Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: TKTO Inc. (Toronto Knife Throwing) @torontoknifethrowing

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

The TKTO (Toronto Knife Throwing) began when Jonathan Howcroft, our Founder and Chief Instructor, walked down the driveway of long-time friend, Bramm Happner’s house. He heard a lot of banging and clanging. As he approached, he asked "what are you guys doing back here?" Bramm turned around, large blade above his head, smiled, turned back to a target tacked to a dead stump and threw. "Oh man, I gotta try!" And from there, the TKTO was born.

Only two years later and the TKTO is now the only regulation knife throwing range in Toronto, Ontario. The indoor facility consists of 12 lanes, throwers lounge, and, the infamous, Quick Draw Cage. The only of its kind in the world. We host group events, private parties, leagues and recently started to offer Walk-Ins for smaller groups and individuals, eager to try the sport of Knife Throwing, without having to commit to a larger booking or set-time.

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

We try to post throughout the week, often sharing the photos and experiences of those who come to the range. When people come to the range, we encourage them to follow and tag us on Instagram, so we can see the range from their perspective. We also love posting the weird, back-scene life of league players and our various after-hour shenanigans, from skate-boarding while throwing on the range, to knife spinning.

We want to help grow the sport of Knife Throwing and bring people into the community as a whole.

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

Well, we toyed around with a bunch of things, but, let’s be honest, nothing is quite as straight forward as calling it what it is – @torontoknifethrowing

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

We use a few apps to piece together our posts. For collages, we like PhotoCollage, as it offers various ratios, as well as border options. For more in depth editing, we flip back and forth between ColorStory and Afterlight. Often it depends on how much we want to play with the image itself. Filters on ColorStory are extremely versatile, but the amount of processing you can do on Afterlight is pretty intense.

Most recently, we downloaded Fontmania, for its text and art layovers. Its a quick and easy way, first thing in the morning, when our brains are fully awake, to add some dimension and fun messages onto photos and use them to help bring attention to whatever is happening at the time.

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

We love to follow a lot of the knife throwing scene. Its a small crowd, compared to a lot of other niche sports, but that makes the feeling of community that much stronger. From a non-blade related side, we are fans of @whatever_louie and other independant artisans. Whatever Louie has a real eye for dynamic shots. Sure, anyone could take a product shot and throw it on Instagram, but he clearly knows how to lay out a great image and make a simple image become something more, all the while sticking to his grit-contrast-ridden brand.

On top of that, its just nice to follow and support our other entrepreneur friends. We are all trying to get a foothold on the new Instagram platform, so it makes sense to help each other out with a like, tag, shoutout or comment.

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

Walk-Ins Knife Throwing Sessions, for sure. We have had requests for them since we opened our doors in 2015. We want to make the TKTO as accessible as possible. We know that our Toronto scene are into the idea of going with the flow of the day, and if that means chucking steel, we want to make sure that can happen.

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

Who wouldn’t want to help bring something cool and exciting into people’s everyday lives? We go beyond the average cat video (although we do love kitties at the TKTO) and make you want to get out from behind your phone and actually DO SOMETHING. As much as we love being part of social media, at the end of the day, we want to be interactive with one another. You can’t throw knives with a phone in your hand. Some of our best groups and parties at the range were so big and fun that taking photos and videos was the last thing on anyone’s mind. They wanted to be part of what was happening. The reason we don’t post a lot of our own photos is we are hands-on with our throwers. Its the best part of the TKTO is how much we work with the people coming in the door. We want you to know the satisfaction of the Thunk Life.

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

Being part of an alternative sport, especially one that hasn’t really been in the Toronto scene before, we feel that it’s important that we focus as much on the sport itself as the party atmosphere. Sure, we all love a good time, but at the end of the day, we are serious about knife throwing and want to help solidify it in the mainstream as a safe, enjoyable target sport. This means being ambassadors through professionalism and consistency of our brand and overall look/style.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

When you look at our stream as a whole, the colours of the brand are always front and centre. When selecting which photos to share, we always look for sharp, clear images with happy faces and people having a good time. When the gems of truly dynamic, unique angled shots come up, we jump on them immediately. Everyone who comes to the range is taking photos and (ideally) hashtagging #TKTO, and as much as we love seeing them all, only a few get shared to our feed. We encourage people to crouch down, stand higher, tilt the camera and look for a shot you wouldn’t see at standard eye level. Get some depth into the field and tell a story. That is what gets the attention of followers and keeps them long term.

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

With a sport as unique as knife throwing, we see everything from novice throwers, to performers, to skilled tradesman, all honing their craft. As as professional, its great to watch the evolution of the sport and the tools that are used. When new knife designs are hitting the scene, its great to see and share feedback with other throwers, new and experienced. There is always something in the works and its great to be part of it, spreading the word and growing the sport of knife throwing as a whole.

Topics:

• Education
• Health & Fitness
• Nature & Outdoors

Country:

Canada