Quinn´s and Joker´s daughter, but you didn´t knew that Tom Holland aka your role model would be there too. 

this handwriting = actions and dialogues in the movie

masterlist || taglist || requests || blurb event

„Guys, i think that i´m gonna pass out“ Tom said as they all took their seats in the huge hall.

„Calm down Tom, it´s okay, your gonna win this“ Harry told his brother.

Today was the day.  Today were the oscars. And Tom got nominated for the best leading role in an action / psycho / R rated movie. Cherry.

And the best thing is, when he should win the oscar, then their gonna show cherry on a huge screen in the hall. That´s sick.

Leonarde Dicaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and a lot of other amazing and unbelievable good actors are gonna see his movie then. Sounds like a dream to him.

„Thomas, son, it´s fine, we all believe in you! Your performance in Cherry was amazing and even the Russo Brothers said that it was an oscar worthy performance! Find someone to beat that!“ His mother, Nikki, said to her son with a small laugh.

Just when Tom wanted to answer, the Russo brothers came and both sat down next to Tom.

„Hello, guys!“ Anthony said.

„Hello, how are you?“ Dominic asked them.

„Were good, and excited“ Joe told Dom.

„And i´m fucking nervous“ Tom whisperd.

„Hey, hey, it´s okay to be nervous. Your gonna win this, your gonna rock your speech and in the end everyone will clap for your performance after they all saw the movie!“ Anthony told tom.

Tom could only nod before a man came on the stage and started to talk,

„Hello Ladies and Gentleman! I hope you all feel well and excited!“

The man went on with his speech and after about 15 minutes talking about some random stuff, he finally said the words that the entire hall craved for.

„And now i´m gonna announce the winner for the oscar in the category action / psycho / R rated movie…“

Tom was shaking, Nikki and dominic prayed for their son and Tom´s brothers tried to calm him down a little bit.

„Calm down“ Joe whisperd to Tom.

„I c-can´t“ he stuttered quietly.

The whole hall was so silent, it was creepy.

„Y/N Y/L/N!“ the man on the stage said into the micro.

Tom had his head hung low after his name wasn´t said.

Everyone started to clap, but when they saw who came on the stage, everyone looked very confused.

„What the-„ Tom said.

A young women, maybe about 21 – 22 years came on the stage with a beautiful suit on her body.

 „Hold on, is this the wrong catergory?“ Tom said.

„No, it´s the action / psycho / R rated movie category“ Anthony answerd.

„How can she-„ before Tom could finish his sentence, you started to speak,

„Hello Ladies and Gentleman, omg i can´t belive this, sorry, I won´t steal your time, i just want to thank the cast of this amazing movie and my family and friends who support me since we started filming this masterpiece. Thank you so much and enjoy the rest of the night, love you“ you finished.

„And now, let´s watch the amazing movie of the oscar winner! Jarley Quinn!“ the man said with a huge grin into the mic.

„Jarley Quinn? Isn´t it Joker?“ Harry said.

„Or Harley Quinn?“ Sam said.

„Boys, let´s just watch it“ Nikki told her son´s.

They said a quick and quiet ´okay, sorry´ before the movie began.

Jarley Quinn was written in thick and big letters on the screen, then you appeared onto the huge screen.

You stood infront of a mirror and looked at your reflection in the mirror infront of you. You took each side of your mouth with your fingers and spread them into a big smile before you let me fall and started to cry, tears were running down your cheeks as you still looked into the mirror where you could saw your painted face and green dyed hair. You always painted yourself just like your father and mother did. And the hair were another thing you got from your father. It was funny and interesting.

After this little opening, you went to two graves with the names Joker and Harley Quinn written on them.

„So that are her parents“ Tom whisperd to himself.

„Obviosly“ Harry huffed.

„I´m so sorry mamma and daddy, i´m gonna make you proud and i´m gonna make the entire world remember your name, and my name i swear“ you said.

And then, then the scenes came where everyone understood why you got the oscar in the first place. Even the Russo brothers were impressed.

„Fuck“ you whisperd to yourself as you saw that you need money for the pills you were fucking addicted to. You don´t even need all these pills, but you basically craved them with passion.

„Not again, please not fucking again“ you yelled through your apartment as you tried to find some money anywhere in the living room or kitchen. You even looked in the bathroom.

„Well, i don´t have another option, so“ you said to yourself in a slightly bitchy way.

You grapped your weapon and put it into your weapon holder that was covered up by your red suit jacked from your father.

Just a few minutes later you stood with a bag full of money, a weapon in your other Hand and huge smile on your face that is covered in the iconic Joker makeup in the middle of the bank while every single person around was on their knees and begged for their lifes.

„I won´t hurt anyone, i swear okay? I just wanted the money, but before i leave, i would like to say something, of course if i´m allowed to“ you said.

The bank women nodded quickly with her head before you said your last sentence,

„You look so good on your knees, just like i did yesterday“ you said with an amused laugh before you shot the person that was kneeling infront of you right between their eyes.

You laughed hysterically while you ran out of the bank with the bag and your beautiful weapon.

„Oh m-my g-good“ Nikki whisperd to herself with an shooked expression on her face.

„I mean, that was sick, but it was good“ Anthony said.

„That´s right“ Joe agreed.

„How has she done that with so much ease?!“ Tom whisper – screamed at himself.

After you swallowed your pills, you decieded to go into the club and have a good time, well at least you wanted to have a good time.

The second you stepped into the club, people went silent and didn´t dared to move. But you didn´t liked it.

„What? C´mon, go ahead with your talking about whatever you were talking about! I won´t stop you!“ you laughed.

You really weren´t here to stop anyone, so you just orderd a drink and looked through the club. You stopped your gaze at one specific couch in the corner of the club, a man, trying to rape a poor little young girl.

„Let´s have some fun“ you whisperd to yourself before you took a huge sip from your martini and walked to the scene.

„Can i help you?“ The man asked as he saw you standing infront of him while he held the poor girl in a tight grip on his lap.

„No, but can i help you, little girl?“

„N-no“ she stuttered.

„Okay“ you shrugged before you walked away.

Hold on, let me correct, about to walk away.

You punched him with your fist right on his nose.

„Ow! What the f-„ before he could finish his sentence, you grapped your weapon and hit his temple with it.

He fell unconscious onto the floor and you laughed again in a quiet creppy way before the girl ran into your arms.

„Woah, woah,woah, i only saved you from getting raped, not more“ you said.

„You saved my life, thank you“ the girl said.

„No, i saved your virginity“ you said before you removed yourself from her grip and went to the exit. Before you could exit the loud and sweaty club, a young but confidence looking men grapped your wrist.

„Hello beauty“ he growled.

„Hello, with what can i help you mister?“ you said with a smile on your face that was still full of the iconic makeup of your father.

„How about you help me with the little problem down there“ he said as he looked down to his own…crotch.

„Of course! Your house?“ you answerd with a little smirk.

„Mine“ he said before he dragged you into a car.

Just a few moments later, you were on your knees right infront of his naked figure while he sat comfortably on the couch.

„You gonna be daddy´s good girl?“ the man growled quietly.

You nodded with your head before you opened your mouth and stuck your tongue.

„Good“ he whisperd before he put his hand on the back of your head and directed your mouth to his dick.

But before he could get what he wanted, you pulled your dagger out from your dress pants and stabbed him in his… dick.

„Ohhhhh shit“ Tom hissed while he lightly held his crotch with his hands.

„Fuuuuuck, i know this isn´t real, but that fucking hurt“ Harry said.

„Okay, wow“ Anthony whisperd.

„OW FUCK, YOU LITTLE SLUT!“ the man yelled in pain.

You just started to laugh hysterically again and grapped your lighter, plus a tiny Matchstick from the pocket of your suit jacket.

„Hold on, wha- what the fuck a-are y-you doing, NO AHHH-!“ the man yelled before you lit the matchstick with fire and threw it on his naked body.

You still didn´t stopped laughing in this creppy and loud way as you walked out of the house with a cigarette between your red painted lips.

The next few scenes were violent, brutal, sexual and absolutely disgusting, but at the same time… definitely oscar worthy.

„Okay, that was unbelievable“ Harry said as the credits started to roll.

„You right, that was a true masterpiece“ Sam said with a tiny laugh.

„It w-was really g-good, yeah“ Tom said quietly.

After the movie ended, you got a lot of praises for your performance. Finally, The hollands and the russo brother´s found you and walked to you.

„That was amazing Miss Y/n!“ Anthony said.

„Oh please call me y/n, and thank you“

„Yeah, it was great“ Tom said quietly.

„Thank you so much- hold on, you are Nico walker from cherry right?“ you asked Tom.

„Yeah, you saw it?“ he asked.

„Of course! It was one of the best movies i ever saw!“

The two of you didn´t even noticed that Nikki, Dom, the twins, paddy and the russo brother´s already went as you went on with talking and praises.

„Would y-you maybe l-like to g-go out with me?“ Tom asked with an nervous voice.

„Of course!“ you asnwerd quickly.

„Really?!“

„Yeah, of course, i would actually love to Tommy“

The nickname melted his heart immerdiately.

„Okay, c-cool, uhm, can i have your number?“ Tom asked.

„Yes, here“

After they exchanged numbers, Tom went to his Family and the Russo brothers.

„And? How did it went?“ Harry asked with a little smirk.

„Got her number“  tom said proudly.

„No way! That´s amazing!“ Sam said.

„She is amazing“ tom said with smile.

He can´t wait to see you again.

-`ღ´- ᶫᵒᵛᵉᵧₒᵤ -`ღ´-

Taglist:

@goodgirlgonetom @majo240820 @misshale21 @itstaskeen @pure-ghost @justafangirlduh @elizabeth-brown @justafangirlduh​ @roseke​ 

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 2/5

Book Blurb: A jolting psychological suspense novel from an up-and-coming Chinese-Canadian crime writer about missing parents, a winning lottery ticket and the lies we tell ourselves in order to survive. Some things are better left forgotten . . . When a woman wakes up with amnesia beside a mountain highway, confused and alone, she fights to regain her identity, only to learn that her parents have disappeared—not long after her mother bought a winning $47 million lottery ticket. As her memories painfully resurface and the police uncover details of her parents’ mysterious disappearance, Cleo Li finds herself under increasing suspicion. Even with the unwavering support of her brother, she can’t quite reconcile her fears with reality or keep the harrowing nightmares at bay. As Cleo delves deeper for the truth, she cannot escape the nagging sense that maybe the person she should be afraid of...is herself. With jolting revelations and taut ambiguity, In the Dark We Forget vividly examines the complexities of family—and the lies we tell ourselves in order to survive.

Review:

Amnesia, a mystery, and missing family members. Cleo wakes up in the woods with injuries and no memory of what has happened to her. She soon discovers that  her parents are missing and that their disappearance isn’t as normal as she thought and it might be connected to her missing memory. Soon she finds herself trying to find out what happened to them and regain her memories. cleo isn’t exactly a likable character and you learn that she is a bit of a bitch as people in her life would describe her. The story also has a lot of social commentary and shows some of the micro-aggressions that Chinese-Canadians face as well as the way abuse and toxic family works. There was emotional and discussion on domestic abuse and trauma. The author weaves in experiences of BIPOC and members of the LGBTQ community. The thriller aspect was a bit slower for my liking and the mystery was okay and it definitely felt like more of a family based drama with a touch of forgotten identity. The ending felt ambiguous which I wish it had more of a solid ending.

*Thank you Harper360 for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[tessatechaitea]

Dark Nights: Batman the Drowned #1

I can't wait to find out how Bruce Wayne got such a fantastic pair of tits.

"This is my wish! And I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back!"

The explanation for Bruce Wayne having magnificent tits occurs in a brief Narration Box where Aquabat thinks, "The gender roles are reversed here." I used the word "explanation" incorrectly in the last sentence. By saying the gender roles are reversed, does he mean the people who are women on Earth-Negative-Guys-With-Awesome-Tits are men on Earth-Main-Earth? Does that explain why he's a woman named Bruce? Or is he a man but men on Earth-Negative-Guys-With-Awesome-Tits would be considered women on Earth-Main-Earth? Am I using the correct pronoun for Aquabat? I can't tell because is being a woman actually considered being a man from his Dark Earth? Is that what he means by the gender roles being reversed"? My boner is super confused right now! Oh! Everything becomes clear when the flashback happens and this is taking place on Earth-Negative-Eleven and also when I check back to the panel I scanned to see that Bruce Wayne is actually called Bryce Wayne. Is Bryce a non-gender specific name? Is any name, in this day and age, non-gender specific?! Down with parental labels that force a person (and others!) into seeing them as a specific gender! That's the fight we should be fighting! Also maybe the fight against circumcision. Can that be a major fight too? Hello? Anybody? Babies being mutilated here! Anyway, now I have a question. If the Batman on Earth-Main-Earth is the Batman that Barbatos is obsessed with, why are all these Dark Earths, created by Earth-Main-Earth Batman's dark thoughts, not versions of Earth-Main-Earth? Oh wait! I have an answer to my question! Because Batjoker is actually the Dark Version of Earth-Main-Earth Batman. He just happened to recruit other versions of Dark Multiverse Batman before coming to the main universe. So Aquabat wasn't created from a stray thought of Earth-Main-Earth Batman. She was created by a stray thought from gender bent Earth-11 Batman! Okay, everything is straight now! Oh, I didn't mean that to sound like a micro-aggression! I just meant everything was back to normal! Oh man. That was a micro-aggression too, wasn't it? I just reiterated my implication that straight is normal! Batwoman on Earth-Negative-Eleven decided to kill all the bad guys just like the Batperson on all the other negative Earths. Apparently that's Batman's constant dark thought on every world in which he exists. He just goes around thinking, "Why don't I just kill all of these assholes? Stupid Bat-Rules." On this world, he killed them all because they killed his lover Catman. Not that Catman! Differently gendered Selina Kyle! His name was Sylvester Kyle and my boner is disappointed that Catwoman had to get the gender bent treatment. I want to see Bryce and Selina make out. And yes that means I want to co-opt their lesbianism for my own heterosexual turn-ons! We can't all be saints!

