Introducing: WannaGo
Today is the global release of WannaGo, an app available on both iPhone and Android that becomes your personal lifestyle concierge through categorized shortlists from a curatorial community. Within this, each curator’s personal insight can give you the information and access needed to get the most out of any experience, be it the password to enter that underground speakeasy in Chinatown that gives hands-on mixology classes, or that hidden spot in Big Sur you don’t want to miss.
KNOW WHERE TO GO, WHEREVER YOU ARE
WannaGo Puts The World’s Local Insight Right In Your Hands.
Today is the global release of WannaGo, an app available on both iPhone and Android that becomes your personal lifestyle concierge through categorized shortlists from a curatorial community. Within this, each curator’s personal insight can give you the information and access needed to get the most out of any experience, be it the password to enter that underground speakeasy in Chinatown that gives hands-on mixology classes, or that hidden spot in Big Sur you don’t want to miss.
Advancing beyond the assortment of impersonal rating and review platforms that simply sway decision, WannaGo allows members to follow evolving themed GoLists from curators that they revere and discover another version of the world in which they live. Members can then create their own collections of noteworthy locations, whether to save places they would like to experience, share recommendations with friends and family, or inspire others to step off the beaten path.
“Today we live in a very on-demand world, whether that be where we want to eat, shop or travel. The result is a nearly limitless set of options and a dauntingly cluttered mess when trying to save your favorite places or finding places from people you trust. WannaGo provides both a location on your phone to organize places you want to remember with personalized notes and photos, as well as a way to discover those hidden gems – be it a new local restaurant or a private beach for your next trip to France.”
To establish a quality content foundation upon which to launch their innovative platform, WannaGo has initially partnered with a host of exclusive curators from across the social spectrum to provide tastemaker insight from all walks of life. Within the app members can easily keep a finger on the pulse through the home-screen ticker, which highlights recently posted places from curators and members they follow within the community. Digging deeper, members can click into the Discover section to find exciting new locations, whether within their area or from around the world curated by a host of exclusive tastemakers.
WannaGo makes it simple to keep track of your favorite places, evolving your personal tastes and experiences through a community you choose to create. It also allows you to share your insight with others, not only within the app, but also via email, SMS and across the social media landscape.
Now available for download on both iPhone and Android.
For more information visit WannaGo.com. For all media inquiries contact VOCAL.
###
The VOCAL Times – Gnarmads
Crazy Ideas + Mad Passion = Monomaniacs on a Mission. It can start with a rumor, an old postcard, or random afternoon beer banter – a purpose, adventure and challenge presents itself and it’s on. We discover possibility for ourselves to create opportunity for others, getting the most out of life to give the most back. Whether it involves physically doing it or simply drawing upon it’s camaraderie and originality, everything we do includes at least the essence of skateboarding. And through this we share from the skateboard community, to the greater community.
“My name’s Bogdan, I’m 22 years old and was born in the Ukraine and raised in Brooklyn.”
“My name’s Matt Kruz. I’m 23 years old, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and have been skateboarding with my friend Bogdan for about 13 years.”
Gnarmads really started off as a joke — we entered a scav- enger bike race and needed to come up with a name, and people always referred to us as gypsies and nomads, so call- ing ourselves Gnarmads made sense. If you’re free and you do whatever you want, you’re a Gnarmad. It’s about doing things, pushing yourself and having fun.
Last year we endured a cross-country bicycle trip, skating in every place we stopped. It was a leisurely pace and took us about nine months. We met so many great people in different skate communities that were willing to put us up, feed us or just let us take a shower. We learned a lot about ourselves, other people, the universe and this country. Upon returning to NYC we completed two more bicycle trips to Vermont and to Virginia, building DIY skate spots in cities along the way.
We continue to organize events here in NYC such as skate contests, art shows, pool tournaments and community events.
