“Thank you for a hugely enjoyable dinner on Thursday night. Well, of course it was — everyone was over 50 ? Margarita and Crispin are building a whole new kind of club for people over 50.” – Cindy Gallop
Picture coming in from a cold New York winter’s night on West Broadway, through the door of an 1800s Tribeca townhouse, past the log fire, up the creaking stairs, through a busy bar to a private door at the back marked ‘Y Not?’…You knock, then go up the secret backstairs and are greeted in the warmly lit loft, under the roof’s eaves, with a long dining table carefully set for 16 and Anna, our bartender, who will make you “Anything you want…or let me surprise you”…welcome to a Wylde Founder Members’ Dinner.
“The Wyde is an enticing and promising proposition. A welcome return to the salon of more genteel times.”
Dinner for “friends that haven’t met yet”
We just brought together another group of ‘friends that haven’t met yet’ for an evening of good conversation. We had artists, activists, sculptors, gallery owners, yogis, musicians, social impact entrepreneurs, architects, photographers, misfits, madcaps and more in the room. For a dinner party like this, it goes without saying that you need great food, cocktails, and exceptional service but, for us, the real key is a calm room where our people can be at ease and talk; I mean really talk. Wylde People are interested and interesting with a lifetime of interacting and stories to share. It’s amazing how many members have commented to us that finding a quiet restaurant you can talk in is so hard these days.
“Thanks so much for including me for a wonderful evening with such a creative and interesting lot! Looking forward to new friendships. Love the Polaroids.”
Co-Design by the Community for the Community
Done right, these intimate evenings and conversations are offering us precious insights into how our people want The Wylde Club to look and feel. It’s kind of organic co-design by the community for the community…and it’s a load of fun!
As we seed our membership in this way, we’re learning that people want the services and settings that design-forward clubs like Soho House can offer, but they also increasingly want more. But more what?
“That was a fantastic way to spend an evening…I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and hope to keep them going. My only regret is that I didn’t get a chance to speak with everyone in the room, so I’ll look forward to future events.”
Being Friends Is About Being Present
The word “community” is thrown around a lot these days whether you have a fitness, co-working or coffee brand. To us, community is more of a verb than a noun. In a digital age where hyper-connected loneliness is on the rise across all ages, being friends isn’t about liking someone’s photo of their avocado toast. It’s about being present with each other offline, celebrating each other’s successes, raising the collective consciousness by sharing cool discoveries, and taking part in pursuits of purpose together.
It’s also about really standing behind each other, helping and being there when we need it most. It’s knowing that if you are sick someone is going to come around with a casserole! When we genuinely feel we belong to something bigger we experience an innate and refreshing sense of ego separation and oneness. Our friend Chip calls it “humaning.” We call it The Wylde.
Crispin Baynes is a founding member of The Wylde (@wyldepeople) a new club that brings people together around culture and purpose. They’ve launched in New York and are currently beginning memberships and programming. To find out more sign up here or contact him directly at cb@wyldepeople.com.
