Aloha!
English Version 🇺🇸
TL;DR Highlights from sponsorship term: Creating Gnars Merch; Surfing slabs in Espirito Santo; Recovering from injury; Surfing at the Wavepool; Creating gnarly content in Fernando de Noronha; Community Building at Gnars and SurfHive; Participating in meetups and Ethereum Rio Conference; Financial transparency
I am a surfer passionate about big waves and barrels. I am also a communicator and @gnars sponsored athlete. I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude and provide some feedback on my sponsorship experience with @gnars over the past months - from September 2022 until March 2023.
Chasing barrels and big waves is one of my biggest passions as a surfer | Photo by Ricardo Alves
Living the dream in Fernando de Noronha | Photo by Michele Roth
First, let me introduce myself. I'm a 33-year-old Brazilian surfer who has been riding waves since I was a little kid. I've been actively involved in the blockchain world since 2017, working as a community builder for various projects such as EOS Rio, Cambiatus, Muda and SurfHive. I'm also a researcher about the blockchain ecosystem in Latam and an advisor for Ethereum Brasil, Surfguru and Play4Change. Combining my love for surfing and my passion for blockchain technology has been a dream coming true.
During my time as a sponsored surfer at @gnars , I've had the opportunity to embark on some incredible experiences. I'd like to highlight a few important moments:
Creating Gnars Merch: As soon as I joined @gnars , I knew that the first task was to prepare myself to spread the word. I invested approximately $420 in producing gnars merch, including shirts, jackets, hats, and stickers. I made shirts and jacket to use, around 50 gnars hats and hundreds of stickers to spread the word with my fellow surfers, aiming to raise awareness about @gnars.
Nounish stickerssssss ⌐◨-◨
@xvlad nounifying his skateboard during the Ethereum Rio Conference ⌐◨-◨
Gnarly 5panel hats ⌐◨-◨
Swag with my Gnars wavehead NFT - back then we didn't have the Surfguru website selling @gnars merch
I replaced those smaller stickers for bigger ones - the first batch came smaller than I expected :(
My tow in boards with the proper stickers
Gnarly Jet-Ski
As you can see, I have been trying to create merch and represent @gnars as a surfer. All my boards and the Jet Ski I use for tow-in sessions have @gnars stickers. In the surfing world, top sponsors are in the ones closer to the nose of the board. I am proud to have @surfgurupro (the company I am a partner at) and @gnars as my main sponsors <3
Surfing gnarly slabs in Espirito Santo: I pushed myself to the limit, surfing challenging waves in Espirito Santo. I've been doing it since 2020, but last year was definitely special. It was an awesome experience, and I'm grateful for the support and encouragement I received from @nxfbodyboard and @gnars community.
Avalanche - I hurt my ankle in this wave and took me 6 weeks to get back surfing | Pilot @bernardonassar
Coral do Céu - One of my first tow sessions after recovering from the injury in November 2022 | Photo @dsimages
Mutant wave at Coral do Céu | Pilot @bernardonassar | Photo @dsimages
Recovering from an Injury: In late September 2022, I unfortunately injured my ankle while trying to get barreled at the powerful waves of Avalanche. However, with determination and investing in a physiotherapist rehabilitation, I made a remarkable recovery and was back in the water in 6 weeks, surfing barrels in Regência by late October. I invested $536 during the sponsorship period into rehab sessions and now I go there every month to do preventive sessions.
That's how my ankle was after the Avalanche's wave.
This was my first surfing session after the injury
After surfing great waves during the 2022 slab season I got invited to an invite-only tube riding contest, the Regência Supertubos. This is an annual event where the best surfers from Espirito Santo and from Brazil are invited to compete in classic Regencia barrels. In 2021 I competed in the event trials and lost in the first round. I was pretty stoked with this invitation because it shows that my surfing has been appreciated by others and they are seeing my evolution as a big wave surfer and tube rider.
Unfortunately, the event didn't happen in 2022 and we're hoping to have another one in 2023.
Surfing at Brazil's first wave pool
In december 2022 I was invited to go to Praia da Grama - Brazil's first operating wave pool. I was really curious about this trip, and thought it would be a good opportunity to get some barrels and create content about it.
