You have just landed in a city that you have never visited.  It is late at night and your senses are overloaded as you try to decode the labyrinth of the airport and find transportation to your final destination for the evening.  Suddenly, a person intersected your meandering path.  “Great game Saturday, wasn’t it'” they state.  You mind races back to the article you read on the plane about the latest travel scams, you tense.  Then the stranger points at the logo on your shirt.  You look down and absorb the fact that your hometown’s college logo is embroidered on your shirt pocket.  The stranger reveals a tattoo on his arm with the same symbol.  You relax and enter into a quick back and forth about the successes of the college football team.  Before long, you have received directions and a few insider tips on getting to your hotel.

Boise State University

What can we learn about building a tribe from college football.  Universities do it as publicly and as well as anyone else.  They gather their members every weekend in the fall to cheer on the team.  The community is full of merchants that sell the tribe’s colors and crest.  Members can connect with each other in-person and online via official and unofficial forums.  Fans plan events the rest of the year to connect outside of game day.  And if you wear the school’s logo around the world, it is assured that you will run into like minded individuals and also somebody who reminds you why failure and doom are certain to befall your warriors during the season. 

Try it someday.  Travel with a favorite college teams logo and count the interactions.