DONDEQUIERA

Top 10 obstacles to Puerto Rico Web Startups

2008-07-17T10:37:00.006-04:30

In my last post I had a stimulating discussion with Speaking Boricua where she pointed to the Internet as a way to help the Puerto Rico economy. We couldn't agree with her more.

However, things are never as easy as they seem. In probably one of the biggest business lessons of my previous life, I was planning a Project Management business. When I identified that there weren't really any companies providing the service, a business associate commented that maybe the reason there wasn't anyone providing the service was because there wasn't any demand for it. Ahh, I thought to myself, he's right. Project management is an almost unknown business skill or practice in Puerto Rico. How can I sell a service that no one sees as valuable or necessary?

I guess you could say that I forgot that lesson when we started DóndeEs.com, but I think it's more of a situation that I didn't realize the similarity between the two ideas. So, as I promised to Speaking Boricua, I'm going to document the challenges we've faced so that anyone who launches a company after us will have a clearer idea what they face when they attempt to build a high-technology company in Puerto Rico.

To start off, I'm going to identify the top ten obstacles we've encountered in building DóndeEs.com, the first Web 2.0 company in Puerto Rico. While this list focuses on an Internet start-up, most of the obstacles will exist for any type of start-up.

Top 10 obstacles to Puerto Rico Web Startups

Stranglehold on advertising industry - In 'An Inconvenient Truth' Al Gore quotes Upton Sinclair "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." Most Internet start-ups rely on Internet advertising in their business plans, we are no different.

Between the El Nuevo Dia which receives over 60% of all advertising expenditures and the advertising agencies, the bulk of the benefit of the current advertising marketplace are shared between these two entities. Moving to Internet advertising would significantly cut their revenues. Therefore, they have little motivation to develop this new medium. Only advertising buyers can push for Internet advertising, however, they tend to do whatever the agencies recommend.

While I think that our poor economy will ultimately create the demand for Internet advertising, it will be over the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the advertising industry.
Kleptocracy - The level of corruption in business (in Puerto Rico) is much larger than most people are willing to accept or admit. Therefore in order for a new company to have a fighting chance they require either deep pockets and the willingness to grease the wheels of a deal or have the right family name recognition. Furthermore, when you have a society that is so wrought with a complete disregard of rules, you end up with a society that treats each other with little respect and dignity.Even though people SAY they are going to do something, and may even sign a contract, if some of the obstacles arise, they are quite comfortable in disregarding their promise or word and become irresponsible, unresponsive, and disrespectful. In the end, those who try to play by the rules are left at a huge disadvantage.
Life style business are the goal - The majority of business owners and employees in Puerto Rico are only willing to work as hard as they can until they become comfortable. After that point they become extremely risk averse and essentially stop investing in their businesses and their careers.

A life-style business is a company that is built up to the point that it supports the life-style the owner wishes to have, but never grows any more after that point. So even though these businesses might have the potential to continue growing, providing much needed employment as they grow and expand, the owners are content to let the potential waste away.
Panismo - Strongly related to kleptocracy, however, this extends out further. Panismo is where people are only willing to help their family and friends. While this is not unique to Puerto Rico, it still undermines many ideas, and causes unworthy businesses or projects to get funded and supported when rebels or unconnected projects and businesses go ignored.
Zero sum theory - Taken from game theory, this is when you look at economics (business) as a pie. Essentially in order for someone to help a new company or collaborate with a company, there is the the perception that it is giving pie to that company. And if they give away some pie, it means they will have less pie. Basically the mentality is that you can't get more pie, therefore, you must hoard the pie for yourself. In Silicon Valley, start-up central, the mentality is let's make more pie, some for me, and some more for you.
Information Technology (IT) is a cost center not a strategic asset. - As I've stated many times before, Puerto Rico is about 10 years (or more) behind the United States in terms of the Internet. On any other technology they are probably 3 to five years behind. This perspective goes along with a general consensus that information technology only costs a company money, therefore, the amount of investment in technology must be restricted. This is contrary to what the leading companies in the world, such as GE, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Walmart, etc have proven.

IT is a strategic asset that can drastically improve the performance of any company. It increases the opportunities available, it provides a significantly detailed analysis of a company's performance (i.e., reporting), plus IT is an investment that can be amortized, and written off against profits. The typical Puerto Rico manager's weapon of choice is manpower, which is THE MOST expensive way to address a problem, because it goes right to the bottom line reducing profits.
Group think - In Puerto Rico there are a few people that are seen as the experts within the Internet community. No, I'm not one of them. Everyone looks to these people as the leaders and always seeks out their opinion, even though none of them have had any significant success to speak of. However, when there is such little innovation, results, or revenues, limited success stands out as a towering success. So when someone new comes along that is not well connected, isn't willing to buy recognition, and contradicts "the experts" they are marginalized and disregarded.
Follow the leader, leader. Follow the leader! - As you can see, some of these obstacles work in conjunction with others, or serve as amplifiers. So while information technology is undervalued, due to group think you have Puerto Rico always becoming late adopters of any technology. However, this goes further to drive nearly everyone in the market to follow what the leader does, whether it is technology, Internet marketing and advertising, or the tendency to ignore business practices that have been proven to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of a business. Remeber, since most of the businesses support the owners life-style, they are risk averse and therefore only willing to invest in something new until it is clearly what everyone else is doing.
Anti-small business support by government - Do you remember that front page news that we were the second most competitive Latin American country, based on the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report?. Well in that report Puerto Rico ranked 130th (Out of 131) for "Burden of government regulation" and 105th for "Wastefulness of government spending". In addition, Puerto Rico ranked 67th in "Favoritism in decisions of government officials", 64th in "Transparency of government policy making", and 94th in the "Extent and effect of taxation." Seeing a trend here?
Brain drain - There just aren't enough resources on the island with sufficient information technology or engineering experience to sustain any type of high technology research or development. And while we consistently produce a respectable pipeline of engineers in the University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez, they are quickly lured away with higher salaries in the United States. Why? Puerto Rico ranks LAST in technology pay out of all fifty of the United States. Unfortunately, most of the resources in those fields that stay are firmly trapped within a majority of these obstacles.

