Here is the news release

March 30, 2011 (Vancouver).  The Vancouver Public Library, NetTuesday and CoopCulture are pleased to host #NETCulture:  Stories of Culture and Diversity in Social Media on Tuesday April 5 from 6:45pm onwards in the Alice MacKay Room of the Vancouver Public Library, Main Branch.

From the outside, digital interaction appears to be cold and inhuman.  Given a choice, humans would obviously rather be hugged than poked and society is now living in this paradox in that social media has not only provided an opportunity to be “closer to the people that we are far away from”  but perhaps also “farther away from the people that we are close to.”  These two conflicting realities exist side-by-side but it’s now apparent that the internet does not steal humanity, it simply reflects it. For example, it was Youtube that gave a generation of young Iranians; a democratic voice and at the same time, is able to teach a Chinese-Canadian, the required etiquette for attending his Punjabi friend’s wedding.

This evening, #NETCulture:  Stories of Culture and Diversity in Social Media will focus on the use of social media such as facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Youtube and others to connect cultures and the world while strengthening identities, roots and friendships.

The keynote address will be delivered by Ms. Kety Esquivel via skype.  Ms. Esquivel is currently the VP of Digital Strategy at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. Amongst her many accomplishments; she directed the Latino outreach for Democrat Wesley Clark’s presidential campaign in 2004 and has worked as the New Media Manager for the National Council of La Raza – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the US.  Her commentary has been featured in the Huffington Post, the Wall St. Journal Online, PBS, XM Radio, CNN, and many others.  Kety will be discussing the Hispanic community experience with blogging.   In Kety Esquivel’s words, “multicultural social media looks at difference and acknowledges we are not all the same.”

Following the keynote address; a number of local speakers will each take the podium each for 7 minutes.  The speakers include Ms. Jordana Mah, with of Schema Magazine, Ms. Paola Viviana Murillo and Ms. Norma Ibarra, both from Latincouver.ca, Ashok Puri, retiree and world traveller, Mr. Ray Hsu and Ms. Zi-Ann Lum from waytooazn.com; Mr. RJ  (Rafael) Aquino and Mr. Jay Catalan from Tulayan and Ms. Veronica Heringer of madameheringer.com.  Heringer states “Coming from Rio de Janeiro to Vancouver 2 years ago, I realize there is a lot of potential in an event such as #NETCulture.  Vancouver has a big mixture of cultures and for a newcomer, it can be overwhelming.  That’s why I believe that this event can make newly arrived like myself feel that we are welcomed and gives us a platform to further understand each other.”  Following the 7 minute speeches, all of the speakers will come together for a panel discussion moderated by Elijah van der Giessen of Net Tuesday and Ajay Puri from CoopCulture.

“We are flipping the buzz words multiculturalism and social media on their heads as people from diverse communities are interested not only in how to use these tools but on how these tools help them connect, share their stories and have a voice - we hope to illustrate this through the speakers stories at this event” indicates Ajay Puri, chief organizer of the event.

#NETCulture:  Stories of Culture and Diversity in Social Media takes place on Tuesday April 5, 2011 at 6:45pm in the Alice MacKay Room of the VPL Central Branch.  Following the event, attendees are invited to continue the conversation with the speakers in an informal setting at the Kingston Taphouse and Grill. Due to limited space, please visit www.nettuesday.ca or netculture.eventbrite.com to register for the two free events.

Net Tuesday hosts monthly events that serve as a great opportunity to convene local communities to share ideas, learn from each other, and even collaborate on projects for real world impact. These gatherings provide a chance to connect for all those interested in the intersection of social technologies and social change in your local community. Members of local groups represent nonprofit organizations and foundations, government agencies and service providers, designers and developers, innovators and social entrepreneurs. www.nettuesday.ca

Speaker Bios -

Keynote Speaker: Kety Esquivel

Bio:
Ms Esquivel is currently the Vice President of Digital Strategy at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. She directed Latino outreach for the Clark Presidential Campaign. Her work has taken her to China and Ethiopia with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. She spent three years coaching executives on human capital and diversity in the US, Canada and Latin America. She worked as the New Media Manager for NCLR, the National Council of La Raza – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. Kety graduated from Cornell University where she served on the Board of Trustees. Her commentary has been featured and quoted in stories for the Huffington Post, Wall St. Journal Online, HITN, PBS, XM radio, CNN, Televisa and Univision. She will be tuning in via Skype.

