History was made last week when a group of Latino leaders in social media met in New York City to formally build alliances and begin a national conversation. The conference brought together Latinos from New York, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, DC and LA, and was sponsored by Latinos in Social Media (LatISM.) During the opening ceremony, conference organizers Ana RC and Louis Pagan highlighted the explosion of social media and how mainstream corporations are using it to tap into the lucrative Latino market.

The opening ceremony included an awards show and entertainment by poet Jani Rose. Award winners included Mercedes Sanchez, George Torres, and Lance Rios who were all part of an impressive list of finalists.

The conference keynote speaker was Ramon de Leon who spoke of successfully using social media to expand his Domino’s Pizza franchise. Other conference presenters included Carol Cain, Claudia Goffan, Kety Esquivel, and the Acento Group. Victor Cruz provided conference participants with his unique form of Latino comedy.

Attendees discussed social media in direct relation to Latino audiences and noted that the conversation and content is key. Listening to the online conversation is also important in order to address specific issues of interest. Here are a few more conference messages:

• Social media is a two-way conversation
• The conversation is the new online currency
• Speak to and engage your audiences
• Be real and empower others
• Passion drives online traffic
• Use other media platforms to promote your main medium
• It’s important to get away from the computer and meet people in-person

LatISM is off to a great start. It has begun defining the organization and its goal and last week’s conference is only the beginning. Join the first LatISM Heritage Tour and directly connect with social media influencers of the Hispanic community.