Just Mesa’n around…

There were some utterly fantastic lines from last week’s roundup of events on the Mesa, proving that you can get it all up here—lectures, laughter, and the secret to longevity. Some of the more memorable quotes:

“Moonshot. The cure to cancer… it’s more like a game of whack a mole.”—Geoff Wahl, Salk Music & Science Series.

“It is 2016. It is time we reject anyone who refuses to engage in debate with a woman on merits alone. We can hold our own when you stick to the merit.”—Toni Atkins, keynote speaker for UC San Diego’s Women’s Day Conference.

“Criminals realize that they can sell drugs once, but they can sell a girl over and over again. Even worse, the average age of these victims is 14 or 15 years old.” —Toni Atkins on her new bill, 1730, which creates a safe space for child sex trafficking victims to stay once they are free.

The cherry on top this past week? Award goes to Craig Venter. In front of a packed crowd for the SDEE event, Craig spoke on his research and latest venture. He also hinted to last week’s release in Science on synthetic biology: “I’m not trying to find out how to make anyone else live longer except myself.” And talking about skin regeneration: “That dust in your house… that’s you.”

And that’s a wrap. Loved learning this past week while crackin’ up over a few great zingers by our city’s thought-leaders. Catch you all next Thursday with more shenanigans on the Mesa.

Upcoming events (I’ll be at the fun table…)

• Xconomy Forum: Big Data Meets Big Biology
  March 31, 2 p.m.-5:30 p.m., 10996 Torreyana Rd, San Diego
  The man who runs this is named Bruce Bigelow. ‘Nuff said. But, if you do need more to convince you to attend, I ask… Don’t you want to be in the know about San Diego’s role as the leader in the hottest new sector, data biology?

• A Visionary Gathering
  April 1, 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Rady School of Management
  Got the next big idea? You can roll VIP style to the dinner at 5:30 p.m. and pitch it to the big wig sitting next to you. Or you can cruise later at 7:00 p.m. and surround yourself with like-minded change makers who are ready to take flight. See you Friday atop Rady at the Beyster auditorium as we enjoy a private screening of Visioneer: The Story of Peter Diamandis. Who dat? The Visionary CEO of the XPRIZE Foundation. Former Qualcomm Exec and VC bad ass Jeff Belk is on the mic with special guest Greg Campany, Senior Director of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE and Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGES.

• Evening with an Entrepreneur with Dr. Magda Marquet
  April 4, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Moores Cancer Center
  In the newest lecture series on the Mesa, the Office of Innovation and Commercialization brings us “Evening with an Entrepreneur” starring Dr. Margda Marquet. Dr. Marquet was founder and CEO of Alma Life Scienes, founder and chair of Althea Technologies, and founder of AltheaDx. And she won the Earnst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Life Sciences. The kick-off to this series goes down at the Goldberg Auditorium at Moores Cancer Center.

• Bella Vista 3-Year-Anniversary Party
  April 5, 5 p.m.-9 p.m., The Bella Vista Social Club and Caffè
  How could I not shamelessly list my Social Club’s 3-year birthday bash? Come celebrate with us. Strut your stuff on the dance floor. Raise your glass as we toast to success. To establishing a community of ideators, innovators, scientists, and designers. Prost!

Food for thought…

For the past few weeks, I have been a bit down. In a city that wants to coin itself as “collaborators,” I am finding that this might be proving more myth than reality. We are all having the same conversation. We all want to tell the world about San Diego’s awesome sauce. So why aren’t we working together to do just that?

But then, Thursday afternoon at the café, in walk two young men, Blair and Travis Austin, the sons of my dear friend from South Africa. After years of living abroad, these two are beginning their trip up the coast to visit California colleges. Top picks? SIO and UC San Diego of course! Little did I know that these polite young men would become new additions to my family.

Since Thursday I have witnessed just how amazing our community is when we do collaborate. When we come together to welcome strangers, giving our time, ideas, and pulling resources. It is in our DNA. First call was to arrange a tour of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Private tour of “dream college,” check.

Friday, after determining they would be staying with my family, we headed up to the café. Customers embraced our new family members, engaging in conversation and offering up their own connections. Mary Anne Beyster spoke of a possible “photo shoot with a purpose” opportunity up in Del Mar for Blair, the older of the two, to explore. He did surf photography in South Africa and now plans to take on La Jolla Shores. Travis, the younger brother, got to meet our beloved Buffington, who saves us in all things IT and beyond. We also spotted the infamous Cooper, who heads IT security for UC San Diego while strolling though his barrio. Could they have landed in a better place? The Mesa has proven the perfect landing pad for them to call home. It will also be one hell of a launch pad for their success.

They have met the CEO of Tone, a cutting edge technology company whose portfolio includes big names—Pistons, Suns, Kobalt Creative, Spotlight Cinemas. They lunched with Chris and Pat Weil, successful business owners and well-known philanthropists at the Preuss School. They chatted up the new Director of Commercialization at UC San Diego, Ruben Flores. They shared ideas and aspirations with Mike Hayden, seasoned entrepreneur who runs the Entrepreneur Challenge at Rady. Last night they engaged in great conversation at a film screening with the Kitchenistas of National City, who have become activists and change makers locally and globally thanks to the documentary film by Mary Ann Beyster. And tonight they are headed to an open mic on campus to meet some movers and shakers their own age.

As I sat back for a moment today at the cafe, I couldn’t help but smile. This is it. We have done it. Everyone is pulling together to welcome Blair and Travis and will be vested in their success. We have built a strong community. Over the past seven days, since the moment they set foot up here, these two young men have been welcomed with open arms by the members of the Mesa community. It’s proof that when we work together for the good of others, we can achieve great things. Collaboration is what sets us apart from the rest. We’ve got this, San Diego.

Tags: Blogs, Life on the Mesa