Sea World to PC World
Forget “America’s Finest City.” Now San Diego has a new tag line: “Technology’s Perfect Climate.”
Following in the footsteps of the Tech Coast and Digital Coast campaigns to the north, a consortium of San Diego organizations last week unveiled its own slogan in an invitation-only event at the world-renowned Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla.
The campaign’s goal is to get outsiders--especially skilled workers and venture capitalists--to take San Diego seriously as a high-tech mecca--despite the city’s long-cultivated image as a place to visit to get away from work. It also aims to persuade students in the area to stay there and pursue careers in the biotech, telecommunications, software, aerospace and electronics fields, said Bill Otterson, director of UCSD Connect, a group that promotes local high-tech firms.
“San Diego is not only an ideal vacation spot, but also a hot spot of developing technology,” said Mayor Susan Golding. “Those of us who live here are accustomed to waking up to another beautiful day and reading about another amazing advance produced by one of our high-tech companies.”
The theme and associated logo--a stylized sun that resembles the blade of a power saw--will be licensed to technology trade associations and economic development organizations in the San Diego area. More than 3,000 regional companies will also be able to use the slogan and logo for free, and 20 firms have already agreed to do so, said Debra Keel Cooper, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp.
The consortium has launched a Web site, at https://www.techsperfectclimate.org, which gives equal space to “work” and “play” in San Diego.
Among its more attractive features is a link to the LiveNet San Diego BayCam, which looks out onto the city’s scenic bay. Some members of the consortium have also raised $150,000 to produce a regional recruiting video to draw engineers and scientists, Cooper said.
“Technology’s Perfect Climate” beat out rival slogans “Technology With a View,” “Technology’s Natural Home” and “Where Technology Comes Alive.”
