By Alicia Lopez, VPE Public Relations
Originally posted on the HPRA Blog
VPE staffer Alicia Lopez guest writes to give her perspective on the Hispanic Public Relations & Social Media Conference 2010.
Lourdes Rodriguez, Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) Los Angeles chapter president and fellow colleague at VPE Public Relations, summed it up well on Tuesday, May 11th, by stating that those in attendance at the Hispanic Public Relations and Social Media Conference that recently took place in Dallas were at the epicenter of a large quake in the US marketing and PR scene. While I believe Lourdes was right I, however, personally consider the conference to be a fore shock of what is to come, in other words, “The Big One is coming.”
As Lourdes stated, for those accustomed to living in earthquake territory, it often takes a large quake to grab attention. Earthquakes in the 2, 3, and sometimes even 4 range on the Richter Scale don’t really cause a stir in California. To a degree the Hispanic market has had a lot to share with earthquakes. For years the market has been brushed aside by PR and marketing departments, especially during times of economic struggle. Today however, more corporations have taken note of the Hispanic and the multicultural markets in general and recognize their importance. The 2010 Census results are predicted to trigger “The Big One” in our field as they are expected to reveal growth in population and purchasing power among the U. S. Hispanic population. The figures are also expected to illustrate the growth of the Hispanic population throughout the country and not exclusively in traditionally strong Hispanic markets such as Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Chicago, but in other areas of the country such as Georgia, North Carolina, and Arkansas, to name a few.