Did You Know?

A surge of new technologies and social media innovations are altering the media landscape.

Did You Know?

Americans have access to:
1,000,000,000 web pages
65,000 iPhone apps
10,500 radio stations
5,500 magazines
200+ cable TV networks

95% of all songs downloaded last year weren't paid for.

Wikipedia launched in 2001. It now features over 13 million articles in more than 200 languages.

How many texts do you think the average American teen sends a month? Watch the video below to find this and more out!

"Hotel owner tells Hispanic workers to change names"

This week I’d planned to write about another influential Hispanic figure, but I couldn’t let this opportunity pass by to share with you a story that wasn’t only disturbing but really motivating to me at the same time. It motivates me to continue to do what I do best and that’s to encourage and motivate “MI GENTE” (my people). It’s funny because today my friend commented on my Facebook, “Is there anything else you do besides “Latino”. I was like, “NO”! I am Latina, and I support my Latinos. I have friends from all backgrounds and I will always try my best to support them in anything that they do. “Siempre y Cuando” (“Only If”) it’s a positive thing.

So besides my friend’s ignorant comment and I can say that because we’ve been friends for more than 11 years. The story I’d mentioned previously is a story By MELANIE DABOVICH, Associated Press Writer. The title reads, “Hotel owner tells Hispanic workers to change names.” Now when I read the headline, I thought to myself. “Are you serious”? I began to read the story and when I read, “He forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence (he thought they'd be talking about him), and ordered some to Anglicize their names.” I thought to myself, can this really still be happening after 23 years of being in this country and having an African American President and a Hispanic woman as our head of Supreme Court?


I grew up in a predominantly “Anglo” community from the age of 8 to 18 years old and I’m the only one from my immediate family, (Father, Mother and Sister) to have a non-traditional Hispanic name. They are Francisco Alfonso, Ruth Gloria and Paola Carolina. As I type that out it’s very humorous to me because out of all three of them I’m probably the only one troubled by this story of Larry Whitten, Taos, NM Hotel Owner. He of course denied the allegations and stated that, "It has nothing to do with racism. I'm not doing it for any reason other than for the satisfaction of my guests, because people calling from all over America don't know the Spanish accents or the Spanish culture or Spanish anything." Now can I please ask you to re-read, “don’t know the Spanish accents or the Spanish culture or Spanish anything?” I mean is this guy for real? I have to laugh and it’s out of a mix of disappointment and anger for the people that had to endure this form of racism. Please take the time to view the link http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_trouble_in_taos and let me know what you think! What if this was you? I will end this post with another quote from this story, “No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain-old Martin. No more Marcos. Now it would be Mark.” As some would say, “El tipo esta loco”!

"In Performance at the White House: Fiesta Latina"

This past weekend I watched the “Latina Fiesta at the White House”. In case you didn't have the chance to watch it you missed a beautifully orchestrated concert. President Barack Obama opened up the celebration with a very enlightening and enthusiastic speech. He commended our culture and acknowledged the importance and value that the ‘Latino Race’ contributes to the United States. He wrapped up his introduction with a quote from Gloria Estefan that I will use in the future, “The most beautiful things in this country are that it has flavor of other countries.”

The program was created to celebrate Hispanic musical heritage and it included performances by Marc Anthony, Jimmy Smits, Gloria Estefan, Jose Feliciano, George Lopez, Thalia, Tito "El Bambino", the Bachata music group Aventura, and the Chicano rock band Los Lobos, with Sheila E. as the musical director. As I watched the show tears began to come down. I was overwhelmed with a sense of bitter sweet feeling of both “proud of where we have reached” and “yearning, to be there one day”.
The performances were great! My favorite has to be Gloria Estefan’s performance. She has such class and sings like a bird. I do feel that we could have “represented” more as I am a huge fan of “Salsa”. There wasn’t any “Guaguanco” and that is a true representation of where we come from. I loved the balance of music genres that they had, Bachata, Reggaeton, Salsa and Pop with Ballads were truly a nice mix of passion and “Felicidad”.

If you would like to see the show you can visit, pbs.org. Or visit this URL: http://video.pbs.org/video/1296778877/program/1073769600#

As I watched, it was a feeling of, “I can do anything I want”. Each and everyone one of the people in attendance at the Latina Fiesta is an influential person in today’s society and for that I will continue to strive for my dreams! I hope you will too.