Paola Viviana Murillo

Bio:
Paola is Colombian born, and the Director and Founder of Latincouver, an organization that much like Paola, is passionate about promoting Latin American business and culture. Paola has over ten years of global experience delivering successful events, advertising, product launches, marketing, and public relations. Her experience in cross-cultural communication has helped her organize more than 30 events; all aimed at helping people connect through business and culture.
Presentation Summary: See below.

Websites:
http://www. Latincouver.ca
www.mirrai.ca
twitter.com/Latinmirrai
twitter.com/latincouver

—
Norma Ibarra

Bio:
Norma was raised in Mexico and moved to Vancouver in 2009. She has degrees in Marketing and Tourism and has been involved in working with youth for many years. Norma has volunteered to help organize several Mexican events in Vancouver and it is through this community involvement that she came in contact with Latincouver and Paola Murillo. She has now taken on the role of Social Media and Digital Coordinator at Latincouver, a leading social, cultural network and business portal for the Latin American communities in Metro Vancouver.

Presentation Summary (for Paola and Norma):
“Sombrero, Salsa & Social Media”
Paola V Murillo and Norma will be discussing common stereotypes and how they created a virtual plaza to connect Latinos and educate local Vancouverites about Latin America. They will also discuss how they help create virtual connections through the Latincouver.ca website and have them translate into successful events offline.

Websites:
http://www.Latincouver.ca

—
Veronica Heringer

Bio:
Veronica Heringer is a Brazilian journalist with a special passion for advertising. She is currently a Community Cultivation Manager at DDB Canada and the writer behind MadameHeringer.com, awarded in the Ex-pat and Media & Journalism categories of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

Presentation Summary:
In the mist of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Veronica Heringer learned that social media was more than a tool to promote her employer, but also an effective way to find new friends, create powerful professional connections and instigate multicultural discussions. Veronica will be sharing her findings and some valuable lessons learnt along the way.

Websites:
Blog: http://madameheringer.com
Flavours.me: http://veronicaheringer.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/vheringer

—
Zi-Ann Lum

Bio:
Zi-Ann is a freelance writer and Editorial Intern at the Vancouver Observer. She is Editor-In-Chief of UBC Perspectives Magazine and also works as the Outreach Coordinator for Schema Magazine. Zi-Ann has been working at UBC for the past year developing strategic plans to build and shape intercultural dialogue and discourse at UBC.

Presentation Summary:
Ray and Zi-Ann will be speaking about their experience using new multimedia to challenge and create critical thought and dialogue. They will speak about how they were able to harness local and national attention, using social media, to a subject that has turned into a national debate about multiculturalism and inclusiveness.

Websites:
http://ziannlum.com/
Bio link: http://www.vancouverobserver.com/contributors/zi-ann-lum
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ziannlum

—
Ray Hsu

Bio:
Poet-schmoet. Ray Hsu is a rockstar who happens to write books. Ray describes himself as the neighbourhood kid who gets everyone to build a snowfort. His catchphrases include, “What can I do to help?” and “You know, what would be cool is if…” Ray is author of Anthropy (winner of the Gerald Lampert Award) and Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon. At last count he has published over a hundred and twenty-five poems in over forty journals internationally. He taught writing for over two years in a U.S. prison. He now teaches at the University of British Columbia, where he collaborates across disciplines, districts, and dinner tables.

Presentation Summary:
Ray will be speaking on Way Too AZN: half class, half revolution, half party

Links:
thewayofray.com.

—
Jay Catalan

Bio:
Jay Catalan was born and raised in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada in his teens. He co-founded Tulayan along with RJ Aquino to cultivate better understanding between established Filipino Canadians and more recent Filipino immigrants through community workshops. Jay Catalan is a co-founder of The Network Hub, Vancouver’s longest running coworking space, launched in 2006.