Is the trident regarded as a phallic weapon or am I picturing dicks incorrectly?

I know I have a lot of fun attacking bad writers and artists in a hyperbolic way but whenever I hear Jim Lee give an interview, I feel bad about complaining about his scribbles all over the art he does. I genuinely like Jim Lee so much that it makes me hate myself for every time I critiqued a piece of his art that I didn't care for. Even though my hyperbolic rants are meant to be taken as the over-the-top ridiculous rantings of a rabid comic book fan, I know many people take this shit seriously instead of absorbing the whimsical feeling I have while while writing it. And since I like Jim Lee so much, I have to confront the fact that I might even like Scott Lobdell or (God forbid!) Cullen Bunn! Maybe I should stop being so mean? I mean so directly mean! I can be indirectly mean by making fun of the comic book and specific pieces of art that I scan because there's something wrong with them (like the way every colorist always fucks up the stripes in the American flag)! What I'm trying to say is this: "Jim Lee, I love you and I wish you were my father." So Bryce transformed herself into Aquabat to defeat all of the Atlanteans on Earth-Negative-Eleven. You know the story from the past Dark Nights books. Batperson wins but still can't save the world. Batjoker arrives with the shuttle to Earth-Main-Earth. Everybody rides the train to funkytown. Earth-Main-Earth suffers horribly because the Justice League are terrible at saving the lives of people who don't get to be characters in the comic book. It seems it's okay to kill thousands of people nowadays and still finish the story with the idea that the good guys somehow won. Aquabat turns Mera into one of its drowned henchman and then Doctor Fate saves Aquaman. Couldn't he have gotten there a bit sooner and saved Mera too? Or just saved Mera, really. Nobody cares about Aquaman. Dark Nights: Batman the Drowned #1 Rating: Apparently I'm reading a different comic book than all of the comic book review sites on the Internet. According to the advertisement for Metal in this issue, other reviewers are saying embarrassing things like "Like a good guitar lick, it'll melt your face off." Who writes that and thinks it's clever? Worse, who reads that and thinks it's clever enough to be used as a review blurb?! Here's another good one because it shows they know all about the metal music genre: "Just hold on tight and ride the lightning." Since it's an Internet quote, I'm surprised they weren't asking us to ride the "lightening." It's as if these reviewers heard about the concept of this comic series and wrote their reviews on that! Because I agree with the review that said "one of the most viscerally exciting comics series to kick off this year." But I only agreed with it before I read all of these tie-in Dark Nights books! And I only agreed with it before I had to actually think about most of Scott Snyder's plot points! I mean, I still agree with it in that I love this kind of comic book shit! And I'll love it even when it's not as good as I was hoping it would be. It's just that I can't bring myself to laud something in this way simply because it gets the comic book nerd inside me erect. I expect the writing to give me that same visceral feeling! It's just that it never does. Especially these fucking Dark Knight Origin Stories that are all basically the same. I think to write the kind of glowing reviews that Internet comic book lovers write, I need to just read the comic book without writing about it, not think about it while I'm not writing about it, somehow maintain a boner through whatever means necessary while reading it (to, you know, keep my interest and keep some of the blood out of my brain), and then talk about it with a really stupid friend who can't get enough of all the comic books. Then maybe I'd walk away thinking, "That was fucking awesome!" It's also possible I'm simply dead inside.

[revivewisdom]

Leverage Your Strengths

Make a website unique with your strongest asset: YOU 😎👈

Hey, thanks for visiting the blog! Quick heads up — this is a micro-post in a long running series called Your Website Sucks — Let’s Fix That. If you find what’s written here useful, check it out!

Many folks prefer to hide behind business jargon and the anonymity of their brand. There’s certainly a place for this.

But for those struggling to to connect with their audience — don’t be afraid to show your face and communicate your story. Showcasing yourself is a chance to differentiate.

In practice, this can range from a full bio, a short blurb, or infusing yourself and your sensibilities into every part of your brand!

Need a better reason? You already know it — people like honesty, and they respond to authenticity. When you put at least a little of the personal side on display, it immediately sets you apart.

(This tip is one of the simplest, but most effective. Leveraging your strengths in any context is an easy win.)

If you’re a business, it’s often not just you. Your team is as important to customer success as your are. Any website that doesn’t spotlight them is missing out.

More importantly, putting you and your team out there communicates that you are real. Spotlight them — happiness attracts!

A simple example of how to showcase your team

Of course, don’t overthink this. You might not feel comfortable putting yourself out there. Take small steps, do what feels right, and perhaps revisit this later. There are other easy wins for your website if this is a big commitment.

At its core, putting yourself out there is about honesty. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not, even online.

I’ll end with a couple examples of how you might showcase yourself online:

Alexander Lam’s bio is his website. And it works!

Rob Walling’s homepage is short, to the point, and a great model for anyone’s bio.

Tim Ferris’s credentials are impressive, and his bio is a great model for those with an accomplished career.

Love what Ethan is doing with Kanbanmail. It’s honest and to the point.

Thanks for reading! Want to learn more? Subscribe to my personal newsletter:

https://medium.com/media/6684692494ad3cb7e3cde9870363d7c6/href

This series of articles is constantly evolving and always open to improvement. If you have any thoughts don’t hesitate to reach out. Feel free to drop me a note at me@jdlindsay.com

Need help with your website? Check out my portfolio, or give me a shout!

Cheers, 🍻

- Josh @kraahkan

Cover photo by Graham Holtshausen on Unsplash

from Stories by J.D. Lindsay on Medium https://ift.tt/2LuFtl6

[sevralships]

“Just Because You Can” Part 4 of 7, Chapters 12-16

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7 FIN]

The Pines triplets, Mabel, Dipper, and Jolene, have always been best friends. But lately, there’s been some distance growing between the Mystery Kids, due in part to the forbidden feelings with which they are each struggling. How will they manage to see eye to eye, when torn between wanting each other and craving adventure?

(This is a new AU that I’ve been calling Jolene AU, devised by myself and @handleonthescandal​ after one of us asked the question “What if Mabel and Dipper were triplets but with another sister?”. Although this AU is similar, it is not connected to Double Dippin’ AU, and Jolene is in no way connected to Tyrone.)

Shoutout to @sirwaddlesesquire for being the trustiest squire and an insightful, helpful, and supportive beta.

Mostly SFW, mostly angst with some action/adventure and a little bit of fluff, tw incest

Fic under the cut, enjoy!

Chapter 12: Mystery Twins

Exhausted and ashamed as Jo and Dipper had both been, it had turned out to be a lovely evening with their sister. Wet-haired from showering, they’d sat in the kitchen, gratefully eating the meal Mabel had cooked. Dad had been teaching her over the last year and she’d improved a lot. They’d eaten their food and then moved into the living room and curled up on the couch together. No sooner had they sat down than Jo had fallen asleep with her head on Dipper’s shoulder, snoring softly in his ear. Mabel had played the mom role and shooed them both up the stairs to bed while she cleaned up in the kitchen.

Dipper was bone-tired when he shut his bedroom door. His body ached from the day’s exertions and his bed looked wonderfully inviting. But there was something he had to do first. He turned on his bedside lamp and twisted it so it illuminated his bed brightly, and pulled the twisted blankets aside. He placed the scale from the lake gently on the bed and switched on the camera, quickly taking a few shots. It had been much more beautiful in the natural light, but the photos were adequate.

Almost on autopilot, he’d moved the photos from the camera to his laptop. He’d clicked the bookmark in his browser that took him to ‘mysterymonthlymag.com’ and eyed the featured daily headlines for a sec before clicking the ‘Explain the Unexplained! Contest Submissions’ link. He attached two images of Tessie and one of her scale, an picture Mabel had taken of he and Jo before their search for Scampfires in Gravity Falls last summer, wrote a 250 character blurb in the space provided, and hit ‘Submit’. Normally, he would have read and reread and obsessed over it, but he was tired enough that he couldn’t bring himself to obsess. The pictures are as good as they could be, he reminded himself, better than we could’ve hoped. He wanted to win, but at this point, he wanted nothing more than he wanted to sleep. He shut his laptop, crawled into bed, and fell asleep instantly, forgetting to switch off the lamp.

The following Thursday, the triplets had been sitting in the basement den together. Mabel sat at her crafts table, putting finishing touches on props and accessories for ‘Twelfth Night’, Jo lay on the floor rereading her worn old copy of ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ snacking absently on a bowl of chips, while Dipper sat on the ugly pink futon, tapping away on his computer, working on an essay for his Ancient Mythologies class. They were in their Greek Mythology unit and Dipper knew the material so well he hardly had to think to write about it. The pain had been finding sources to cite when none of the information was new to him.

Dipper’s laptop and cell phone pinged in unison, the specific ping he knew to mean he’d received an email. Happy with the distraction, Dip clicked over to the tab in which his email inbox was already open. Probably junk, he thought to himself, watching the page reload. When it loaded, a new email was indeed on top of the list and Dipper’s heart skipped a beat, his eyes training on the subject line ‘CONGRATULATIONS!’

“Holy shit…” Dipper muttered to himself, opening the email and quickly reading the contents, “Hoooly shit…”

“‘Sup, Dip-man?” Jo asked lazily, not taking her eyes from her book.

“We won,” he said softly, disbelieving, reading the email a third time.

“Speak up, Dip-dot,” Mabel chimed in distractedly.

“Holy shit, we won!” Dipper repeated, the excitement in his chest finally catching up with his tone.

Both his sisters dropped what they were doing, echoing ‘holy shit!’ in unison. They scrambled over and hopped onto the futon on either side of him, eager to read the email over his shoulder.

“ ‘Dear Mr. Pines,’ ” Mabel read and chuckled, “Hehe, sounds like they’re talking to dad…”

“ ‘Dear Mr. Pines,’ ” Jo read, impatiently, “ ‘It is with great pleasure that we inform you that your submitted findings on the subject of Tahoe Tessie have been selected to be the featured winner of this year’s ‘Explain the Unexplained!’ contest!’ ” the pitch of her voice rose steadily so that it was a shrill excited squeak by the end of the sentence.

“ ‘Our judges were very impressed by the professional attitude and enthusiasm exemplified in the style and content of your short response as well as the remarkable nature of your findings.’ ” Dipper read on, his tone uncharacteristically confident.

“‘If you wish to accept your spot as winner, we urge you to contact us promptly to set up an interview. Congratulations again!’ ” Mabel chimed in, “ ‘We look forward to getting to know the Mystery... Twins... much... better.” Her voice lost its enthusiasm and stiffened on the last few words.

“ ‘Sincerely, Matthew Michaloff, Manager of Reader-Submitted Content at Mystery Monthly Magazine.’ ” Jo read, still high on cloud nine, “With his number, ooh, I wonder if that’s his personal extension!”

“They misspelled ‘Mystery Kids’...” Mabel grumbled, standing up and walking back to her craft table.

“Yeah, I know,” Dipper said, “Sorry about that, Mabes. I only had 250 characters to tell our story. There wasn’t room to talk about being triplets, they must have figured from our names and picture that Jo and I were twins.”

“It’s fine,” Mabel said stiffly, picking back up what she’d been working on. How appropriate, she thought bitterly, jabbing the needle harder than necessary into the crown of Olivia’s wedding veil for the following night. Maybe I’m Olivia after all, stubborn and grieving and they’re the twins. Suddenly, ‘twins’ was the ugliest word she’d ever heard when for ages it had been her secretly coveted dream. They’re the twins, she thought, the jab prickling, and there’s no room for me in only 250 characters…

A click at the top of the stairs announced the door opening, “Mabel? Scout?” Mom’s voice called, “Are you girls down there?”

“Yes, ma,” Jo called back, her attention still focused on Dipper’s laptop screen.

“Could you two come up here and help me with something?”

