In one hour... Jaguares tickets on NUEVAS TARDES

Nuevas Tardes is the local Latino Family program, with interviews, entertainment, and surprises for the television audience.

>>This evening at 6:30 on Nuevas Tardes, tickets to the Jaguares concert will be given away.

Tune in to Channel 45, Azteca America network!

KCTS/V-Me to help us through Tough Times

Need help untangling the financial news? Do you know where to turn for job retraining help?

Tune in to KCTS 9 on Tuesdays beginning March 3, at 7:00 p.m. for the first of three
episodes of Tough Times: Rising Above the Financial Crisis, or go online to
KCTS9.org/ToughTimes for information, resources and solutions.

Mark Your Calendars (premiere air dates only)
Tough Times: Rising Above the Financial Crisis: A KCTS 9 Special Report
Part 1: Unemployment Tuesday, March 3 7:00 p.m.
Part 2: Housing Tuesday, March 10 7:00 p.m.
Part 3: Personal Finance Tuesday, March 17 7:00 p.m.

These specials will also be translated into Spanish and aired on V-Me, their digital Spanish language channel (check your schedule for those times).

TODAY ONLY! Discount for Market to the Max

Apparently as a speaker I'm allowed to let my guests know that they can register for the all-day Market to the Max conference on March 11 for $199 (more than $100 off the standard non-member registration).

It's not just about Hispanic marketing--my panel is just one piece of the total picture. Take a look at all the speakers and topics!

So - if you're interested, please let me know asap by calling 206-621-2185 or lauri@conexion-marketing.com and I'll clue you in on how to get that discount! Today only, folks!

More info on multicultural PR ...

The Public Relations Society of America Puget Sound chapter has a neat blog, and they recently updated it to include more info on the panel I was on last week that related to multicultural PR practices.

Take a look! I think they're adding a podcast and when they do, I'll post that as well. Sharing the info with my readers! Let me know if you have any questions/comments.

SDMA Market to the Max - early registration ends TODAY

Hello - just a quick note that this year's Market to the Max, featuring my breakout session on High Touch, High Value Hispanic Marketing, ends its early registration deal at the end of the day today. There will be lots of great topics and speakers, and plenty of networking opportunities.

This could be the event that kick-starts your Spring!

Check it out! www.markettothemax.com

Hispanic MBAs - OPPORTUNITIES

The National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) has a couple of exciting updates:

• The NSHMBA Scholarship Program awarded more than $1.4M in education assistance in 2008 and they're looking to reward Hispanic MBA students in 2009. Application deadline is April 30th. Register and apply online.
• Networking and Recruitment Events sponsored by our local sponsor companies, such as Microsoft, Starbucks, and Amazon
• The National NSHMBA Conference and Case Competitions to be held in Minneapolis, MN in 2009

For more information please visit the NSHMBA Seattle Chapter site or contact:

Anthony M. Garcia
National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA)
VP of Education, Seattle Chapter
415.515.6452

CULTURAL COMPETENCE a must-have in our global economy

Today SU has organized on a really cool program for grad students: Communicating your Multicultural Competence through your Resume.

The workshop, put on by the Career Center and Office of Multicultural Affairs, explores the importance of multicultural competence in various professional roles. They'll help students develop concrete resume bullet points that speak to individual awareness, knowledge, and skills.

I served on a panel this morning for Public Relations Society of America Puget Sound that dealt with multicultural trends and issues as they pertain to PR. It was an insightful, informative panel (Steve Sneed of FESTAL and Chris Ishiwaki of Sound Mental Health added a lot of expertise), but there will be a podcast available soon so I won't go into it here.

BUT GET THIS: In 2025, one of every four U.S. residents will be Latino. In 2050, half of the U.S. will be a "minority." Diversity is the new white! And employers appreciate that value-add you bring when you can demonstrate cultural competence in the workplace. At the same time, your life can be enriched by a better understanding of cultures.

