“Why is it still so difficult to know everything happening in Coronado when our community is relatively small?” That’s the question that prompted Giovanna Jimenez and three other Coronado moms and friends to create the 92118 Collective. “The idea came together over a glass of wine while Easter egg hunting,” said Jimenez, setting the background of what led her, Rachel Strueber, Alyson Barré, and Paulina Bejarano to reinvigorate the communication systems in Coronado.
“Information is everywhere — social media, newsletters, newspapers, school messages, business websites and word of mouth,” Jimenez explains. “The Collective brings it together in one easy, local platform.”
92118 Collective and Coronado apps
Consolidating the information is just one component, as Clay Shinn does with the Explore Coronado app.
The 92118 Collective positions itself as different from a resource consolidation app as it uses AI and is a social-driven platform. It’s more than an event calendar or business directory. The goal is to connect residents, local businesses and organizations, schools, military families, community resources, and events and activities within Coronado. “Cora, our local AI concierge, helps people discover what they need through a simple conversation,” said Jimenez. For example, “What to do this weekend, where to eat, which local professional to call, or what activities are available for their children.”
92118 Collective acts responsibly in the broader conversation on AI environmental impact. Jimenez says that Cora is designed to search the Collective’s curated Coronado knowledge base first. When reliable local information is already available, Cora does not need to perform a broad internet search. This local-first approach can reduce unnecessary digital energy use. Broad AI searches may consult multiple external sources and process much more information than a focused local system requires. The smaller, more intentional digital ecosystem prioritizes relevant information and minimizes unnecessary web searches.
Breaking it down further, Jimenez explains, “When you prompt from a closed ecosystem versus prompting to an open ecosystem like ChatGPT, you spend 5 to 15 times less energy. The carbon footprint is less because when you’re prompting ChatGPT, ‘What’s happening at the Del today?’, it goes to the World Wide Web to get you an answer.” But when you’re using a closed ecosystem like the 92118 Collective, it will first search within its own database, and if it doesn’t find the right answer for you, only then will it go external for a wider search.
The partners
“We live the same very busy life as everyone,” says Jimenez. “We’re super involved and try to volunteer as much as possible.”
The question kept coming up between them as to why it’s so difficult to keep up with everything happening in this relatively small community. The women brainstormed many ideas and decided to figure out how to put all the pieces together.
The goal for the 92118 Collective was to connect locals with what’s going on in the community, including activities and events hosted by both businesses and residents. Then it became much more ambitious.
They put the features together in one ecosystem with two components. The first component is AI, working to keep information on the platform up to date. The second component is the collective part — getting businesses and residents on board so that information about their events, whether hosting or attending, goes into the database. Then that’s the knowledge that AI can use to respond to user prompts.
An added feature is alerts. Instead of asking on Facebook what’s going on with traffic on the bridge, a user can get an alert from the app so you know before you need to ask. Another feature is finding one-off jobs in Coronado, such as a sports coach, tutor, or TaskRabbit gig, from Coronado locals.
The social component, i.e., the Key
“We developed a program that is called the Key,” says Jimenez. “We are incentivizing residents to go local for everything that they do, and the system is very easy.”
First, you check in at a business. The more you check in with local businesses, the more points you get, and you start unlocking perks. Jimenez uses her business, F45, as an example. “I can set a person at an ambassador level. Let’s say they’re very involved. They’re always going local and volunteering. Not only do they attend events, but they also host events. That person would earn a status within the platform.”
Next, you earn points. Jimenez explains, “Every check-in counts towards every business on the island. There are rules, for example, you cannot check in 10 times at the same business, and then go and get your reward at another business. Businesses are limited to giving three check-ins per week. The idea is to go many places as much as you can. This incentivizes businesses to unlock these perks by focusing on value and experience rather than discounts.”
Then, you reap the rewards. Continuing with the F45 example, “The person may earn a private class for themselves and 10 friends at my studio.” Each business can set its own rewards.
92118 Collective launches October 7
The 92118 Collective app officially launches October 7 at the A Taste of Coronado event, where it is one of the VIP Experience sponsors. Locals may start seeing check-in opportunites before that date though. Until then, follow along on their Instagram.
“We’re not trying to make Coronado more digital — we’re using technology to help people experience more of Coronado in real life,” said Jimenez, on behalf of the collective founders.