Mabel looked over and met Jolene’s eyes, trying not to look angry. Jo had a familiar deer-in-headlights look, the same one she got whenever mom or anyone else required her input on girl matters, “Sure thing, mama, we’d love to,” Mabel called back. Let Jo squirm a little, she thought with sick satisfaction, besides it’ll peel her away from Dipper’s side for a hot second. Dutifully, Jo joined her sister and went up the stairs.

Mom met them with a slightly anxious smile, one that only Dipper had inherited. Of her three children, mom definitely was the most like her son. They were similarly high-strung, in an exceedingly well-meaning way, both dedicated micro-managers. The girls followed their mother up the stairs to their parents bedroom and the matter at hand was instantly apparent. There were clothes strewn all over the bed and dresser, a disarray of garments and accessories. Whenever mom needed help from Jo and Mabel, it usually pertained to this sort of thing, as it was the only area in which Dipper’s similarity to her was no help at all. Dipper shared mom’s usual feeling that clothes were a utilitarian necessity, but were neither important nor interesting beyond that.

“Whoa, did a bomb go off in your closet?” Jo asked sarcastically, and mom reddened a little. Jo grinned, “Finally payback for all the times you said that about my room!”

“What’s the dealio, momsy?” Mabel asked, ever the more sensitive daughter.

“Well,” mom squirmed a little at being on the spot, “You girls know your father and I have been making a point of making time for dating and romance,” Jo looked queasy at the use of the word ‘romance’ in conjunction with her parents, “We’re going on special date tomorrow night--”

“And you don’t know what to wear so you called for backup,” a grin was spreading on Mabel’s face, “You did the right thing.”

“So you’ll help?” her green eyes glittered with gratitude.

“‘Course mama-bear,” Mabel said, “Right, Jo?”

“I think this is more your forte, Miss-Sis--” Jo glanced at the door.

“Nonsense!” Mabel interrupted, “It’ll be fun!”

As their mom started pulling hangers from her closet, Dipper sat in the basement den, listening to the phone ringing, hoping the other line would pick up. And with a click, it did, “Thank you for calling Mystery Monthly Magazine, you’ve reached the office of Matthew Michaloff, Manager of Reader-Submitted Content. My name’s Petra. How may I help you today?”

“H-hi,” Dipper choked, cursing the crack in his voice, “My name’s Dipper Pines. I received an email from Mr. Michaloff saying my sister and I had--”

“Oh! Tahoe Tessie Dipper!” The woman interrupted and Dipper couldn’t help thinking how awesome it would be to work somewhere that even the receptionists were excited about the supernatural, “Congratulations to you and your sister, Mr. Pines! I’ll put you through to Mr. Michaloff at once!”

“Thanks, that’s awesome,” Dipper responded, pleased to be taken so seriously.

There was a click and a couple seconds of silence, followed by another click and a man’s voice, “Matt Michaloff speaking,” he said, “My assistant tells me I have our winner on the line?”

Dipper laughed nervously, “Ha, yes, ha ha, I guess that’s me? My name’s Dipper Pines, my sister Jolene and I investigated Tahoe Tessie?”

“The man of the hour!” Dipper imagined he could hear the man smiling, wondered if he was looking absently at small replicas of Nessie and the Jersey Devil and the Central American Whintosser on his desk, “Congratulations again to you and your sister, Jolene! I trust you’re both well?”

“Um, yes, we’re both well. Thank you, Mr. Micha--”

“Oh, please, call me Matt,” The man interrupted with a laugh, “Mr. Michaloff is my dad!”

“Ha, that’s exactly what Jo said about you calling me Mr. Pines in your email,” Dipper said, loosening up a little. He had the feeling most of the employees at Mystery Monthly were kindred spirits.

“Well, Dipper,” Matt Michaloff said, in a more informal tone, “Would you and Jo be able to do your interview with me tomorrow evening?”

“Tomorrow?” Dipper squeaked.

“Yes, tomorrow, if at all possible,” Matt reiterated, “We’d really like to get the story to our editors as soon as possible. Of course, if you can’t make--”

“Oh, no, we can make tomorrow work!” Dipper interrupted eagerly, “If you wanna do tomorrow night, we can definitely do tomorrow night!”

Matt laughed good-naturedly, “I’m loving your enthusiasm, Dipper Pines,” he said, “Well, if there isn’t anything else, I’ll talk to you at, say… six o’clock tomorrow?”

“Six is fine,” Dipper agreed, “But there is one other thing actually.”

“I’m listening,” Matt said.

“Well, Jo and I aren’t actually twins like you said in your email,” Dipper corrected, “We’re actually triplets, we have another sister named--”

Matt laughed again, “You know what, Dipper, if it can wait till tomorrow, I’d love to hear whatever you have to tell me then.”

“Oh, uh, okay,” Dipper acquiesced, “Sure, yeah, I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“Fantastic,” Matt replied, “Talk to you then, Mr. Pines.”

“Okay, Mr. Michaloff, thanks again.”

“Extend my congratulations to Ms. Jolene Pines, if you will,” Matt said, smoothly, “I look forward to making her acquaintance and hearing all about your experience.” He hung up and Dipper sat in stunned, giddy silence, and took several minutes to lower the silent phone from his ear.

Chapter 13:  Interview Jitters

“Do you think he’s going to ask what kind of gear we had?” Dipper muttered at Jolene, “Should we lie? I mean, we don’t have any freaking gear--”

“We’re not lying,” Jolene said, stuffing a coiled rope into her pack, “Gear doesn’t matter. In fact, doing it without gear is cooler.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s right, you’re right,” Dipper grumbled, flipping through the cue cards he had hastily prepared, “Not lying, duh. But I mean, he’s gonna wanna know how we went about it, if we planned, if we practiced. Dammit, I’m forgetting something but I don’t know what it is! Ugh! Oh man, do most people--”

“Holy moses, Dipper, get a hold of yourself!” Jo exclaimed, shooting him an exasperated look, “We’re gonna be great. We’re charming little shits, remember? Can’t we just do this normal conversation style?”

“Are you serious…?” he could hardly make it through the question, “Like, yeah, we’re great but no, Jo-jo, we are following the cue cards. Man, I really feel like I’m forgetting something… The cards, they’re color-coded to make it easy--”

“No fuuuuucking way,” Jolene laughed, nestling a couple water bottles into her pack, “I am not following your dorky cue cards.”

“No, Jo, seriously, you have to--” he stopped talking abruptly, staring at her, “Hey, what are you doing?”

"Oh, whatever do you mean?" Jo asked, batting her eyelashes at him before shifting her attention back to her pack.

“Your bag. Why are you getting your pack ready?” The pitch of his voice rose anxiously, “I swear to god, Jolene, if you are ditching me to do this interview alone--”

“Pssh, as if,” Jo said, putting her hands on her hips, “I’m not leaving you alone with your boyfriend Matt, who knows if you lovebirds will even use protectio--”

“Well you’re not even paying attention to what’s going on! Why are you getting your pack ready?” Dipper demanded, “Why aren’t you freaking out?”

“Dip-man, I’m not freaking out because you obviously have the panic attack quota covered,” Jo said, putting the last couple things in her pack and pulling the drawstrings to tighten the opening before snapping the flap shut, “Aaaand I’m getting my pack ready for our trip to Lone Pine Mountain.”

Dipper laughed derisively, “You’ve got to be kidding me, Jo.”

“Why would I be kidding?” Jo countered with a shrug, “Operation Tessie went well enough that we freakin’ won, which is awesome, now’s the time to go--”

“Oh, I know you are fucking joking,” Dipper said, the hint of anger in his voice stopping Jo in her tracks, “Operation Tessie went well? I’m sorry but we must be thinking of different fucking days.”

“Dip, I know it wasn’t perfect,” Jo conceded, “I know it was fucked up, but we did win and--”

“Yeah, it was fucked up, Jo,” Dipper agreed, throwing his cue cards down on his desk, where they scattered, “We almost died. And in case you bumped your head, you promised me no more unnecessary risk.” Jo fidgeted uncomfortably under Dipper’s accusatory gaze, of course, he’s right, you did promise. “No Lone Pine Mountain Devils. End of conversation. Now we need to prepare for--”

As if on cue, Dipper’s phone started ringing, playing the iconic ‘Z-Files’ theme song. Both of them stared at if for a second before Jo rolled her eyes and grabbed it, swiping the green ‘accept call’ button, “Hello, Jo Pines speaking, who is this?” she said, and Dipper cringed at her brusque tone, “Oh, thanks. Yeah, Dipper’s here. Gimme one sec and I’ll put you on speaker.” She took the phone from her ear and rested it against her chest, “No flippin’ cards, bro-tective, just be your debonair lil self.” Dipper nodded and Jo nodded back, looking at the phone screen and pressing the speaker button.

Chapter 14: Opening Night

“Hey, uh, Mabel, um, are you, uhh, sure this is gonna fit?”

“Brandon…” Mabel said, wearily, resisting the urge to facepalm, “Yes, it will fit. It fit you at dress rehearsal less than 24 hours ago.”

“Okaaay, if you say so…” Brandon said, sounding unconvinced, walking away testing the elastic waist of the costume in his hands.

The show was set to start in only a few minutes. Mabel stood in the wings, checking on the costumes of the characters in the opening scene. Judging by the noise level, the theater was filling up nicely. Ticket sales had been good and they had every reason to project a successful opening night. And at least two of those seats are filled for my sake, Mabel thought with a smile. She hoped Jo and Dipper had gotten here early enough to nab a spot with a decent view of the stage. Even if they hadn’t, she hoped there would be sufficient sparkliness to shine all the way to the back row.

“It’s show time,” Mr. McMahon said, coming up beside her as the house lights dimmed and the audience obediently applauded. She gave him her patented ‘you-got-this’ million watt smile and he walked on stage to give the standard ‘thanks for coming, a word about the production’ speech. Duke Orsino showed up behind her, ready for his entrance for the opening scene. He was fidgeting with the velvet hat she’d made him, unsure of how it should fall. Mabel adjusted it for him as Mr. McMahon finished up his speech to polite applause.

The first half of the play went off without a hitch. No lines flubbed, no entrances missed, no costume catastrophes. Mabel helped with set changes and preened the actors before they went on. Many of them received a last dusting of glitter for good luck from the container labeled ‘For Emergencies’ that resided perpetually in Mabel’s pocket. In her uncharacteristic stage crew blacks, only her face was easily visible in the dim of backstage, beaming with pride. The costumes glimmered beneath the stage lights and made all the hours of stitching and gluing well worth it.

The house lights came up after the act break to signal intermission, and most of the audience started to file out into the lobby, in search of snacks and bathrooms. Mabel happily skipped out from behind the side curtain and down the small steps at the left corner of the stage. She scanned the crowd for Dipper’s scruffy head. He was tall enough to usually find easily in situations like these. They must be out in the lobby already, she decided after having ascertained that they were no longer in the theatre, That’s a bummer. Only the people with seats in the back are already out there. Well, this would not be the first time her siblings had gotten to something too late to get good seats. With the sufficient sparkles it should be fine.

She made it through the press of bodies into the lobby. Everyone was chattering about the production, and with pleasure she caught a few snippets about the “eye-catching costumes”. Damn skippy, they’ll catch your eye, she smiled inwardly. There was a card table with snacks and drinks for sale over by the entrance, and Mabel knew her Trips enough to know that they’d make a beeline straight to the refreshments. She made her way over to the table. Liz, one of the costume crew drop-outs, was manning the table. Traitor, Mabel thought as she slipped ahead of the line, peering through them. No sign of the sibs. She frowned, “Hey Lizzie?”

“Oh, hey, Mabel!” Liz said, her tone a little too friendly, “Hey, the costumes look awesome! Great job on those!” She handed a couple candy bars and some change to a parent in line, “Like seriously, wicked. Even better than ‘Oklahoma!’!”

“Oh, uh, thanks,” Mabel said, unfazed by the buttering-up she was receiving, “Listen do you--”

“Hey, look, I know,” Liz interrupted, her tone a little more serious, “It was really lame of me to quit. I’m sorry I left you with so much to--”

“It’s fine, forget it.” Mabel said impatiently, tensely checking every face in the crowd, but not seeing the two that looked like her, “Have you seen Dipper or Jo?”

“Dipper and Jo?” Liz repeated dumbly, and Mabel resisted the urge to flip a nearby tray of cookies on her.

“Yeah, Dipper and Jo. Jolene. My brother and sister?” Mabel reiterated, “Ya know? One looks like me? One looks like me, but a boy… and like a foot taller? C’mon, we’ve been in school together since we were like lil piglets!”

“Ha, yeah, Mabel,” Liz said, a little snotty at being condescended to, “I know who Dipper and Jo are. But no, I haven’t seen them. I don’t think they’re here.”

