Lara Bersano - Latin American Affairs

An article today at El Pais (from Spain) show how a series of women Presidents in the region have leaded the way to the economic and social boom that most of its countries are undergoing after a deep crisis hit it after 2000.

There is an interesting article today in the New York Times, about Facebook´s COO Sheryl K. Sandberg and her dedication to mentoring and promoting women worldwide, in business and especially in Facebook.

If you ever plan to do business in Latin America you might want to take a look at regional magazines. Magazines are part of our lives, and therefore, those of us who work in public relations keep sailing in the ocean of possibilities that the publishing industry can provide.

Magazines remain a strong means of communication in Latin America. Investment in online and offline versions remained strong in 2011.

This is an event I want to bring to the attention of men and women in Southern USA because it is a unique opportunity to share knowledge and network with 400 of the most influential political leaders of the region.

I have already attended 4 of these Conferences in the past years and every time I attend I get to know very interesting leaders from Latin America and the US.

I was speaking with ACS's Jeannette Arbulu last week in Buenos Aires about the gender equality in Latin America, and we were certain that there are lots of things we still can do as women, to mentor more young ladies into the corporate and political arena.
Although gender equality varies from one country to another there are still some industries that struggle to find women in the top of the corporate scale.

While studying and gathering valuable information for my public policy paper I came acrross a great paper by Karen Poniachik, Visiting Fellow of the Center for Hemispheric Policy of the University of Miami which shows the state of gender equality in Chile.

Karen states that Chile scores very low in “female participation in labor force,” in The Global Competitiveness Report although in mostly every other index it shows remarkable results.

Hispanic Ad published today an interesting article about Social Media I want to share with you as it states that Latina women in the United States are one of the fastest-growing online demographics. A summary of the article presents interesting facts.

And we women know it for sure. We have been handling personal relations for centuries, and we have mastered one skill. Being true to your own feelings and sensibility pays.

Sensibility is no longer a taboo word in the business arena. More than ever, sense and sensibility have gained momentum as business is driven in the web (where else) by consumers rather than need (and demand) to engage with the brands, products and companies they rely on and consume daily.

Interesting reading for the weekend: Tom concludes that companies that promote social media tools for fastest and constant communication don’t always listen in a Harvard Business Review article today.

Today in Ad Week is one of the best and most complete analyses of the situation of the Hispanic market in the US I have ever read, and it is really a wonderful picture of the situation of US companies targeting US Hispanics and how Ad Agencies are taking advantage of a unique opportunities to target this incredible market.