Thiago, Myself and Felipe before the session
Boards ready to go!
Getting barrels at the wave pool
There were also nice waves for maneuvers
Going to the wave pool was cool because many surfers have curiosity about it. It was also good for my recovery process from the injury.
Creating Gnarly Content in Fernando de Noronha: One of the highlights of my sponsorship term was spending time in Fernando de Noronha, often referred to as the Brazilian Hawaii. I captured stunning footage and created content that can be utilized for various initiatives, including the first-ever surfing clip that was minted on That's Gnarly.
My favorite photo from the trip | Photo Ricardo Alves
During the time in Noronha, I recognize that I was a bit away from discord and twitter. The internet connection in the island is pretty slow, and I couldn't stay connected a lot. Now they're installing starlink all over the island, and it seems that next season we'll have plenty of internet access.
Preparing for a gnarly barrel | Photo Marcelo Freire
This is my favorite place: the blue room | Photo Renato Tinoco
Getting in the water with my wavehead shirt. Grateful for such a wonderful surf season. Special thanks to the locals, my sponsors @gnars @surfgurupro , Tembo Seguros and supporters Grupo Ecocharme, Maré restaurant, Fernão El Loco, Hortifruti.
You can check more content from Noronha in this post on SurfHive, and also tips to travel to the island.
Community Building at @Gnars and @surfhive: In addition to my personal achievements, I've been actively involved in community building efforts to the @gnars community. The first two major achievements were onboarding @marinioac and @lucasrocha94 , gnars dao sponsored athletes, and also @coutinholuiza @bernardonassar and @carlosbellumat, who already have Gnars NFTs and are actively creating nounish content.
For me, defining success for a Gnars athlete is challenging. Some DAO members want us to have high proliferation actions (awareness), others, want to have a better ROI (return on investment) for every proposal, which means sponsored athletes helping generate revenue for the DAO by selling NFTs (Gnars or That's Gnarly mints), @gnars merch or other sources of revenue.
As an effort to make it clear for the whole community, @xvlad and me started a gamification strategy that you can find here, based on Satori's Gnars Athletes Sponsorship protocol.
In this quest, we set up a trail of achievements "defining what success looks like", and having clear goals for DAO members that would like to make a proposal for the DAO or as a shredder/athlete.
@xvlad, myself and @knowhow92 are working on the hipothesis that @skatehive and @surfhive members could add @gnars as a default beneficiary on every post, with a minimum of 5% and up to whatever people feel comfortable with. Therefore, every content created by Skate/SurfHive members will have at least 5% of the rewards going to Gnars. Imagine what would happen if we onboard thousands of surfers and skaters? ⌐◨-◨
Example of how to set default beneficiaries.
This is a revenue stream that funds @Gnars besides NFT sales, and most importantly, doesn't suffer from gas fees issues like we're facing in the ethereum ecosystem over the past few weeks. I like to think of it as monetizing Red Bull Media House (that's gnarly and skate/surfhive) while we are also selling energy drinks (NFTs).
In an attempt to grow our surfing community in Brazil, @marinioac and I recently passed a proposal to educate and engage surfers about @gnars and the benefits of joining our DAO, in collaboration with the Surfguru - Brazil's largest online surfing community and forecast website. @surfgurupro also sells Gnars merch in their online store - all the profits from @gnars products will go towards the DAO.
On behalf of selling more NFTs, I believe the way to go is to provide benefits for @gnars holders, just like an extreme sports club. This was the success recipe for Surfjunkies selling heaps of NFTs in Brazil
What I've got so far was some initial partnerships, but there's some cool things coming.
Currently, gnars holders get a free @surfgurupro premium account and can work at the We Believe Hub coworking space twice a week for free. We're also going to put some NFTs and nounish stickers around the place.
I've been working with Layback Beer to foster a partnership with them in which every Gnars holder would get a free beer when entering on every Layback park!
There's also the possibility of doing a gnarly activation during the WSL (World Surf League) championship in Saquarema (June 24th) that I am exploring with their CEO.
I'd love to also onboard Pedro Barros, Layback's founder.
