It Takes a... Rolodex?

On an annual basis your dedicated team here at SDSI strategizes about SDSI… even though we do not produce a product or deliver a specific service, its harder than I ever thought possible. The reason is we are thinking about the value of an organization to... you! Our high level mission is simple: SDSI is a business development community that creates companies, jobs and commerce in the Sport and Active Lifestyle space.

At the practical level our mission is to connect. SDSI averages 110 active members per year. All in all, we represent many vertical business segments, all united by our love for San Diego and of course, the need to nurture our businesses.

That’s where it gets complicated as each member company most likely has a different expectation of the value they want from SDSI. We spend a large collective amount of energy assessing individual companies’ needs, and then try to activate our resources to help make it happen. When it clicks and we match purpose with result, everyone is happy.

Part of the strategy review is to see how we can become more efficient in terms of connecting the community. And the first step is to actually find out what SDSI activities really count! As a consequence we decided to add to our innate ability to guess by actually polling you! Do us a big favor and respond. The survey will arrive next week in your email.

So, what’s this Rolodex “thing.” Even in this digital age I think the word “Rolodex” is symbolic of connecting. One of the real differentiating factors that help make SDSI unique from other business organizations in town is the value of the SDSI collective Rolodex of contacts. We are not about exchanging business cards; we are ALL about the utilization of a data base that is completely relevant to our business space. There are 110 members. If each company executive shared 10 key business service contacts, you would have 1,100 core resources germane for our business space. That is a very powerful tool. And that's why we would like to hear from you!

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Jason Day Wasn’t the Only Winner at Torrey Pines
Viewership was up in a big way: up 75% on Saturday and 30% on Sunday from last years ratings along with the highest rated “hand-off” coverage ever recorded (when the playoff extended beyond the time-slot CBS had scheduled and broadcasting was switched over to the Golf Channel). With unprecedented results like that, Farmers Insurance has to be happy with their decision to extend their title sponsorship through 2026. Read more about the sponsorship extension or the ratings boost.

Hookit Ranks NBA All Star Game: Team Lebron vs Team Curry
"Even among the All-Stars, there are clearly multiple tiers of influencers for the fans,” says Kimberly Cook, chief revenue officer for Hookit. “There is a reason top earners get paid so much by the brands, and these off-court numbers clearly show that. For the rest of the athletes, staying active on social media is key to driving value for their sponsors, just as they would stay active on the court to be ready to perform for their team." Fortunately, for NBA fans, the game was closer than the social media results… See how the top 5 players from each team faired in terms of earned media value at the Forbes article.

BLDG Active Selected as a Top 20 Climbing Brand
ReddyYeti.com surveyed their 20,000+ subscriber base to pick their favorite climbing brands and aggregated that data. Ultimately, Springboard Grad BLDG Active landed the impressive number four spot! Check out ReddyYeti for the full list of the top 20 favorite startups/small brands in the outdoor space.

Springboard Grad, Kilomodo partners with SMACK! Media
“Now that the Kilomodo team has brought their product to market, we invited SMACK! Media to partner with us, as they share our passion for being committed to both career and fitness goals,” said Steffen Beach, Co-Founder and CEO of Kilomodo. “I met Elisette (Eli) Carlson about a year ago when we were in early stages, and she and her team were very intrigued, and more important, helpful when I reconnected to explore feedback on our platform, data, differentiation and general marketing and PR strategy.” Eli and Steffen are a perfect business-match! Read the full press release.

Earl Edwards on UC San Diego going D1
In an article about the UC San Diego move to D1, Earl Edwards was quoted, “I think if you focus just on the athletic piece, I could see people maybe not jumping up and down about it,” Edwards said. “But when you think what it’ll do at a local, regional and national perspective, then it’s a whole different story.” And we couldn’t agree more. The move to D1 and the Midwest Conference in 2020 is something that we at SDSI are really looking forward to! Keep up the great work Earl! Read the full article in the Union Tribune.