Sure we're bitter, who wouldn't be? We've struggled over these last two years to bring a steady stream of innovation to market. We have the most sophisticated Internet technology made in Puerto Rico by Puerto Ricans. Our mission is to be the spear point in the attack on the current advertising industry and our vision is to create a new economic engine for Puerto Rico in the form of Internet technology aimed at the United States Hispanic market. Sure we're idealistic; we choose to ignore these obstacles, ignore how difficult it is, and place our hope in our future customers that are willing to break from the status quo and reward our sacrifices with market acceptance.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: foxypar4

More Puerto Ricans Stateside than on Island

2008-07-16T07:29:00.005-04:30

In another interesting post from the Puerto Rico Sun, Clarisel brings this resource to the attention of her readers. I've heard that most of the movers in Puerto Rico have been working non-stop for some time now. As was seen in previous economic down turns in Puerto Rico, many families are leaving PR in search of better job opportunities in the main land U.S. So this observation by the National Institute for Latino Policy doesn't surprise me.

In my opinion, this is a trend that will continue until the Puerto Rico economy reaches some type of equilibrium between the number of jobs available and the number of people willing to work. If you ask me, this is one of the fundamental problems with the PR economy, not enough jobs to sustain the population. There just aren't enough companies and no amount of economic development is going to change that.

On Latino Policy (from prsun.blogspot.com)

The National Institute for Latino Policy recently provided some interesting information on Puerto Ricans stateside and how the stateside population continues to outnumber those living on the island.

Here's an excerpt of an entry from the Institute July 14 bi-monthly newsletter, edited by Angelo Falcon:

Puerto Rican Population Stateside
Continues to Exceed that of Puerto Rico

In 2004, the Atlas of Stateside Puerto Ricans documented for the first time the stateside Puerto Rican population exceeded that of Puerto Rico in 2003 by 163,246. The latest statistics from the Census Bureau, from the 2006 American Community Survey (ACS), estimates that this gap has grown: in 2006 there were 3,987,947 Puerto Ricans living stateside compared to 3,745,007 in Puerto Rico, meaning that there are 242,940 more Puerto Ricans stateside than in Puerto Rico. Does this development have implications for the politics and policy issues of the Puerto Rican community as a whole?

Interesting question. What do PRSUN readers think?

Anyway, if you are interested in Puerto Rican and Latino policy issues, the Institute's bi-monthly e-newsletter is a wonderful resource. It regularly features items related to Puerto Ricans.

Go to www.latinopolicy.org to subscribe.

By the way, the National Institute for Latino Policy was formerly known as the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy. It changed its name as a way of better representing policy issues impacting Latinos.

The National Institute for Latino Policy is a independent nonprofit and nonpartisan policy center established in 1982 to address Latino issues.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: lunchtimemama

A Father's quest for honor: a hero's journey

2008-07-14T09:59:00.007-04:30

You know how we love to see movies or read books about people that inspire us? It's like when you see a movie about someone who struggles against all odds and even though they get hurt (physically or emotionally) they keep going. In the end they might not get exactly what they were shooting for, that is unless you are the director of the movie, and your goal was to move the viewer emotionally and reinforce in them that there is always hope.

Who hasn't seen those movies? But have you ever had a friend who was like that? Someone that no matter what they do, they always seem to see beyond what you or I can perceive and divine out a larger truth that, when revealed, inspires us, makes us ask more of ourselves? Well I have one, his name is Francisco Martinez, or Paco for short.

Briefly, I met Paco 13 years ago when we met at my first job in Puerto Rico. He later worked for me as I moved my way up in the company. In many ways, we were kindred spirits from the start as we were both veterans and as such, shared many beliefs instilled in us from our military service. But further than that, he was also someone who was always trying to better himself. He was never willing to rest upon his success, plus he was one of the few people I've ever met that loved computers more than me, which is saying a lot.

As we each went through many different challenges in our individual lives, he always remained a loyal friend. However, nothing could have prepared us for the life shattering loss of his son (Francisco G. Martinez, Pauito) to a sniper in Iraq. On March 20th, 2003 Paco's life descended into hell as the news of his son's death came knocking on his door.

As the war in Iraq raged on, so did the war within Paco's soul. When the news of Abu Ghraib broke across our television screens a transformation began within him. A staircase began to emerge that would lead him out of hell. As he followed his escape from hell, he discovered a way to transform his pain into service. He finally realized that in order to honor the sacrifice his son had made he must also follow him. So at 43 years of age, he re-enlisted into the Ari Force Reserves and began once again to serve his country.

Yesterday, Paco took yet another transformational step in his life and his story when he began a six month deployment to Iraq. Something quite interesting about this story is how available it is through Paco's blog, starting with the initial announcement of his son's death, up until the most recent announcement of his deployment to Iraq, all of it is online and available for you to experience. If you want to learn about duty, if you want to learn about service, if you want to see how far some people are willing to go to do what they think is right, I encourage you to follow Paco's story.

I hope you'll join with me to honor Paco's son, and to also wish Paco a safe and quick return from Iraq. You're also invited to follow along with his tour in Iraq because to the best of his abilities he has promised to share with everyone his experience through his blog. ¡Vaya Con Dios Paco!

By guest writer Kevin Shockey

Internet Marketing in Puerto Rico

2008-07-13T07:02:00.006-04:30

In preparation for my next few posts, I wanted to see what was out on the Internet in terms of what "experts" think are the basic rules for Internet marketing. I think this is a worthy research, because from our experience, we may have to redefine what Internet marketing is all about in Puerto Rico. Before we get into that, let's first examine the State of the Internet Marketing in Puerto Rico. While I touched on this before I focused more on Internet advertising.

