It’s been a minute since we last hosted a live event, but with the timely alignment of the right friends and weather too nice to pass up, we went all in. Back in mid-October, we hosted Spin N’ Smash, a table tennis tournament hosted within a community cookout and charity fundraiser.
the SEED
The initial discussions started over scattered dinners, hangs and musings centered around a love of table tennis (and of course, a burning desire to see who was the best at it). Eugene remembered the good ol’ days of dominating the table at the HYPEBEAST lounge while Kenneth was eager to host something at their non-profit space More Good, which prepares healthy meals for Hong Kong’s underserved communities.
the process
But of course, as perennial over-achievers, it wasn’t enough to create something one-and-done. We wanted a weekend tourney to be the beginning of something bigger. We envisioned Spin N’ Smash as part of a series of casual, fun competitions as the centerpiece of a larger event that combined food, drink, and creativity.
As we built upwards toward the event itself and downwards towards the root branding, we saw the need to create an umbrella entity for hosting not just this series of competitions but other events too.
And so after a few rounds of discussion and a pass from the ADAM translation team (basically Laurel and Nate), the MAEKAN and More Good Golden Bamboo Social Club (黃金竹子同樂會) was born.
It’s frankly a literal take on two iconic and cliché aspects of Hong Kong culture, bamboo scaffolding and all things gold, but also a nod to the cross-cultural backgrounds we’re aiming to unite.
Central to spearheading the alignment of the whole branding chain was ADAM Studios designer YY Lee (pictured below), who created the visual identity for both GBSC and SPIN N’ SMASH while design intern Angela worked with her to create our amazing key visuals.
As the days counted down to the mid-September launch, we partnered with SOHO House Hong Kong, who was hosting its Summer’s End Community Cookout at More Good’s space in Chai Wan. To help drive ticket sales and with it, proceeds towards More Goods community efforts, we mobilized the ADAM team to create a simple but solid social media marketing campaign based on Instagram.
A tournament isn’t complete without some ceramicware, so we went the unconventional route of creating three ceramic trophies. We gave Casric Ip of Art Studio free rein to create the trophies as he saw fit, resulting in three crazy-ass interpretations that resulted in an incense holder, a sake carafe, and a flower vase.
the setbacks
Everything was lined up and ready to go as planned. Unfortunately, Hong Kong also has a penchant for attracting inclement weather. Typhoons are a fairly regular occurrence and Hong Kong and Chai Wan, like most coastal districts on Hong Kong Island, tend to bear the greatest brunt.
Typhoon Saola was especially unkind to More Good’s space, ripping glass sliding doors out of their tracks, toppling massive planters and flooding its main event area with rain.
Overnight, More Good’s need for support suddenly increased exponentially. Even as handyman Tim got to work shoring up the damage, a low pressure system left by another typhoon farther away drenched the city once again with massive flooding. Sadly, we had to postpone the event for repairs.
one month later...
The big day
As repairs continued, we stayed hard at work to make sure we came back strong, with Joyce and Laurel hustling behind the scenes to line up all the moving pieces including the production of our customizable jersey / tees.
At long last, the day came and we were readier than ever to kick things off. After a quick briefing on the rules and drawing for matchups, SPIN N’ SMASH was underway.
Our shooter Billy put up a good fight (and even better recap video) before being knocked out in the semis. In the end, Eugene brought home the first place vase for Team MAEKAN / ADAM, besting rival Max (who got the sake carafe), while 3rd place finisher Tim took home an incense holder.
The incredible irony of Eugene’s victory notwithstanding, SPIN N’ SMASH was a huge success thanks to team ADAM, our partners Soho House, More Good, and Fernet Hunter, and everyone who came out to support.
2nd Place Winner Max with the Sake Carafe
1st Place Winner Eugene with the Vase
3rd Place Winner Tim with the Incense Holder
See you at the next one y’all.