“Thanks,” Mabel huffed, turning on her heel and walking away from the concessions. Okay, no way. They’re definitely here. Just cause Liz didn’t see them doesn’t mean squat. She’s not the brightest light on the tree. They were definitely not in the lobby, though. Maybe they went out to Aoshima? Yeah, of course! Of course, they’d gone out to the car. They usually would sneak snacks of their own into this sorta thing, they’d probably just gone out to restock their pocket candy. Mabel could feel a grin spreading on her face as she leaned her weight against the glass door to open it, the cool air of the spring night refreshing. It was a nice night, and both her sibs would rather take in the night air that stand around in a mob of people.

Her feet carried her several feet into the parking lot as her eyes bounced from car to car, looking for the smiley face antenna topper and the outline of a friendly sibling head. No smiley face, Mabel frowned. Well, if they were late, maybe they’re out on the road? She checked the clock on her phone. The next act was starting in only a couple minutes, and there was no time to check.

Mabel went back inside to check the bathroom. No Jolene in the ladies’, and no Jo or Dipper waiting by the door for the other. Maybe they went back in the theater already…? Mabel wondered, deflating by the second. The theater was filling back up and she followed the current of the audience. She automatically kept searching, the pit of doubt in her stomach getting deeper and deeper by the second. Could they really not be here…? It didn’t seem possible. Since they were little tots, all three triplets had had plenty of events like this. Dance recitals, plays, science fairs, art shows, talent shows. Like tonight, every once in a while their parents wouldn’t make it, but they had never ever ever missed each other. Not once. The Trips were each other’s biggest fans. They wouldn’t miss a thing, even if it was boring to them. They know how hard I’ve been working on this…

But do they? Things had been so weird lately. She’d been so wrapped up in working on the play and her stupid pesky feelings clogging up the works. She knew she’d told them it was opening night. It was marked in pink on the calendar on the fridge and the one by her bed and the one by her desk in the den. They were distracted to, though, ever since they’d gone on that mission to find the sea snake thingy they’d been so caught up in adventure stuff. Mabel reached the little steps to the stage and looked back over the audience. The lights were flashing in the lobby to communicate the end of intermission, and the last few stragglers were trickling in. With a clear view of everyone like this, there was no denying it.

They’re not here. They really didn’t come. Mabel tried to banish the tears from her eyes as she hurried back into the wings. She was on autopilot now, straightening collars and flattening out creases. The joy of it had left her. The play was going well, the costumes looked fantastic, but what the hell did it matter? They forgot me.

Chapter 15: A Chat With Mystery Monthly

“Well, let me tell you, that is just incredible!” Matt Michaloff said over speakerphone, “You two sound like quite the young adventurers!”

“Thanks, Mr. Michaloff,” Dipper said, with that starstruck tone he’d had in his voice for the entire interview.

“Please, Dipper, please,” Matt said laughing.

“Right, Matt, sorry,” Dipper said, his cheeks reddening at having his manners corrected yet again.

“Sorry, Matt,” Jo cut in, “My brother’s a bit of a dweeb.”

Matt laughed politely, “Well, he’s a lot cooler than I was in High School, I’ll tell ya that much.”

“Oh, really?” Dipper’s voice cracked slightly, “Ha, thanks, Matt,” Dipper said, with the bashful smile Jo harbored a secret love for, “Did you have any other questions?”

“No, I don’t think so, Dipper,” he said, with the sound of some sheets of paper rustling, “You guys gave me so much great material! Thank you again for making time for the interview so promptly.”

“Yeah, o-of course, no problem!”

“Do you know when this issue’s coming out?” Jo asked eagerly.

“Well, we’re hoping to have it hitting the presses in the next two weeks,” Matt said, “But don’t you fear, you two will be getting a box of advance copies.” Dipper and Jo grinned at each other. Advance copies?! Jo thought excitedly, that sounds so legit! Matt rustled his papers again, “If you two have nothing to add, I think I’ll be saying goodnight to you. I’m eager to get to work on this story.”

“Thanks, Matt!” Jo squeaked, as Dipper said a polite ‘goodnight’ and ended the call.

“Ooooooooooooh my god!” Dipper wailed excitedly, the second the call disconnected, “Oh my god!”

Jo leapt to her feet, full of thrilled nervous energy, “That was so so so freaking cool!” She hopped excitedly from one foot to the other, “That was-- hoh my god!”

“Right?!” Dipper agreed, his eyes gleaming with exhilaration. He hopped to his feet and offered Jo a fist bump with each hand, “Fuckin’ Mystery Kids, man!”

“MysteryKidsMysteryKidsMysteryKiiiiids!” Jo chanted, punching fist bump after fist bump rapidly against her brother’s knuckles.

“You did so good, Jo-jo,” Dipper said, grinning ear to ear, his cheeks still flushed, “You were so cool and casual and like, poised, not a fangirly dork like me.”

“Oh, cram it!” Jo said, directing one of her punches for Dipper’s shoulder instead of his hand, “You were a total boss, bro-tective!  You put the man in Dip-man! You were professional as shit.”

“As shit, huh?” Dipper joked, but she could see his shoulders straighten with a hint of pride.

“Yeah, you and Matt had like this awesome rapport goin’ on,” Jo teased, “Like you were the same species and you recognized each other. I had to interrupt a few times there, ‘cause the sexual tension was just, whoa, through. the. roof.”

Dipper had just wiped the grin from his face when Jo elicited the coy, playful crooked one. He ran a hand through his hair from brow to neck, “Oh yeah? Well, how could ole Matt resist this?”

It was so rare that Jo had a chance to see Dipper exuberant and cocky like this. Normally so reserved and responsible, although there was no end to his dry jokes, he rarely let himself play around quite like this. With me and Mabes in the house, there’s already a surplus of silly, Jo noted, It’s a shame. Silly Dip is the cutest Dip. He was still making a show of some idea of manliness, flexing his flimsy biceps and making some attempt at bedroom eyes. Without warning, he grabbed Jo by the waist and dipped her low, as if he knew the first thing about dance.

It didn’t matter. It worked. It ripped Jo right from her thoughts and into his hands, warm and strong, broad against her lower back. His eyes were gleaming darkly, his hair falling softly over his brow, his cheeks pink, his lips just curled in a crooked smile. His lips were like a magnet, like the tastiest morsel of food hung over her and she was starving. Her heart was bouncing around her chest with the thrill of the interview and every beat seemed to push her closer and closer to the invitation of Dipper’s lips.

What the hell are you doing?? She screamed at herself, tugging herself awkwardly from Dipper’s grip. He gave her a perplexed look and she saw the small crease knit between his brows, concerned that he’d offended her, “Jo?” he asked tentatively.

“I’m gonna, uhh, go wash my face,” Jo muttered, unable to meet his eyes. She scurried from the room and into the bathroom, shutting the door a tad too hard behind her. She leaned her back against it, her eyes tickled by tears, trying desperately to slow her frantic heartbeat. You stupid, selfish freak! You could have ruined everything! Jo covered her face with her hands, That was way too freaking close.

Chapter 16: Confrontation

Mabel parked the music department van by the mailbox, right behind Aoshima. Right where it has been, this whole time, Mabel griped bitterly. She realized she’d been holding her breath and made a point of letting it out. She looked at the house apprehensively. Mom’s car was gone, meaning she and dad were still out on their date. Mabel hoped she’d worn the red sweater she’d suggested. The lights were on in the living room, as well as Dipper’s room upstairs. Her heart twinged. They’re in there.

She opened the door and got out, cutting across the lawn to the front door. It had been a long day and her body was weary, but she didn’t feel it. Anger was coursing hot and livid through her veins, stronger than any amount of sugar or caffeine. Her hand was shaking as she turned the key in the lock and entered her house.

Without slowing down, as if pulled by a magnet, Mabel made her way swiftly up the stairs. She reached the second floor as the bathroom door shut hard, just shy of slamming. Dipper’s head poked out of his bedroom door, looking towards the bathroom, after Jolene, Mabel assumed. Mabel stopped in the hall a few paces away from him and crossed her arms, glaring at the back of her brother’s head. What the hell is so interesting about Jo going in the flipping bathroom?! Impatient for Dipper’s attention, having been denied it when she thought it was guaranteed, Mabel pulled her purse from her shoulder and dropped it loudly on the ground.

Dipper nearly jumped out of his skin at the loud thud behind him. He whirled around to find Mabel standing in the hallway, and the sight of her was scarier than the noise had been. She almost didn’t look like Mabel. She was dressed all in black, from head to toe, a black long-sleeved tee shirt and black leggings, glowering at him. Her cheeks were pink and her brown eyes glittering angrily, accusingly. Dipper felt the blood rush from his face. Did she see that? Did she see Jo almost…? Dipper glanced back towards the bathroom, See what, asshole? She wasn’t gonna kiss you, it was all in your twisted up head.

“What the hell, bro,” Mabel said. Her voice was dangerously low, a tone rarely heard that Dipper knew meant business. He looked back at her at once.

“Uh, hi… Mabes,” He said, uneasy under her glare.

“Don’t ‘hi Mabes’ me,” Mabel shook her head, crossing her arms. It was seriously off-putting to see her dressed in black. He was tempted to ask who’d died, but had the sense that they might be his last words.

“Oookay,” Dipper said cautiously, unsure what he was supposed to say if ‘hi’ was out.

“So,” Mabel urged, raising an eyebrow, “What the heck is your excuse?” Dipper blinked at her, desperately trying to come up with an excuse, and an explanation to himself as to what needed excusing. Mabel raised her voice a little, “What happened tonight?”

What happened tonight? Finally! A question he knew the answer to! He knew what had happened tonight, so long as he left out the almost-kissing-Jo part, “Oh! The interview! It went great! It--”

“The...interview…?” Mabel asked, cocking her head cluelessly.

“Yeah, the interview!” Dipper smiled a little, confused by chasing Mabel’s signals this way and that, “With Mystery Monthly about--”

“The interview?!” Mabel spat at him, cutting him off, her eyes suddenly blazing, “That--that is what you were doing tonight?!”

“Umm,” Dipper fidgeted, “Yes?”

“Of course!” Mabel threw up her hands and gave a derisive laugh, “Of course! Of fucking course that’s what you were doing tonight!” Dipper opened his mouth to ask what was going on as she took a step closer to him, “Of course, your stupid mystery thing was more important than my play!”

Oh, shit.

Dipper’s blood ran cold. The play. Everything suddenly clicked into place, opening up a hole in the pit of his stomach. The play, the play, the play. Oh my god, the play was tonight. He accidentally muttered the last part out loud, “Ohmygod, the play was tonight.”

“Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!” Mabel verified facetiously, “The play was tonight and, for the record, it was off-the-charts awesome. Not like you care.”

“It was just opening night, though, right?” Dipper supplicated, holding out his palms, trying to find a solution, “We’ll go tomorrow--”

“Oh, gee whiz, Dip,” Mabel rolled her eyes, “Heartwarming as it is to be an afterthought, that’s really not the flippin’ point at all!”

Ouch, Dipper winced, his hands dropping to his sides, “Mabes, you’re not an afterthought…”

“Yeah?” She scoffed, “Because it sure feels that way! This play has been the only stinking thing I talked about for weeks!” She took another step toward him, angry tears sparkling in her eyes, “I have lived and breathed ‘Twelfth Night’! I have sewed and glued until my fingers bled! I have gone to school early and come home late and you,” she scowled and Dipper’s heart ached, seeing the hurt just under the veneer of her anger, “You--you guys were, were happy to have me gone!”

“That’s not fair, Mabes,” Dipper said, how could she say that? He tried to resist the anger blooming inside him, “That is so not fair. Just because we forgot--”

“Ugggh!” Mabel’s hands clenched into fists, “But you didn’t just forget the play!” She took another step, glaring up at him, “You forgot me! Did you even wonder where I was? While I was looking for you in the audience, in the lobby, out in the parking lot, did you once think ‘Hm, where’s Mabel tonight?’ ” She pointed at him, “No! The whereabouts of stupid Nessie is more important to you than your own sister!”

“What the fuck, Mabel!” Dipper’s anger flared, eating up the unfair accusations like kindling, “You can’t compare Tessie to how--”

“Oh excuuuuse me,” Mabel mocked, “Tessie, not Nessie. Of course I would mix that up, silly stupid Mabel can’t even--”

“Shut up!” Dipper interrupted, grabbing Mabel by her shoulders, “You’re not stupid! You--”

“No, Dipper, I am stupid!” Mabel disagreed, the tears welling in her eyes becoming harder and harder to keep at bay, “It was stupid of me to assume you’d be there, it was stupid of me to--”

“Mabel, no,” Dipper’s anger wilted at the sight of Mabel fighting tears, holding onto her anger so hard, turning it back on herself. His voice softened, “I should have been there. I know how important this was to you and it was selfish and careless of me to forget.” His hand moved from her shoulder to soothingly pet her hair, looking into her tear-glazed eyes, “You’re not stupid. You’re so completely not stupid. I’m stupid for getting so caught up in this contest thing. You know I love you.”

“I love you,” Mabel said softly, blinking hard, fat tears squeezing out from under her eyelids and rolling down her cheeks.

“I know, Mabes,” Dipper said, a little relieved that her anger seemed to have been extinguished.