John McLean Profiled in SD Voyager
Long time SDSI Board Member shared his story with SD Voyager and talked about his past as a longtime golf executive, and then onto his current position as President & Managing Partner of Abington Emerson Capital who specializes in PO, contract, and project financing. Get to know John, AEC, and the services they provide by reading more.

Qualcomm Raises its Bid on NXP to $44 Billion
Qualcomm is planning on closing the $44 Billion NXP acquisition as quickly as possible which was agreed to by a group of NXP shareholders. This acquisition adds a new layer of complexity to Broadcom's interest in acquriing Qualcomm… Qualcomm recently rejected Broadcom’s offer of $121 Billion. There will certainly be more info on the NXP acquisition and Broadcom’s interest in Qualcomm at the annual shareholder meeting on March 6. Read the full article.

CSU San Marcos Receives $1.5 Million in Support of Engineering Program
Cal State San Marcos announced a large donation from local global communications company, Viasat, who has invested $1.5M to build on the engineering program. CSUSM’s dean of College of Science and Mathematics, Katherine Kanteardjieff said, “Perhaps the biggest contribution to our future workforce is the work that Viasat is doing with CSUSM to develop signature engineering programs that address critical workforce needs.” Great job CSUSM – thank you for continuing to churn out highly qualified job candidates that fuel the innovation economy growth across all sectors locally. Read the full press release.

KPMG: Yet Another “Best Company to Work For” Award
It should come as no surprise that KPMG is once again listed in FORTUNE Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For List. KPMG has been included on this prestigious list 11 times since 2006 and this year, they came in at spot number 29! Quite impressive & very well deserved for a company who employees 31,000 of the top talent across the US. Read the press release or the full list.

Sony TV’s Shine
Market share for Sony TV’s in the premium sector shot up sharply last year causing a threat to competitors like Samsung and LG. The article states, “Sony's market share in premium OLED TVs with a price tag of more than $3,000 surged to 44 percent last year, up from zero percent in 2016.” Congrats on the impressive growth in a critical category! Read the full piece.

ElliptiGO Grows Support of HOKA NAZ Elite Team
HOKA Northern Arizona Elite is a professional sports team whose mission is to recruit, develop and produce distance runners to compete at the very highest level of international athletics. HOKA NAZ Founder and Head Coach Ben Rosario said “We’ve had our ElliptiGO for a few weeks and have already put a good number of miles on it... It’s been an awesome tool for athletes we want to transition into higher mileage. They can get several afternoon ElliptiGO sessions per week in place of a run. That helps the body prepare to train twice a day, every day, in a safe way. And it’s more enjoyable than other cross training we’ve tried in the past.” Read the full press release.

Preorder Denise Lee Yohn’s Newest Book Today
Independently, brand and culture are powerful, unsung business drivers. But Denise shows that when you fuse the two together to create an interdependent and mutually-reinforcing relationship between them, you create organizational power that isn’t possible by simply cultivating one or the other alone. Through detailed case studies from some of the world’s greatest companies (including Amazon, Airbnb, Adobe, Nike, and Salesforce), exclusive interviews with company executives, and insights from Denise’s 25+ years working with world class brands, FUSION provides readers with a roadmap for increasing competitiveness, creating measurable value for customers and employees, and future-proofing their business. We hope to see you at her book launch event on March 15th at Warwick’s in La Jolla. You can preorder your books and register for Denise’s book launch appearance/talk in San Diego.

Looking for an Opportunity to Surf and Save Lives?
The 1st Annual SurfAid Cup Encinitas will be hosted by Springboard Grad, Shaper Studios, as part of the 2018 Self Shape Surf Festival on Saturday, May 12th at Seaside. The SurfAid Cup is a legendary day of surfing that supports SurfAid’s life-saving Mother and Child Health Programs. The event is open to shortboarders and longboarders of all ages and abilities and is a tag-team format. Teams of four commit to raising funds for SurfAid and the team’s 5th member is a pro or local legend provided by SurfAid. Registration is now open. Contact Erin@SurfAid.org for more info. Volunteer and Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

US Dept of Commerce Quantifies the Outdoor Industry at $373 Billion
This number, put together for 2016 by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, excludes 1) manufacturing overseas manufacturing of apparel & accessories and 2) revenue generated by trips 50 miles or less from the consumers home - which explains the discrepancy between it and the previous report from the OIA stating it to be $887B in 2017. Read the full report or the ASN recap.

