The path to a Latin GRAMMY nomination can be a long and harsh one for many artists but that has not been the case for a talented musician from Huehuetenango, Guatemala. His name is Alan Villatoro. 
Residing in Houston, Texas since 2002, this gifted artist received the news that many can hardly achieve after multiple attempts. The news came straight from the Latin Recording Academy. Villatoro achieved a 2009 Latin GRAMMY nomination in the “Cristiano” (Gospel) category with the release of his second album in the U.S., “Tuyo Soy” (I am Yours). But even though this may sound like a remarkable achievement, the inspiration behind the album was anything but a fairy tale.
According to Alan Villatoro, “Tuyo Soy” is a dedication to life, from a very personal experience. He adds that the creation of his album, “…was a very close experience with low self esteem and suicide that lead me to a place of surrender and understanding. Surrender all that I was and let Him (God) take over; and understanding my place in his story.” His message -through the songs and album- is one of happiness and joy. According to Alan, “This album reaches out to those that live or have lived this harsh reality letting them know that the way out is life and not death.”
Beyond his personal experience, Alan finds more inspiration within his family and his spiritual connection with God. He targets a relatively young Spanish speaking audience; those in the 20 to 35 year old range. The songs of the album combine different styles such as bossa nova and pop and for the most part they are dynamic and full of adrenaline, as Alan explained in an interview after releasing his album. But the main song (Tuyo Soy) take a softer approach, perhaps because of the more special meaning that it has for Alan.
To deliver such a top quality album, Alan also received the support of other local musicians such as Javier Solis, Michael Zuñiga, Héctor Gallegos, and Sean Gaskin. Other musicians include veteran guitarist Ramón Stagnaro and the acclaimed drummer Lee Levin who has worked with celebrities such as Shakira, Barbra Streisand, Alejandro Sanz, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, and Christina Aguilera, among others.
Alan is certainly a Houston star that is rapidly achieving national recognition in a very competitive industry. He has the merits, the talent to achieve the award.
The Latin GRAMMY Awards will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be aired live on Univision (Channel 45 – Houston) this Thursday, November 5.
About the Latin GRAMMY
The Latin GRAMMY Awards were launched in 2000 with a very successful first annual telecast aired on CBS. It was the first primarily Spanish-language prime-time program carried on network television. Like the GRAMMY Awards, the Latin GRAMMYs recognize artistic and technical excellence in the recording arts and sciences by peer vote. It has already come to represent the height of achievement in Latin recording.
From Latin jazz and mambo to salsa, Tejano, Chicano rock, Latin pop and reggaeton, LATIN MUSIC USA tells the story of the rise of new American music forged from powerful Latin roots and reveals the often overlooked influence of Latin music on jazz, hip hop, rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll — and on all of American culture.
Visit the Latin Music USA website
By 2050, the U.S. Latino population is expected to nearly triple. This October, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien explores how Latinos are reshaping our communities and culture and forcing a nation of immigrants to rediscover what it means to be an American.
Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Receives “National Large Hispanic Chamber of the Year” Award
Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Receives
“National Large Hispanic Chamber of the Year” Award
—Achievements Recognized by U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at 30th Annual National Convention & Business Expo—
(HOUSTON) – The Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (HHCC) is pleased to announce it has been honored with the 2009 National Large Hispanic Chamber of the Year Award by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber organization.
The HHCC was awarded for outstanding regional leadership and growth over the past year at this year’s U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 30th Annual National Convention & Business Expo in Denver on September 19th.
“This is a significant milestone for us,” said HHCC President and CEO, Dr. Laura Murillo. “To be recognized as the ‘National Large Hispanic Chamber of the Year’ means that we are successfully cultivating the Hispanic business community and having a positive impact on the region’s economic development.”
Over the past year, the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has experienced substantial growth, including increased membership – which has risen from 500 to approximately 3,000 members. Additionally, corporate sponsorships have increased six times over compared to previous years and has increased its staff from three to 12 full-time employees.
“We are proud of the award because it is a symbol of our success and dedication to ensuring a prosperous future for our city,” said Dr. Murillo.
To learn more about the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, please visit: http://www.houstonhispanicchamber.com/
Cricket may not be making as much noise in the airwaves as the other mega telecoms – at least in Houston – but it’s definitely taking significant steps to reach out to the non-acculturated Hispanic market.
Increasing its efforts to reach the Latino population makes absolute sense to the telecom company, after all, almost 30% of its customers are of Hispanic origin. This is a significant difference compared to other telecom companies whose Hispanic customer base reaches only 11%. In order to cater this segment of the market, one of the major and most recent steps taken by this telecom company is the development of a Web site for its Spanish speaking customers, which was launched in June of 2009. The site (http://espanol.mycricket.com) is — at least to my perception — a mirror of the general market site but, as opposed to other corporate sites in which the Home page and a few sub pages are translated, the Cricket Spanish site really stands on its own.
Cricket Web site Espanol
Another key component of Cricket’s reach out efforts to the Hispanic market relies probably in its distribution. According to Peggy Tsai, who manages marketing for Cricket in the Houston area, the telecom company owns several stores in the area. On top of that, it operates retail spaces through premier dealers and also works with additional standard dealers who sell Cricket’s products among other wireless service brands in their retail space. More? Cricket also distributes through big box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Dollar General.
