It's a “TRIBE.” Or is it a “Community?” (May Newsletter)

Let’s face it: all of us old time locals have a habit of referring to our place in the San Diego lifestyle spectrum as our “tribe.” The longer you have lived here, the more you become that; you were and are a pivotal and crucial Tribe member, put there to defend one and all from the “others!”

I have been thinking about this for some time so I went to our unofficial SDSI member, Merriam Webster, for some insights. Turns out a “tribe” is a group of persons having a common, character or interest. Yeah that's us… whether a cyclist, surfer, golfer, swimmer, walker, runner... or snowboarder, kiter, long boarder or now… a “foiler.” We throw up the collective wall (sound familiar), circle up the wagons and define ourselves by our activity. Good or bad are comments related ability, nothing more or less: i.e. “I am a (good; bad) short board folier.” Wow, really? Tribe for sure, summarized by activity.

Well, what if we were a group of persons with common interests living together within a larger society… hmmm. Mr. Webster tells us that is the definition of COMMUNITY. And I think it is a more accurate definition of our sport, active and healthy living “tribe” here in San Diego. While it is easy to describe ourselves by our activity, in the tribal sense, it’s also possible to tell us a little about what we stand for: i.e “I am a dedicated surfer. I surf everyday there is surf. But last year I joined the 100 Waves in a Day movement and raised $1,000 for the Boys and Girls Club.” Community member all the way, categorized by activity within the tribe and the greater social structure, namely our Sport and Active Lifestyle community here in San Diego.

It’s no stretch to say that SDSI has plotted a similar path: we evolved from Action Sport Innovators (tribal for sure) to San Diego Sport Innovators (Community for sure). It took us a while to realize that we are involved with businesses that help make the San Diego Lifestyle so amazingly appealing. Every tribe is here. But collectively we have magnetized ourselves into a core dedicated in part to helping our individual business, while, at the same time, serving as a gateway for all the other companies who want to join the Community. No walls here!

As a reminder, our Mentor Community has donated 1600 hours per year toward graduating 82 companies, with a 87% successful track record… who have raised over $80 million in Capital and, BEST of ALL, 46% are led or founded by Women.

Our SDSI companies do WELL as tribalists and do GOOD as community members. “Awwww-sssooome”, as we say in the tribe. Thanks for helping make it happen!

-Bob

READ THE FULL MAY NEWSLETTER HERE