Websites:
http://www.tulayan.com
http://flavors.me/tagalog
http://www.thenetworkhub.ca
http://www.twitter.com/JayCatalan

—
Rafael (RJ) Aquino

Bio:
RJ Aquino co-founded the community organization, Tulayan (which means ‘to bridge’ in Tagalog) with Jay Catalan to reintroduce young Filipinos living in Vancouver to their culture, heritage and history and create a positive cultural identity for the Filipino community at large. An emerging community organizer, RJ is also on the board of directors with the explorASIAN Society and is on the COPE Executive (Coalition of Progressive Electors).

Websites:
http://about.me/rjaquino
http://www.explorasian.org
http://www.cope.bc.ca

Presentation Summary:
Jay and RJ will be speaking about how social media has inspired their work within the Filipino community, how they use it to spark engagement online, and the importance of cultivating these relationships offline.

—
Ashok Puri

Bio:
Ashok immigrated to Canada from India in 1969. After briefly working in engineering in Winnipeg, Ashok went on to become an entrepreneur, launching a tours and travels business and also opening a restaurant. Ashok has been actively engaged in the Indian community, helping launch the first ever Indian TV program in Canada and working as a radio host for several years. Ashok is a retiree and continues to work in the community; volunteering with a local NGO to help new immigrants adjust to Canadian culture and life style.

Presentation Summary:
Ashok will be presenting his travel experiences, couch surfing in Nepal, Mexico, China and India. He will share tips on how to become a member of the global couch surfing community. Ashok will also share his perspective on social media and the internet, and how, at the age of 67, sites such as Facebook and YouTube have helped him make a new family of friends, while re-connecting with long lost friends and family.

—
Jordana Mah

Bio:
Jordana is a part of the Senior Editorial team at Schema Magazine, a national online publication. She works as the Senior Coordinator for Social Media and Special Events, spearheading Schema’s social media strategy and helping plan events and source content for the editorial sections. Schema Magazine focuses on topics of pop culture and identity to represent the viewpoints of the 1.5 generation* and beyond Canadians.

Presentation Summary:
Jordana will be speaking on how Schema has used social media and the web to highlight people, events, and issues that speak to the generation that does not fit into a single category defined by race.

Websites:
http://www.schemamag.ca/
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigrant_generations#1.5_generation

March 16, 2011

Reaching Latinos and U.S. Hispanics Online: An Interview with Yahoo!

Posted by Jessica Lee on 03/16/2011 @ 8:36 am |

The SES New York conference is right around the corner and this year, the conference has a special focus on Internet marketing and online business for the Latino and U.S. Hispanic markets. I was able to grab a few minutes of time with the general manager of Yahoo! Hispanic Americas and SES speaker, Armando Rodriguez.

Armando oversees Yahoo!’s sales strategy and business partnerships in the U.S. Hispanic market, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela. He’s also responsible for the management of all revenue streams, including display and search advertising, and the expansion into new markets in Latin America.

Jessica: What do the growth opportunities look like for the Latin America and U.S. Hispanic sectors?

Armando: Yahoo! reaches one out of every two Internet users in Latin America. In the U.S. market, more than 80 percent of Hispanics online use Yahoo!’s products and services.

Latin America is one of the fastest growing Internet markets in the world, and the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic audiences are a very important part of our online strategy and growth.

The more we provide deeply meaningful and personal content and services tailored to the individual’s needs and interests, the more we can grow our audience and increase revenue.

What countries or regions in Latin America seem to be embracing online business the most, and why do you think that is?

Consider this: Brazil is already the fifth largest country in global Internet usage, but today less than 30 percent of Brazilians are online. In next few years, Internet penetration is expected to double, catapulting the country into the top three in worldwide Internet use.

Mexico is currently ranked as the No. 14 country for Internet use with only 30 percent of the population online; Argentina is the most penetrated Latin American country, ranking No. 19 globally with 60 percent of the population online. The story of growth is similar in other Central and South American countries.

With an increase in online audience, marketers and advertisers are spending more on digital campaigns. They want to be where their audience is, and connect with consumers in more personal and tailored ways than mass broadcast or outdoor advertising offer.

What are the unique challenges of expanding to or working within the Latin America and U.S. Hispanic markets?