“No,” Mabel shook her head, and met his gaze again. His stomach dropped, confused by the deep sadness in her eyes, “I love you, Dipper. I love you.”

“Mabel, I don’t--” Before DIpper could blink, he was cut off by Mabel’s lips crushed against his own. She had thrown her arms around his neck and wobbled on her tiptoes, and he leaned down his head towards her, allowing her to rest back on her heels as he eagerly met her kiss. To him she tasted like ice cream and apple pie and just like glitter would taste if it was made of candy and her tears were salty but her lips were soft and Dipper’s mind was shutting down as his body was waking up. His arms went around her and hugged her to him and god she was so small and soft and he could feel her trembling as her anger went out of her. A voice in his head was screaming what’s happening? What’s happening? What do you think you’re doing? What the hell is happening? But it was quiet compared to the sound of Mabel’s almost inaudible sigh against him. Her sigh was in his mouth and a stray thought wondered how her voice could taste so good.

The haze of Mabel that enveloped Dipper like a cotton candy dream shattered with the sound of Jolene’s shocked cry.

Continue to Part 5

[johnboothus]

What Happens to Social Media Contest Winners Who Travel for Booze? Here Are Their Stories

When Paul Corgan, a 26-year-old from Portsmouth, N.H., sent his online application to become White Claw’s “best life ambassador” in March 2018, he completed a short blurb and shared a photo and link to his Instagram account. After clicking submit, he forgot about the competition almost immediately.

The contest would grant two winners $60,000 each to travel America for six months. Their only requirement was to document themselves “living their best life” by posting one photo per week to Instagram featuring the up-and-coming hard seltzer brand.

Articles detailing the competition went viral across social media platforms. So by the time Corgan received an email in June 2018 informing him he was one of five finalists being considered for the role, he still assumed his chances of winning were slim. Then, just over a week later, after a Skype interview with the brand’s marketing department, he awoke to an email.

“It just said ‘Congratulations’ as the subject line,” Corgan says. “It was the most exciting thing that had happened to me in my life.”

Contest Marketing: Everyone’s a Winner

For active social media users, competitions like White Claw’s “Best Life Contest” will be a familiar concept. While their prizes often seem too good to be true, the bar for entry is remarkably low.

All that’s usually required is to follow the brand on a social media platform and share a post or photo tagging its account, often using a specific hashtag. In advertising lingo, the concept is known as contest marketing; it’s a savvy promotional strategy and one that an increasing number of alcohol brands are turning to.

Within the past year alone, Natural Light has run a range of social-media-driven competitions with prizes including free beer for a year, $10,000 for a Halloween costume contest, and $1 million to help 25 drinkers pay off their graduate school loans.

Guinness, meanwhile, offered drinkers the keys to their very own Irish pub for a weekend, while Keystone Light launched a “Free Rent” campaign that paid 13 lucky winners’ rents for a year. In May 2019, Busch Beer announced it would contribute $25,000 toward one couple’s wedding ceremony and would send its spokesman, Gerald Downy, better known as “Busch Guy,” as the officiant.

Credit: Megan O’Leary Photography

These contests present a win-win scenario: Contestants commit to a small social media interaction, and brands generate buzz at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising. Plus, the headline-grabbing nature of the campaigns all but guarantees nationwide coverage from numerous media outlets. (VinePair was one of several drinks publications that picked up the White Claw campaign, and even national news outlets like CNBC covered the contest.)

But while the contests themselves gain widespread coverage, the actual winners often go almost unreported.

When Fox 32 Chicago covered the Busch wedding contest in May 2019, the story received close to 40,000 likes, over 11,000 shares, and upwards of 20,000 comments on Facebook, according to data from content marketing research platform BuzzSumo. Despite such a positive reaction, Fox didn’t bother announcing the winners — the now-wed Abbi and Andrew Roth of Janesville, Wis. — nor did it follow up on the contestants to find out how the big day went.

The only coverage of the Roths’ wedding day appears to be a July 2019 article in Janesville’s Gazette Xtra. “We’re just a couple of regular Joes,” Abbi Roth told the publication. “We never thought this would happen.”

The “Lucky” Winners

While the Roths may be a pair of Busch-Light-loving “regular Joes,” success in other competitions — those that call upon the winner to fulfill a specific role — rely on more than brand alignment or fandom.

Prior to working as a White Claw ambassador, Corgan ran his own company that handled the social media accounts for small restaurants and businesses. He points to luck as a huge factor in winning the Best Life Contest; but he also says his love of travel, which he emphasized in his online application and interview, as well as his photography skills and knowledge of social media, helped him stand out and eventually win the contest.

In August 2018, Mr Fogg’s, a London mini-chain of bars inspired by the novel “Around the World in Eighty Days,” announced it was looking for an adventurous individual to travel the world, drink gin, and collect botanicals to inspire a cocktail for the bar upon their return. The winner would also get to choose a travel companion to join them on their escapade.

Numerous publications (including, again, VinePair) covered the competition, which gained even more online traction after actor and Aviation gin owner Ryan Reynolds tweeted about it.

I’ll do it.

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 16, 2018

To enter the competition, candidates applied on Mr. Fogg’s website and had to prove they were social media savvy, over 21 years of age, and skilled at writing and photography. Previous travel experience was also imperative.

“We didn’t think there was any chance we were going to get it because you never do with these things,” Jessica Last, the winning contestant, says. “But at the same time, we did feel all the questions that they asked were really relevant to what we were already doing: We were adventure/travel photographers and bloggers on a very small scale.”

When Last, a 30-something London resident, won the competition, she selected her longtime travel companion Charlie Wild to join her on the trip. The pair had recently returned from an eight-month, around-the-world adventure that they documented together on their blog, The Travel Project, after previously quitting their jobs in advertising.

Mr. Fogg’s enlisted the help of British explorer, writer, and photographer Levison Wood to pick the winners from more than 10,000 applicants. Resumes arrived from across the globe, including New Zealand, the U.S., Argentina, and Bermuda. According to a 2018 interview in trade publication Hospitality & Catering News, Woods picked Last because of her “genuine” passion for travel, and her “beautifully shot” Instagram photos.

Winning the Contest: What Happens Next?

Within two months of finding out he’d won the White Claw contest, Corgan was in the brand’s Chicago headquarters learning about the company values, discussing travel plans, and tasting the difference between White Claw and rival hard seltzer brands.

The aim of the immersion course was to prepare him and the other contest winner for their new, temporary ambassadorial roles. The position, he soon learned, would be remarkably self-driven. “The team over at White Claw was amazing,” he says. “They were really open to our ideas of what we wanted to do and where I wanted to travel.” (Corgan and the other winner traveled independently, but they did cross paths briefly in Denver during the six-month excursion.)

 View this post on Instagram

 A post shared by Paul Corgan | Adventure Travel (@paulcorgan) on Aug 14, 2018 at 2:52pm PDT

As advertised, the winners were given the freedom to travel as they pleased, he says. “We just had to share one [Instagram] feed post a week about what we were doing, where we were going, and how we were living our best life with White Claw,” Corgan says.

Last and Wild, meanwhile, were whisked off on the worldwide gin trip in even quicker fashion. Though she doesn’t recall the exact time frame, Last estimates they set off within a few weeks of finding out she’d won in August 2018. The fact they were both working in freelance roles allowed them to drop everything and jet off at a moment’s notice. “It was all a bit of a whirlwind and continued that way till we got back,” she says.

Life on the Road

While Last and Wild’s journey was slightly more prescriptive than Corgan’s adventure (the pair followed in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg, the protagonist in “Around the World in Eighty Days” and the namesake of Mr. Fogg), Last says they were given free rein on what they did in each country they visited (seven in total over a 72-day period).

The highlights of their trip included a visit to an Indian tea plantation in Darjeeling, cycling across eight islands in Japan, learning about micro herbs in Singapore, and discovering the incredible cocktail scene in Mumbai. Perhaps the biggest “high” was taking to the skies in a hot air balloon in the U.S., Last says, adding, “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

Corgan set off from New Hampshire at the end of August 2018 and embarked on a 12,000 mile, three-month road trip across America to the Pacific Northwest, and then south to California. He toured various national parks and also ticked off a major bucket list item along the way.

“My grandfather was a senator in North Dakota back in the ‘30s and he helped establish Grand Teton National Park,” Corgan says.

After the road trip finished, Corgan planned his remaining experiences around the things in life he’s passionate about. He visited New Orleans because of his love of music (Corgan shares piano tutorials on YouTube), went camping in Hawaii, and piloted a plane in Miami. The latter forced him to get creative when it came to sharing the experience on Instagram — “you can’t fly a plane while drinking hard seltzer,” he says — while other unexpected obstacles presented their own challenges.

“There was a time driving through Wyoming where I couldn’t find a single can of White Claw because there was a national shortage,” he says. “A lot of my friends thought I was going around with a truck of White Claw and promoting it at fairs and stuff.”

In reality, Corgan purchased the cans for his photos on the road, so when the shortage hit, “I had to just travel until I found a liquor store that had some,” he says. “They were sold out for miles and miles, so I just postponed shooting that week.”

 View this post on Instagram

 A post shared by Paul Corgan | Adventure Travel (@paulcorgan) on Jan 24, 2019 at 6:04pm PST

Luck Favors the Experienced

When the first deposit for his White Claw adventure landed in his bank account, Corgan was on the shop floor of a men’s clothing store where he supplemented the income from his social media business as a part-time sales associate. “It was the craziest moment ‘cause I was there selling stuff, but I was smiling so much,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘O.K., I don’t have to be here at all.’”

After his six-month gig, Corgan started a new content creation company, Content Club Co., providing curated photos and videos for brands he feels strongly about, like Timberland, La Colombe, and Underwood.

“My life is completely different now than it would have been had I not won,” Corgan says.

So was it luck or skill? Probably a combination of the two. But if you find yourself procrastinating on social media and stumble across an alcohol-fueled opportunity of a lifetime, just remember: It could be you.

The article What Happens to Social Media Contest Winners Who Travel for Booze? Here Are Their Stories appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/viral-alcohol-travel-contest-winners/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/what-happens-to-social-media-contest-winners-who-travel-for-booze-here-are-their-stories

[isaiahrippinus]

What Happens to Social Media Contest Winners Who Travel for Booze? Here Are Their Stories

When Paul Corgan, a 26-year-old from Portsmouth, N.H., sent his online application to become White Claw’s “best life ambassador” in March 2018, he completed a short blurb and shared a photo and link to his Instagram account. After clicking submit, he forgot about the competition almost immediately.

The contest would grant two winners $60,000 each to travel America for six months. Their only requirement was to document themselves “living their best life” by posting one photo per week to Instagram featuring the up-and-coming hard seltzer brand.

Articles detailing the competition went viral across social media platforms. So by the time Corgan received an email in June 2018 informing him he was one of five finalists being considered for the role, he still assumed his chances of winning were slim. Then, just over a week later, after a Skype interview with the brand’s marketing department, he awoke to an email.

“It just said ‘Congratulations’ as the subject line,” Corgan says. “It was the most exciting thing that had happened to me in my life.”

Contest Marketing: Everyone’s a Winner

For active social media users, competitions like White Claw’s “Best Life Contest” will be a familiar concept. While their prizes often seem too good to be true, the bar for entry is remarkably low.

All that’s usually required is to follow the brand on a social media platform and share a post or photo tagging its account, often using a specific hashtag. In advertising lingo, the concept is known as contest marketing; it’s a savvy promotional strategy and one that an increasing number of alcohol brands are turning to.

Within the past year alone, Natural Light has run a range of social-media-driven competitions with prizes including free beer for a year, $10,000 for a Halloween costume contest, and $1 million to help 25 drinkers pay off their graduate school loans.

Guinness, meanwhile, offered drinkers the keys to their very own Irish pub for a weekend, while Keystone Light launched a “Free Rent” campaign that paid 13 lucky winners’ rents for a year. In May 2019, Busch Beer announced it would contribute $25,000 toward one couple’s wedding ceremony and would send its spokesman, Gerald Downy, better known as “Busch Guy,” as the officiant.

Credit: Megan O’Leary Photography

These contests present a win-win scenario: Contestants commit to a small social media interaction, and brands generate buzz at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising. Plus, the headline-grabbing nature of the campaigns all but guarantees nationwide coverage from numerous media outlets. (VinePair was one of several drinks publications that picked up the White Claw campaign, and even national news outlets like CNBC covered the contest.)

But while the contests themselves gain widespread coverage, the actual winners often go almost unreported.

When Fox 32 Chicago covered the Busch wedding contest in May 2019, the story received close to 40,000 likes, over 11,000 shares, and upwards of 20,000 comments on Facebook, according to data from content marketing research platform BuzzSumo. Despite such a positive reaction, Fox didn’t bother announcing the winners — the now-wed Abbi and Andrew Roth of Janesville, Wis. — nor did it follow up on the contestants to find out how the big day went.

