A big ‘THANK YOU’ to my parents

Dear Dad & Mama:

Thank you for protecting me and showing the difference between right and wrong; thank you for giving me a family to be proud of; thank you for spending time with your parents so they could show me things that only grandparents could; thank you for wiping my nose when I was sick or placing a washcloth on my head when I had a fever; thank you for being my very first coach and mentor; thank you for being determined and never giving up; thank you for showing me that actions do indeed speak louder than words; thank you for giving me a home to grow up in; thank you for being strict when I was growing up; thank you for helping me with my homework; thank you for instilling in me a love for learning and education; thank you for supporting my dreams no matter how big or small; thank you for showing me how to cook; thank you for showing me how to drive a car with a stick shift; thank you for making every holiday in our home more special than the one that preceded it; thank you for giving me the courage to travel and experience new cultures; thank you for letting me move home (two times) to get my life in order; thank you for never giving up on me; thank you for taking our family on vacations; thank you for wonderful childhood memories; thank you for building a pool in our backyard and giving me more than I ever needed; thank you for ALWAYS putting your needs before ours; thank you for showing me responsibility by allowing me to care for pets; thank you for involving me in youth sports and the value of good sportsmanship; thank you for teaching me how to borrow and subtract numbers in third grade; thank you for helping me learn the names of all the U.S. Presidents in one night for a test in fifth grade; thank you for making Christmas and coming home for the holidays the best ever; thank you for making our home a place where family and friends love to congregate; thank you for being there for me when my love life was on rocky ground; thank you for listening to me and ALWAYS being on my side; thank you for giving me a strong work ethic and a “never give up” attitude; thank you for loving me unconditionally, no questions asked; thank you for showing me the importance of faith, family and friends; thank you for taking me to church when I was younger; thank you for showing me that God’s love is constant; thank you for giving me a car when was I 16; thank you for getting the car out of the ditch when I wrecked it at 16; thank you for loving the person I spend my life with; thank you for encouraging me to buy a house and put down roots; thank you for ALWAYS wishing me the best happiness; thank you for encouraging me to have a strong relationship with my grandparents; thank you for letting me stay with both my grandmas during the summer and letting them teach me some very valuable life lessons; thank you for always hugging me, kissing me on the cheek and telling me you love me regardless of whether I was going a long trip or down the road; thank you for being literally by my side when I got hurt (which was every week when I was a child); thank you for holding my hand; thank you for taking me to family events and surrounding me with my cousins; thank you for working hard to provide for me, my brother and sister; thank you for giving me the idyllic “Norman Rockwell” childhood; thank you for never showing how stressful it must have been to have three young children; thank you disciplining me; thank you for knowing this list could go on forever as there’s no way to thank you for all the wonderful things you have done for me; BUT MOST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR BEING MY PARENTS AND LOVING ME.

Love,

Brian

When traditional media meets new media – live from #LATISM 2011

A few points of discussion from the last two speakers at the “Traditional media meets new media” panel discussion from Latinos In Social Media conference 2011:

Chiqui Cartagena – UNIVISION

• It’s You On Univision – put yourself in a Novela – check it out! LOL! For all of you Novela fans!
• During Premios Juventud, we decided to do something different…for the first time ever we had four live streaming cameras that were behind the scenes – over 34K unique players were streaming; drove over 20K Facebook fans and more than 12K Twitter fans
• Es El Momento - Corporate Responsibility – Univision invests heavily in health, financial empowerment, civic engagement and education of Latinos
• During “Education Week” Univision captured more than 6 million impressions on social media
• Facebook fans increased 131% after education week

Tsi Tsi Ki Felix – Anchor at TeleMundo NBC

• 78% of US companies say that they have not used social media to engage Hispanics
• Hispanics are embracing technology faster than any other group
• Mobile Devices – 70% of Hispanics use Smartphone for Internet use
• Best way to engage Hispanics is to know the culture and NOT just the language; keep content culturally relevant
• How to nurture your fan base: Listen, Identify, Solve, Test, Engage, Nuture Your Fan Base (LISTEN)
• 100% of Facebook and Twitter for TeleMundo is in Spanish – we respond in real time
• For PR people – news producers are monitoring chatter to develop stories – know your audience and what they are saying
• Fact checking with new media is just as important as it use to be, but it does  mean you have to do your job faster

 

From #LATISM 2011

Here are a few bullet points from Jerry Rocha – VP Digital Media – The Nielsen Company at the “When Traditional Media Meets New Media To Reach Latinos”. The Latinos In Social Media Conference started today in Chicago. Next up is Chiqui Cartagena from Univision.