Each country is different, with unique needs, tastes and media consumption habits – a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. U.S. Latinos tend to consume, communicate and engage more online than the average U.S. user. They tend to be more loyal to Internet brands and visit the same sites and services that their friends/family recommend and use.

The larger American audience tends to be more scattered in their online preferences. Another main difference is that most Latinos live in two worlds consuming content in both English and Spanish.

How is Yahoo! investing to reach these audiences?

For the U.S. Hispanic market, we’re drawing deeper synergies between our Yahoo.com and Yahoo! en Español properties, making it easier for a bilingual audience to discover content and services.

We’re also developing more compelling, original content and an editorial voice geared towards the evolving Hispanic audience.

Across Latin America, we’re focused on growth and being at the forefront of consumers’ Internet usage by harnessing our global platforms to deliver local content and experiences (or instead of experiences “services”). We’re also launching new products and ad solutions, and continuing to invest in our Latin American success.

What are the consumer trends within the Latin America and U.S. Hispanic markets?

Latin Americans and U.S. Hispanics online habits are quickly becoming more sophisticated, as the Internet becomes an even more integral part of their consumer behavior.

They are connecting to the Internet at a faster rate than the rest of the world, they are leading the way in their usage of social media, video content, mobile devices and over-index on time spent online.

How can marketers and advertisers reach these audiences?

There’s no arguing that digital is now an essential marketing channel to reach the Latino consumer. Yahoo! provides advertisers with unparalleled opportunities to reach a highly engaged audience at the right time, with the right message. Yahoo! combines the science and art of getting the right message to the right consumers in quality context – all with a tremendous digital scale.

We offer advertisers precise targeting, deep consumer insights, and tools that leverage those insights in real time for optimized program performance. Creativity is another key element – we’re helping advertisers be as creative online as they are offline, developing lasting emotional engagement with our consumers.

As a premier digital media company, we’re creating more originally produced entertainment, providing marketers with high quality content that they want to be associated with.

For instance, De Moda is a Spanish-language program devoted to women’s fashion and interests, and is sponsored by P&G; La Locura is a new weekly program with offbeat sporting highlights sponsored by Toyota. We just named the finalists for Bello 51 – the fourth year in a row we’ve partnered with People en Español to find the 51st most beautiful person to grace the magazine and pages of Yahoo!.

Bello 51 is sponsored by Maybelline New York, Garnier and Orbit Gum. These are just some of the creative ways we’re creating opportunities for marketers to engage with their audience.

We’re also pioneering new ad formats on PC, mobile, Connected TV and tablets, as well as and branded video content options that deliver results and positivity impact marketers’ businesses.

Armando will speak on the Analytics for Latino Markets panel on March 22 at 2:30 p.m. at SES New York; Susan Esparza is scheduled to liveblog this session. Stay tuned for coverage.

Bring from http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/2011/03/reaching-latinos-and-hispanics-online/

Here is the article that I got from  http://twittasaurus.com/blog/?p=16562

Latin America, with over twenty countries housing more than 550 million individuals, it is currently expanding to become a major emerging market. Because of its growth, it is targeted by many businesses looking to take their good or service abroad. Through viable SEO Latin America tactics, any business can expand into this geographical region.

Businesses know to grow their online presence through this particular market. SEO enables companies to stand out from all other websites in internet searches, allows potential buyers to locate a business, and keeps the business at the top. An SEO manager helps to locate the right keywords so the website of the business will be first in Google searches.

This geographical region currently makes up for over seventy-percent of the Google search traffic, which means that businesses looking to target this geographical region of the world. Need to make their SEO tactics viable for the Google search engine. The most popular SEO markets currently include automotive, retails, finance, local classifieds, and travel.

Because the Latin American public has different needs, languages, and cultures, the websites must be engaging for the SEO to have full effect. A huge dilemma that many businesses are solving is the lack of an alternative page in Spanish. Not all Latin Americans speak English.

When performing SEO, there are some things to keep in mind. Businesses need to remember the language they use can affect the culture, how individuals do searches, and how they purchase items. When deciding on keywords for search engines, businesses need to understand the importance of language.

Companies need to have an online presence to hit the targeted market. To do this, businesses need to increase their SEO tactics. Currently, there are many SEO companies that focus on helping businesses gain an internet search engine foothold in Latin America.