Unfortunately Puerto Rico has fallen victim to group think when it comes to Internet Marketing. While I've not met a lot of the Internet Marketers from the advertising side of the equation, I probably know everyone who is anyone on the technical side of the equation. No one I've met has a clue about what Internet Marketing is really about.

In a way it's been sort of a perfect storm for coming to the wrong conclusion. Internet Marketing sits at the cross-section of technology and marketing. Unfortunately that cross-section has become a no-mans land. Think about it, marketing on the Internet is the first medium that involves any real dependence on computers. How much would an advertising company need to know about creating a print ad, radio ad, or television ad? They merely needed to conceive of a creative approach and then implement.

The Internet is a unique medium

Then comes the Internet, which is fundamentally an online print medium (HTML = hyper text markup language, markup means applying styles to text) on steroids. However when you throw in the whole hyper text element, mix in audio, video, and animation, you end up with an entirely unique medium. However, the real difference is that last word in HTML, language. When you refer to a language on computers it only means one thing, programming. And now that's a horse of different color all together. Bottom line, in order for a marketer to use this new medium most effectively, they HAVE to understand a few things about the Internet and programming.

Hello marketers, a word to the wise. Just because you're not interested in computers, software development, or the Internet you HAVE to learn how this medium works if you are going to use it effectively. Oh yeah and don't think of this trio of technologies as if they are from the next Harry Potter movie. They are not magic.

On the contrary, they are the exact opposite, they are pure science, computer science that is. Ones and zeros people, nothing more, nothing less. Throw in a large heaping of mathematics and there you have it. And believe me, it may seem complex, but there are rules that computers MUST follow; once you start to get a handle on those rules, you'll be on your way. One more thing, please pay attention while we're making an attempt to explain these rules to you. We can see when your eyes gloss over; we know it means you're thinking about your Gucci handbag or the new BMW you want to buy, instead of listening to our techno-babble.

11 years of disgrace

On the other side of this cross section, we have 11 years of almost total disgrace. When the web designers and developers in Puerto Rico should have been leading the charge of teaching everyone about this new medium, we had a bunch of unqualified jerks hell bent on a quick buck. Collectively this group of charlatans have screwed more companies than you can imagine and forever polluted their customer's perception of the Internet.

In addition to that, techies (web developers and programmers) are typically geeks. Their view of everything is from the technology perspective. They might learn one technology and then that's it. They become a hammer. And when you're a hammer all problems look like nails. So very few take the time to learn a little about marketing so that they help their clients to understand more about the Internet and can then begin to communicate more effectively with them.

The majority of these geeks ramble on about HTML, CSS, ASP, or an endless stream of other technobabble. Earth to geeks! No one understands what the hell you're talking about! Ever heard that advice, explain it to me as if I were in 4th grade? Use it! If you can't effectively explain to your clients WHY a technology is beneficial in simple terms, then you need to do more homework.

No man's land

In the end, Internet Marketing in Puerto Rico has become a business specialty where neither of the sides is willing to meet in the middle. Therefore a huge canyon has emerged between them. This canyon makes it incredibly difficult to communicate; neither speaks the others language; each sees the challenge from a completely different perspective; one side is only interested in the money; and one side has no trust in the other. Therefore, all attempts crash against the walls of the canyon and are blown away with the wind.

So listen up everyone, Internet Marketing is not:

Merely reconceiving your print ads so that they look pretty on the Internet. Of course this is mandatory, but it is the starting point not the end result.
About just one campaign, it's about building your brand. As long as your company is in business, that should be your number one priority.
Just a website that you finish and then NEVER update until the next marketing or IT director decides it's time to change the site. Internet marketing involves not only consistenly publishing new content, but it also requires monitoring the effectiveness of that content or advertising and adjusting your priorities accordingly. The days of a "Field of Dreams" , build it and they will come, are over.
A oneway communication medium. You see the Internet, like no other medium before it, actually allows the consumer to respond IMMEDIATELY to your content and advertisements. Oh, and by the way, just becuase you use Adobe Flash on your site does not make it a two way communication. Making it interactive is just the start; you need to get feedback, you need to measure responses, track your traffic, and respond with content that delivers what consumers are seeking.
Achieved by focusing merely on your website and no other site on the Internet. No website is an island, all must bow down before the mightly search engines, the blogosphere, and now social networking sites.
A static target. What works today, might not tomorrow. Google constantly changes their search algorithm, you fall off the first page of results and now you're toast. You've got to be constantly learning what is working and adapt as quickly as possible to leverage new technologies, new sites, or new techniques.
Not about implementing features it's about impacting behavior. If consumers are not visiting your site, clicking on your ads, or consuming your content, your'e not conducting marketing, your publishing. Best leave that to the professionals and stick to building your brand.
About cost effectiveness. You really do get what you pay for. If you accept or offer the lowest price, then you're going to be missing the necessary business practices to ensure a high quality result. Part of which are tools that make it easy to keep your site alive once it's launched.
Does not involve advertising a web site offline. Ok, follow me here, if Internet Marketing assumes consumers taking immeidate action, how does someone driving 65 m.p.h take immediate action on a URL posted on a billboard? Oh sure you're going to impact a few consumers who get stuck in a tapon in front of the billboard, but I submit that those same dollars used online would have greater impact, where people are ALREADY on the Internet.

Next, five basic rules for Internet Marketing in Puerto Rico.

Casa Herradura Tequila Tasting

2008-07-12T07:37:00.006-04:30

Imagine yourself wandering through the forests of western Mexico after a thunderstorm, some 800 years or so ago. You come upon a a blue cactus looking plant that had been struck by lightening. Looking closer you see a white milky substance oozing out of the plant. Curious, you swipe your finger though it and are surprised. The creamy liquid has a pungent flavor, but even better, after tasting the liquid for a while you begin to feel slightly euphoric and happy.

