Hispanicize 2012, the annual event for Latino "trendsetters and newsmakers" (phrase from the website) kicks off on Tuesday, April 10, in the heavily Latino-influenced city of Miami, Fla.
The event gathers Latinos or Hispanics primarily working in the areas of branding, media, marketing, and entertainment thus enabling various opportunities such as presenting new products, exchanging ideas, starting new projects and more.
The event began three years ago as a public relations conference but has, since then, become a hotspot for businesses and celebrities who may have a Latino background themselves or may be interested in tapping into the ever-growing Latino consumer base in the U.S.
Manny Ruiz, the founder of Hispanicize 2012, told Fox News Latino, "Everybody's been writing about the new Latino century, that we're having an influence. But Latinos are still very much stuck in the barrio, as far as opportunities. We don't know how to find them, we don't know how to grab them. I hope to be part of that solution."
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The four-day event is expected to gather more than 700 attendees and will include 85 sessions.
Some of the renown individuals, actors, celebrities that have confirmed presence at Hispanicize 2012 are:
Steven Bauer (Scarface)
Cesar Millian (The Dog Whisperer)
Emilio Estefan (19-time GRAMMY-winning Music Producer)
Jessy Terrero (director of Gun and Soul Plane)
Gina Rodriguez (Filly Brown)
Dominik Garcia-Lorido (Magic City)
Yul Vazquez (Magic City)
Nely Galan (Entrepreneur, The Swan)
Pepe Serna (Scarface)
Maria Elena Salinas (Univision anchor)
Angel Salazar (Scarface)
Mauricio Mendoza (Unknowns, Resurrection Blvd.,)
Yeniffer Behrens (Unknowns, Decisions)
According to the 2010 Census, Latinos make up 16.3 of the U.S. population at about 50.5 million. This number is expected to grow to 132 million by 2050 representing one third of the total population.
The purchasing power for U.S. Hispanics is expected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2015 according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth.
Hispanicize 2012 runs from April 10 - 13.
For more information visit: https://www.hispanicizeevent.com