Cool video highlights awesome performance.
What's weird is that I don't remember it being anything like this. LOL
Mostrando las entradas con la etiqueta San Juan. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando las entradas con la etiqueta San Juan. Mostrar todas las entradas
Cafre with a capital C
There's nothing that says Merry Christmas like showing the violent death of prey by a wild predator. Am I right? Illuminate your dreams? Of what? Being savagely killed by a large cat or of killing fresh meat?
I think it's safe to say that this is a low point for Puerto Rico politics and culture. Why so? When we were hustling to make DondeEs.com take off, we met with an experienced consultant. At one point when we were discussing strategy and marketing, he shared that "Puerto Ricans, like whatever is most cafre." After seeing examples like this photograph, it is really hard to argue with his observation. What was Jorge Santini. Mayor of San Juan, and his wife thinking?
Can you imagine the conversation they must have had with their little eight year old daughter. "Papí, what do these animals have to do with the baby Jesus or Santa?"
"Well you see, my dear Amanda, we're trying to remind everyone that Christ the King was born on this day."
"And"
"And that's why we we're reminding everyone that if they don't vote for the New Progressive Party, they'll be just like this poor little gazelle.
"You scare me Papí!"
"That's good Amanda! That's just the effect I was looking for. You see, I'm jealous, just like God. So I want everyone to know that I will smite them just like this leopard did to this gazelle."
"Papí?"
"Yes"
"You're really wierd!"
Just in case any of you might be a customer of Doral Financial or Banco Popular, I've been assured by a leading analyst that we have nothing to fear. All of our accounts are covered. In the worst case scenario the FDIC would step in and assume control of the accounts. Even if it's the end of the world for either of them, even our mortgages are safe (assuming that they still own them).
While that is a huge relief, the analyst also had a warning. If you're a shareholder of DRL or BPOP, you should sell them while you can.
These are dark times indeed, but thanks to TEDx San Juan, we know that there are shining points of light right here in our island of enchantment. Let's use them as inspiration to become our own shining stars; enough to fill the darkness that surrounds us.
Expectations were high before the first TEDx event in Puerto Rico. Many people shared their anticipation when I talked to them before the event. Most simply stated that they were there because it was a TED affiliated conference.
There was a limited audience invited for the conference. Only 100 candidates were selected, of the over one thousand requests. This is a limitation that TED Conferences imposes on all new TEDx events. This barrier caused many local social media users to express their disgust with the process and the exclusion it caused.
Failure to Scale = Success
I'd like to make one thing clear to everyone. Pissing people off because they couldn't register for an event is a great problem to have. Let's reframe this. 900+ people in Puerto Rico wanted to attend the TEDx San Juan Conference! People are hungry for ideas. What a optimistic signal!
Yes we are hungry for ideas. We're also looking for leaders. We need daring and passionate enthusiasts who pick out a cause, or the cause picks them and they willing accept all of the sacrifices and consequences in making the impossible happen.
Failure to Share = Epic Fail
A conference about ideas is about freedom. As more than one of the speeches reminded us, our education requires great sacrifice, but it demands freedom. Conferences like TED, are about freedom to ideas. We want to be told stories that inspire us. We want to organize around those ideas.
Unfortunately, many people, I think, may have jumped to the wrong conclusion. I would excuse them if they did reach the wrong conclusion. It is our nature to fill in our information gaps with the worst possible thing imaginable. It could be a tiger!
We need to tell the story of TEDx San Juan. Why are the organizers investing all of their volunteer time to make this event happen? However, part of being able to tell that story, we must tell them what the rules are. According to Jono Bacon in "The Art of Community
Analysis
I talked to one of the organizers and we agreed that, if nothing else we celebrate TEDx San Juan for having told us this one story: I am not alone. You are not alone. They are others. And they're here and in many different places around the world. Many speakers talked of transformation, to becoming fueled by passion. Recently, George Lucas shared this about Steve Jobs
"He believed in something that no one could see, and he followed that path wherever it led him, against all odds and against all doubters."People like Steve are in all of Puerto Rico's municipalities, reaching for their star, to quote Justo Méndez, who kicked everything off yesterday. He set the tone for day of wonderful stories, passionately told. Well done.