Cricket is also creating strong outreach efforts with key Hispanic organizations. They recently sponsored an event of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in which they reached out to small Latino business owners. They also sponsor other key Hispanic events such as “Fiestas Patrias” and “Dia de la Madre.” Radio is also an important component of their efforts. They seek out endorsements with local Hispanic radio stations.
In terms of customizing its product to the Latino market, Cricket does offer unlimited texting to Mexico and unlimited international calling.
But at the core of Cricket’s success is its competitive advantage which, according to Peggy Tsai, relies in cost leadership and innovation. Cost leadership is not a surprise because it just takes a quick review of other telecom companies’ plan prices to identify the value of Cricket’s services; they certainly offer more features for less and they do not require contracts.
Cricket’s approach is certainly a case of market segmentation and customizing the message and services to fit the needs of the Latino community.
Luz Wynne is a Houston REALTOR® currently working for a real estate firm that, not only understands the importance of just plain old networking, but also sees the value of the tools provided by new marketing vehicles such as social media.
Luz is an immigrant from Venezuela who became a Realtor about one year ago. Her understanding of the Hispanic market made it ideal to focus her business in Latinos either relocating from other states or simply moving to a new home in the Houston area. For Luz, tapping on this segment of the market involved two things: First, joining key Hispanic organizations, such as the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where she networks constantly with Hispanic business owners and entrepreneurs. Second, implementing a simple strategy for Internet marketing. The goal? Increase her presence over the Internet. The reason? In the real estate business, having presence in the main search engines can be used to generate leads and also to build trust. She knows well that the Internet is one of the main sources of information for her customers so her focus was to generate articles for a local publisher and for her own blog, as well as to post informational videos in YouTube and generate profiles in Facebook and LinkedIn. For Luz, the results so far have been very positive.
What can small start-ups learn about Luz’s experience? Networking through organizations allows companies to take the step forward. It’s good to get you started because you get the opportunity to profile your customers and generate awareness but, in order to continue to build a lead, you have to make yourself be found in the Search Engines by using several Social Media network and also Search Engine Marketing strategies and tactics. If the lead generated through networking has an interest, expect this individual to search for you over the Internet. A potential costumer will want to know more about you and your business. Not finding you or finding the wrong or out of date information can immediately disintegrate a new business opportunity.
Know more about Luz Wynne a REALTOR® of REALM Properties, LLC by visiting her Website at www.BuyingWithLuzWynne.com
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Key data from the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Houston Total Hispanic Population: 1,953,631 100,00%
Hispanic or Latino: 730,865 37,41%
Mexican: 527,442 27,00%
Puerto Rican: 6,906 0.35%
Other Hispanic or Latino: 191,547 9.80%
Not Hispanic or Latino 1.222,766 62.59%
White (Alone) 601,851 30.81%
Half of the Nation’s Hispanic population lives in California or Texas.
A recent study by the University of Georgia compares the economies of the different minority groups in the United States. The differences are substantial but there is one that catches my attention the most and that is the amount of dollars that Hispanics dedicate to education compared to the other groups.
The overall results of the study show that, for example, African Americans spend more money on phone services, utilities, apparel, footwear, and groceries. Asians spend more money on food, housing, major appliances, telecom services, education, and personal insurance. Hispanics spend more money on groceries, phone services, furniture, fuel, clothing, and footwear.
After looking at the list above, I can’t avoid asking, where is education in Hispanic spending? I can understand why groceries, clothing and footwear are some of the top items. Hispanics usually have bigger households than non-Hispanics. As a matter of fact it is 3.2 persons per household versus 2.4 persons for non-Hispanics, according to the same research but, beyond the size of household, it is hard to neglect the fact that Hispanics are not paying enough attention to education. Kids in our community have one of the highest school drop-out rates, if not the highest.
Where does this lack of interest start? How can we change the drop-out trend? I realize that these are two big questions and the responses can take different directions but if we put all things (school districts, quality of educational programs, teacher preparation, etc) at the same level and if we extract Hispanic parents out of the group, you will see some interesting findings. Analyzing the responses of Hispanic parents in a recent study for an educational entity in the Houston area, it was evident that they had a very different view from non-Hispanic parents (mostly Anglos) about how to manage the education of their children. The two most notable were:
1- The accountability delegated by Hispanic parents to school teachers. Hispanic parents believed that teachers were the forefront of education; therefore, teachers were responsible for motivating and encouraging learning, not the parents.
2- The lack of involvement of Hispanic parents in school activities. Hispanic parents lack participation in school activities when compared to non-Hispanic parents. Many of them were simply working all the time.
These two problem areas need work; a lot of work and could be the foundation for building interest among Hispanic parents. School districts and non-profit organizations related to education could approach this disconnection among Hispanic parents and provide services to tackle such problem. The goal will be to increase Hispanic parents’ participation in the education of their children. Get them involved and help them build a different perspective about the value of education. It is no secret that parents play a key role in the education of their children.
The Círculo Creativo (Creative Circle) organization of the US Hispanic Market has launch a YouTube page.
http://www.youtube.com/user/CirculoCreativoUS
Their goal is to host the largest U.S. Hispanic TV Commercials archive.
Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) 2009 Creative & Account Planning Conference
2009 Creative & Account Planning Conference
From Wednesday, September 16 to Friday, September 18, 2009 at Hyatt Regency Miami.
For more info and agenda go to:
