I had the pleasure of presenting at the Tecnifícate seminar at Mission College in Sylmar, California this past Saturday. I presented on how small businesses can leverage social media for success. There were over 100 attendees eager to learn and share the latest in technology information. The event targeted Spanish-speaking small business owners, startups, and people looking to improve their job situations through technology learning.
Recent studies have found that Latinos are starting to accelerate their use of online and mobile technologies. Some are even calling this trend the end of the Digital Divide. I’m a bit more cautious about those type of proclamations but was pleasantly surprised to see such a strong turnout at the event. This really was a community event and there were entire families in attendance. I’ve never seen that at a tech conference.
The event was put on by The New Media and Entertainment Initiative, The Economic and Workforce Development through the California Colleges program, Ariel Coro (@arielcoro on Twitter) and Tutecnologia.com. Ariel Coro has a strong fan base from his TV appearances on Univision and on the show Despierta America (Wakeup America) as the technology guy.
The other speakers were Judith Valles (President of LA Mission College), Juan Carlos Perez (founder/President of mialtos.com), Steve Funes (a collaborator with TuTeconologia and proud tech student), reporting by Yeney Amaro, Eduardo Garcia (Consultant at Cisco Systems) Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, and a representative from LA City council member Richard Alarcón’s office.
Many thanks to Ariel for inviting me to be a part of the seminar and for the warm reception by Mission College and by Ariel’s kind army of Tutecnologia users.
Video and Event Pictures
Univision channel 24 was in attendance and reported over the event on TV.
My photos from the seminar are below and you can find more at the Tecnifícate site.