Last week I had the privilege of speaking at the annual LATISM 2011 conference http://conference.latism.org/ that took place at the stunningly huge convention center with industrial flair at the Navy Pier in Chicago. When my friend Ernesto Sosa, who is the President of the South Florida chapter, invited me, I could not really image what I was going to experience and hoped it was not just another Networking event. He suggested that I should give my teachable point of view from the auto industry on process management as a speaker in his panel “business 101 for the cyber entrepreneur". I felt honored and accepted the invitation and I can tell you upfront that I was positively surprised with the experience.
LATISM stands for Latinos in Social Media and it was founded and is chaired by the Ana Roca Castro, whom I learned to appreciate as a great leader with social competence and heart. You can see that Latism is her dream-come-true. But she would not like to hear that it is about her, as there is a team of great people behind this biggest Latino movement in the US. Supporters are Chapter Directors, bloggers, internet entrepreneurs, sponsors, members, friends and even the White House. As she said in a sense: “Latism is all of us, there is no hierarchy and anyone of us can take the lead in changing thinks we see".
During the event, my wife Angelica and I felt at home immediately as we were talking in Spanish to Venezuelans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans, Peruvians, and many more "Latinos". I put the term into comillas because as son of German mother and Spanish father I look more like a Gringo, but as I grew up in Venezuela my sentiment is “Latino”. So I believe that more important than the origin, there is an affinity created by the things that we like. At the conference many things we like from the Latin American cultures were present: Salsa, Merengue, Tambores,”Wepa” @ergeekgodess, the humor, the language, even Arroz con Pollo and Espresso con Leche and last but not least the corazon and the intention of helping each other. Luckily there are Gringos for Latinos like Brian @Gringos4Latinos. We need more human beings like him to transform the world in a place of peace, tolerance and non-violence.
Many messages of the conference where of social political significance, especially the ones coming from Dolores Huerta (political rights fighter for farmers in California) http://www.doloreshuerta.org/dolores_huerta_foundation.htm. My impression is that Latism has a social democratic direction that is healthy and not exclusive but inviting. Inviting to support fantastic non-profit initiatives like the ones founded and presented by Mary Anne Mueller http://fundacionorigen.cl/ and sponsored by Johnson & Johnson among others. It inspires me when private companies, public institutions and local communities work together to create win-win relationships. As Ted Rubin, one of the speakers at the conference says: “Relationships are the New Currency”. http://www.tedrubin.com/return-on-relationship-the-new-measure-of-success/
What I took out for me and my friends in the business community, is that we need to look around and see what other organizations are doing. We need to understand that it is not all about business and competition. Many good things are created out of good will and following a noble cause. Us that work in the name of profit should support and help others to learn how to generate their own income so that good causes become self-sustaining as Mary Anne’s school in South Chile.
Finally I would like to share Mike Robles appreciation for the Latin Woman. He said that in his next life he would like to be a Latina and specially a Latina Blogger. They were very present during the LATISM event accumulating all prices and this is exemplary for what they represent in our life and families. Anybody lucky enough to enjoy the company of a Latin wife, girl friend, mother or sister knows how love, temperament, flying objects and tenderness are combined in an explosive mixture that makes life fun and worthwhile. Cheers and thanks to LATISM and to all Latina and Caballero friends we met in Chicago!
