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Over the past few years, social media and blogging have both become dominant forces in the world of marketing. Media savvy businesses know that the power of online exposure has surpassed the importance of print and television advertisements, and the resulting viral campaigns, microblogs and social media websites have turned the marketing world upside-down. A generation of young social media users have made careers out of their established base of online followings, and one Toronto blogger is taking it a step further. Zach Bussey is currently 8 ½ months into a year-long social experiment called ‘A Sponsored Life’, where he lives off of promotions and sponsorships, covering everything from his daily meals to his transportation and personal expenses.
As part of the experiment, Zach cleared out his entire apartment into a storage unit and has primarily been spending his nights on an uncomfortable foam camping mattress with a sleeping bag admittedly past its prime… that is until yesterday when he moved into a stunning 37th floor penthouse at Empire Communities’ Beyond the Sea on the shores of Humber Bay.
Zach’s 5-day stay in a luxury condo, courtesy of Empire, is a big step up from a lumpy foam mattress on hardwood floors, so to celebrate this high point of his ongoing experiment, Zach invited 20 fellow bloggers up to his new temporary home in the sky to enjoy some food, drink, and the amazing views Beyond the Sea provides.
With a fridge filled courtesy of Samuel Adams and Magners Cider, and catering from Farm and Wild, guests were provided with plenty to eat and drink.
Last night’s real showstopper was undoubtedly the wide range of views all across the GTA. We saw a similar scene from this same spot back in the winter, but the beautiful weather and colourful skies made for some much nicer views this time around.
Social experiments like this have been around for some time now, with highly publicized examples like ‘One Red Paperclip’ and ‘Craigslist Joe’ cited as inspirations for Zach’s novel spin on the concept. With just a few months left to go in this project, we expect the comfortable bed, ample amenities and top-notch views will give Zach the boost he needs to make it down the home stretch. In the meantime, to stay up to date on his interesting social experiment, check out www.asponsoredlife.com and follow Zach on Twitter - @zachbussey
Want to see more of the penthouse suite at Beyond the Sea? Check out our February article, linked here. Additional information and links to the Forum threads can be found at the projects dataBase page, linked below.