• The growth of the multicultural population cannot be taken for granted; spending power
• Across nationalities, Hispanics share cultural similarities that influence shopping behavior and media habits
• Target a Hispanic’s behavior without fixating on labels and over-segmentations
• U.S. Hispanics 12^th largest spending group in the world; over $1 trillion in purchasing power
• In 2015, Hispanic purchasing power will grow to larger than all but eight economies in the world
• Hispanic use of mobile is huge; this is how they are accessing the Internet
• 941 SMS / month
• Social Networking – Hispanics spend about 8.3 hour / month compared to 7.19 total U.S.

Latinos In Social Media 2011 Conference

LATISM Annual National Conference – Chicago – Nov. 9 to 11, 2011 (taken from the LATISM website at www.latism.org)

For its centerpiece event of the year, LATISM has chosen the City of Chicago: a city pulsing with Latino flavor, representing almost a third of the city’s population. The national event –to be held at the beautiful Navy Pier, one of the city’s world class landmarks –will consolidate LATISM’s mission and audience of health providers, government officials, educators, community and thought leaders with three tracks focusing on empowering Latinos:

PUBLIC SERVICE TRACK

Use of social media to amplify the impact of public service in the Latino communities. Explore case studies in the areas of Health, Education, Economic Development and Civic initiatives.

Target: Non-Profits, Educators, Health Care Professionals, Government, Community Activists, Politicians, Corporate Responsibility Teams.

BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP TRACK

Lessons Learned from Multicultural Marketing, Communication and PR leaders who have pioneered and tested social media campaigns with a Hispanic target.

Target: Multicultural PR, Corporate Communications, Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Industry Leaders, Marketing.

PERSONAL INFLUENCE & COMMUNITY TRACK

The most successful Latino and Latina bloggers, influencers and entrepreneurs will share their knowledge and secrets about their strategy.

Target: Bloggers, Vloggers, Foodies, Professionals, Social Network Community Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Job seekers, Consultants

The Palin-Revere Bell Debacle

Entrepreneur and creative visionary Anthony J. D’Angelo once said that if you develop a passion for learning you will never cease to grow. I have to wonder then if former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, needs to reevaluate her passion for learning and growth given her latest gaffe concerning Paul Revere. As I looked at the news clip of her obvious attempt to discuss something she was clueless about, I rolled my eyes and felt angry that this would only fuel the “ignorant American stereotype” abroad.

I know the questions, who is Paul Revere and what did he do, may not be top 10 U.S. History subject matter, but if your intention is to run for President of the United States (which still hasn’t been announced), shouldn’t you at least know the expression “The British are coming! The British are coming!” that we all learned in third grade? This also got me thinking of how she would do if asked to take the test to become a U.S. citizen.

Unfortunately, I think we all know what the result would be as she proves how ignorant she is over and over again on TV and in print. Remember that ignorance is defined as a lack of knowledge and shouldn’t be confused with stupidity. I believe that Palin has probably learned a lot in her time as a pseudo-politician, bogus author and grandstanding blowhard, but as Abigail Adams once put it, “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” Thus, if Palin is serious about improving the U.S. here at home and abroad, she needs to seek out knowledge and remain diligent (for quite some time).

Take a look at Sarah Palin’s college career, the number of colleges she attended and how long it took her to finish her “four-year” degree. Please note that I am not knocking where she attended college, but more her lack of apparent commitment to stick to something and finish it out (in the appropriate time). The same can be said about her role as Governor of Alaska in which she resigned before her term was over. Does anyone see a pattern here? Again, I have no problem with a person who is on the five or six-year plan when it comes to college nor do I fault anyone for leaving political office to pursue book deals, TV shows and Tea Party tours, but I do take issue with a public figure who is gunning (pun intended) to be leader of the free world who has a lack of follow through.

So, I end with this challenge, for you Mrs. Sarah Palin: take a look at the U.S. Citizenship test, NYT, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, current events magazines like The Economist and any other written piece of educational material (based on opinion or fact) you can find and read it! If people are silly enough to support you and you have a slight chance of leading the U.S. one day, I’d rather you be informed and not make our country a laughing-stock around the world. We had enough of that when George W was in office.

No English, No Service – No Way Jose!!!

An interview with a Lexington, NC restaurant owner recently appeared on my local NBC affiliate, WXII, which highlighted the fact that patrons would not be served unless they spoke English. Admittedly, the first thought that ran through my head was, “WTF?!” As I continued watching the segment, the door sign posted by said owner flashed on the TV screen. It read (verbatim):

“God Bless America and All those who protect and serve our great country. Our Staff our sadly not Bi-Lingual. We only speak and understand American.”

Forget the racist undertones of this story for just a minute and focus your attention on the poor grammar and ignorance of this message. We live in a country that makes it okay for folks to say what they want when they want and I am thankful for the freedom our Constitution gives us.