Puerto Rico gets 1st major conference
Andrea Pérez
Andrea Pérez
is the Founder and Executive Director of Silent Grace. Registered as a non-profit organization, Silent Grace is committed to social justice and the implementation of economically and ecologically sustainable projects in developing countries.
Under Andrea's leadership, this organization has undertaken projects that range from educational programs on social justice and sustainability, to humanitarian relief of disaster victims and comprehensive community development programs in Puerto Rico and abroad, particularly in Haiti. As of the fall of 2011, she is pursuing her master's degree in Public Health at the University of Puerto Rico – Medical Sciences Campus while she continues to advance Silent Grace's vision and mission.
Daniel Colón Ramos
Daniel Colón Ramos
was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He studied Biology at Harvard University and obtained his PhD from Duke University in molecular biology and genetics. He completed his postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Kang Shen at Stanford University in developmental neurobiology. He is currently an assistant professor at Yale University, where he directs a lab to study the development of the nervous system. The work from the Colón-Ramos lab has been recognized by a number of awards, including the Sloan Fellowship for “outstanding promise”, an award given to recognize the best researchers of the United States and Canada. Daniel is also the co-founder of Ciencia Puerto Rico, a non-profit organization that promotes scientific research and education in the Puerto Rican archipelago.
Fernando Lloveras
Fernando Lloveras
is a lawyer and executive director of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico. He joined the land trust in 2002 and, under his leadership, the trust has acquired over 2,000 additional acres of land, including three conservation easements.
In addition, Fernando was responsible for implementing a native tree species production, distribution and reforestation policy in all of the Trust's tree nurseries in 2004. He is also responsible for moving forward a collaborative initiative between multiple government and educational entities focused on biodiversity conservation in Puerto Rico. Fernando serves on the Southern Board of Advisors for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and has served as an advisor on federal affairs to the Governor of Puerto Rico. He has served on the Alliance's National Council for two years.
Giovanni Rodríguez
Giovanni Rodríguez
As a self-proclaimed “Neo-Rican,” he toiled as a ghostwriter, marketing strategist, and theater producer before embarking on a successful career as a social-technology consultant. In that role he has counseled everyone from peanut-butter barons to government chieftains, dispensing advice grounded on the simple premise that “beauty is truth, truth is beauty, but comedy is the shortest in supply.” Today he is chief marketing & strategy officer at Deloitte Postdigital Enterprise, where he's helping to design a range of new services that enable business, non-profit, and government leaders to engage people with the respect they deserve (really). A blogger for Forbes.com, he's the author of an upcoming book on how the online/offline social Web is helping us reimagine the role of citizens and government.
Jorge Gaskins
Jorge Gaskins
has lived in Puerto Rico for nearly forty years. He has worked to improve the lives of the rural communities both in the Island, as well as in other countries such as Brazil, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Nigeria. Gaskins has been a farmer organizer and has lead start-up businesses in tropical fruit production and processing and in aquaculture. He is an expert in certified organic production systems.
Jorge Rigau
Jorge Rigau
The architect graduated from Cornell and holds a Masters' Degree in History from the University of Puerto Rico. A noted researcher of architecture in the Hispanic Caribbean, Rigau has authored several books: Puerto Rico 1900; Havana/La Habana and, more recently, Puerto Rico Now and Then.
Rigau, a fellow of American Institute of Architects, has practiced his profession for over 30 years. In 1995, Rigau founded the Architecture School at Polytechnic University, where he now teaches after having been its dean for over a decade. He also cofounded a graduate program in Landscape Architecture, the first ever on the Island. The Panamerican Federation of Architects' Associations granted him the Distinguished Educators' Award of Latin America.
Justo Méndez
Justo Méndez
is currently completing a Master's degree in the management of Non-Profit Organizations at the Sacred Heart University in San Juan. He has a Bachelor Degree in Social Sciences from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus, where he also studied Social Planning at a Masters level.
