Common Ground: All in the Family

August 2007 | From the Editor

All in the Family

If you’re a longtime reader, you’ve watched Common Ground go through quite a few transformations. What started as the little-black-and-white-directory-that-could in 1975 has evolved into a multimedia extended family, as varied and vibrant as the community it serves. With our monthly city publications — Conscious Choice in Chicago and Seattle, Whole Life Times in LA and Common Ground in San Francisco — we bring you field notes from the frontlines of the new bright green economy. On our web TV, radio, shopping, yoga and wellness network Yogamates.com, we connect you with the leaders, thinkers and culture creators who are changing the way we live and work, play and pray. As we broaden our brands and services, we aim to be the podcast on your commute to work, the social change credit card in your wallet and the email newsletter in your inbox. And for each party we throw, concert we sponsor, panel we sit on or festival we booth, we are honored to be a part of this burgeoning movement.

In a matter of just a few decades, what began as an alternative to the mainstream has become the mainstream. Signs of the shift are everywhere — on T-shirts and newspaper headlines, in our carpool conversations and on our grocery lists. And in the last year alone, it was as if some critical switch flicked in our favor, building momentum to a level both dizzying and exhilarating.

In some ways, that’s simplified our jobs here — more readers excited by and committed to our mission, more people out there doing the good work that inspires the stories we tell. It’s a beautiful thing, and it’s what we’ve been working toward all along.

But in other ways, the exponentially growing number of worldchangers is outpacing old media’s capacity to document their many successes. That’s what’s driven the growth and change in our company, forcing us to scramble to innovate and adapt as quickly as you’re building a better world.

For dedicated readers, my presence penning this column may come as a surprise. Todd Spencer, former editor in chief, has moved on — may it be to greener pastures. And after three years editing Whole Life Times, CG’s LA sister publication, I’ve made the big move up north to pick up where he left off. If you have any tips for a newbie in the city, shoot me a line or tell me in person at our next big event — live music, performance, art, cocktails and conversation at the de Young museum on Friday, August 24th (for full details call 415.750.3600).

But while the faces of the guard may change, CG’s ultimate goal remains the same as it always was — to deliver you the essential tools for enjoying a healthy, balanced, sustainable life in the bay. If we stumble along the way, we hope you’ll keep us in check. And as long as you promise to continue going and growing, we promise to keep up.

Eliza Thomas
Editor in Chief

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