We've heard from several contacts that clients are looking for cultural competence, and they want to know where to get it. Well, there's no easy button for that! Start looking at/listening to/watching different media that might open your eyes, read books that detail other cultures, meet new people who can bring their cultural gifts to the friendship, attend events that open your eyes to new traditions, learn a language!

These are some of the ways to enhance your cultural competence. You can also hire cultural experts, such as Lee Mozena of Zenith Diversity. Lee's a pro at this, and her personal strength is in Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures. You can check out www.zenithdiversity.com. One event of hers that I'm looking forward to is next week, and it's FREE:

WHAT: Cultural Keys and Cues: A Guide for "Northwest Nice" Folks

WHEN: February 25, Noon - 1pm

WHERE: Community Capital Development, 1437 S. Jackson St, Seattle 98144

Here's the blurb: Increase your confidence, skills and awareness in dealing with non-Western cultures. This seminar helps mainstream business owners understand and effectively manage cultural differences at work. Learn specific "do's and don'ts" around issues like touch, eye contact and gender roles, plus the WHY behind them. Discover how cultural norms and values influence employee behaviors around time, interacting styles, respect and community obligations.

Hope to see you there!

Advertise in a Recession!

That's my motto for the day. Companies need to continue advertising, even in--especially in--a recession!

At today's Ad Club luncheon, we heard from a panel of experts. Among them, Mei Mei Chan, VP of Advertising at Seattle Times. She emphasized that those brands that advertise in a recession are the ones that will be more successful when the economy rebounds.

Ms. Chan also said that for those who in the past pulled their advertising during a recession, it's been shown to take 60% more time and money to get back to their position--in the hearts and minds of consumers--before the recession hit.

Interesting take. I think that there are two very basic reasons to keep your advertising intact:

1) Fewer people are doing it, so your ad shines more brightly.
2) Media are lowering their rates and are becoming even more creative with packages and other value-adds.

So what are you waiting for?

Celebrating Authors of Color: Seattle Rainbow Bookfest

Upcoming: The Seventh Annual Seattle Rainbow Bookfest!

WHAT: Seattle Rainbow Bookfest 2009, a festive event that celebrates authors of color

WHEN: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

WHERE: Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S., Seattle, WA, 98144

Indu Sundaresan, a Washington State Book Award recipient, is the featured writer of the event. She will be reading from her newly released book of stories, "In the Convent of Little Flowers." There will be writers from different ethnic backgrounds, and among them are four Latina women who will be presenting workshops, panel discussions and readings from their works: Paola Casla Taylor, interpreter, translator and writer; Diana Leal, journalist; Maria de Lourdes Victoria, writer; and María Nélida Mendoza, journalist, poet and translator.

Among the day's events:

1:30 - 3:00
Diana Leal and Nelida Mendoza will be presenting "Women at War" during the last 50 years in Latin America. They will be talking about the direct and indirect intervention of women in the armed conflict, especifically in Colombia, Dominican Republic and El Salvador and how they have been affected by the war, which has also impacted society as a whole. (1:30 -3:00 p.m.).

3:45 p.m.
Nélida Mendoza will read her poetry.

Mark your calendars! For details click here.

Isabel Allende at YWCA Eastside Inspire Luncheon

This is going to be a terrific program, for a terrific cause!

WHAT: The YWCA Inspire Luncheon, a fundraiser that helps transform the lives of women and their families, with keynote speaker Isabel Allende

WHEN: Tuesday, March 17

WHERE: Meydenbauer Center

I have attended these luncheons for several years; the program is truly inspiring, and I think they just can't top Isabelle Allende as keynote speaker. Our own Sandra Madrid, Ph.D. (UW School of Law and YWCA board member) will be introducing Ms. Allende.

There is no ticket price to attend - only an advance reservation and a suggested donation of $150 or more at the Luncheon. If you can't make this date, check out the Seattle and Snohomish County Luncheons in April. For more details or to register, click here.

Sweet Valentine's Day Tie-In, Last Minute!

