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| Miami skyline, and all the wonderful friends old and new that I got to hang out with! Check out the mini-room that Lowe’s set up, it was our comfort zone whenever we needed a rest! |
I’ve been AWOL for good reason. I crafted my guts out during National Craft Month and then I was whisked off to Miami for Hispanicize 2013. I came back fully energized in my brain, but drained in my body. You know how that goes, right? I needed to rest up and recharge. And then, tomorrow I leave for the final Crafty Chica Art Cruise – our 7th sail!
But for now, I want to tell you all about Hispancize 2013! The conference was a five-day event that had more than 1,100 attendees, plus more than 100 speakers and performers. I attended on behalf of Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores and their magazine, Ideas Creativas. It’s a DIY bilingual magazine with really cool and clever projects for your home! You can get a free subscription by visiting their site and signing up. Free DIY magazine? Heck ya!
I have so much to report from my trip! I thought of what you would want to know the most and decided to make a video. Below are my tops tips I learned from Hispanicize 2013. They are very condensed for the sake of time. However, I’ll break out each topic here on my blog as the weeks go by. I’m a former reporter, it’s my nature to take oodles of notes!
WATCH THE VIDEO 🙂
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| I spoke on four panels, in between, I met all my favorite bloggers! |
I loved this event because I got to hang out with some of my besties like Rene Alegria and Lorraine Ladish from Mamiverse.com, Denise from Pearmama, Jeshua from BoiFromIpanema and Maya too! Also, new friends like Nina from NinaOnTheMoon, Ana Flores from SpanglishBaby, Juan and Anjelica from Juan of Words, Monique from Curves and Chaos and Nicole from Presley’s Pantry! By day, we all sat in sessions that focused on blogging, branding, networking, working with sponsors, learning the art of the pitch, and so much more. There were so many sessions, it was difficult to choose. At the end of the day, there was always a swanky cocktail party. Target had synchronized swimmers to promote their Se Habla Música program and the launch of Emilio Estefan’s new Monster headphones! They also had a lush lounge and hosted a cocktail dance party! I was happy to get to meet all the other bloggers in the different networks I belong to – LatinaMomBloggers, LatinaBloggersConnect and LatinaLifestyleBloggers!
We also spent an evening on a McDonald’s yacht, dancing and sipping fruity drinks, at the end of the night they drove us by bus to an exclusive McDonald’s that was open only to our groups so we could taste the new Premium McWrap.If you follow my vine, you can see a bunch of silly videos. We were muy excited because the staff offered us WHATEVER we wanted to eat. While the thought was tempting, we kept it to a light dinner, yah, that is my story and I’m sticking to it!
P&G hosted a luncheon with beauty and fashion tips from stylist, Irma Martinez. It was to promote their new campaign, Have You Tried This Yet? I felt like a dork because while everyone else was talking fashion, I was like, “I use Swiffer Wet Jet to pick up the loose glitter from my art room floor!” And I was truly excited about that. Later on, they gave me Swiffer pads to take home!
One of the favorite highlights of the whole event was the Adalante Movement session put on by my friend and mentor, Nely Galan. At this forum, Rita Moreno and Charo were there to share their stories of dealing with being Latina in the show business industry. Those ladies endured a lot and told us about their failures and successes so we could learn on our own. (I just bought Rita Moreno: A Memoir audio book to listen to on our drive to California tomorrow!) ‘Be Your Own Prince Charming’ was one of the themes Nely presented. Instead of waiting for someone perfect to come along and lift you up, compliment you, help you, finance you – figure out how to do it yourself. Be self-reliant, then work to teach others. During this part of the program, the speeches were so uplifting and moving that we were either laughing or crying. Seriously!
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| Here is Maya speaking on a panel about social media for musicians. I’m so proud of her! |
Gosh, I didn’t even mention the music! We attended a private concert presented by AT&T that featured some of the Latino music scene’s hottest bands. My fave is La Santa Cecilia, but I discovered a new band (to me) that I fell in love with – Locos Por Juana. Check them out!
Stay tuned for more info from the conference. I promise to make it all useful and helpful for you!