I suppose that’s the thought that the restaurant guy wanted to make in his first sentence, but didn’t really know how to give it context or express this correctly. In 2007, statistics from the Pew Hispanic Center indicated that the number of Hispanics on active duty in the military was 122,255. I’m sure this number has grown and I know the restaurant owner in Lexington, NC would have no problem serving Latinos (and others) even if their accent or English wasn’t the best. So let’s disallow his first sentence and move on.

I suppose making “staff” plural in his second sentence is an honest mistake for someone who thinks “American” is a language. As a North Carolinian, both these mistakes make me shudder. I wonder how anyone can graduate from grade school with a simple grammar faux pas like this. Perhaps the restaurant owner should enroll in an English as a second language course at his local community college or even enlist the help of some of the people he banned from his establishment. I’m sure they’d be happy to explain subject / verb agreement, as well as educate him that people speak English in the U.S. and NOT American.

Sarcasm aside, this interview doesn’t bother me because the restaurateur feels compelled to post a sign saying “No English, No Service” on his door nor does it make me upset that his grammar is a bad reflection on small town folk who speak quite eloquently. What burns me up is that this guy hides behind his love for America and its troops to spout hate. If you’re going to post signs like this, man up and just say “white, heterosexual males (maybe females on a good day) born in the U.S. who don’t like outsiders (U.S. or foreign born) are welcome – to all others, NO WAY JOSE!”

Being A Gringo Latino

I grew up in rural North Carolina in a little town called McLeansville where diversity and multiculturalism were measured by the amount of African-Americans in your class at school or on your athletic team. I lived out my youth and teen years thinking that diversity meant white people getting along with black people and vice versa.

The beginning of college was a bit better and I learned that diversity also meant folks from the south accepting language and cultural differences from our neighbors to the north who I affectionately called (and still do) Yankees. So it’s very interesting that midway through college I chose to double major in International Studies and Spanish. Perhaps I could attribute this to the fact that I had never been out of the country and longed to learn about places beyond the U.S. or maybe even to my high school Spanish teacher, Senora Skidmore, who first introduced me to Latino culture. Perhaps though, it was something more.

The need to feel a part of something bigger than yourself is inherent in human nature and growing up in the U.S. makes this need even greater. Most of us at some point in our lives realize that helping our neighbors and caring for our fellow-man/woman leads to a happier life. I think my love of Latin culture is a mishmash of altruism borne out of my southern upbringing, educational background, travel and the ability to see how other people (mostly in Central and South America) live, work and play. Southern culture’s close ties to the importance of faith, family and friends is akin to Latin culture and I know this also played a role in me becoming a Gringo Latino.

What is a Gringo Latino? To me a Gringo Latino is a person that takes the best of American and Latino culture and combines it to make something unique and beautiful. As someone who owns his own business, I can tell you I love the timeliness and speed at which American business runs and that ‘tiempo Latino’ is better observed on vacation than in the boardroom. Conversely, taking time to smell the roses and being content with what you have verses working all the time to keep up with the Jones’ is something I admire from my Latinos. My Latino friends have had quite the time trying to make this stick, and I won’t lie that it’s a struggle to step back from work at times.

When I was growing up there was always laughter and music in my house, and although not sure if this is a Southern custom, it did make me fall in love with Latino culture because some of the best memories of my childhood are my family singing and dancing together. Besides, you can ask any Latino that if there’s music, the parranda is not far behind.

A Gringo Latino also loves other cultures, but is very proud of his or her American roots. Personally, I identify with Colombian culture – the people, the music, the food, the happiness, the work ethic, the accent [ Sisas Parcero! ] and the guaro – but also love my Southern brethren and things like country cooking with Mom’s mac n’ cheese or the limitless opportunities to achieve success in the U.S.

If you consider yourself a Gringo Latino, you may be able to speak Spanish, but this isn’t necessarily a requirement. I can tell you, however, that it’s a lot more fun when you can join a conversation, tell a joke or sing a song. As Americans, we’re lucky that English is spoken the world over, but this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t push ourselves to learn another language (even if it’s something other than Spanish). This also goes for my Latino brothers and sisters as I have seen firsthand how speaking English can make the difference in truly understanding what makes your Gringos tick and being able to participate in American culture. A Gringo Latino understands that the different colors, languages, backgrounds and life experiences that make the U.S. a great place to live are to be celebrated.

So, that’s just a snapshot of what I consider to be a Gringo Latino. I am so very fortunate to have great friends from all walks of life and cultures. For me, Latino culture provides this small town boy from McLeansville, NC a way to look at life differently with a little spice thrown in. You may not identify with Latino culture at all and that’s okay. The point is to embrace what makes you happy and surround yourself with good people who build you up…and for me that’s my fellow Gringo Latinos!

Check out my new Facebook page called Gringos for Latinos, where Gringos and Latinos alike can go and share news, events, photos or videos about each other. I’d also like to give a shout out to Lance Rios who created the Facebook page, Being Latino, as what he’s doing certainly served as my inspiration.