Joshua Adekane specializes in helping companies successfully market their products and services to Latin America

She might not have realized it at the time, but while growing up in Bogota, Colombia, Paola Murillo dreamed of living in Vancouver. “I remember when I was little, I was hoping that one day I would
walk through the streets listening to something different from my own language, and Vancouver has that,” she says, sitting in a café on West Fourth Avenue. “So I’m really thankful every time I walk down the street. I think, ‘My god, this is just like I wanted.’”

Suffice it to say, embracing multiculturalism came easily to Murillo, a bright and driven entrepreneur behind two online businesses catering to Vancouver’s Latino community. But another
tenet of Vancouver’s civic identity eluded her. While Vancouver’s push to become the greenest city
in Canada by 2020 is easily understood by most born-and-raised Canadians, for newcomers and
others whose experience of the city is tied to specific cultural communities, the concept of
environmentalism isn’t immediately apparent, or even accessible.
“When you come to Canada, you’re thinking about so many ways to adapt: finding a job, finding housing, learning everything about the place. You don’t understand this talk about recycling, that it’s good for the environment,” says Murillo. It’s a blind spot that, for many immigrants, extends to the whole conversation around climate change and lingers long after they’re settled in Canada, Murillo says. “Moving to Canada is very stressful, so you’re trying to [integrate] into your own cultural community to ease the shock, but the community that’s already in place, they don’t reallyunderstand [environmentalism] either, because they can sometimes be isolated.”
That’s where RangiChangi Roots comes in. Formerly the Intercultural Alliance for Climate Action, RangiChangi was born out of the Bridge to a Cool Planet protest in October of last year, which closed the Cambie Street Bridge to bring attention to the demand that the federal overnment take a strong stance against climate change at the Copenhagen Climate Summit the following December. (It didn’t, but that’s another story.) Under the tagline ‘Many Cultures, One Climate,’
RangiChangi aims to bridge cultural gaps to create a united movement to address climate change in Vancouver and across the globe by hosting community dialogues and conducting cultural outreach.
Murillo has been involved from the outset, helping break down the multiple barriers that keep ethno-cultural communities from joining in the climate-change conversation. While those born or raised in Canada learn about climate change early on — often in school — Murillo points out that in other parts of the world where people are concentrating on day-to-day survival, sustainability just isn’t on the radar. Then there’s the way eco-conscious living is framed in the mainstream as a philanthropic concern, largely reserved for the white upper-middle class, who can afford to pay a premium for hybrid cars and organically grown food. Additionally, part of the draw in moving to Canada for many immigrants is the classic North American markers of success: new car, big house, buying imported food. Climate-change solutions, such as growing your own food or taking transit, often fly in the face of those dreams. “When you move to a new country, you think you’re
going to do well if you buy a new car and a new house,” Murillo says. “You’re not going to say, ‘If I’m successful, I’m going to take the bus.’”
RangiChangi aims to add a new perspective to the immigrant experience. “It’s kind of saying, ‘You know what? What you used to do back home is still good.’” Murillo says. “It’s changing the mentalities and reaching those communities that are trying to adapt, because we don’t integrate them on those topics.”
The relationship between multiculturalism and environmentalism is starting to be recognized by other community organizations. Though not as lush as in the summer months, plots in the intercultural community garden on the roof of St. Paul’s Hospital still bear fruit (and vegetables). On a tour of the joint project between the Robert Lee YMCA, the West End Residents Association, and Gordon Neighbourhood House, gardeners Ningna Lu and Chris Barber marvel at some stunted strawberries that have braved the autumn chill. Lu and Barber were among 50 dedicated West End residents — nearly half of whom are new immigrants — that painstakingly schlepped soil up to the roof of the hospital, one bucket at a time, to build the community project last June.
With funding from the federal and provincial governments through Welcome BC, the garden’s demographics reflect the cultural make-up of the West End, with 40 per cent of the plots reserved for new immigrants.
“The city has a lot of community gardens, but none of them focused on the intercultural piece,” explains Joao Salm, the project participant coordinator with the YMCA. “So the garden was really an opportunity for us to bring people together and grow organic food.”
Though the aim of the project is more about promoting cross-cultural relationships than sustainable living, Salm says the two are really inseparable when it comes to the garden. Lu’s experience certainly reflects that. A Chinese immigrant who came to Canada five years ago, she got involved in the garden to practice her English skills. Though the language barrier makes it difficult for her to answer questions about whether gardening has taught her about sustainability,
there’s evidence that it has. Lu’s pride in growing her own food is clear. She enthusiastically pulls out a handful of just-picked green beans, announcing she’s grown more than 200 of them over the summer, as well as about a dozen seeds she’s saved and is planning to plant next year.
Helping immigrants understand the language around sustainability is something Murillo and others working with RangiChangi hope the government will get more involved in as the environmental
movement becomes more culturally diverse. In addition to holding public forums in Vancouver, the volunteer-run group has been working with cultural organizations to get the message out about
sustainability early on in the immigration process. Murillo says the demand is huge for education on things like food security, but also basic recycling, which for a lot of new immigrants is not all
that basic. “It’s not in the brochure about how to adapt in Vancouver and in Canada,” she says.
As nascent as it is, Murillo is heartened to see a robust environmental movement, that’s culturally diverse but ideologically united, taking shape and building momentum. “The funny thing is that when you do a little bit,” she says, “you start doing more and more and more.”
Info: InterculturalClimateAction.Wordpress.com and VanYMCA.org.

