Keeping Tabs On The Lab #32
To the Bored,
Good evening and thanks for reading the 32nd edition of the Bored Ape Gazetteās Keeping Tabs on The Lab Newsletter!
October has been anything but boring so far as Meebits ventured to the Otherside and explored Meetropolis, Bored Ape Yacht Club members prepare for ApeFest 2023, and the CryptoPunks community, along with the broader art world, get ready for a premier collaboration later this month!
As all of these exciting things are taking place across the Yugaverse, Yuga Labs is in the midst of restructuring itself and getting back to BAYC-ics after the companyās Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Alegre, said that the company needs to focus on its strengths and tighten up.Ā
With so much happening around the swamp, let's ape into the news and keep tabs on Yuga Labs!
To begin, Yuga Labs shared an internal email that CEO, Daniel Alegre, sent to employees last week that announced Yuga Labsā restructuring plans and the companyās path forward.
Ā āWhen I joined Yuga six months ago, my first priority was to lay out a clear vision that focused our team on the creative storytelling and community building that is at the core of Yuga,ā Alegre wrote. āI also went on a listening tour to understand every aspect of our business and ensure that the makeup of our team and our projects were aligned with our goals. I realized very quickly that there were a number of projects that, while well-intentioned, either spread the team too thin or required execution expertise beyond our core competencies. As part of this, Iāve spent a long time with the leadership team looking inward and being realistic about two core questions: Are we taking on too much ourselves, and should we gain from the strength of third parties?ā
Following conversations with leadership and a lot of reflection, Alegre decided that Yuga Labs needed to get back to BAYC-ics and focus on its three core competencies: community, Otherside, and making culture on the blockchain.
To do this, Alegre said that Yuga Labs will be refocusing on its NFT brands and restructuring its teams with the Meebits and 10KTF projects joining the Otherside team.
Along with refocusing Yuga Labs on its communities, Alegre also said that Yuga Labs will be going āall inā on Otherside with the help of third-party partnerships, like the ones the company made last month. Alegre also said that 2024 will be filled with live experiences and showcases of the Otherside platform.
After Alegre emphasized Yuga Labsā commitment to making Otherside a reality on Friday, the company held an Otherside focus group event in Berlin on Saturday!
During the event, 40 Voyagers broke on through to the Otherside and visited Meetropolis, a voxel city featuring sites like Block Beach, a museum, a skatepark, and a sprawling main street filled with business!
āI feel more bullish than ever on Otherside, especially considering the level of feedback gathered after the play test,ā BAYC member Dim.Eth said after the event. āThe team is listening very closely to the community.ā
As the Yuga Labs team continues to listen and build, theyāre getting ready for Voyagersā next trip to the metaverse that will take place during ApeFest next month!
Speaking of ApeFest, BAYC members have been busy getting ready for the clubās third annual get-together, and its first ApeFest in Hong Kong. Take a look at the eventās three-day schedule below:
"Weāre doing things a little differently this year, with lots of ways to catch up with old frens and make new ones," the BAYC previously wrote on its ApeFest website. "Less of a music festival, more of an epic, unhinged family reunion.ā
The first night of ApeFest features six community-led happy hour events taking place across Hong Kong hosted by the Elite Apes community, the Chinese Ape Club, the BAYC Council, the Taiwan Apes, and Bored Chili with the Ladies of BAYC.
Last week, the BAYC announced that members who are planning on attending ApeFest 2023 must fill out their happy hour preference poll before October 13th.Ā
Apes can find out more about the six venues here and can fill out their happy hour preference forms here.
As Apes pick of their happy hour preferences, CryptoPunks, and the broader art world are getting ready to move the CryptoPunks from the chain to the canvas in Yuga Labsā latest collaboration with Avant Arte,Ā a platform that 'exists to help a new audience discover and own works from outstanding artists.ā
As part of this collaboration, CryptoPunks holders will have the opportunity to purchase prints of their individual Punks, while the broader art community can acquire prints featuring all 10,000 of the 24x24 pixel art images, starting on October 26th.
Thank you so much for reading this weekās edition of Keeping Tabs On The Lab and be sure to follow the Bored Ape Gazette on Twitter for all things Yuga!
Sincerely,
Kyle
Editor-In-Chief
Bored Ape Gazette