That's how I felt after participating in the tequila tasting class of René Valdez, Brand Manager for the Americas of Tequila Casa Herradura. Held at the distinguished El Hórreo de V. Suárez, René was in Puerto Rico to celebrate the launch of the Casa Herradura brand in Puerto Rico which V. Suárez will exclusively distribute.

I learned a lot about tequila during the class, but more importantly I got to taste some of the best tasting tequila I've ever had. My old memories of doing tequila shots in college some how make me cringe even now. You couldn't get the lemon in your mouth fast enough to extinguish the fire in your mouth. However tasting Casa Herradura tequila was a completely different experience. Handcrafted since 1870 Casa Herradura tequila is one of the few tequilas made from 100% agave.

Blue agave is the special ingredient that makes tequila special. The agave is not a cactus as is commonly thought, although it is a succulent like a cactus, agave is from the Liliopsida family.

Casa Herradura Seleccion Suprema

While there was excellent catered Mexican food and a live Mariachi band, the highlight of the evening was tasting Herradura Seleccion Suprema tequila. This extra añejo tequila is the cream of the crop. Aged over three years in wooden barrels, Seleccion Suprema tastes more like a fine cognac or extremely aged scotch whiskey instead of tequila. Everyone who was there could taste the quality of this tequila, and we all wanted to take a bottle home. But at $350 a bottle, Seleccion Suprema is only for the most refined tastes.

Dondequiera would like to express our gratitude for being invited to this impressive experience. We'd like to thank Casa Herradura, V. Suáraez, and Margie Alvarez for their hospitality.

In the photo above are, from left to right, Ismael Martinez, Territory Manager for Brown-Forman, René Valdez, Brand Manager for the Americas of Tequila Herradura, and Francois Goachet Product Manager at V. Suárez & Co., exclusive distributors of Herradura.

Update of PRWeb Tweets

2008-07-12T07:20:00.004-04:30

I'm becoming increasingly more addicted to Twitter. I enjoy the brevity and ability to reach around the world 140 characters at a time. I've even begun to see culture references to Twitter, SocialBrowse, Facebook, you these new-fangled social mediums are beginning to change peoples e-mail habits. And you'll remember that e-mail is THE most common application used on the Internet, well besides porn.

Anyway, I though it would be interesting to compare my latest TweetCloud to PRWeb TweetCloud 1.0:

10 Least Expensive 2008 Cars to Own

2008-07-11T19:11:00.004-04:30

According to a new study by Edmunds.com which is based on Edmunds.com's "True Cost to Own" data, which accounts for total vehicle costs over a five-year period, these are the least expensive cars to own and operate:

Chevrolet Aveo
Hyundia Accent GS
Honda Fit
Toyota Yaris
Honda Civiv DX
Nissan Versa
Mazda MAZDA3i
Kia Rio
Scion xB
Toyota Corolla CE

Note: All cars listed are 2008 models.

Puerto Rico loves Star Wars III

2008-07-11T07:39:00.004-04:30

Hopefully, I've re-ignited your passion for Star Wars. Did you know that Star Wars is the third-highest grossing film series? With overall box office revenues of approximately $4.3 billion, it trails James Bond (21 films) and the leader Harry Potter.

If you're now itching to experience some new Star Wars thrills, the best you're going to be able to find is happening next Monday in the San Patricio Mall. Organized by Néstro Pérez, President of the Puerto Rico Star Wars Fan Club, this Sunday at 5:30 p.m. in the Food Court of San Patricio Mall Pérez will present the "Star Wars Fans Saga Explosion."

The event will feature a screening of "Episode i: The Phantom Menace" on a large screen (12' by 9', to be exact). The screening celebrates WAPA TV transmitting the entire Star Wars film series. Starting on July 14th, and continuing on the next five Mondays, WAPA will broadcast all six films. HBO is the only other television channel to have also transmitted the six movies consecutively.

In addition to watching the move, Pérez invites everyone who likes to do that sort of thing, to come dressed as your favorite Star Wars character. So whether the movie is enjoyable or not, it should be a real blast to see all of the Star Wars geeks parade into San Patricio Plaza. Admission to the event is free, and Pérez encourages everyone to bring their cameras so they can take pictures with their favorite characters. I'll see you there and I'm bringing my camera. I'm hoping some gorgeous Puerto Rican beauty comes as Princess Leia Organa in that hot bikini getup from "Episode 6: The Return of the Jedi." Hey an old pervert can dream, can't he?

Puerto Rico loves Star Wars II

2008-07-11T07:09:00.003-04:30

The next short film in the 2008 Star Wars Fan Movie Competition at Atom.com is "Nerf & Herder in Using the Force" by Reynaldo León. This funny little short film finds our protagonists Nerf and Herder kicking back and watching Episode 5, "The Empire Strikes Back" (of course masterfully rendered in cartoon form) when they realize the remote control is out of reach. They try to use "the force" to pull the remote to them, but they end up with an surprise instead.

This is the second time that León has participated in the Star Wars Fan Movie Competition. In 2003 he received an honorable mention in the comedy category for his short film "Spoiler Wars." Those of you who are fans of the Club Sunshine on Wapa might already be familiar with León's work because he is responsible for the "Sunshine Toons" feature on the show. I think León is an extremely talented animator. Both of his short films are funny and very well drawn. I think you'll enjoy them both! May the schwartz be with you!

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

Puerto Rico loves Star Wars

2008-07-11T06:20:00.006-04:30

Stay with me here, because it's about to get crazy. No, for real. I'm really sorry that I didn't get to this earlier but two short films made in Puerto Rico were among the finalists in the 2008 Star Wars Fan Movie Competition at Atom.com. No, Atom.com isn't a rip-off of YouTube, it's actually one of the sites YouTube ripped off and then got bought for $1.7 billion. Sucks to be the creators of Atom.com and iFilm.com (now spike.com). Weird right?