"An Inspiring Woman"

Hello there “Boarder followers”. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to write last week but this week I have a special treat for you. If you haven’t gotten a feel for my topics, or if this is your first time reading my blog post. You will see that I focus on “Influential Hispanics” in today’s society. If you’re like me in the sense that you are tired of being stereotyped and feel the need to always “represent” Latinos in a positive light. Well then this is the post you must read!

Today’s post is about Mrs. Gina Rodriguez. A very successful Dominican woman who immigrated to the United States in the 1980’s in search for the “American Dream”. Now for many of us the American Dream can mean many different things. But for this woman it meant to actually go to College and learn the native language. She studied in Berk Business School and took ESL classes at NYU. She was determined from the start to take advantage of all of the opportunities this country offered her. Upon graduating Gina began working within an import/export handbag company, Hyuk Trading Company. After working with them for 10 years she had two children and was able to juggle Motherhood and her career.

Just a few years after taking on that new role, her husband was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma Cancer. During Mr. Rodriguez’s fight with Cancer, Gina had to support the family forcing her to work multiple jobs in order to support the family. This is when she discovered her niche. The niche of sales within Mary Kay Cosmetics in 1991, in just a seven months Gina was driving the popular “Pink Cadillac” and has to this date a total of 6 company cars under her belt.

Gina has since received numerous awards and recognitions. In October 2007, “Dominican’s Women’s Development Center” recognized her with an “Outstanding Business Leadership Award” for her hard work and dedication in helping women to succeed within Business Industries. In August of 2008, she received the “Miss Go Give Award”, which recognizes “Independent Sales Directors” who exemplify characteristics of the “Gold Rule” and help guide and motivate Consultants who are not from their group. Today Gina’s team consists of 40 Hispanic Directors, who are currently earning annual incomes from 50K-85K and they are spread out through out New York, Massachusetts, Indiana, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida. In December of 2008, Gina achieved her dream and became a National Sales Director. The highest achievable position within Mary Kay, within this position Gina has the capabilities of operating her business in 39 different countries.

I recently had the pleasure of riding in the Pink Escalade and I have to say it is “Pretty Nice”. The Cadillac and the Awards are just added perks to Gina’s true motivation. Her driving force is her children and that to me is truly a great example of not only a “successful Latina” but a Latina Mother.

Thank you Gina for continuing to break those barriers for all women and for all Latinos.

What do you want to know?

It seems like every time I blink the world speeds up. OK I'm being a little dramatic, but what I'm referring to is the digital era surrounding us. Not only is the technology advancing rapidly but the way we receive is coming in in light speed. For instance, lets talk about blogs. Bloggers and blogging is set and ready for any question being thought of.
What do you need to know?
I say we start with something we can all relate to wondering about at one time in our lives: Where is the best place to get Japanese nail art?
Well, there's a blog for that. http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=japanese+nail+art&find_loc=orange+County%2C+CA&ns=1
Or, are you looking for some good old fashion retail therapy?
Yep, there's a blog for that. http://www.latina.com/blogs/retail-therapy
Or how about if you need constant social media updates?
Yes, there's a blog for that. http://mashable.com/

Perhaps the number one place at the moment to dig through some constantly updated blogs is this magical place called Twitter. A truly work of genius held up by...
non other than... us.
It's social media at a max.
A social media tool that is only unravelling as we speak. Our creativity and words are it's empire.
Just think, you can have Oprah as a neighbor. And yes, the REAL Oprah.
The form in which we are all being connected is just at a keyboards' touch.

A nice plan of connection I recently read up on was from Jet Blue. In an effort to reach bi coastal travelers in promotion of the newly opened terminal in LAX (LA Airport), they invited interactive social media guests on a first flight out and had them blog and record videos about their experience. This unconventional form of advertising led them to have over 250,000 video playbacks and 400+ positive Twitter posts. Nice spotlight.
Now, what would be considered a non-traditional form of advertising not too far back is transforming into a communication top priority. Us (the consumers) will praise or demise what you're selling us. Yep, good or bad, word will get around.

Why October Eleventh?

I was elated to read an email from my mom this morning. I have been quite fortunate of my mothers' attitude towards learning and interacting within cyberspace. She was an early adopter of online bill pay. Then she decided to go green and requested for paperless online bank statements. Now and again when I get melancholy, I send an invitation to video chat and vice versa. Therefore, when I received this email it was for lack of a better word "cool."