He is the founder and executive director of Nuestra Escuela, a non-profit organization that provides academic options for young academic dropouts. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Alternative Education, EducAcción, and the Education Committee Consensus. He also participates in the Executive Committee of the Selection Board of the Miranda Foundation Solidarity Award. His interest in Education has earned him the Medal “Sor Isolina Ferré” for excellence in the service to others.
Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes
Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes
is Associate Professor of American Culture and Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he also directs the Latina/o Studies Program.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, he received his A.B. from Harvard College and M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is the author of a book of essays on migration and sexuality called Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora and of a book of short stories called Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails. He was one of the co-editors of a special issue of CENTRO: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies on Puerto Rican Queer Sexualities (19, no. 1 [Spring 2007]).
Mayra Santos-Febres
Mayra Santos-Febres
is a Puerto Rican author, poet, novelist, professor of literature, and literary critic who has garnered fame at home and abroad. One of her most famous books is Sirena Selena vestida de pena (published in English as Sirena Selena), in which she describes the life of a teenaged homosexual male drag queen who works in the streets and has a talent for singing boleros. Santos-Febres holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Her work has been translated into French, English, German, and Italian, and is taught in many universities in the United States. Santos-Febres currently teaches at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Her more recent publications include a collection of essays called Sobre piel y papel and also a novel about Isabel la Negra titled Nuestra Señora de la Noche (Our Lady of the Night).
Noel Quiñones
Noel Quiñones
Noel Quiñones, Founder of Operación Éxito and Casa Grande Films studied cinematography at UCLA. In 2002, at the invitation of the Department of Education, he returned to his native Puerto Rico to screen a recent film, “Flight of Fancy” and give motivational talks at island schools. Witnessing the need for skills development in the public schools, his life changed forever when he decided to develop an engaging Internet-based educational technology to improve the basic cognitive skills of the Island's public school students. This program, www.operaciónexito. com, was launched during the 2005-2006 school year in Puerto Rico. Currently, he is preparing a new full-length feature film and his educational program is in its seventh year, continuing to impact teachers and students in more than ten countries around the world.
Tara Rodríguez
Tara Rodríguez
was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1983. She studied Architecture at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY and was co-founder of Gestarc Gallery, an interdisciplinary architecture gallery in Red Hook, NYC. In 2008 she returned to Puerto Rico and opened El Local en Santurce, an alternative art/music/bar venue dedicated to local talent and host of many creative events. She currently works as head designer for El Molino Studio and began El Departamento de la Comida with partner designer Olga Casellas in 2010. El Departamento de la Comida distributes, sells, promotes, as well as educates about local organic produce and artisanal food products.
Tomorrow is a big day for Puerto Rico. It is a big day for the many people who've persevered, to bring TED conferences to Puerto Rico. I know it was "una cuesta arriba," so congratulations to everyone involved in pulling together TEDx San Juan.
Curiously, they've chosen not to reveal the agenda for the event. Instead, they're going to announce the event details the same day as the conference. I'm sure that will keep everyone jumping trying to catch up.
MC Don Dees finagled his way onto the invitation only list, so I'll have more for you tomorrow. In addition, I'll be working with Mis Tribus and Puerto Rico eNews to bring you more throughout the weekend.
Analysis
2011 has really been a breakthrough year for the Internet in Puerto Rico. TEDx San Juan, Wordcamp, Social Media Club, and Startup Weekend were all great steps forward. Everyday, I see more signs that the Internet is gaining broader and deeper acceptance locally. I have two predictions:
- We're still on training wheels here in Puerto Rico, but the rollercoaster ride that is the Internet, is just about ready to take off. Look for a more ubiqitious Internet presence in 2012.
- The Internet marketing embargo that the local advertising agencies controls, is starting to leak. When the dam breaks, it will break a tidal wave of opportunity.
Happy computing and look for me at TEDx San Juan tomorrow!
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