Anyway, in this first film, by Javier Bonet, entitled "Trails of a Sith" we find a fantasy battle between Darth Maul and Darth Vader. Filmed in the jungles of Arecibo, the film also features Jorge R. Valenzula and Gabriel Cruz.

I mention that I'm late to blog about this, that's because the voting for the competition ended yesterday. So I hope the film does well in the voting. According to the 72% "thumbs up" rating, it looks like fans liked it. I thought it was very original and between the make-up, the special effects, and the great storyline, I'd say it has a pretty good chance. Congratulations to everyone involved. Enjoy!

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

Lee y Sueña Tour de Lectura

2008-07-10T08:50:00.007-04:30

When I first came to Puerto Rico, one of the first things I tried to find were the libraries. The first one I found was when I moved to Caguas when I discovered the location of the Caguas Municipal Library by accident. At the time the only book stores of any merit were Thekes in Plaza Las Americas and Bell , Book, and Candle. As someone who has spent most of his life with his nose in a book, this was, uhh, a big shock. I remember wondering to myself, how does everyone find a good book to read, or where can they find research materials to read for a project?

I know know the truth of the situation. The reason why there aren't really any good public libraries (well which really isn't true there is the Bucapla Library and the Manati Library), the real reason is that the majority of the populace doesn't read anything deeper than the El Nuevo Dia, which is quickly being replaced by the photo-heavy Primera Hora.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who believes that this might be the root cause of a lot of the challenges we face on the island. So when I heard about the First Lady's program to reinforce reading to children, "Lee y Sueña", I was impressed and pleased.

The Read and Dream Program is an initiative of the Office of the First Lady. It is attached to the Department of Family and is developed by ASPIRA, Inc. de Puerto Rico. It was created in 2006 with the aim to provide parents and caregivers the tools needed to develop the habit of reading to their children every day.

This weekend and next "El tour de lectura" will make stops in the Jardin Botanico de Rio Piedras and the Parque Luis Muñoz Rivera. This Saturday, July 12th, at the Botanical Gardens, celebrities such as Elwood Cruz, Jessica Cristina, and Karen Cintrón will lead families in the reading of entertaining stories. In addition there will be marionettes and theatrical shows.

Then next weekend, Sunday July 20th, at the Bosquecito in the Luis Muñoz Marin Park, the tour will make another stop. The same activities are planned. Both activities are scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. and last until 4:00 p.m.

For more information call (888) 359-7777 or visit the programs website at www.leelesatuhijos.org.

Puerto Rican Music Roots & Beyond Project

2008-07-09T18:11:00.006-04:30

When we found the Puerto Rico Sun blog, it was like we had discovered our long lost sister. As we learned more about our newly found sister, we discovered that the she was doing nearly the same thing we were doing with Dondequiera, only based out of and focused mostly on the Puerto Rican community residing in New York. After a quick meeting of the minds, we decided that it would be really cool to share some select articles from each others blog.

I think what excited Clarisel Gonzalez, the editor of the Puerto Rico Sun, and I was the opportunity to keep our readers in touch with a piece of their community that they normally might not be exposed. Since both of our audiences have such a strong cultural and familial link to the other, we became thrilled with the chance to strengthen those links. I hope that this new content gives Dondequiera a little bit of that New York flavor that everyone seems to love so much.

The first article I'm going to share is about the Puerto Rican Music Roots & Beyond Project. I totally support anything that preserves the Puerto Rican cultural heritage, in this case its strong musical history. Enjoy!

From left, Leticia Rodriguez, executive director of La Casa de la Herencia Cultural Puertorriqueña, Inc., and class participant Hector Ortega at a July 6 event in NYC's El Barrio that focused on Puerto Rican roots music.

La Casa as well as El Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños at Hunter College is working with William Cepeda, a renowned composer, trombonist, educator, producer and artist, on a project titled “Puerto Rican Music Roots and Beyond.” The New York State Music fund and the National Endowment for the Arts is helping to fund the project.

The goal is to promote Puerto Rico’s musical heritage to a wide audience throughout New York State, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere. The project will document four genres (Bomba, Plena, Danza, and Musica Jibara) by recording the concerts and other project activities to be used in the creation of DVDs and CDs for educational and commercial release. La Casa is located at 1230 Fifth Avenue, Suite 458. It is a nonprofit, cultural and educational institution. For more information, , visit http://www.lacasapr.org/-- Ismael Nuñez

(photo by Ismael Nuñez)

Courtesy of the Puerto Rico Sun

Discrediting Eye Candy Facebook application claim

2008-07-08T13:46:00.002-04:30

Have you ever had some one take credit for something you did? How did that feel? Was it your boss? Maybe a coworker or maybe even a competitor? What did you do about it? Did you stay quiet and just suck it up? Or maybe you made a big deal about it and everyone thought you were a sore loser? Well it's happened to us and guess what? I have no boss, and I have no peers, and I've got this pistol finger loaded and I've got the balls to fire it.

You know Jose and I are big time geeks. We love what we do and try to bring to market the most excellent software we can possibly make. Ultimately that's what we are, software developers, and DóndeEs.com is essentially a software development company.

I know it doesn't seem that way, but that's the truth. We love software and we love even more trying to use the latest and greatest technologies that are available. So when someone claims that they've developed the first "professional" Facebook application built in Puerto Rico, well it burns my britches.

This week I saw a press release from a company making just that claim. The only problem? Well we launched our Eventos PR Facebook application back in October of 2007. So I think Eye Candy is a little late to the Facebook application party. In addition, we have over 5,000 users of our application, and they have, snicker, 274 users.

But you know what? It's cool, because first I wouldn't consider a Flash application software development. So really are they really application developers? But more important, we've got something cooking at the DóndeEs.com Labs that's going to rock the Puerto Rico Facebook network like nothing it's seen before. Pretty soon, we're going to invite everyone to share in the sweetness that we're cooking up, so you know like, what eeeeever. We know you can tell shit from shinola, and we're about to lay down a shoeshine like you've never seen before. Then we'll see who owns this playground.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: It'sGreg

Does this explain it all?

2008-07-08T06:52:00.004-04:30

A fascinating article in the New York Post, proposes the following: Those who believe they were born with all the smarts and gifts they’re ever going to have approach life with a “fixed mind-set.” Those who believe that their own abilities can expand over time, however, live with a “growth mind-set.”

Your like so what? Well I'll tell you so what! Have you every thought that you're perfectly content with the job you have? No, well have you met someone who was? Have you ever concluded, with a sigh of relief, "I'm glad I don't have to study anymore." What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you encounter a new challenge, a new skill that you need, or a task that you've never done? If it's oh I don't know. It's not my job, it's outside of my training, or I don't think I can do it because I've never done it before, then you might have a fixed mind set. Not you, fine! What about your peers or your subordinates? Sorry boss, I can't do that with out going to training.

The Times article reveals that after three decades of painstaking research, the Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck believes that: "Society is obsessed with the idea of talent and genius and people who are ‘naturals’ with innate ability. (Or had the good fortunate to be born with a certain last name)” Oh yeah, that sounds nothing like most of the people I come into contact with. Oh you haven't worked in the pharmaceutical industry, then you clearly can't work on our computer systems. Oh sorry no banking experience, nope, no way you can understand our computer systems. Yeah I guess that whole Masters in Computer Science doesn't provide me any basis on how to learn new computer systems.

Dweck continues: "People who believe in the power of talent tend not to fulfill their potential because they’re so concerned with looking smart and not making mistakes. But people who believe that talent can be developed are the ones who really push, stretch, confront their own mistakes and learn from them." Now that clearly is NOTHING like most people here. The typical Puerto Rican or Puerto Rican company is so completely immobilized at the prospect of making a mistake or not looking smart, that if a task, idea, or opportunity comes along that is outside of their comfort zone, it must simply be ignored.

Finally Dweck concludes that: "People with a growth mind-set tend to demonstrate the kind of perseverance and resilience required to convert life’s setbacks into future successes. That ability to learn from experience was cited as the No. 1 ingredient for creative achievement in a poll of 143 creativity researchers cited in “Handbook of Creativity” in 1999.

Conclusion: Well, it explains a lot!

In a culture where image is everything and vanity is the number one motivator, we let our obsession with looking smart and avoiding mistakes dominate our lives. When considering Dweck's research it is now clear that these beliefs must be a major contributing factor to the lack of [innovation, research, invention, market growth, market creation, and global focus] here on the island. In addition, it explains why, when it comes to technology, there is a herd mentality of follow the leader. Since technology is complex, ever-changing, and hard to understand, most managers (leaders) refuse to make bold decisions that place the necessary importance and risk on technology. The exact strategy that all companies need to stay competitive. With a lifestyle mentality, business owners are content to have risen to as high as they believe their abilities can take them (Peter Principle), so they become fearful of losing what they have. They become risk-averse, exactly as identified in the classic business article 'Why good companies fail' .

In addition, for the same reasons, it prevents nearly all of our companies from researching and developing new products. It also blocks nearly all of our "entrepreneurs" so that they conclude that since company 'x' is successful, then that must be a good idea for a business. Therefore they conclude that it is a good idea to start a business to offer almost exactly what company 'x' provides. Listen people: Puerto Rico doesn't need any more online classified ad sites. I'm not saying give-up and let ClasificadosOnline.com 'own' the market. I'm saying unless you're bringing something new to the game that can disrupt their guerilla marketing strangehold on the market, don't waste your time. They have too much of a head-start for anyone to displace them with the exact same product and marketing strategy.

In a previous life I worked for a large wireless telecommunications company. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars launching a web-based system to sell cellular telephones. Before we launched the project I asked the director in charge of the project, "How many phones do you think we'll sell from the website?" His answer: zero. So I asked, "Why are we spending the money then?" His answer: because our competitor has a web site to sell telephones. While this director was not stupid his decisions clearly illustrate a fixed mind set. Instead of changing the game, bringing something new to the market, all he could come up with is that's what my competitor did, so I have to as well, EVEN THOUGH HE BELIEVED IT WOULD BE A COMPLETE FAILURE. Is it any wonder our economy sucks so badly?

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Facebook in Real Life

2008-07-07T15:08:00.004-04:30

OMG, is this just too classic or what? Austin is "Yeah baby party naked!" Just imagine going through one day emulating these actions. People would think you were totally insane.

FaceBook In Reality

2008-07-07T14:42:00.000-04:30

For those of you out there who haven't yet "fallen for" the whole social media bug, this hilarious video from Idiotsofants.com should give you a really good idea of what it's like. Well that is, if you were like surrounded by savants and very special friends.

Anyway, for those of you who have Facebook, you should get a really good kick out of this video and the next one I found. Enjoy!

Burlington Coat Factory Enters Tough Market

2008-07-07T04:59:00.005-04:30

Do you remember what is like when you first starting your family? Or can you imagine what it will be like trying to start one in this economy? Well, when Mrs. Don Dees and I were newlyweds, uhh, a few years back, we remember fondly shopping at Burlington Coat Factory. They had cheap, but good quality, crap at a good price. Just what the valued oriented shopper is looking for, which was the case for us back then; still is I guess.

So when we recently heard that Burlington Coat Factory was going to open a few stores in Puerto Rico, it brought back fond memories. Although I'm sure this has been in the making for years, I think they are entering a tough market at the worst time in the last 40 years. With stiff competition from WalMart, K-Mart, Marshalls, Sears, and recently JC Penneys, they will face an uphill battle.

Not only that, this will be the first locations outside of the U.S. mainland for the Burlington, New Jersey-based company which operates 383 stores in 44 states. Which means they need to understand the cultural translation of their marketing very quickly.

According to them, they are an “off-price” discount retailer, which offers a wide selection of current season, high quality, brand name and designer merchandise at prices up to 60% lower than those at other department stores. Hmm, that's a pretty bold claim when they are stacked up against WalMart, the king of cheap crap.

Together the local stores will feature apparel, shoes and accessories for the entire family, baby clothes, furniture, toys, home decor items, and gifts, as well as a selection of its signature coats. One of the first stores is scheduled to replace the old Pueblo Xtra in Plaza Centro Mall in Caguas. Right now, there is no word of when the first store is scheduled to open.

President Bush Boosts Porn Industry

2008-07-04T05:52:00.001-04:30

Bet you didn't see that one coming, right. In what can only be seen as a cherry on top of, in my opinion, the most devastating presidency EVER, a recent study by an independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research Company), has discovered that many websites focused on adult or erotic material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks have appeared in millions of Americans' mailboxes across the country. These sites are a surprising beneficiary (really, really?) of the Economic Stimulus Plan, a plan that George Bush contends will "boost our economy and encourage job creation." Yeah, in the adult entertainment industry.

According to Kirk Mishkin, Head Research Consultant for AIMRCo, "Many of the sites we surveyed have reported 20-30% growth in membership rates since mid-May when the checks were first sent out, and typically the summer is a slow period for this market."

Jillian Fox, spokeswoman for LSGmodels.com, one of the sites reporting figures to AIMRCo, added, "In a June 15, 2008 survey to our members, thirty two percent of respondents referenced the recent stimulus package as part of their decision to either become a new member, or renew an existing membership."

The economic stimulus plan, which includes a check for up to $600 for individuals and $1200 for married couples (among other benefits), is the product of an agreement between House leaders and the Bush Administration, focused on reviving a struggling economy in the wake of a flagging economy.

Fox also added, "Getting more people to buy porn was probably the last thing Bush had on his mind when he came up with his 'stimulus package,' but we'll take it."

Guinness Confirms Mozilla World Record

2008-07-03T05:29:00.003-04:30

In what can only be deemed a world record word of mouth marketing campaign as well, in a massive grassroots community effort Guiness World Record organization has confirmed that Mozilla has established a new world record.

Mozilla announced it has set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours. The record-setting 8,002,530 downloads coincided with the launch of Firefox® 3, Mozilla’s major update to its popular and acclaimed free, open source Web browser.

Mozilla enthusiasts worldwide drove more than 1.7 million pledges to download Firefox 3 on Download Day, hosted regional download “fests,” and informed more than 43 million people through hosting Download Day affiliate buttons online. The global Mozilla community has been celebrating the historic goal of establishing a Guinness World Record with parties in more than 25 countries, including Puerto Rico's own little party: "Nobox Firefox 3 Victory Party".

“The enthusiasm and creativity of Firefox fans was instrumental in achieving this record,” said Paul Kim, VP of Marketing at Mozilla. “Our community members came together and not only spread the word, but also took the initiative to help mobilize millions of people to demonstrate their belief that Firefox gives people the best possible online experience.”

“As the arbiter and recorder of the world’s amazing facts, Guinness World Records is pleased to add Mozilla’s achievement to our archives,” said Gareth Deaves, Records Manager for Guinness World Records. “Mobilizing over 8 million internet users within 24 hours is an extremely impressive accomplishment and we would like to congratulate the Mozilla community for their hard work and dedication.”

Boston Concert Update - Living the Dream

2008-07-02T05:19:00.003-04:30

Well I still haven't been able to find any concert reviews yet, but I did find one place that does have quite a lot of feedback, and from the sounds of it, the tour is going very well, especially for Tommy DeCarlo. You're like who, right?

This is an amazing story that you HAVE to check out. Briefly, after the death of Brad Delp, a Boston fan wanted to demonstrate how much Delp and the band Boston's music had meant to him. After some encouragement by his children, the fan recorded himself singing along with some Boston songs, Karaoke style. He then uploaded the recordings to his MySpace page and then continued on with his regular routine of working for Home Depot.

He later gets a call, which changes his life forever. It seems that Tom Scholz somehow found the recordings and was extremely impressed and sort of freaked out. He couldn't believe how similar Tommy sounded to the recently deceased Delp. So Scholz invited Tommy up to Boston to sing along with the band. After hearing Tommy perform with the band, he was invited to perform live with them in a tribute to Delp. Well, the rest, as the say, is rock and roll history. Everyone was reeling from how close Tommy sounded to Delp, with many fans saying that he sounded exactly the same, including Scholz. So he invited Tommy to tour with the band this summer.

For Tommy DeCarlo it has become much "More than a Feeling," it became a dream come true. For not only was he living the life of a rock and roll singer, he was doing it with his favorite band as well. How's that for Rock and Roll Magic?

Boston Concert Update

So, as I said, the only place I've found with any sort of feedback is on Tommy DeCarlo's MySpace Page. There you'll not only be able to hear his original tribute songs, but you can catch the latest comments from his new fans.

I only wish a little bit of that magic would strike here in Puerto Rico, as ticket sales seem to be slow for their August 31st concert at Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot. A quick check of the tickets at TicketPop still has excellent tickets available in all sections. I'm sure sales will pick-up as the data nears, but if you want to witness magic, you get your tickets now. Closer is always better, when it comes to rock and roll shows.

Google and Adobe rescue local Flash websites

2008-07-01T14:57:00.009-04:30

Well I'll be [...fill in your favorite expression for being shocked and amazed at the same time, mine is...] a monkey's uncle. Which depending on which side of the argument for the Flying Spaghetti Monster you fall, might be true. Apparently Adobe has heard the cries of anguish and of gnashing teeth of the millions of website owners whose sites were invisible to the all powerful Google, whose 3rd commandment was "Those shalt not use Flash (that is, if you want to your site indexed by our search engine)."

Many of you out there have heard my rants on the over-use of Flash in websites built here in Puerto Rico. Well today Adobe announced that they have developed a special Flash application player especially for the major search engines. The new reader will permit the search engines to run a Flash movie as if the search engine were a regular user of the Rich Internet Application (RIA). With the reader the search engines will finally be able to understand what's inside of RIAs and other rich web content created with Adobe Flash technology and add that relevance back to the HTML page.

Both Google and Yahoo worked closely with Adobe engineers to develop the new Flash player, which to be clear is ONLY for the search engines. Except for improved search results, Internet users like you or I will not be affected. According to Ron Adler and Janis Stipins—software engineers on Google's indexing team:

"the new player will better index all of the text that users can see as they interact with a Flash file. If a website contains Flash, the textual content in the Flash files will be used when Google generates a snippet for the website. Also, the words that appear in Flash files will be used to match query terms in Google searches."

Fracking Amazing News for Puerto Rico Websites

This is amazingly fantastic news for the thousands and thousands of local websites which were done with Adobe Flash. Essentially they will immediately begin to show up in search results without having to do anything. So while local website owners benefit immensely from this announcement, it doesn't necessarily mean that websites will automatically start receiving first page search results. Standard search engine optimization will still be necessary to achieve those types of results. In addition, Adobe recommends that sites make use of deep links so that links coming into a site will drive relevance to the specific parts of an application.

While Google has already implemented the new technology, Yahoo (like everything else as recent events indicate) is lagging behind. Adobe promises to extend the benefit of the new technology to other search engines by exploring ways to make it more broadly available.

Puerto Rico American Idol Auditions

2008-06-30T08:37:00.005-04:30

Despite my disdain for the show and it's evil twin Objetivo Fama, there is no denying that I'm in the minority, because both dominate the ratings. And so it is, that for the first time, American Idol will conduct auditions for the 8th season of the show here in our little corner of the ocean.

On August 2nd, in the Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot, the production team from American Idol will conduct auditions. While the trio of judges, that I think everyone universally hates, but is strangely attracted to, will not be present at the auditions, it is rumored that they will be present when they begin to whittle the list of local contestants down. Or whatever it is they do during the course of the the show, because, I truthfully have never seen an episode of the program. Of course, since I've been doing the whole starving entrepreneur thing for a while now, cable is a distant memory. Anything I want to watch now has to come via BitTorrent, and believe me, my bandwidth is too precious to be spent downloading episodes of American Idol. In fact you can probably count on one hand the number of shows I do consider BitTorrent worthy.

While Puerto Rico has been excluded from the first seven seasons of the program, due to the popularity of Objetivo Fama (OF), I guess they want to jump on the bandwagon and see if they can duplicate the following of OF. I'm skeptical, because there are many factors that work together to make OF so successful here in PR. I guess we'll soon find out. If you start to hear people talking about American Idol everywhere you go, then they will have succeeded.

To participate in the auditions, participants must be between 16 and 28, and be willing to travel to the United States. Two days before the auditions, the production team of the program will be giving out bracelets to aspiring singers, which will determine the time of their audition. They are hoping that will limit the usual insane behavior that that usually accompanies an event of this magnitude. I wish them luck with that, LOL.

Value is in the eye of the buyer

2008-06-29T07:58:00.006-04:30

Seth Godin has many fans. Many of those fans would agree that he is popular because he knows how to self promote. You'll get no argument from me there, in my opinion, he is the most successful self-promoter on the Internet. But, for me, Seth is most successful in identifying and debunking the little lies we surround ourselves with in the business world.

While it's not usually my style, I just can't help but reproduce his blog post entitled "No such thing as price pressure," because it cuts straight to the heart of the problem we are having with DóndeEs.com. Here's what Seth has to say about commodity pricing of your products:

"Your sales force and your customers may scream that you need to lower your price.

It's not true.

You need to increase your value. If people don't want to pay, it's because you're not delivering enough value for the money you're charging.

You're not selling a commodity unless you want to."

I think, the crucial point here is the "perception" of value. Especially when the value you are offering is intangible, or worse than intangible, technological. For when it comes to technology, nothing becomes more difficult to perceive for your customer than something they fundamentally don't understand or perceive as a necessary evil, like anything related to computers (unfortunately here in Puerto Rico it's almost always all of the above).

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: jurvetson

Starbucks Coffee losing steam in Puerto Rico

2008-06-28T08:19:00.001-04:30

Either our economy is much worse than anyone is actually saying or Starbucks Coffee is guilty of over-zealous expansion, because this week they announced that they would be closing three stores. According to a report from the Forbes web site, the stores will be closed in June, and all of the employees would be transferred to other stores.

Although the Chicken Little in me wants to say it's the former, I have to be honest and say that it's probably a little bit of both. As I've said before, Starbucks growth in Puerto Rico has been surprising for many people, but of course, if you've traveled to any major city in the Unites States it isn't that much of a surprise. In the heart of most cities like New York, Boston, or Portland, you'll commonly find what seems like a Starbucks on every other corner. Of course, much like when I predicted that Macy's wouldn't do well here in Puerto Rico, what people missed is that it was never about the coffee (just as I missed that Macy's was never about their merchandise). What Starbucks offered was a unique experience unmatched in the marketplace. It made you feel special when you finally figured out how to order what you wanted; you joined an exclusive group that made you feel superior to those that were clueless (just as some believe when they are walking around with a Macy's bag in their hand).

According to Starbucks spokesman in Puerto Rico, Adolfo Santana, the stores struggled financially because they were too close to other Starbucks locations. There's probably some truth to that, but I think when Outback, Ruby Tuesdays, and TGIFridays are also closing stores, the poor economy has to be equally responsible. The conclusion: for this market Starbucks may have reached its limit, especially in the San Juan metroplex.

What will be curious to see is if they continue with plans to open additional stores in other locations. If you check our map of Starbucks locations, there are at least three locations that I would open if I were Starbucks. The locations, in this order of priority, are: Mayagüez, Ponce, and Aguadilla or Arecibo.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: hlkljgk