Paola Murillo enjoyed a strong Latin community in Montreal.
“Then I come over here and it’s an empty space,” the Colombian-born woman said. “Everything’s perfect, I love this place, I love Vancouver, but we are not working together. Everyone’s trying really hard to succeed. Everyone has such amazing skills and it’s so hard to adapt, to get the job that people actually deserve.”

Murillo and a dozen of her Latino contemporaries from eight countries have tried to solve this “waste of talent” since 2008.
They’re launching Latincouver, La Plaza Latina, an online social networking and business portal for the Latino community and Latinophiles in Metro Vancouver. Debuting June 6, it’s meant to be a virtual public square like those found in Latin countries where people meet to socialize, do business and celebrate.
“It’s really expensive to have a plaza physically in Vancouver right now, but we have the tools, social media. We’re using [U.S. president Barack] Obama’s model to be connected virtually and let the locals
know we are here,” Murillo said.
The portal have a section for events that will include free listings for salsa classes, the best songs in Latin America and soccer match schedules. The plaza section will give businesses a place to advertise for a fee. Green B.C. will provide a place for cities and governments to connect with the Latino community, and it will include information on the importance of recycling and public transportation, which Murillo said newcomers may be less familiar with. Resources for new immigrants
and a buy and sell will round out the site. Information will be presented in Spanish, Portuguese and English.
Murillo, who works in communications for Canadian Heritage, hopes Latincouver will help non-Latinos understand how people of Latino descent do business. “We don’t understand the concept of time,” she
said. “For us Latinos, everything’s manana [tomorrow]. But it’s not because we don’t want to talk to you, it’s because we want to build a relationship first before we do business… And we are always late.”
Murillo and her team of 13 dedicated French-Portuguese, Venezuelan, Canadian and other volunteers, who are mostly in their 30s, have run into a few naysayers.
“They say, you know what, I have been here for 20 years and it’s going to be difficult because we are different countries,” she said. “I’m like well, too bad. We have the same language. We have the same
culture… It’s time for us to work together to build something.”
She sees the potential for local businesses to tap into the vast Latin-American market in the United States, but she says the fledgling organization will have to take things “one step at a time.”

Vendors will line the interior of the Hellenic Community Centre, which will be decorated like a public plaza for the website’s launch, June 6. Salsa and samba dance performances will spice up the event, while Tanga, a local salsa big band, Peruvian guitarist Michele Goycocha and Cuban DJ Julio will play. The event will be webcast on the Latincouver website.

The Latincouver launch will run at 4500 Arbutus St. from 6:30 to 1 a.m. For more information, see www.latincouver.ca or phone 604-566-0999.

Read more: http://www.royalcityrecord.com/life/Local+Latinos+build+online+plaza/2897840/story.html#ixzz1BdAgVsqt