We were so lucky to meet Jeanette Fernandez at our most recent Latino entrepreneur meet and greet, she’s the super cool Content Director of San Antonio-based Heavy Heavy, a creative studio that does some neat work there. We interviewed Fernandez about her work, and why she decided to become an entrepreneur, along with Digital Director Erik Ford and Creative Director Steven Darby. She said they love working with startups in particular, since they have both creative and technical skills.… more

Our latest Latino entrepreneur meet and greet in San Antonio was a smashing success, as we had so many attendees we ran out of nametags and people from all over Central Texas arrived to talk about their work, and meet others with whom they could share it. There was everyone from students to professors to innovation experts to investors and more at the event. We’ve seen some photos of the #SALatino event already here and here. Check out our photo gallery here. It was a packed event made possible by our great sponsors.… more

One of our favorite panels at South by Southwest Interactive this year was with our multi-talented friend Mando Rayo, whose panel “Austin Breakfast Tacos: The Food, People & History” drew a full house. Rayo told the audience the story about how he went from being a taco lover, to a taco blogger (Taco Journalism), and finally to a taco book author (you can check out his book here). “Tech has been the main way we communicate with the community of taco fans. It’s allowed us to develop relationships online, talking tacos and offline, eating tacos through our taco tours and meet-ups,” he told Más Wired after the panel.… more

Latina girls have the potential to make a huge dent in tech innovation, and their biggest obstacle often tends to be Internet access. A panel at South by Southwest, “Latinas As New Leaders in Tech Innovation,” discussed this phenomenon with three different Latina perspectives on the issue. The panel included Laura Donnelly Gonzalez, founder of a Latina girls program, Latinitas, and Byrdie Franco-Rocha, who is the director for Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) chapter in Dallas.… more

At South by Southwest this year we ran into Ulysses Alvarado, founder of Tu Visión Canal, a video platform for Latinos. He described TVC as a social video sharing site and mobile app embracing Latino culture, allowing users to interact in a two-way video portal. Users can create their own video channels, upload to community channels, vote in video contests, as well as watch entertaining digital content. We asked Alvarado a few questions about his new company and why he thinks he can tae on YouTube.… more

If historic United Farm Workers of America organizer César Chávez had access to Twitter and other online organizing platforms, what would he have tweeted? “Sí se puede,” said his son Paul, who spoke on a panel Friday as part of the César Chávez Foundation called “What Would Cesar Chavez Tweet? Latinos & New Media.” According to Chávez, his iconic father always embraced innovation and technology, because at heart he was a “creative genius” who wanted to do whatever he could to organize farm workers.… more

Emerging nations in Latin America rely on cell phones for a variety of purposes beyond text and voice calls, especially photos and videos, and social networking. A report from the Pew Research Center, “Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology Cell Phones Nearly Ubiquitous in Many Countries,” highlights the different uses of mobile devices across developing nations. Most interestingly, political beliefs were being shared via mobile to social networking sites in Latin America.… more

Up to 70% of teens from 12-17 years old seek out advice about online privacy, according to a study from the Pew Internet Center. They tend to be equally split among asking either their peers or their parents — which could pose a problem for Latinos, whose peers, and parents, might not be as Internet savvy as others. Overall, 70% of teenagers in the 12 to 17 year-old age range have sought advice about dealing with their privacy online: 42% are likely to ask their peers, while 41% are inclined to ask their parents.… more

A Pew Hispanic Center report on news media consumption suggests that Latinos are gravitating more toward English and bilingual news, and that they are also gradually embracing online news. Latinos are not entirely jumping ship to American news, though, and still seem to feel that Spanish-language news organizations are slightly more on point with their accuracy. The report, published at the end of July, examines Latino news consumption, preferred media platforms, and the perception of both English and Spanish news in terms of accuracy.… more

A Public Policy Institute of California report examining the use of Internet tech by Californians includes some interesting data on Internet access among minorities, including Latinos. The report points to a digital divide in ability to access and utilize the Internet, which could hamper the power of the net for Latinos trying to find jobs or access services. Broadband access is a major issue. While not a problem for households with an average income of $80,000 or more, only 53% of Californians with an income under $40,000 have access to broadband Internet.… more