Mark Birge on the New Tax Law
The newly passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the most sweeping tax legislation since 1986. The bill is hundreds of pages long, far reaching in scope as it impacts all types of businesses and individuals. Everyone will be impacted.

For individuals, deductions have been eliminated or sharply curtailed, some credits have been expanded, the standard deduction has been doubled, tax rates at all levels have been reduced, and the impact of the dreaded alternative minimum tax (AMT) has been drastically lessened. Some of us will pay more, most of us will pay less.

For businesses, depreciation rules have been liberalized, the ability to deduct entertainment expenses has essentially been eliminated, and business interest deductions have new limits. For pass-through type businesses (S corporations, partnerships, LLCs and sole proprietors), a new 20% deduction can effectively reduce an owners top tax rate from 37% to 29.6%. There are limits to the new deduction, especially for service-based businesses. But manufacturers and distribution companies should benefit.

Finally, the top rate for “regular” C corporations has dropped from 35% to 21%. Some businesses should at least consider changing to C Corporations.

Because of these (and many other) changes, business owners should meet with their advisors to review how the changes specifically impact their situation. We are happy to help SDSI members with that analysis. For more info, contact Mark Birge at Aldrich CPA’s + Advisors

Are your Customers Truly Loyal? You know the old saying “It’s easier to retain your current customers, than to get new ones”, but how many of us build an internal process that actually supports this mantra? I am amazed by the number of clients I work with who look to me for help with hiring a new sales professional, but as I delve into their post-sales "onboarding" process, I am met with a blank stare. Given today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, no one can afford to dilute their sales effectiveness, by neglecting their current customers once the sale is complete. More and more companies are dedicating resources to Sales Enablement, Sales Operations, and Sales Onboarding, to ensure their customers don't become someone else's! Now is the time to review your account management/customer service operation, to increase retention and decrease customer churn. For more information on the value of an effective customer onboarding program, contact Ken Schmitt at TurningPoint Executive Search.

New Positions and Job Openings
Assistant Branch Manager, Environmental Services – Orange County
Channel Manager, Software – San Diego
Strategic Sales, Medical Device – Phoenix or Denver
SVP Strategic Accounts, Biotech – U.S.
Sales Development Manager, Software – San Diego
Sr. Brand Manager, Consumer – Los Angeles
EVP Strategic Growth, Marketing Services – San Diego
Director Strategic Sales, Marketing Services – San Diego

Brainstrom Golf – Inside Sales Rep click for info apply to support@brainstormgolf.com

Challenged Athletes Foundation – Director of Programs click for info

Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa - Multiple positions available click for info

Hookit – Multiple positions available click for info

J!NX – Freelance Artist click for info

KPMG - Multiple positions available click for info

Powder Magazine (TEN) – Social Media Editor click for info

SKLZ - Multiple positions available click for info

Feb. 27 - Advisory Board Meeting

Apr. 24 - Board of Directors Meeting

Mar. 13 - Springboard Class 11 Intake Panel

May 22 - Advisory Board Meeting

Jul. 31 - Board of Directors Meeting

Feb. 24-25 – Camp Shred Surf Demo @ San Elijo Campground, Cardiff, CA click for info

Mar. 11-14 – 30th annual ROTH conference, Dana Point, CA click for info

Mar. 15 – FUSION Book launch at Warwick’s, La Jolla, CA click for info

Mar. 17 – Leprechaun Run, Pacific Beach, CA click for info

Mar. 23 – Deadline for SDBJ Best Places to Work Participation Registration click for info

Mar. 31 – Del Mar Mud Run, Del Mar, CA click for info