The only coverage of the Roths’ wedding day appears to be a July 2019 article in Janesville’s Gazette Xtra. “We’re just a couple of regular Joes,” Abbi Roth told the publication. “We never thought this would happen.”

The “Lucky” Winners

While the Roths may be a pair of Busch-Light-loving “regular Joes,” success in other competitions — those that call upon the winner to fulfill a specific role — rely on more than brand alignment or fandom.

Prior to working as a White Claw ambassador, Corgan ran his own company that handled the social media accounts for small restaurants and businesses. He points to luck as a huge factor in winning the Best Life Contest; but he also says his love of travel, which he emphasized in his online application and interview, as well as his photography skills and knowledge of social media, helped him stand out and eventually win the contest.

In August 2018, Mr Fogg’s, a London mini-chain of bars inspired by the novel “Around the World in Eighty Days,” announced it was looking for an adventurous individual to travel the world, drink gin, and collect botanicals to inspire a cocktail for the bar upon their return. The winner would also get to choose a travel companion to join them on their escapade.

Numerous publications (including, again, VinePair) covered the competition, which gained even more online traction after actor and Aviation gin owner Ryan Reynolds tweeted about it.

I’ll do it.

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 16, 2018

To enter the competition, candidates applied on Mr. Fogg’s website and had to prove they were social media savvy, over 21 years of age, and skilled at writing and photography. Previous travel experience was also imperative.

“We didn’t think there was any chance we were going to get it because you never do with these things,” Jessica Last, the winning contestant, says. “But at the same time, we did feel all the questions that they asked were really relevant to what we were already doing: We were adventure/travel photographers and bloggers on a very small scale.”

When Last, a 30-something London resident, won the competition, she selected her longtime travel companion Charlie Wild to join her on the trip. The pair had recently returned from an eight-month, around-the-world adventure that they documented together on their blog, The Travel Project, after previously quitting their jobs in advertising.

Mr. Fogg’s enlisted the help of British explorer, writer, and photographer Levison Wood to pick the winners from more than 10,000 applicants. Resumes arrived from across the globe, including New Zealand, the U.S., Argentina, and Bermuda. According to a 2018 interview in trade publication Hospitality & Catering News, Woods picked Last because of her “genuine” passion for travel, and her “beautifully shot” Instagram photos.

Winning the Contest: What Happens Next?

Within two months of finding out he’d won the White Claw contest, Corgan was in the brand’s Chicago headquarters learning about the company values, discussing travel plans, and tasting the difference between White Claw and rival hard seltzer brands.

The aim of the immersion course was to prepare him and the other contest winner for their new, temporary ambassadorial roles. The position, he soon learned, would be remarkably self-driven. “The team over at White Claw was amazing,” he says. “They were really open to our ideas of what we wanted to do and where I wanted to travel.” (Corgan and the other winner traveled independently, but they did cross paths briefly in Denver during the six-month excursion.)

View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Paul Corgan | Adventure Travel (@paulcorgan) on Aug 14, 2018 at 2:52pm PDT

As advertised, the winners were given the freedom to travel as they pleased, he says. “We just had to share one [Instagram] feed post a week about what we were doing, where we were going, and how we were living our best life with White Claw,” Corgan says.

Last and Wild, meanwhile, were whisked off on the worldwide gin trip in even quicker fashion. Though she doesn’t recall the exact time frame, Last estimates they set off within a few weeks of finding out she’d won in August 2018. The fact they were both working in freelance roles allowed them to drop everything and jet off at a moment’s notice. “It was all a bit of a whirlwind and continued that way till we got back,” she says.

Life on the Road

While Last and Wild’s journey was slightly more prescriptive than Corgan’s adventure (the pair followed in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg, the protagonist in “Around the World in Eighty Days” and the namesake of Mr. Fogg), Last says they were given free rein on what they did in each country they visited (seven in total over a 72-day period).

The highlights of their trip included a visit to an Indian tea plantation in Darjeeling, cycling across eight islands in Japan, learning about micro herbs in Singapore, and discovering the incredible cocktail scene in Mumbai. Perhaps the biggest “high” was taking to the skies in a hot air balloon in the U.S., Last says, adding, “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

Corgan set off from New Hampshire at the end of August 2018 and embarked on a 12,000 mile, three-month road trip across America to the Pacific Northwest, and then south to California. He toured various national parks and also ticked off a major bucket list item along the way.

“My grandfather was a senator in North Dakota back in the ‘30s and he helped establish Grand Teton National Park,” Corgan says.

After the road trip finished, Corgan planned his remaining experiences around the things in life he’s passionate about. He visited New Orleans because of his love of music (Corgan shares piano tutorials on YouTube), went camping in Hawaii, and piloted a plane in Miami. The latter forced him to get creative when it came to sharing the experience on Instagram — “you can’t fly a plane while drinking hard seltzer,” he says — while other unexpected obstacles presented their own challenges.

“There was a time driving through Wyoming where I couldn’t find a single can of White Claw because there was a national shortage,” he says. “A lot of my friends thought I was going around with a truck of White Claw and promoting it at fairs and stuff.”

In reality, Corgan purchased the cans for his photos on the road, so when the shortage hit, “I had to just travel until I found a liquor store that had some,” he says. “They were sold out for miles and miles, so I just postponed shooting that week.”

View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Paul Corgan | Adventure Travel (@paulcorgan) on Jan 24, 2019 at 6:04pm PST

Luck Favors the Experienced

When the first deposit for his White Claw adventure landed in his bank account, Corgan was on the shop floor of a men’s clothing store where he supplemented the income from his social media business as a part-time sales associate. “It was the craziest moment ‘cause I was there selling stuff, but I was smiling so much,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘O.K., I don’t have to be here at all.’”

After his six-month gig, Corgan started a new content creation company, Content Club Co., providing curated photos and videos for brands he feels strongly about, like Timberland, La Colombe, and Underwood.

“My life is completely different now than it would have been had I not won,” Corgan says.

So was it luck or skill? Probably a combination of the two. But if you find yourself procrastinating on social media and stumble across an alcohol-fueled opportunity of a lifetime, just remember: It could be you.

The article What Happens to Social Media Contest Winners Who Travel for Booze? Here Are Their Stories appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/viral-alcohol-travel-contest-winners/ source https://vinology1.tumblr.com/post/190645703179

[mceproductions]

December 2018 Blurbs

12/1/18 The final Chapter on 2018's book began with me checking out the sequel to Wreck It Ralph. And it was Near perfect in every way possible. What wasn't was my drive back and the snowstorm that laid waste to the road, never had driven in snow that bad until today. Honestly was shaking for nealry 20 miles. Luckilly came back in time to see Bama win in epic fashion. I may not like them but they are #1. UCF won as well hopeful they can make the jump. 12/2/18 Connor ended up picking up a new kitten, he and Amber named Nelson. Now I know how Peele felt in Keanu. That cat was adorable and so sweet to be around. Especially that poofball tail. Packers stink as usual to the point where McCarthy got fired during his postgame press conference. Bama, Clemson, and Oklahoma will batlle on the 29th to see who gets the chance to play in Santa Clara. Notre Dame will join them, this should be expanded by all counts. 12/3/18 Andrew has another job, this one late at night. Hoping he'll stick this out. Heisman this year went down to the 3 QB's from Bama, Oklahoma and Ohio State. Wonder how the finalst math is done to drop the number from 5 to 3. Gifts need to be sent out to Eric and Company soon. New Tree skirt looks hopefully ok. 12/4/18 Stuff can take the cake really quickly when it comes to life. Connor apparently has broken things off with Amber now his gut is killing him. Karma at its finest people. Other than that, I don't mind having to get called out to do carts what irks me is when someone like Cole, drops off so I'm completley alone out there. His weaseled out method just really iritates me more. Bowl Mercahndise looking rather dull this year, may save money along those lines. 12/5/18 Well, Connor may have gut problems like me. The real kicker is how incompitent our hospital is here, and how they were throwing in words like liver failure and appendix issues. Grabbed mounted photo which allowed me to finish wrapping the gifts to be sent out to Eric and them. Hopeful that Eli Like gummi Bears. Main gift hunting will begin next week. Do love Holiday seaons, and all that they entail. 12/6/18 The cat may be be cute, but Connor breaking, entering and placing him on me in the middle of the night. Nope. He, can really take the cake when it comes to not knowing how to amicably end a relationship. Rebought Hobbit and that gave me, Legos for the first time in 15 Years. Will only get the Target lego hobbit editons and that will be it. Survey for class is adjusted and will hopefully be done by weekends end. Seminar I still have to do, hoping Dad will give a hand with that. Looking forward to Mamoa on SNL. 12/7/18 Pearl Harbor, a tragic event that led to a worse movie. But on this day there should be a new atalige on when it rains it pours for the winter. I call it When it snows it bursts, cause we all had issues today. Bravada may have a frozen gear shift. Eric lost another girlfriend, Connor may be out of a job, and Andrew may actually be doing better than any of us for once. This is a burst of bad luck. 12/8/18 A day that i had originally set out to do nothing now had me doing even less, thanks to the Bum gear shift. Not sure how we can fix that, other vehicle still waits in the wings. Watched more SpongeBob then i had in a long time wow I missed a bunch. Could really use some good in these next few days. 12/9/18 Packers finally won, just need miracles to happen in order to squeak into wild card. Vehicles e break lite may give me clue in order to fix it. Winter and Christmas need to show up quicker cause it certainly doesnt feel like it especially not around here. 12/10/18 Early night when it came to the back. Used VTO to leave early, stinks i lost a day but at least i caught up on stuff. 12/11/18 Bravada i bought finally became mine with licence plates. Saving insurance for after Christmas. Store had less on today which made the work at least plenteful. But the group with the exception of me and 2 others all left at 9:50 as we got left with the bulk of the cleanup. Not cool in the slightest. 12/12/18 First day with Bravada, not a bad go of things. Penultimate class, surprisingly am at an A hoping i can get this done within the next week. Contingency plan needed for tomorrow, will see SpiderMan on Saturday and hold off on Aquaman until after Christmas. 12/13/18 Nice to find out i can still tack miles on my feet. Will need to do that again soon. Packages got sent including book for retun. Retuned a bunch of stuff for gift stipened, hoping dad likes revenant more than hacksaw ridge. South Park finale made no sense. 12/14/18 Saving spiderverse for sunday, mainly so i can get rid off stuff at BAM, more cash more presents. Will still read Mortal Engines even though movie looks lousy. A lot of ties on countdown, and just discovered a couple i overlooked. Binging Bob's Burgers like crazy. Man that show is a lot better than i gave it credit for. Busted truck is gone from parking lot, didn't expect to have to have management nearly call cops on stolen vehicle though. 12/15/18 Day from hell is an understatement. Eric getting arested, Im working on stuff and Andrew seemed to not know when to keep his mouth shut. Bowl games starting today brought only form of relief. 12/16/18 Better day, Animated Spiderman was something to behold. Got bulk of christmas shopping out of the way. Bravada held up just wished i could get it back fully. Packers got knocked out of postseason. Just hope we can win one more, at least chances are good. Smash Bros Ultimate is awesome. 12/17/18 Mom's gift now safley wrapped. Football continues and the Saints better be hoping they stop stinkin things up. 12/18/18 Cap 2 was down to 4 with a mysterious virus going round. As everyone left by 6, i managed to get out early. Just hoping this doesnt come back to bite me in the butt. Hoping to wrap up gifts by Friday, Aquaman on Saturday may be possibile. Glad thats in town at least. Also did annual watch of Haruhi Suzumiya movie, how come they can't make a movie that long in America. Stinks it has to be shorter than 2 for animated. 12/19/18 Last Class, thankfully was short and sweet. Walked out in good mood after making thank you card. Just curious to know when i may get funds, cause have to take 2 classes otherwise just to get scholarship. Rose Bowl shirt looks great. Will finish gift wrapping by friday at least. 12/20/18 I dont know why but it just doesnt feel like christmas this year. Snow almost gone, skies are dreary and whatever mood were in around here just keeps going up. Better Days by Goo Goo Dolls seems more and more perfect in telling the moood were in right now. Hoping for a few good days, free christmas dinner at store tommorow should lift funk. 12/21/18 The mood certainly is festive store wise. Finished grabbing gifts. Wil be hoping they like them. 12/22/18 Down to the single digits in days left of 2018, one goal of mine i wished i picked up more on was the sign language aspect. Will be putting that back on the 2019 docket. Store for a few more days. Just hoped to go watch Aquaman thanks to VTO but based on what i got coming, better to hold off on that. 12/23/18 Penultimate truck of 2018, thankfully got that done by 10, finally got tree from mountain, bulbs i picked up worked brillantly. Hard to belive it all ends in a week. Good year overall. 12/24/18 Short 4 hours with only Chris and Cheyenne. Best store day of the year in which we turn off all lights and tell people who come in to leave. Cole on the other hand, once again, i got drugged out to fix his mess. Not pleasent. What was was prime rib and quiet dinner with family before i gave them gifts. Poofball hat idea worked on all but Dad may have to return his. Looking forward to nba on christmas day. Wonderful life and Polar Express double feature to round things out. 12/25/18 Linus from peanuts says it all. With angellic hosts proclaim christ is born in bethlehem. 12/26/18 Amazing how one day in total silence with family can turn into one explosive return to reality. All for the best 5 days of the year i suppose. Aquaman movie ended up being pretty great, never figured Julie Andrews would play a squid. Badgers Bowl game tomorrow then final day of work for year on friday. Just hopin i can get final blog posted on monday before library closes. Year is rapidly closing fast. Also 2nd Charlie Brown Christmas special sucks, a little bit much on the meaning of the season and not on what made the first special great all around. 12/27/18 Rain filled the day, a lot of water that may turn whatever snow we have into ice. Badgers won in Yankee Stadium and tomorrow is Walmart 2018 finale for me. Just wish i didn't have a week off after that, but i can make do with micro paycheck for a bit. Already trying to figure 2019 Goals, dont know whether to up it or lower it. Found Attack on Titan Season 3 on Digital. Yeah gonna be good tv this weekend. 12/28/18 The 2018 Season finale at Wallyworld. Epicly enjoyable. Just miffed that  have a week off with little to no Coverage coming in. May seek alternative option. Truck tire thankfully got fixed but other issue may now have arisen. Bad luck streak wrapping this year up strong isn't it? 12/29/18 Another college football playoff another Bama Clemson beatdown. At least Kyler and Oklahoma actually put up a fight. Not sure what movie to see tomorrow. Possibly saving Bumblebee for next week, or VICE. 12/30/18 Entry 364 and on this penultimate day, I chose to go see the Mary Poppins sequel. Oh man it was charming. The welcome balance of modern with slight hat tips to what came before. Packers embarrassingly concluded thier season. Orville came back on tonight and that was equally good, a bunch of side plots that somehow all culminated in one odd ritual where Bortus took a dump, and it was good. Looking forward to adding that on DVR. 5 Packages to send out tomorrow, not sure what i'll be doing when ball drops. 12/31/18 Bye Bye Yesterday...The culmination of 365 Days of life, and as we conclude 2018 I think, there was so much more I could have gotten done. 2 Weddings, A Super Bowl visit, watching Connor finish school, buying my first vehicle, nearly seeing a sporting event, and a prmomotion at wally world. So much more I could have squeezed in. Finished today up with helping dad with bread, and  he made chili, hoping that that wont make us all sick as hes been these last few days. As for this journaling buiness.  I may look into continuing this come 2019. After all that is now as i have put it the year of the endgame.  Definetly would want to chronicle that. Though maybe i'll go the Your Name Route and download an app to chronicle that for my Phone and Ipad. Here's to you 2018, now as Thanos snaps at 11:53 you'll crumble to dust and fade away in our minds and hearts. Its time for the next chapter, and im ready...To Be hopefully continued.

