How an upstart ridesharing company turned a small two-seater into something much, much bigger
If a story about a carsharing service that started small, appeared seemingly out of nowhere and caused a major disruption to a business model which had long been established as the accepted norm resonates in the gay community, it should. After all, the trajectory of our success in the fight for civil rights mirrors the big dreams of an initially small group of people who believed in themselves enough to strike out in a world where change was measured in decades, not months or years.
car2go, the world’s largest carsharing service of its kind, started as the brainchild of a group of innovators working for Daimler AG. The company initially tested the idea in Ulm, Germany, a picturesque city of 120,000 on the River Danube southeast of Stuttgart.
It has since grown into a movement of one million members in Western Europe, the United States and a lone city in China (Chongqing). It upends the traditional car rental model by allowing its members, who use an app downloaded to their electronic devices, to pick up one of the vehicles in either specially designated spots throughout a participating city or leave their cars parked where they are by posting a city-issued tag.
In San Diego alone, there are 400 gas-powered vehicles. (Initially, the cars were electric-powered but due to a lack of sufficient charging stations, the company was forced to switch in May of this year.) In San Diego, you can rent a car2go for $0.19 per minute, $10 an hour or $50 per day.
car2go, which launched the service in America’s Finest City in 2011, now has an established presence and with that the ability and wherewithal to act as good corporate citizens in our very gay-friendly city. Since their launch, car2go has actively participated in the annual Pride Parade and this year launched the car2go Confessionals. The concept was to create a safe space for people of all sexual identities (or none) to reflect on what Pride means to them and what the participants mean to each other.
We caught up with Dacyl Armendariz, communications manager for car2go, to find out what happened when people were asked to share their reflections on Pride.
San Diego LGBT Weekly: You got involved in San Diego Pride in 2011, around the time you established yourselves in our city. How much of the decision was based on marketing opportunities and how much was based on being a good corporate citizen?
Dacyl Armendariz: The decision to get involved in San Diego Pride was a no-brainer for us from the start. We truly consider ourselves a part of the San Diego community and that means everyone in the community. Celebrating with everyone, interacting with our members and meeting new potential members is just icing on the cake.
You note that for this year’s Pride you decided to do something different with the confessionals. What had you been doing before as part of the San Diego Pride experience?
This year marked our fifth year in a row to participate in the parade and festival, so that’s where we got the idea to do something outside the box. Historically, we’ve wrapped our signature blue and white smart cars to celebrate Pride and participated in the parade with our local members and team.
When I hear the word “confessional,” I think of something sinful, church-related, something that needs to be said quietly in an effort at redemption. How did you come up with this idea and how did you see that fitting in with the LGBTQ narrative?
Originally we called it a “confessional” because it was a safe space for people to share their thoughts, but it turned into much more – a quiet place for people to reflect on what Pride means to them and what they mean to each other during the Pride celebration. We provided a list of “ice breaker” questions to get the conversation started, but found that they didn’t need much prompting and we really loved the direction those conversations took. We saw friends talking about all of the adventures they had been on together, new couples who were buzzing on the excitement of a new relationship and longtime couples celebrating their love in the context of how the world has changed around them. It completely exceeded our expectations and when we saw the videos, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. We just knew we had to share it!
At your North American operational center in Austin, Texas, I’m curious to know if you allow employees to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender an employee is most comfortable with?
Absolutely. Treating our workforce with care and respect is a top priority at car2go – from our North American headquarters in Austin to all of our 14 locations. Providing our teammates with a safe, welcoming and fun work environment is just common sense to us.
How many Pride festivals have you participated in this year? Was the confessional angle used at each of them? Why or why not?
We supported and participated in Pride in each of our 14 North American locations, but our biggest presence this year was in the Pride parades/festivals in Columbus, Ohio, Twin Cities, Minn. and San Diego. For this year, we wanted to see how the “confessional” would be received by starting with just two cities, so we set it up for participation at the Pride festivals in Twin Cities and San Diego. We really loved the results!
To view the the car2go Confessional video visit: youtu.be/FH6WoBAuPV4
For more information on car2go in San Diego visit car2go.com/US/en/san-diego