I HEART this story in today's Seattle Times about how a city turned a "no heavy petting" ordinance into a kiss-in! Also some good insight into the perspectives of Mexicans--and Latinos in general--on expressing their love in public.

Enjoy!

Feel like DANCING? (click image for better clarity)

This Week's Puget Sound Business Journal

In this week's PSBJ, there's a brief article by Heidi Dietrich regarding the state of the local Spanish-language newspapers, and how like all print media nationwide (perhaps globally), slower ad sales are affecting the bottom line. It also mentions how some of these papers are beefing up their online components to compensate.

And speaking of...La Raza del Noroeste has leaked that they're working on a very exciting online project. More to come!

Learn about multicultural public relations next week!

Next Wednesday you have an opportunity to hear a panel of multicultural experts on topics related to public relations.

Register today for the Public Relations Society of America Puget Sound event, "Building relationships in a new multicultural world."

And yes, I'm on the panel! Chris S. Nishiwaki of Sound Mental Health and Steve Sneed of Seattle Center's FESTAL will also be sharing their knowledge and experience. I understand from moderator Sheryl Wiser that she's planning plenty of time for audience questions, so please bring yours!

WHERE: The Seattle Times Auditorium, 1120 John Street, Seattle 98109
WHEN: Wednesday, February 18, 7:30-9am

Click here for invitation!

City of Bellevue's VOICES OF DIVERSITY

Hi - just watched this 20-minute program on The Eastside Life Community Blog, and thought it worth posting here as well! See how Alicia Martinez transformed her career to help people she saw as more in need--Latino parents and their children. Take a look!

And speaking of local Hispanic media...

The latest NEWSFLASH is that Teresa Jones of KUNS sales fame is expanding into radio! She'll start her new radio show, Entre Nosotras Latinas, on Saturday, March 7. This just so happens to be International Women's Day (not a coincidence)!

Teresa is doing this program to educate, inform and inspire women.

The show will run on Ke Buena 1210AM 9-10am every Saturday, and Teresa's bringing in a former colleague from her Radio Sol days, Diana Elizabeth Fernandez, to spice things up!

Once it gets going, let us know what you think!

Local Univision Affiliate ON FIRE

THIS JUST IN - we just received the Spring 2009 Media Kit from the folks over at KUNS, and the results are just stunning! Thanks to the popularity of Jaime Méndez and their local news broadcast, Noticias Noroeste, and the hot telenovela Querida Enemiga, they have ranked #4 weeknights 6-7pm and #3 and weeknights 7-8pm among network stations for the women 18-34 set.

That means that they've got a larger audience within that category than ever!

• Weeknights 6-7, they rank ahead of KIRO, KONG, KSTV and even KOMO!
• Weeknights 7-8, their rankings place them in front of KING, KONG, KSTW and KMYQ.

We are not talking about a Spanish-speaking only audience; we are talking about local women 18-34!

This is the kind of news that just makes my day.

Did you hear about the Hispanic tienda burglaries?

There are two armed guys out burglarizing tiendas in King and Snohomish Counties. So these Latino business owners have spent years building a clientele for their shops and now have become targets. The saddest thing is that these perps are Latinos themselves! How could they do that?

The business owners are wisely stepping up their security measures as a result. This is just a reminder that banks, whether you own a business or not, are the best place for your cash.

For more see King 5.

“A Class Apart" documentary to air on Feb. 23

- thought I'd share this program, which may be of interest -

On February 23, 2009, people around the country will gather to watch A Class Apart on PBS’s “American Experience” (Channel 9 over-the-air). Meet the group of Mexican American attorneys who changed history in 1954.

A Class Apart, the new documentary by celebrated filmmakers Carlos Sandoval and Peter Miller, is the first major film to bring to life the heroic post-World War II struggle of Mexican Americans against the Jim Crow-style discrimination targeted against them. Raising important questions about inclusion, American identity, and equality before the law that are as resonant today as ever, A Class Apart dramatically interweaves the story of its central characters--activists and lawyers, returning veterans and ordinary citizens, murderer and victim--within the broader history of Latinos in America during a time of extraordinary change.