                                       End of 2018 Journal

[rayjoderson-blog]

Choosing from the Best Upcoming ICOs

If you haven't already got in on the ICO bandwagon, its' still not too late. The ICO market is moving forward full steam ahead with no signs of abating any time soon. Here are the latest top picks from our upcoming ICO list and on another note, a recap of the key factors to watch out for when narrowing down on your personal best investment choices:

Sentinel Protocol

Based out of Singapore, Sentinel Protocol, “Rebels with a Cause”, is a crowdsourced platform that aims to provide protection against potential cybercrime in the form of scams, hacks or frauds. The Sentinel Portal reports incidences of hacking, offers crowdsourced security updates, information, news, guidance and tips. Additionally threat data can be validated by “The Sentinels”, who, according to the blurb on the site, are a team of security experts and ethical hackers, compensated for their contributions to security. Pre Sales is due to start 23 May 2018.

Token Type: Icon Blockchain

Hard Cap incl. Presale USD: 22,000,000

Price: Base Price is 1ETH = 5,000 UPP, 15% bonus applied at Tier 1

Minimum Contribution: 30ETH

Whitepaper: Link

Prototype: Link

Website: https://sentinelprotocol.io

Liquidity Network

The Liquidity.Network is non-custodial (i.e. non-fund holding) blockchain settlement system supporting off-chain payments, such as Ether and ERC20.  The Liquidity.Ecosystem enables micro-payments and small value transfers (SVT), supports instant payment exchanges, is designed for simplicity, is transparent and offers enhanced privacy protection. The Liquidity.Network is able to scale to support millions of users securely on its platform while at the same time reducing overall transaction fees significantly. Crowd sales is expected to start 14 June, 2018.

Token Type: ERC20

Price: Price per token is currently not available as a Dutch Auction is expected to be held for the Crowd Sale event which will determine the final Pre Sale price. Details of the Dutch Auction will be announced on 11 June, 2018.

Whitepaper: Link

Prototype: Link

Website: https://liquidity.network/

RightMesh

RightMesh is the world’s first software-based, ad hoc mobile mesh networking platform and protocol using blockchain technology, and RMESH tokens to power growth. RightMesh offers a solution for connectivity that is not dependent on expensive infrastructure or centralized control and is free, reliable and on a very basic level, puts connectivity into the hands of the people. RightMesh AG, the Swiss company that is the driving force behind RightMesh, is aiming to connect the next 1 billion users and pull 100 million people out of poverty. A diverse team of more than 100 Scientists, Developers, Entrepreneurs and Experts in Mesh Technology and Blockchain are working towards the paradigm shift represented by RightMesh.

Token Type: ERC20

Hard Cap USD: 30,000,000

Price and Minimum Contribution: 1USD = 1RMESH, Minimum Contribution USD 1000

Whitepaper: Link1 Link2

Website: https://www.rightmesh.io/

What to Watch Out For When Choosing the Best Upcoming ICOs

A solid Whitepaper with comprehensive information on the selling points of the ICO, the team behind the ICO, the usage, and allocation of funds, the distribution model as well a time-scaled implementation plant.

A team with a proven track record for generating profitability on the back of solid industry experience, the more broad-spectrum the better

Advisory representation from known subject matter experts

Metrics such as market capitalization and trading volume/liquidity

Transparent and updated website or social media presence

Active online media presence with a willingness to engage via responses or feedback

Industry news, trade analysis, and the general buzz from the ICO community and reception of influential backers

Stay tuned to our Telegram channel or subscribe to our website for more updates and all the details on upcoming ICOs that are likely to win big in the near future.

[bizmediaweb]

Everything You Need to Know About Google My Business

First thing first, what is Google My Business?

Essentially, Google My Business is a business listing service.

For example, if you search for Hootsuite you’ll see a box appear to the right hand of the results. This contains a short blurb about the company, social links, and other companies that are usually searched for by association.

But if we were a cafe serving up coffee, you’d also see opening hours, address, what times the cafe is usually busy, and any other information that Google thinks you’d be looking for.

  Why should you care about Google My Business?

Users don’t simply look things up on the internet, they Google it. Over 3.5 billion searches are made every single day on Google, so you want to make sure you can be found.

In 2015, Google introduced the concept of ‘micro-moments’, speaking to the idea that people expect an immediate answer in the moment—they want to know, go, do and buy. Google says this kind of search behavior is on the rise, with consumers forgetting what it was like not getting answers to their questions immediately.

Do you have a physical shop or branches? Ninety-seven percent of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2017, with 12 percent of those looking for a local business online every day. This gives your business enormous potential to be seen if you’re in the right spot.

Think about how often you use Google, and how annoying it can be when the information you’re looking for isn’t there. People could potentially be having the same experience when looking for your brand or business.

But there are a multitude of other reasons to use Google My Business:

It’s simple and easy to use

Google guides you through the process effortlessly. It’ll only take up a few minutes of your time to set up, but will boost your business’ visibility exponentially when searched for.

It’s important for SEO

Gone are the days where repeating a keyword on your website made Google take notice of your brand and hand you the number one spot on the search engine results page.

Giving as much information about your company and linking your social profiles and websites to Google My Business will help you rank higher in search results. This, in turn, will make it easier for potential customers to find you.

It’s a win-win.

It gives you a competitive edge

Your competitors could already be taking advantage of Google My Business, making it easier for them to rank higher than your business in search results. This means it may be easier for customers to choose your competitor as well.

By listing your business and providing as many details as possible, you give Google enough information to decide if you’re offering what a user is searching for, while potentially beating your competitors to the top spot.

It can boost engagement

Remember how many searches Google processes per day? Each one of those is a chance for your business or brand to connect and engage with your audience.

Google encourages users to review businesses, leave comments, and ask questions—all places where you can engage with your audience and build a relationship with them. Eighty-five percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, so it pays to keep an eye on what people are saying about you and respond to any problems.

Plus it’s always a morale booster to see all the positive things your customers are saying about you!

Google My Business is like a mini website

There’s lots of tools you can use in Google My Business to make the journey seamless for your customers, from adding a booking form to enabling users to order online from your business.

Google can even help you build a basic website for free if you don’t have one. It’s autogenerated from the information that you’ve already given Google, so they’ve done a lot of the hard work for you.

It includes analytics

If you want to understand your customers better, Google My Business includes those insights. You can deep dive into where your customers came from and how they found you, enabling you to make informed decisions about your strategy

These insights also help you learn about your customers’ actions—where did they click? What images are getting the most views? How many customers tried to call you? All of this information can be used to better target your old customers and bring in new ones.

It’s free

Need we say more?

Tips for using Google My Business

Claim your Google My Business page

…if you haven’t already. As we mentioned earlier, Google tries to give as much information to a user as it knows, so it may have already formed a listing for you. It’s simple to create yours from scratch, however. Just use an email that’s associated with your brand or business.

Fill out everything

Give Google as much information as possible about your business. Fill out all the sections you can, making sure all information is in line with any of your other online points of customer contact.

Google will already have some information on your brand or business, and is probably trying to fill in the blanks itself. They also encourage their users to help them do this, by allowing them to suggest edits to your business’ listing if they know the answers. So, it’s likely that they have some of the information wrong.

In the best case scenario, this misinformation is slightly embarrassing for your business. In the worst case scenario, you lose a customer. So by at least updating your Google My Business listing, you’re able to control the information out there and ensure your customers are always (correctly) in the know.

In fact, you could take half an hour and read our blog post on improving your social media profiles to ensure consistency throughout all of your online profiles. That way a customer always has the most up-to-date information on every platform they’re viewing you on.

Add images

And show off your business! Humans are visual by nature and want to see what you’re all about, not just read about it. So use photos to give the searchers what they want.

These can be images that you’ve taken yourself, or ones that you’ve asked a professional to do. Think about the first impression they’ll give of your business, and see if it’s worth investing in paying for higher-quality images. You want customers to be attracted to your business, so show it off in the best way possible.

Treat it like an extension of your social media

Check in as often as you can, making sure information is up to date and that there are no unanswered questions or reviews you need to respond to.

The more you put into Google My Business, the more you’ll get out of it.

Add value

Got a sale on or a special offer? Or even a company update? Take advantage of Google My Business posts and let customers know about it.

Google My Business Posts are news updates that you can create about your business that are published directly on your listing. They also provide analytics, so you can see how well a post has performed and which one was most popular with customers.

Creating a post takes no time at all and can help you reach a wider audience.

Now that you have enough information to get started using Google My Business, get out there, get listed, and get new customers.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Google My Business appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.

Everything You Need to Know About Google My Business published first on https://themarketingheaven.tumblr.com/

[webbygraphic001]

How to Build an Interactive HTML5 Ad in 10 Minutes

Today we’d like to demonstrate how to build an interactive HTML5 banner ad.

This was a project we did for Carlsberg a while back, which we think can be useful for designers and programmers interested in front-end design work.

Carlsberg is a multi-billion dollar, global beer brand that employs over 40,000 people around the world. Besides the household Carlsberg brand, they also house other brands such as Tuborg, Somersby (cider), Kronenbourg, and Dali Beer (a fast growing brand in Asia).

What Is An Interactive Ad?

Let’s do a quick recap. In the old days, we had text ads, which are basically a short text blurb with a link to the advertiser’s page, product or service.

Next came static banner ads. These are typically static images. They’re more compelling that text ads, because images are worth a thousand words. The main formats come in a 300×250 pixels (box), 728×90 (wide) or 90×728 (skyscraper).

Then, Flash technology game along on the desktop browser. Flash was revolutionary, because it enabled a wave of animated banner ads, as well as interactive ones. Animated ads captivate user attention resulting in higher click through rates (CTR). Players could even play a micro-game such shooting something, or throwing a ball into the hoop.

In 2010, Apple convinced the world of the virtues of switching to HTML5, and with giants including Google following suit, Flash technology quickly declined.

Ad technology companies see the huge growth potential in mobile, and hence started implementing HTML5 into a new, cross-platform ad unit. This unit is called the HTML5 interactive ad, supported by new industry standards such as MRAID, MRAID2, and such.

Long story short, an interactive HTML5 ad, is an ad that now works on smartphones, tablets and desktop browsers.