The Gnarmads
Virginia, October 2013
Photo of Nick airing over Thomas at Fearcliff Skatepark. We were leaving DC after Thanksgiving and looked up skateshops on our route. We called them early telling them we were on a bike trip and to stay open and wait for us to get there. We arrived and met Thomas and Kelly, the couple 20-year- olds who run this indoor skatepark; they kept it open all night for us to skate and camp in. of Nick airing over Thomas at Fearcliff Skatepark.
Louisiana, December 2013
After riding all day we stopped at a gas station to pick up some beer before finding a campsite. Bog- dan handed his ID to the clerk, to which he immediately said it was fake. He showed him two matching bank cards, and the clerk exclaimed “Your name is fake!” We exchanged some cursing and shouting and he called the police. We waited right outside and explained everything. They looked at us like we were crazy and just told us to get out of town.
Santa Cruz, April 2014
DIY skatepark hidden in the cliff-side hills north of Santa Cruz on the Pacific Coast Highway. The was also a fixed rope on the cliff to rappel down to the beach / surf spot.
California, April 2014
We crossed over into the southernmost region of California for the first time through Yuma, AZ. We cycled through seemingly endless sand dunes for days, and kept wondering if it was possible to skate down them. One late afternoon we saw a perfect dune mountain, took off our skateboard wheels and jumped into the slope, sliding down some of the hill before sinking in sand, waist deep.
California, May 2014
It was a slow riding day because one of our rear derailleurs broke off. We had set our sights on at least making it to this small town that ap- peared to be just over the canyon, called Los Alamos. The Google Maps route took us on a windy road for a few miles, before the road suddenly turned to sand and we couldnt continue onward.
Arizona, April 2014
After riding all day through the barren desert, it was get- ting dark and we werent seeing any safe place to camp. Just before nightfall we spotted an area on a hill above the highway and set up camp just in time for sunset. In the morning while packing up, we noticed there was a handmade heart, made out of wires, attached to the barbed wire fence near the site. Someone else in the past must have found similar refuge at this beautiful and middle-of-nowhere spot.
Most Recent:
For the month of June, NYC Pride welcomes WorldPride as it marks the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and a half century of LGBTQI+ liberation. To celebrate this moment, The Ally Coalition have created an emotive community-driven sound and light experience featuring a soundscape by St Vincent, and generated by user messages. The experience is powered by Microsoft AI technology that explores powerful feelings of hope, anger, joy and determination.
London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London is continuing its collaboration with Microsoft to inspire the next generation to rethink, redesign and revolutionize the future of the fashion industry. Leveraging Microsoft’s cutting-edge Mixed Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and IoT technologies and LCF’s industry-defining mentors, selected students were invited to participate in a semester-long intensive course that culminates in a final showcase of their prototypes this June.
The Petersen Automotive Museum announced today that its upcoming “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy” exhibit will spotlight a unique and immersive mixed-reality experience powered by Microsoft HoloLens. The display, named “Hollywood Dream Machines: Worlds Reimagined,” will be centered around the iconic Time Machine from “Back to the Future” and the famed Warthog from the “Halo” franchise. Opening May 4, 2019, the experience will offer guests an inside look at these legendary sci-fi machines.
Sister City, a new, meticulously designed hotel in NYC that embraces technology to offer guests a modern respite, debuts a first-of-its-kind lobby music score. Inherent to Sister City’s founding ethos was the question of its sonic landscape — Sister City asks what new shapes music can take as a site-specific, living extension of the hotel, and looked to Brian Eno’s Music For Airports and John Cage’s concept for “4’33”” as touch points for these conversations.
We’re excited to announce a new action sports music festival Gnarlytown set for June 22 in San Pedro, CA, co-founded by veteran pro skateboarder Chris Cole in partnership with John Reese of SGE and Nitro Circus. Set at the scenic LA Waterfront Berth 46 in San Pedro, CA, Gnarlytown will combine the perfect blend of action sports, punk rock, and craft beer tasting.
Microsoft has announced another partnership through their ongoing In Culture program that supports today’s most innovative creatives, this time with English singer-songwriter and rising star NAO. Together they are producing a never-before-seen interactive and personal music video to support the “Orbit” track on her new album Saturn released late in 2018.