Special Event This Friday

GLOBALIZATION ON THE GROUND: What Bolivia Teaches Us

A book presentation and discussion featuring the newly released
Dignity and Defiance: Stories from Bolivia's Challenge to Globalization (UC Press 2009)

With Jim Shultz and Leny Olivera Rojas of the Democracy Center, Cochabamba, Bolivia

WHEN: Friday, February 6, 7-8:30pm

WHERE: Husky Union Building (HUB), Room 310, University of Washington, Seattle

WHY: This book presentation and discussion was attended by 200 people in San Francisco last night, and organizers are expecting a good turnout this Friday evening at the UW. The speakers do a great job at providing analysis of current trends both in Bolivia and throughout Latin America. See how the Seattle community responds to the issues which will be raised at this event!

Market to the Max

Did I mention? The DMA Market to the Max event is coming! Register now for the March 11 event which will take place at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center.

But get this: The breakout sessions will include a panel dedicated to Hispanic marketing. And I'm moderating it!

High Touch, High Value Hispanic Marketing

My esteemed panelists are [drumroll]:

• Jacqui Stewart, Director of Hispanic Marketing at Ascentium
• Paula Rosecky, Senior Strategist at Hemispheres
• Ty Cordova, Assistant Public Affairs Manager at State Farm
• Ivan Braiker, CEO of HipCricket

Click here for more information on the event--we'd love to see you there!

Aztlan Home Décor in search of new digs

Hello - you may see the "Closeout Sale" signs in the window at Aztlan Home Décor, but don't fret: Antonio Lopez is planning to move the shop full of beautiful, artisan objects from Mexico.

More to come! In the meantime, visit the amazing sale at the Western Ave. shop across from The Spanish Table, or visit their website.

A winner even in this economy

Last night on KING 5 news I heard that Big Fish Games is going gangbusters, even in this down economy. In fact, while other companies are downsizing, Big Fish Games is hiring 35 employees according to the report! Perhaps when people are facing a shrinking pocketbook they turn to low-cost leisure-time activities, like casual gaming.

Why is this relevant to us? Because two of our star interns from the past are on the Big Fish Games team, bringing games en español to casual gamers throughout the Spanish-speaking world! Marketer Andrés Cubero was here from Madrid and studying at the UW when we accepted his internship. Adriana Flores Aponte, a brainiac from Venezuela, was trained as a biologist but studying business when we brought her on board.

Congrats to Andrés, Adriana and Big Fish Games for their success!

In case you missed Sunday's Seattle Times article on Latino Students

Last Sunday there was a front-page article in the Times on Latinos and education. Its basic premise was that the Washington Latinos in K-12 are increasing at a greater rate than non-Latinos--but that those numbers are not represented at the university level.

I was especially interested in this data:

In the two decades ending in 2007, the number of white, non-Hispanic K-12 students grew by 6 percent, while the number of Hispanic students soared by 372 percent. By 2030, Latinos are projected to become the first minority group in Washington to top 1 million residents.

So that's at the elementary/middle/high school levels. But at the university level, the average statewide K-12 Hispanic density of about 13% is more like 5% (UW), 5.5% (WSU), and 7.2% CWU. The article goes on to herald Eastern Washington University as a forward-looking university, partially due to its Latino leadership.

So...state colleges are doing more to inform local Latinos about their educational opportunities and hopefully also doing more to recruit Latino instructors. Latino students are further inspired when their professors are also Latino!

In related news: Read this article on Hispanic MPR for data regarding how U.S.-born Hispanics compare to immigrant Hispanics. It's not good news, and we need to react quickly.

Syntes Named one of Top 500 Hispanic American-Owned Businesses

The translation experts over at Syntes Language Group are celebrating, now that they've been named one of the nation’s Top 500 Hispanic American-Owned Businesses by DiversityBusiness.com. Syntes is a leading provider of translation, interpreting and localization services.