Participating at Web3 Meetups & Ethereum Rio Conference:
I had the opportunity to participate in events, including two meetups at WeBelieve Hub, where I wore the Gnars gear and spread the word about the DAO during my presentations.
I was actively involved in the Ethereum Rio Conference, curating content, facilitating a workshop on DAO Governance, and using @Gnars and Nouns as one of the examples.
I also attended and helped inviting people to the Gnars Session - a side event where we could gather shredders, holders and enthusiasts!
@lucasrocha94 ; myself; @marinioac ; @3rdeye-crypto and @xvlad - all sponsored @gnars shredders having fun at the event!
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Wow, a lot happened during this 6 months, right?
Now let's dive into the financial transparency of the sponsorship term. I received a total of 3 ETH during the sponsorship period when the price of ETH was around $1,300. I expect that other athletes take time to do similar content for the community, and I hope this helps me on my renewal proposal.
The total amount I received was $4,900, which I used as follows:
Gnars Merch: To represent @gnars wherever I went, I invested $420 in creating custom merch, including stickers, shirts, jackets, and hats.
Jet Ski Costs: I use a tow-in jet ski for my surfing sessions, and the associated costs for gas amounted to approximately $50 per session. Over the sponsorship period, we had seven sessions, totaling $350.
Wavepool Trip - Praia da Grama - São Paulo: I embarked on a trip to Praia da Grama, Brazil's first wave pool. The expenses for this trip included accommodation ($250), transportation ($100), wave pool sessions ($200 for two sessions), meals ($100), and image capturing ($100). The total expenditure for this trip was $750.
Fernando de Noronha: I had the privilege of spending two and a half months in Fernando de Noronha, a renowned surfing destination. The expenses during this period included plane tickets ($1,000 for two return tickets), accommodation ($1,200), image capturing ($800), and meals ($800). I managed to get those costs down because @surfgurupro has plenty of partnerships in the island and helped me with accommodation, meals and tax waiver. The total expenditure for my time in Fernando de Noronha amounted to $3,800.
Ethereum Rio: I attended the Ethereum Rio conference and participated at the ReFi panel, facilitated a DAO Governance workshop and also participated in the LatAm Ecosystem panel on day 2. Of course, I attended to the Gnars Session and had lots of fun meeting other @gnars members! The expenses for this event included a return ticket from Rio ($120), meals ($100) and uber drives ($30) totaling $250. My accommodation was for free at my uncle's house.
Overall, when accounting for all the expenses mentioned above, the grand total amounts to $5,570.
This means I had more expenses than the sponsorship I got from @gnars . But that's cool! @gnars gave me initial resources and I could look for other sponsors and even use my own money to be chasing my dreams.
Looking ahead, I would love to continue collaborating with @gnars as a sponsored surfer. I have enjoyed the experiences and opportunities provided to me during this sponsorship term, and I am excited about the possibilities for the future.
With the community support, I aim to keep pushing my surfing limits, creating engaging content, and representing @gnars in various events and initiatives. I will share more of my plans on my renewal sponsorship proposal, that should be up for discussion on the following days.
Thank you for your ongoing support, and I look forward to discussing the renewal proposal in more detail.
If you wanna see more surfing and web3 content, you can find me on:
Thats Gnarly Twitter Instagram
Pura vida! 🤙
Portuguese Version 🇧🇷
TL;DR Destaques do período de patrocínio: Criação de Produtos Gnars; Surfando slabs no Espírito Santo; Recuperação da lesão; Surfando na piscina de ondas; Criando conteúdo em Fernando de Noronha; Construção da comunidade em Gnars e SurfHive; Participação em meetups e na Ethereum Rio; Transparência financeira.
Aloha! Sou um surfista apaixonado por ondas grandes e tubos. Sou também comunicador e atleta patrocinado pela @gnars. Gostaria de aproveitar este momento para expressar minha gratidão e fornecer um feedback sobre minha experiência de patrocínio com a @gnars nos últimos meses - de setembro de 2022 a março de 2023.
Buscando tubos e ondas grandes é uma das minhas maiores paixões como surfista | Foto por Ricardo Alves
Vivendo o sonh