What started as a personal social media project via Instagram during the pandemic, Hillcrest San Diego has become a 10K subscriber resource for news, history, memes, and all things Hillcrest. We caught up with Rick Cervantes the force behind the account to get to know more about the motivation behind it, the plans for the Instagram account and the upcoming inaugural #hillcrestsandiego Honors with its reception schedule for Monday February 6 at Uptown tavern to honor local community members and organizations.
Tell us how the Instagram account idea came about?
First, a little bit about me as I think it gives some context into why I created the @HillcrestSanDiego account on Instagram. I am Rick Cervantes, a first generation Mexican American, and English is my second language. I grew up as the child of poor migrant farm workers in Central California. By the second grade, I was a professional translator for my parents, helping they pay their bills or share their concerns with customer service representatives. I grew up in a traditional Mexican and Catholic background, which meant my coming out as gay in high school did not go over well with my family. I wanted to get out of my hometown to somewhere that seemed more LGBTQ friendly, and I worked to get into San Diego State University as a transfer student for third and fourth years of college. I first encountered Hillcrest when I visited San Diego with friends when I was 18- or 19- years old. I fell in love with the neighborhood and was so excited to finally move here in 2006 at 20 years old to finish my degree at SDSU. In early 2007, I met Benny Cartwright who has been one of our longest Hillcrest boosters and he taught me so much history and more about the neighborhood and I’ve loved being a big part of this place ever since. Creating the account really came about because of my deep love for Hillcrest and its people. In 2019, I noticed that many other neighborhoods in town had their own fun but informative Instagram accounts, and I thought I’d make one for Hillcrest. It was perfect timing as much of our hyperlocal and LGBTQ media sources went out of business or changed their format so there really wasn’t any source left that shared direct information about Hillcrest happenings. And since it’s a social media account, I can have a lot of fun with it, and post more than just news.
Were you surprised at the response?
I had no idea how fast this account would grow and what it would become! I am now about to approach 11,000 followers and every single follower has come organically – there have been no paid follows or spamming. What’s even better is this social media community I have built is incredibly engaged and interacts with the posts, comments, and shares new information. I also get so many messages ranging from questions about community resources, to people across the country who wish they were in Hillcrest thanking me for bringing the neighborhood to them. It warms my heart to see how much this account impacts people and most importantly, connects them to Hillcrest. This neighborhood is special because it’s one of the few places in town that is loved by people who live in or out of the area. I don’t know too many who love a neighborhood like, say, Clairemont, unless they live there. Hillcrest is special to people around the world and I have the privilege of being able to share about it!
What do you hope to accomplish with the posts?
In Hillcrest, I’ve been able to find people who are like my second family, especially since I’ve always struggled finding my place. Some say I’m “not Mexican enough”, while others treat me poorly because I’m Brown. People in activist spaces have said I’m not progressive enough, while others find my liberal views to be too much. I’m not enough of a barfly/circuit queen for the nightlife community, but others think I enjoy bars too much. I’m at a wonderful intersection of different parts of our community that don’t historically know how to interact with each other, so I am so happy to have created this account to bridge these gaps – between intergenerational, the activist scene and the bar scene, or whatever other gaps I see in my sphere. As I mentioned, my goal is to build a connection with everyone who follows. I want to share about Hillcrest happenings, I want to share resources, I want to uplift people doing great things, and post some fun memes that relate to Hillcrest culture while I’m at it. I always make it clear to people that this account is “unofficial” – meaning I don’t represent any organization. That is extremely freeing, but frustrating at times when people criticize the account for not representing the community as they see it. I am one person, and this is Hillcrest through my eyes. I think I have a good pulse on the community so I do my best and always welcome suggestions for things I may not see.
Tell us about the Inaugural Hillcrest San Diego Honors?
As this account’s primary goal is to uplift and celebrate our great neighborhood, Benny Cartwright and I came up with the idea to create an awards program, sponsored by the account, that celebrates the amazing people, organizations, and businesses that make Hillcrest so fabulous. We opened a nomination period through the account’s Instagram story, and in under 24 hours, received hundreds of nominations across a variety of categories. It was hard to pick because we know there are so many people who do great things every single day – often without acknowledgment – but we went ahead and selected the names and businesses that appeared most in the nominations. After getting such an amazing response from the announcement of the honorees, we decided we might as well host a party to celebrate! We are so grateful to Uptown Tavern for hosting us, it’s going to be an exciting night. One thing that some people have had difficulty understanding is that this awards program is different than other community awards. We purposefully are not calling honorees “The Best of …”, and there was no “voting” following the initial nominations. We are simply highlighting “Fabulous” people in the community, and the award’s titles reflect that. We know there are so many people and businesses and organizations who do great things, so no one is “the best”. We also plan to do this for years to come – in a bigger fashion – so there are so many other people to celebrate and honor in future events!
What is in the works for Hillcrest San Diego?
Through this account, I’ve built a digital organizing community. As a communications professional, I know my target audience, and I know what they want to see on their feeds. I like to sprinkle in current events, and things that I keep close to my heart. I hope to continue humanizing this account through my eyes. I’ve always wanted to start my own communications agency, and maybe this is the starting point to get to that dream! Also, I promised myself that I would be the role model that I never had growing up, so I hope to continue using this account to spread that visibility. I hope to continue what I’m doing- spotlighting our great community. I hope to grow the account substantially and possibly even create some opportunities for organizations and businesses to utilize the account to promote themselves. The sky is the limit with social media and the creativity of Hillcrest and I’m excited to be a part of it! This account is my love letter to Hillcrest and a testament that a community can uplift its members and help them shine!