President and CEO Beatriz Bonnet, a natural entrepreneur and a really neat gal, has worked hard for this and the other distinctions the agency has earned over the years. She and her team work tirelessly to deliver the very best product with absolute professionalism.

I've been partnering with Syntes on and off over the past nine years: For the several years I was at AT&T Wireless and Cingular, they were (and continue to be, at AT&T) the translation agency of record.

So I can say first-hand that their commitment to quality and customer service can't be beat! They focus on providing value throughout a relationship, nurturing their partnerships over time and keeping clients happy.

¡Felicidades!

BIENVENIDOS: 3 New Interns at Conexión Marketing

Yes, you read that correctly--we've just been granted the time and talent of three smart UW students from the Spanish and Portuguese division of the Romance Languages Department!

Yecenia Guerrero is a Mexican American from Yakima, Washington! She's studying a double-major in Sociology and Spanish with a minor in Education, and will be looking into fulfilling her teaching requirements once she graduates so she can share her gifts with local kids. With lots of office, community organization, and leadership experience, we're excited to have Yecenia on board with us!

Asunción Márquez is also Mexican American. He hails from Sunnyside, a town with a population that's more Hispanic than anything else. Asunción has another year left in his studies after this one as he's pursuing a double major to include Community Environmental Planning/Urban Planning as well as Spanish. He's got lots of great retail, research, and customer service experience, and is an expert merchandiser.

Ceinwen Bushey is a Dean's List gringa with an amazing fluency in Spanish, thanks to her years in Ecuador and Guatemala (plus travels elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world). She is finishing her Spanish degree in early June and will be doing networking as part of her internship. She is the reason we don't limit our internships to native Spanish speakers.

Yecenia, Asunción and Ceinwen will be working with us both this and next quarter, learning about Hispanic marketing, lending their ideas, and collaborating with us in the Conexión Marketing office. ¡Bienvenidos!

Shortest distance between co. & consumer? HipCricket

I just finished reading an amazing article written by Rita Chang in the 1/26/09 edition of Advertising Age, titled "Mobile marketers target receptive Hispanic audience." Let me know if you'd like me to send you a PDF of that article. Good stuff.

This article reiterates that Hispanics are generally more engaged with their wireless devices than the general population. Some 71% of Hispanics consume content on their cellphones, while just 48% of general market consumers do!

In addition, the median age reported in this article significantly differs--the Latino consumer's median age is 27.6, whereas the general consumer median age is 36.6. Mobile marketing helps companies target that 18-34 Hispanic that is so valuable as a consumer.

So one last statistic that will close the deal: 6% of Hispanics interact with text messaging campaigns. Just half--3%--of the general market group interact similarly.

This is why companies should seriously consider SMS campaigns, especially to Hispanic consumers. And HipCricket, based across the lake in Kirkland, Washington, does just that.

Local Univision affiliate KUNS and Bustos Media have already figured out that HipCricket can help them interact in real time with their audiences and have engaged HipCricket for sponsorships and contests; KUNS has the UniText51 Club; Bustos is even crafting an employment text club for announcement later this year.

So I asked the folks at HipCricket if they would be so kind as to join my Hispanic marketing panel at Market to the Max in Seattle this March. Looks like we'll have CEO Ivan Braiker on the panel!

Save the date: Wednesday, March 11, 2009. More to come!

Big Brothers Big Sisters: 200 Latino matches & growing!

The Big Brothers Big Sisters Latino Advisory Council event Friday evening at The Local Vine in Belltown was a class act all the way--great people, tasty bites, a warm fireplace, and I personally enjoyed the nicest glass of Malbec ever. Saw a lot of familiar faces and it was great, also, to meet some new folks as well--most of them BBBS staff.

I was so excited to learn that, of the 1200 total matches of "Bigs" with "Littles," 200 of them are Latino pairings! Hispanic outreach is a relatively new but concerted effort for the local organization so it just goes to show what a driven group of professionals can do to get the word out and make things happen!

Visit their site and see what they're up to!