{"id":87,"date":"2009-10-06T13:09:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-06T18:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philvelez.com\/blog\/?p=87"},"modified":"2009-10-06T13:09:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-06T18:09:00","slug":"latism-nyc-conference-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philvelez.com\/blog\/?p=87","title":{"rendered":"LatISM NYC Conference Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"

History was made last week when a group of Latino leaders<\/a> 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<\/a>.) During the opening ceremony, conference organizers Ana RC<\/a> and Louis Pagan<\/a> highlighted the explosion of social media<\/a> and how mainstream corporations are using it to tap into the lucrative Latino market. <\/p>\n

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

The conference keynote speaker was Ramon de Leon<\/a> who spoke of successfully using social media to expand his Domino\u2019s Pizza<\/a> franchise. Other conference presenters included Carol Cain<\/a>, Claudia Goffan<\/a>, Kety Esquivel<\/a>, and the Acento Group<\/a>. Victor Cruz<\/a> provided conference participants with his unique form of Latino comedy.<\/p>\n

Attendees<\/a> 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: <\/p>\n

\u2022 Social media is a two-way conversation
\u2022 The conversation is the new online currency
\u2022 Speak to and engage your audiences
\u2022 Be real and empower others
\u2022 Passion drives online traffic
\u2022 Use other media platforms to promote your main medium
\u2022 It\u2019s important to get away from the computer and meet people in-person

LatISM<\/a> is off to a great start. It has begun defining the organization and its goal and last week\u2019s conference is only the beginning. Join the first LatISM Heritage Tour and directly connect with social media influencers of the Hispanic community.<\/p>\n