Hispanic-Net

Hispanic-Net Annual Banquet Recap

Just wanted to reach out to everyone (all 170+ of you) who attended the Hispanic-Net dinner. All of you - wonderful, witty, impressive, accomplished and good looking too.

I was genuinely moved by how thrilled Alicia Morga was to receive her award - she had her sisters and family there and it was quite a moment.

Enrique Salem thoroughly charmed me with his acceptance speech.

Mitch Posada was the Hispanic Steve Jobs as he gave a funny, smart and attention grabbing keynote on the huge investment and entrepreneurial opportunities in the Hispanic demographic.

Finally, my great thanks to Joel Dreyfuss who brought his insight, quick wit and light touch as Master of Ceremonies.

Wow!

YouTube+NearSoft= Clever Marketing

I know there are lots of clever entrepreneurs leveraging the internet, web 2.0 and the blogosphere to promote their companies.  Matt Pérez,  CEO of NearSoft, is a case in point.  (Don't miss the Nearsoft story in Red Herring either)

Check out his YouTube video:

Social Networking the (Ask a) Mexican Way

  Alexis Madrigal has a terrific blog posting of Tierra Natal.  Unlike the review in TechCrunch that somehow missed the point, Alexis understands and articulates how TierraNatal stands out from the crowd:

Tierra Natal is an excellent example of how to capture the value of a real-life network. It allows Mexicans and Mexican-Americans (Chicanos, if you must) to connect not just via their current place of residence, but where they come from. The Techcrunch gloss misses that this is of pretty vital importance for many in the Mexican communities.

P.S. That really cool picture of that hot-looking couple?  They're my parents.

Seth Godin on the Digital Divide

It's interesting how when you focus on something you start running into it everywhere.  It's an example of the Law of Attraction I suppose. Or synchronicity.  I was perusing Seth Godin's book on Small is the New Big and he has a riff on the Digital Divide.

Hispanic-Net Group on Facebook

Not to be left behind, we've created a members-only Hispanic-Net group on Facebook.  To join you need to a)have an account on Facebook and b) be a dues paying member of Hispanic-Net.  After all, members should have some exclusive privileges.

The question remains though - do and will Latinos leverage social networking tools?  I've been approached by more than one academic on this question.  Do social networking tools like LinkedIn and Facebook give further advantage to people with social capital and connections?  Does it accelerate their access?  Can Hispanics, women and other under-represented groups close the gap and increase their social capital?

We'll see.

Sales Soar at Hot Spot for Latino Shoppers

Hey, we spotted this first.  Al Lujan, CEO of Mercados Suvianda and Mitch Posada, Hispanic marketeer, Grupo Entrada, were part of our May panel on entrepreneurs finding opportunity in the Hispanic demographic.  This Sunday's San Jose Mercury News has a huge front page article in the Sunday Business section on Mercados Suvianda and others who are finding market success catering to San Jose's well off Latino population.

Key facts:

• $87,118: Average household income of Bay Area Latinos, 27.6 % greater than the $68,278 average income for Hispanic households nationwide.
• $90,369: Average household income within five mile radius of Story and King roads
• $2.4 million: increase in revenue for retailers at the intersection of King and Story roads from 2001 to last year.
• Purchasing power of Latinos in California jumped to $214.5 billion last year, up from $170 billion in 2002.

The bottom line is the bottom line.  There's serious money to be made catering to Hispanic consumers.

Sources: Univision, City of San Jose, University of Georgia.

Most Influential Hispanics in the Bay Area Nominations

On the heels of MACSA's 100 Most Influential Latinos list, the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the San Francisco Business Times and Wells Fargo Bank are putting a call for nominations for the most influential Hispanics in the Bay Area.

Latino VCs invest in Clean Tech

New York based Aztec Partners whose managing directors are Latinos has an initiative that may be of particular interest to our readers: the Aztec Commercialization Assistance Program (AZCAP).                      

“This program will provide early-stage minority and women businesses in science, technology and engineering with access to both capital and expertise. We believe that  the best, the brightest and the most talented Latino, Indian, Asian and African-American entrepreneurs are well-poised to create the next generation of technology businesses,” said Alex Garcia, a Managing Director heading sustainable design, materials and development.


 

Selling Chile to the Valley

Today's San Jose Mercury News has a feature story in its Biz/Tech section on Chile.  Among other things, Chile is lasted as 9th among the top 10 offshore locations.  Last year, Yahoo and Synopsis opened small research and development facilities in Chile, employing 10 and 26 people respectively. In January, Oracle opened a shared services facility that employs 120 people.

More about Chile's IT initatives here.

Raul Camposano, CEO of XoomSys and a Chilean recently pointed out to me that Chile has become an innovator based on the needs of its natural resouces.  Here are a few excerpts from Technology Review's article on Chilean innovations:

Clean Tech Forum Scheduled for September

Clean Tech/Green Tech - it's definitely on everyone's mind.  From WalMart to Sand Hill Road, green and clean is the new black.

Come and hear Hispanic-Net's take on what's heating up in this area.

Date: Thursday, September 13, 2007
Time: 6:30-9 pm

Interested in being part of the panel?  Contact Cesar Castro or Steve Montoya.

Technorati Profile

Clean Tech/Green Tech - it's definitely on everyone's mind.  From WalMart to Sand Hill Road, green and clean is the new black.

Come and hear Hispanic-Net's take on what's heating up in this area.

Date: Thursday, September 13, 2007
Time: 6:30-9 pm

Interested in being part of the panel?  Contact Cesar Castro or Steve Montoya.