Son,

Since your birthday is coming up and you are always insisting I use the computer more often to get acquainted. I decided to write you an email reflecting on your birthday. I was pregnant with your brother Daniel and everyone was hoping that I had a girl. As for me as long as my baby was born healthy it didn't matter. Daniel was born, would you believe with his thumb in his mouth. I didn't get to see him with his thumb in his mouth, I just took their word for it. But, why would they lie, right? They said I must have starved him, because I didn't gain much wait. Then, I was pregnant with you. I got to pick your birthday, because I was going to have a c-section. I picked my wedding anniversary. Months went by and I got bigger and heavier. It's like you were always hungry. Your Dad said I was just making up excuses because I was feeling guilty about not eating a lot when I was pregnant with Daniel. Towards my eighth month, I actually had to put a baby's blanket around my neck to carry my huge belly, because it became difficult to walk. But, I still kept on eating. I continued to eat until I reached 200 lbs. My actual weight when I got pregnant with you was 128 lbs. Someone has a picture of me somewhere with my pregnancy. On my ninth month appointment with the doctor. He said that I could not have you on my anniversary because you were ready to come out, it would be dangerous for me and you, to leave you in there that long. Therefore, the doctor said for me to think about earlier date and he would be right back. I sat alone in the room thinking about it. The Lord chooses our birthday for reasons. Vicente was born on the same as my birthday, but, a different month. Daniel was born on the same day of my anniversary but a different month. So, I thought about and said why not pick the same day as your Dad. The doctor came back and asked me if I decided. I said yes on the same day of my Husband's birthday. Which would you believe that day was on a Saturday. He didn't do weekends unless they were the utmost emergencies. He said Friday would be fine. AND I SAID NO, YOU OWE ME THAT MUCH. So, you were going to be born on the same as your Dad different month but same day. And on that day, you were born and guess what, that's right, with your thumb in your mouth too. I was not allowed to eat on my surgery day. Would you believe I was hungry and so were YOU.

God Bless You

Love You

Mom

A Different Kind of Project

As soon as I heard it was only $10 for any seat at the Performing Arts Center I was sold. Did I know anything about the Trey McIntyre Project? Nope, but I soon goggled it to find that it was a dance company owned and directed by Trey McIntyre - a top choreographer. The project was said to be a style all his own: a mix of technical ballet with a modern twist; a vision sought out by McIntyre. It wasn't like anything I had ever seen before. I mean, the dance technique I've studied and can recognize, but the music and rhythm mixed with sudden, even sporadic, modern movements made the experience tantalizing. The only thing that was expected was the next unexpected. The audience seemed to be intrigued the whole way, and to my surprise it was a full house. Then again all the seats were $10, in which I think was brilliant because it just opened the performance to that much more of a diverse audience. There were teenagers, families, couples of all ages, and a real diversity in ethnicities. Who cannot afford a $10 seat at one of the best performing arts centers? For those who truly enjoy dance performances this was a real treat.

Mid intermission brought in interactive media: "text your email address to xxxx for a chance to win a TMP T-shirt." As soon as that screen popped up, BAM! - Everyone snapped their mobile device and started typing away. It was a perfect opportunity to gather a database for future use and a great way to keep the audience attentive. The most unique and out-of-the box performance was the very last performance that had them literally in a box.

Here's how it went:

The performers are all on stage bowing to the audiences' clapping then McIntyre, the choreographer, also jumps onstage to receive his applause. The thought is that this is the final act, until Trey leaves the stage, goes out through an audience entrance and what we see next on stage is a screen. The screen turns on and it's McIntyre. He's standing outside in the lobby. We're watching a video of him being recorded and it follows him all the way outside. Meanwhile, the stage lights up for the dancers one more time and as they're dancing one by one they start leaving the stage heading out the way McIntyre first did and before we knew it they show up on screen, meaning they made their way to the outside of the Center.

The performance isn't over.

