The Higher Tide
Myles Weissleder, Chief Community, Strategic Marketing & Communications Officer
It's In The Air & Smart Hikes
Client: The Higher Tide
20 hrs/week
Project summary
Founded the hiking club "It's In The Air" in San Francisco to help rebuild the tech community after the decline of in-person events during the pandemic. The goal was to create meaningful conversations and connections between innovators, builders, and smart people while enjoying the outdoors.
In just a few months, It's In The Air grew to over 100 members. A key feature is the AI-powered Smart Hikes Matching agent. Before each hike, members chat with the agent about their interests. The agent then provides a tailored dossier of their top matches for that hike to spark impactful discussions on the trail.
Relevant specialties
Marketing Strategy, Community Management
The results
102 members joined the club within the first 3 months, exceeding the goal of 100 charter members. We’ve hosted hikes in Marin, Walnut Creek and Santa Cruz.
Anonymous hiker surveys reported over 85% satisfaction with the conversations and connections made on the trail.
The Smart Hikes Matching bot had a 73% usage rate among members to date. Hikers appreciated the introductions before hitting the trail, helping to validate product market fit.
The method
Leveraged the existing email lists and social media from SF New Tech to promote the new hiking club.
Built a website to serve as the top of the funnel and installed a community platform for members to share details about upcoming hikes, photos from past hikes, and bios of club members. Integrated with MailChimp to collect emails and send out a weekly newsletter.
Built Smart Hikes, a conversational chatbot that asks new members questions about their interests and background. It then matches members for each hike based on shared interests, goals, or skills. A pre-hike dossier is sent to each member with their matched hiking partners and conversation starters based on commonalities.