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Early -- well, not too early -- on the morning of April 19th, Coach Jean laced up, stretched, and started on her tour of town. Both WayZada families have been long-time Coach Jean fans at our local Orange Theory branch and made it out to cheer her on. Moreover, with our company just launched we reached out to see if we could try making her some prints to test our own abilities and gauge her reaction.
WayZada printed up two samples for her. First, we made our standard one-color profile with inset text. But, with a twist. Coach Jean got our first print with magnets in both the profile and base, so she can ‘click in’ the profile along with mile markers, or remove it to show it off.
Next, we pulled together some custom artwork to place her accomplishments on local roads. After adding a text block and hitting print, we produced a route on a baseplate, which would eventually become a standard product for us.
After we delivered our prints, Jean agreed to help show them off on social media. As our first influencer, we created a coupon code for her to share. While our goal was to give 26.2% off, our current back-end only supports whole number discounts so 26% it was.
Ultimately we are grateful to Coach Jean for working with us. Even before we launched our company, she gave us a chance to commemorate her achievement. This was a chance to work through the process from activity through delivery with an external client, get feedback on what she liked (and didn’t!), and show our capabilities.
Thanks, Coach Jean, for letting us help celebrate your achievement.
Finally, check out Coach Jean at:
Instagram: @mycuppajoy
Over the last couple of days we have been experimenting with add-ons for our "Route on Baseplate" product. A photo holder and a medal stand seemed to be good options to pursue. I am proud to share two photos of a combination we did for last years Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
]]>After a steep climb on Aynes Loop that had us feeling our age, a rest was in order. We stopped at the intersection and came across a laminated trail map placed by a local nonprofit who maintains the trails.
It was at this point when my riding partner threw down a challenge. He has been helping out here at WayZada and asked if he could get same-day service for our morning ride. Challenge accepted, and a friendly wager was made (photo evidence of friendliness below). Per our custom, loser buys the winner a beer, and the winner would show their honor by returning the favor. Best kind of bet to make!
On the drive home I remembered Garmin is currently down due to a ransomware attack, which would make the job more difficult. I connected to my watch as a storage device and grabbed the day’s *.fit file, which I converted into a more traditional (and useful!) *.gpx. From there, our WayZada software mapped the profile and I did a bit of QA/QC to clean up our tracks. Normally Garmin does that for me, but with their services down and a beer-bet to win, I couldn’t wait.
I knew the victory would be within reach, so I figured I might as well create something nice for a friend. I imported the profile into AutoCad, added the trail names to the front, and a profile of a bike at about 50% thickness to give some depth to the print. While you can’t see it in the image below, I also created hollow pockets inside the print for a pair of magnets, so this is functional as a refrigerator magnet. I ultimately decided upon a pair of neodymium magnets, which means this will end up sticking to his bumper on the highway without issues. Also added a ‘WayZada.com’ inset to the back, just in case someone plucks this off his beer fridge and wants to print one of their own. A little bit of self promotion can’t hurt, right?
Next stop was Slic3R to prep this for printing. I split the print into a two-tone for the profile, using white as the back layer to help make this pop against Ben’s black fridge. Orange layered on top of that, then back to white font to tie this together and list the trails we had ridden this morning.
Checked the code, sent to the printer, and it was off to the races.
Left for the trip at 8am, wager made around 10am, print done by 4pm. The super-strong neodymium magnets do their job - this worked great as a car magnet and looks right at home on Ben’s fridge.
The bike profile was a new addition to our portfolio, and one that we’ll likely expand on - we’ve already been discussing offering a runner, hiker, campsite, and other silhouettes to enhance our profiles.
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Ultimately we did our homework on options and have committed to working with TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Box program. TerraCycle partners with filament recycler FilaBot to ensure that 100% of our filament waste is diverted from landfills and ultimately finds its way back into the supply chain.
While recycling options for filament are limited, we’re proud to help grow this space. This is a minor cost to help do the right thing for the environment.
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WayZada is not about the route less traveled, it's about the route you traveled!
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