We're all called to meet them outside. Once outside we hear music booming from a DJ and see each dancer is in a box (think box office style) with no walls, just a frame (think picture frame) hanging in front of them. On top of each box is a screen that is reeling pictures and words (little known facts) of each dancer. The audience is set to be invisible to each dancer and they are each pretending to be in their dressing room/bathroom by themselves. The frame in front of them is their mirror- in which is see-through so they are really seeing all the audience. You can only imagine the craziness that happens from here. The fun part is realizing that the dancers know and see you're there, but have to stay in character imagining that they are alone staring at themselves in a mirror. [I still chuckle as I write this] While walking around each performer’s box, I notice a lady went up to a performers' frame and stared him straight in the eye. Not long after she started to mimic what the performer was doing- picking their teeth at the mirror, drinking, dancing and singing in front of it. It almost broke him.
This performance was truly one of the most creative performances I've seen; a 10 dollar seat was just the cherry on top.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW5eYrsVXio&feature=player_embedded

SOAP (STOP OVER-USING ACRONYMS PLEASE)

I go into this meeting. It’s work. It’s marketing.

It’s in California.

I’m pretty sure everybody’s speaking English and I’m not new to the business… but I don’t understand a thing.

I try harder. I pay more attention. Maybe I’m distracted.

When it seems I start grasping the meaning of the conversation again someone—maybe the CEO, the CFO, the COO or the IT, throws in a Cee-pee-Cee, U-Cee-Em, X-Y-Z… I’m lost again.

Americans are in love with Acronyms. We use them and abuse them with no mercy. Much more than any other people in this planet. Why?

I am no sociologist or linguist but my guts tell me it’s because of our very American, very practical nature. (VAVPN)

Acronyms, are used to abbreviate names of organizations and long or frequently referenced terms. Ok. That’s great. I understand there are some widely accepted acronyms that have become more words than acronyms; we all know of the CEO, it has come to represent the highest position in a company. Cool. But then came all the rest, we all want a titles we can initialize, the ECD, the CFO, the CD, the AD and the AE, the AS, and the IT…

By the way, I think the ECD has OCD or at least some form of ADD or ADHD because he has no patience to learn all this acronyms. Even syndromes and sickness have been granted their lengthy acronyms. And that’s another reason for Americans being acronym-crazy: We want to categorize and neatly divide everything. Where this all mania started?

Acronyms have been around since at least 1,500 years (the Hebrew word for the old testament (Tanakh) is an acronym) But Nobody knows for sure when we Americans fell in love with them (at least in my very superficial two-day research). What we know for sure is that they flourished during the great depression with the “alphabet agencies” created during the administration of president Roosevelt (FDR, of course).

There are some acronyms that don’t bother me. I even consider them funny. But those are mainly acronyms created to make fun of acronyms, or at least with enough irony to be acronym parodies. And those tend to come mainly from the military, like “FUBAR” (Fucked up beyond all recognition).

Some of these acronyms have made it into words and are sometimes used innocently without knowing the initial meaning behind them, like SNAFU. (As in a something went wrong, a mistake). SNAFU comes from the military also and it’s an acronym for “Situation normal, all fucked up”.

Interestingly, those two previous examples contain the mother, or father, or all acronyms. At least the most used, by far, in the English language. F-U-C-K.

The origin of that one is a mystery. There are as many theories as there are uses for the word (“For Unlawful Carnal knowledge”, “Fornication Under Carnal Knowledge”, “Fornication Under the King Consent” and many, many more attempts to decipher that one).

I don’t like most acronyms, I don’t share that need to initialize and categorize things. I hate them. I even considered joining an organization against acronyms (the Americans Association Against Acronyms)… but I decided not to when I discovered they called themselves the AAAA.

Historia entre nuestras dedos

Many years ago I vividly recall my late Great-grandfather asking my mother to come to a sudden halt in our 1988 Mazda navy blue pickup-truck. When she asked why, he impetuously replied in Spanish “we just passed five aluminum cans laying on the side of the road.” Just the other day, I learned that my roommate Bhishma who is of Irish decent is analogous to my Great-grandfather. If he finds a penny on the floor he will pick it up. Culture and heritage passed down by our ancestors shape the patterns of our ideals and achievements. Furthermore, our family, friends, colleagues and mentors play a significant role in our day to day lives. My father told me a story of an owl who sat in a oak tree. The more the owl saw the less he spoke; the less he spoke the more he heard. It seems when I listen, the more I am capable of understanding rather than waiting to speak. Particularly, when surrounded by seasoned individuals. There is much to learn and contribute in providing an illustration of how fruitful and fulfilling life can be. A joy belonging to everyone by calibrating in this play called life. Live well, laugh often and love much.

KIKI Cheat Sheet

Impetuously: acting or done quickly without thought or care.

Analogous: comparable in certain respects.