So What’s This Carlsberg Ad About?

Here’s a link to video, showing the interactive ad running on an iPhone:

The goal of this interactive ad is to drive awareness of the World Rugby Sevens Tournament, an annual rugby event that happens in Hong Kong. The best of the best teams from all around the world compete annually to win the top prize. Carlsberg is one of the main sponsors.

The ad experience is simple. Users see a glowing Carlsberg beer bottle. A message is asking the user to tap on the glowing bottle.

Upon tapping on it, a short animation plays of a rugby player carrying a cold, iced bucket of Carlsberg beers.

A fun brand slogan appears: “Are you beer ready”?

Users can then tap on the ‘Find us on Facebook’ link to visit the advertiser’s page for more information.

Back To Our Regular Programming

An interactive HTML5 ad consists of 5 main elements:

index.html (main entry point)

main.js (the javascript that contains the logic)

main.css (the CSS stylesheet)

assets (visual assets)

the outbound link (where the ad should take users to)

Let’s start building the ad…

Part 1: index.html

The index.html consists of standard HTML declarations.

See the Pen Carlsberg Interactive Ad Demo – index.html by Ben Chong (@marketjs) on CodePen.

What matters here are the meta viewport, and the linking to main.css and main.js

As you can see, it’s fairly simple. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Part 2: main.js (The Meat And Bones )

The main.js is a Javascript file that drives all the interaction with the ad.

See the Pen Carlsberg Interactive Ad Demo – main.js by Ben Chong (@marketjs) on CodePen.

At the top, we insert jQuery’s entire minified JS. Note that you can use the latest version of jQuery from http://jquery.com/

jQuery will be helpful for most of the DOM manipulation techniques we use.

Next, we create a simple image based preload function.

We preload a bunch of graphical assets related to the ad.

Now, on to the logic. When the ad loads, you’ll notice we create 2 divs, called scene1 and scene2.

scene1 contains the div of the glowing bottle. When it’s clicked on, it transitions to scene2, via the gotoScene2 function

scene2 itself contains the tagline div, which redirects to the Facebook page of Carlsberg, when tapped.

That’s basically it. Very simple logic is needed.

Part 3: main.css (The Stylesheet)

The main.css file contains all CSS-related styles.

See the Pen Carlsberg Interactive Ad Demo – main.css by Ben Chong (@marketjs) on CodePen.

In this example, we did some of the cool animations you see via CSS

For instance, the glowing beer bottle uses the blinker value from the -webkit-animation property

We also add a few standard algorithms that users tend to love, such as bounceIn and bounceOut

Part 4: Visual Assets

Interactive ads require fun visuals that are brand-related. Hence, it’s advisable to work with a designer on interactive HTML5 ads.

In our case we used: The blank green background; The bottle; The background with the rugby man holding a cold ice bucket of beers; The call to action graphics.

Part 5: Call To Action (CTA)

This is the most important parts to any interactive ad. The call to action has to be designed to well, that users actually want to click through to find out more.

It has to be a compelling message that ties to user’s curiosity.

For emphasis, here’s the final CTA look:

Summary

We hope this article is useful for the community. As you can see, this interactive ad is really easy to build and takes not more than 10 minutes to assemble yourself.

Click here to download the project files and source code.

Elegant Amsterdam Font Collection – only $9!

Source from Webdesigner Depot http://ift.tt/2Dmj5VH from Blogger http://ift.tt/2DQ1gzr

[unixcommerce]

How to Build an Interactive HTML5 Ad in 10 Minutes

Today we’d like to demonstrate how to build an interactive HTML5 banner ad.

This was a project we did for Carlsberg a while back, which we think can be useful for designers and programmers interested in front-end design work.

Carlsberg is a multi-billion dollar, global beer brand that employs over 40,000 people around the world. Besides the household Carlsberg brand, they also house other brands such as Tuborg, Somersby (cider), Kronenbourg, and Dali Beer (a fast growing brand in Asia).

What Is An Interactive Ad?

Let’s do a quick recap. In the old days, we had text ads, which are basically a short text blurb with a link to the advertiser’s page, product or service.

Next came static banner ads. These are typically static images. They’re more compelling that text ads, because images are worth a thousand words. The main formats come in a 300×250 pixels (box), 728×90 (wide) or 90×728 (skyscraper).

Then, Flash technology game along on the desktop browser. Flash was revolutionary, because it enabled a wave of animated banner ads, as well as interactive ones. Animated ads captivate user attention resulting in higher click through rates (CTR). Players could even play a micro-game such shooting something, or throwing a ball into the hoop.

In 2010, Apple convinced the world of the virtues of switching to HTML5, and with giants including Google following suit, Flash technology quickly declined.

Ad technology companies see the huge growth potential in mobile, and hence started implementing HTML5 into a new, cross-platform ad unit. This unit is called the HTML5 interactive ad, supported by new industry standards such as MRAID, MRAID2, and such.

Long story short, an interactive HTML5 ad, is an ad that now works on smartphones, tablets and desktop browsers.

So What’s This Carlsberg Ad About?

Here’s a link to video, showing the interactive ad running on an iPhone:

The goal of this interactive ad is to drive awareness of the World Rugby Sevens Tournament, an annual rugby event that happens in Hong Kong. The best of the best teams from all around the world compete annually to win the top prize. Carlsberg is one of the main sponsors.

The ad experience is simple. Users see a glowing Carlsberg beer bottle. A message is asking the user to tap on the glowing bottle.

Upon tapping on it, a short animation plays of a rugby player carrying a cold, iced bucket of Carlsberg beers.

A fun brand slogan appears: “Are you beer ready”?

Users can then tap on the ‘Find us on Facebook’ link to visit the advertiser’s page for more information.

Back To Our Regular Programming

An interactive HTML5 ad consists of 5 main elements:

index.html (main entry point)

main.js (the javascript that contains the logic)

main.css (the CSS stylesheet)

assets (visual assets)

the outbound link (where the ad should take users to)

Let’s start building the ad…

Part 1: index.html

The index.html consists of standard HTML declarations.

See the Pen Carlsberg Interactive Ad Demo – index.html by Ben Chong (@marketjs) on CodePen.

What matters here are the meta viewport, and the linking to main.css and main.js

As you can see, it’s fairly simple. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Part 2: main.js (The Meat And Bones )

The main.js is a Javascript file that drives all the interaction with the ad.

See the Pen Carlsberg Interactive Ad Demo – main.js by Ben Chong (@marketjs) on CodePen.

At the top, we insert jQuery’s entire minified JS. Note that you can use the latest version of jQuery from http://jquery.com/

jQuery will be helpful for most of the DOM manipulation techniques we use.

Next, we create a simple image based preload function.

We preload a bunch of graphical assets related to the ad.

Now, on to the logic. When the ad loads, you’ll notice we create 2 divs, called scene1 and scene2.

scene1 contains the div of the glowing bottle. When it’s clicked on, it transitions to scene2, via the gotoScene2 function

scene2 itself contains the tagline div, which redirects to the Facebook page of Carlsberg, when tapped.

That’s basically it. Very simple logic is needed.

Part 3: main.css (The Stylesheet)

The main.css file contains all CSS-related styles.

See the Pen Carlsberg Interactive Ad Demo – main.css by Ben Chong (@marketjs) on CodePen.

In this example, we did some of the cool animations you see via CSS

For instance, the glowing beer bottle uses the blinker value from the -webkit-animation property

We also add a few standard algorithms that users tend to love, such as bounceIn and bounceOut

Part 4: Visual Assets

Interactive ads require fun visuals that are brand-related. Hence, it’s advisable to work with a designer on interactive HTML5 ads.

In our case we used: The blank green background; The bottle; The background with the rugby man holding a cold ice bucket of beers; The call to action graphics.

Part 5: Call To Action (CTA)

This is the most important parts to any interactive ad. The call to action has to be designed to well, that users actually want to click through to find out more.

It has to be a compelling message that ties to user’s curiosity.

For emphasis, here’s the final CTA look:

Summary

We hope this article is useful for the community. As you can see, this interactive ad is really easy to build and takes not more than 10 minutes to assemble yourself.

Click here to download the project files and source code.

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No elevation required: the new way to shop the high street | Fashion

I bet you think you know how to shop the high street. I mean, who doesn’t? It’s what we all do. You, me, the women I squish up next to at fashion shows, the women I squish up next to on the Victoria line. Yes, there are women who wear exclusively designer clothes, but even on the fashion front row they are in a tiny minority. That there are rich fashion pickings to be had at high-street prices is not news.

Still – and don’t take this the wrong way – most of us are shopping the high street all wrong. The principles by which we approach what we buy from what shop lag behind the reality of what is out there. To get the best out of the high street, we need to think again.

Source of obsession … camel coat by Osman, from Next’s Label/Mix collection, £275.

For the past decade, we have lived by two unbreakable commandments of high-low shopping, repeated and reprinted for so long that we have absorbed them as gospel. Like the Lord’s prayer of retail, we mutter them under our breath as we shop.

Commandment number one: the high street is great for basics, while designer boutiques are unbeatable for special pieces. Sharon Stone is the patron saint of this mantra, appearing on the Oscars red carpet in a Gap white shirt and a satin Vera Wang skirt, smiling as beatifically as a stained-glass angel. Commandment number two: beyond basics, the strength of the high street is throwaway, blaze-of-glory party dressing of the buy-today-wear-tonight school. Look at the price per sequin and ignore the fact they will fall apart in the taxi home.

These principles are out of date and out of touch. The best new high-street fashion of 2017 moves beyond the tired tropes of elevated basics and magpie sparkle. If you know where to look, there are interesting, eyecatching, wearable, well-made clothes that are made to last and do not require “elevating” with the addition of a designer piece.

This is the post-basic high street. Some of the best clothes of the new season originate from names you might have had down as – let’s be frank – a little dull. Next is known to many of us as a source of good-value workwear and great kidswear, but the new designer-led, limited-edition collection Label/Mix has produced a camel coat with a wide faux-fur panel that runs behind the lapels like a football scarf that I have been obsessed with since I saw it at a press day months ago (it’s by Osman and launches on 9 November for £275). LK Bennett gets flak for a kitten-heel mentality, but the LK Bennett x Preen collaboration has kick-ass desk-to-dinner dresses (such as the sequin dress above), while the Patti cashmere sweater with multicoloured jewels on one shoulder is excellent value at £195. The perfect high-necked statement blouse, in striped crepe de chine and with micro‑pleated ruffles? It’s £170 from the Icons collection at Boden.

‘These clothes are special, confident and exude a joy in fashion’ … the new collection by Finery.

The following is a conversation I have about once a fortnight. Me: “Ooh, that dress/coat/jumper is nice, where is it from?” The reply: “Cos – but one/five/eight years ago.” Label/Mix by Next and LK Bennett x Preen are this season’s hottest collections, but credit for the slow-burn trend for grownup-but-not-boring high-street pieces goes in large part to two H&M-owned brands, Cos and & Other Stories, which launched 10 and four years ago, respectively.

These brands introduced us to a new way of shopping. We bought pieces that were special, but not showy – and, crucially, discovered that we were still wearing them seasons later. Whereas Cos is all about the subtle detail, & Other Stories has a winning line in quirk: you could go for corduroy culottes in traffic‑light red for £59 or this season’s block-heeled ankle boots in a shiny tortoiseshell effect for £125.

Grownup, but not boring … & Other Stories AW17.

Finery launched three years ago with a mission “to put the excitement back into shopping”. Originally online only, it’s now sold on the shop floor in John Lewis. These clothes are special, confident and exude a joy in fashion. “Say ‘hello’ to the dress you didn’t know you need, but you really, really do,” reads the blurb for an asymmetric-hem rose-print patchwork midi dress.

A by Jigsaw is an upscale high-street line; its exquisitely made Italian wool coats are often seen at fashion week. Like Finery, it’s powered by the philosophy that design integrity should be accessible to a consumer who has been left behind by the ever more stratospheric prices of Bond Street. (I want the Ellsworth-Kelly-ish pleat skirt, £199.) With a price tag of between £1,000 and £2,000 now standard for a dress from a luxury name such as Gucci, Prada or Balenciaga, the rise in prices has fuelled another fashion industry obsession: a clandestine love of the discounts at Bicester Village, now the fashion editor’s favourite day out.

At this point, I must come clean. There are certain pieces about which I am unmovably snobbish. I have no qualms about wearing £30 shoes – I often sing the praises of M&S (so comfy!) on the front row and plan to buy its £49.50 ankle boots for Christmas parties – but I cannot, however much I try, be satisfied by a cheap bag. If I can afford it without whimpering, it leaves me cold. While I will happily wear a Next coat (see above), I would rather become a hermit than carry a diary that wasn’t Smythson. And don’t get me started on my luggage snobbery, which is out of control. I can only give thanks for the supply of Louis Vuitton holdalls on resale site Vestiaire Collective.

Snobbery isn’t dead, then. It’s just that – like everything else in fashion – it doesn’t mean what it used to mean.

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