Nightlife promoter appears to have an Instawinner with Together Masks By: Martin Cash Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 25, 2020 Last Modified: 6:46 AM CDT Friday, Jun. 26, 2020 Updates

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This article was published 24/06/2020 (1548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A week before the province declared a state of emergency, Winnipeg music event promoter Stephen Hua was meeting with his colleagues discussing upcoming events he was working on.

Three months later, the fruits of his about-face are available. Hua is now in the protective mask business with a new brand called Together Mask.

 

Just as he quickly accepted the fact that the nightlife business is not going to return to anything like it was anytime soon, he also realized that wearing a mask is something that everyone is going to have to get used to.

Together Mask makes made-to-fit reusable masks — locally and in China — to meet the obvious demand.

“Having a mask is now mandatory,” said Hua. “Everyone needs to have one in their bag, in their car.”

Hua said he may have accepted the dramatic lifestyle change before others.

“A lot of promoters were hanging on thinking everything would get better in three months or in six months but I came to quickly accept what was going to be happening, what the new normal would be,” he said.

“A lot of promoters were hanging on thinking everything would get better in three months or in six months but I came to quickly accept what was going to be happening, what the new normal would be.” – Stephen Hua

As well as running the Wednesday Night Patio Party at La Roca, Hua was also the founder of the annual electronic music festival Summer of Sound, which was to have been held on Tuesday night at Assiniboia Downs.

His willingness to recognize the reality of the situation, as hard as it was to accept, gave him a chance to think about what he would do next and he got Together Mask up and running in one month, something that would typically take at least three times longer than that.

“It’s not the same kind of business but at the end of the day it’s using my network and it’s still fun to do,” he said. “My background is in marketing and promotion. I’m just translating that into a different product.”

The first 40,000 custom-fitted, washable Together Masks come in just black and white but he’s looking at different colours and fabrics and possibly children’s sizes as well.

Together Mask is donating one mask for every one ordered. So far, they’ve donated 3,000 masks to Winnipeg Harvest, Winnipeg Pet Rescue and retail and service workers throughout the city.

Hua is also using his social media network on another venture called Instawinners. The Instagram-based program just requires participants to follow everyone Instawinners follows and post a message. Participating sponsors get to beef up their social media presence.

Every campaign will have a different charity partner — the first one is Winnipeg Harvest — and the winner that is drawn receives $5,000 in cash and prizes and so does the charity.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Andrew Harris, a personal friend of Hua’s, is promoting the first Instawinners campaign, the first of its kind in the local market.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

��$10,000 CASH & PRIZES GIVEAWAY�� ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Do you want the chance to win $10,000 in cash and prizes ��? Starting today, we will be giving you multiple chances to win: – $5,000 in CASH to 1 winner as the grand prize – $5,000 in prizes to 100+ winners – $1 donated for every time this post is shared to story up to $5,000 to @wpgharvest�� ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ TO ENTER��: 1. Follow @instawinners.ca and everyone that we’re following (local businesses and entrepreneurs) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 2. Leave a comment (each new comment is a bonus entry) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @andrewharris33�� will be announcing the winner LIVE at @wpgharvest headquarters on Tuesday, July 14th at 1pm CST. No purchase necessary. Exclusions apply. Giveaway is open to Manitoba residents only.⁠ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Presented by @rentwinnipeg & @togethermask ����

A post shared by Instawinners (@instawinners.ca) on Jun 18, 2020 at 5:00pm PDT

 

Hua is a good example of the kind of adaptability that many people are having to dig down deep for in order to find a way to earn a living and feed one’s family.

Luckily for Hua, a self-described happy guy, it wasn’t that hard.

“Everything came to halt and everything I had worked for for the last 20 years was basically gone,” he said.

His life used to be all about nightlife, entertainment and hospitality, but he said his new business is still fun.

"And we get to help people out," he said.

 

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca