#SXSW Future15 – Digital Diversity -- Sunday afternoon, March 14

We need to develop the pipeline of Latinos in social media, desperately. We need to develop the front end of that pipeline with our youth and folks who are new to the world of social media but who are doing some incredible organizing on the ground and in our community. We need to develop the pipeline with those who are in the middle and who already know a thing or two about social media but who could really benefit from a mentor and some good networking. Finally, we need to develop that pipeline for our experts who are amazingly gifted, experienced and poised to take center stage. That is where I think Latinos in Social Media comes in.

Kety Esquivel has over fifteen years of experience in the non‐profit, private and political sectors. She directed Latino outreach for the Clark Presidential Campaign. Her work has taken her to China and Ethiopia with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. She spent three years coaching executives on human capital and diversity in the US, Canada and Latin America.

Esteban Contreras is a creative, analytical, and experienced young professional. Passionate and knowledgeable about the convergence of technology, marketing, and social media. Living in Dallas, TX. Blogcasting worldwide.

This event hopes to bring together Latinos who have registered for SXSW Interactive, as well as locals from the Austin new media/digital creative community ... so, no badge required for entry. As for Latino oriented programming at the 2010 SXSW Interactive Festival, be sure to check out "The Online Latino: A New Digital Native" with Esteban Contreras, "Is Technology the Great Equalizer?" with Kety Esquivel, and "Austin: Latino Internet Capitol of the World!" with Paul Saucido and Cindy Casares.

To boldy go where few Latinos have been expected to go before, the Latino blogger, columnist, citizen journalist has finally arrived. Learn about what is happening online and offline in Latin America, including Streisand effects, citizen journalism, social injustice, and the digital divide. Find out more about the bloggers that are leaving a mark in the US and worldwide in the name of Latin America when it comes to politics, social justice, marketing, music and tech.

Heather hosted Austin Gay Pride, has written for Alan Cumming, and hosts her own talk show podcast, The Heather Gold Show which features bold conversations about politics, relationships and big life questions, mingling web celebrities with the avant-garde, with guests including Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, blogger Merlin Mann, and twitter founder Ev Williams. boingboing calls her “one of our favorite comedians.”

The Gay Place's Andy and Kate chat with SXSW Interactive panelist and internet bon vivant Heather Gold.

She has a Bachelors degree in Sociology and Women's Studies from SUNY Albany and a Masters in Women's Studies from San Francisco State focused on blogging, gender, social networking technology and activism. She is on the advisory board at Wiretap Magazine. She has written for New American Media, Wiretap, Colorlines, the Nation and the American Prospect. She has been featured in India Currents Magazine, Nirali Magazine and Alternet.

Samhita Mukhopadhyay is a 29 year old writer, activist and geek, based in San Francisco. She is the Training and Technology Coordinator at Youth Media Counci...

I’d like to engage in an exercise that’s almost the reverse of that. Instead of imagining Hypothetical King in 2010, I’m imagining a world in which today’s tools exist in King’s day. Specifically, I want to know what Dr. King would make of Twitter, the insistent social-media service that asks its users to describe “What’s happening?” in 140 characters or less.

Emcee Baratunde Thurston is an editor for The Onion, frequently performing and providing witty political commentary for popular destinations such as Jack & Jill Politics, The Huffington Post, DailyKos and on his own site baratunde.com. He has even been named "someone I need to know" by Barack Obama.

I’ll be describing some examples of how social media and online “tech” have been and can be used to fight sexism. Many thanks go out to Glenda Bautista and Hugh Forrest for considering me a replacement for the original speaker who had to back out at the last minute.

Cinnamon Cooper taught herself to sew on her Holly Hobby sewing machine when she was a wee lass. She made the cutest outfits for her cats and dolls. When she got older it took a while for her skills to catch up with her style. Eventually she realized that sewing handbags and totes was great fun because they didn't have to fit her hips or her waist. About the same time, she got huge urges to help save the world and began making and donating bags to raise money for non-profit organizations.