Companies Support Underprivileged Inner-City Latino Kids; Distribute New
Baseball Equipment in Top Hispanic Markets

New York, N.Y. (Sep. 4, 2007) – For more than 100 years, Latinos have made
significant historic contributions to the game of baseball and its
development on a global level. In recognition of this passion,
LatinoBaseball.com announces the Urban Youth Baseball Initiative to
support and promote the game among deserving Latino inner-city youth.
        Since many of today’s superstar franchise players are of Hispanic
descent, it’s understandable that baseball is growing at an even higher
rate of popularity among urban Latino youth than any other ethnic group.
        “We applaud the legacy of modern superstars and the current growth they
are encouraging among Latino youth in the inner cities,” said Ralph
Paniagua, president of
R. Paniagua Inc. (RPI), and publisher of LatinoBaseball.com.  “In
addition, we recognize the efforts of the coaches who take the time to
organize and operate youth baseball leagues throughout America.”
        “We have, however, noticed that some kids aren’t able to gain
access to some of the most basic baseball equipment such as
gloves, bats and baseballs.  Although participation in baseball
among Latino inner-city youth is on the rise, the equipment they
both need and deserve is often beyond their reach,” said Paniagua.
“Programs that supply these needs are thankfully made possible
with the assistance of good corporate citizens like CITGO
Petroleum Corp., the Venezuelan oil concern.”
        In four cities, including Miami, Houston, New York and Chicago, 50 Latino
youth baseball teams will be hand-selected by their local big league team
to participate in the grassroots initiative.  Four of the selected teams
will then win the opportunity to play in a “round robin” mini-tournament,
and the winning team in each city will be featured during the Hispanic
Heritage Day at the Ballpark festivities.
        The Urban Youth Baseball Initiative and mini-tournament will take
place at a local ball field chosen by each professional big league
baseball team. The dates for those tournaments are as follows:
Miami on Sept. 1, Houston on Sept. 15, New York on Sept. 21, and
Chicago on Sept. 26, from 9 to 4 p.m.  The Hispanic Heritage Day
at the Ballpark events will occur during the regularly scheduled
big league baseball game that evening.
        “Everyone will be a winner. All of the kids involved will be treated to a
day of ballpark food and beverages while watching the mini-tournaments,”
said Paniagua. “We would like to thank CITGO for its commitment to
baseball and its dedication to making dreams a reality for inner-city
youth.”
        In addition to CITGO’s sponsorship, the company will also provide each
team with an equipment bag including 15 new baseball gloves for kids age
12-13, three bats and a dozen baseballs.
Latinobaseball.com is also planning an online Latino baseball history
contest for teams located outside of the four participating Urban Youth
Baseball Initiative markets, which will provide an opportunity for
additional urban youth baseball teams to win an equipment bag of their
own.
        LatinoBaseball.com is the premiere Web site documenting the
history of Latinos in the game of baseball.  The site offers the
latest statistics on big league players who are Latinos, as well
as historical data and articles of interest on the great Latino
players of yesteryear. In addition, visitors can find an online
database of facts and figures on Latinos and their contributions
to professional big-league baseball history, the Caribbean World
Series and the Caribbean Winter League.
        Hispanic Heritage Day at the Ballpark honors the achievements of past and
present star Latino ballplayers in the big leagues with a four-minute
scoreboard video presentation to the fans, followed by an on-field award
presentation to a current Latino baseball star and legend of the game for
their achievements on and off the field.  Fans in each city are
encouraged to log on to www.LatinoBaseball.com to vote for their local
team’s recipient of the Latino Baseball Player of the Year Award.

About Latinobaseball.com:
        Latinobaseball.com, first produced as a magazine in 1990, is published by
R. Paniagua, Inc. RPI is committed to excellence in providing
qualitative, integrated, media-leveraged Latino marketing communications
programs that are relevant and provide value to the community. RPI is
among the most unique and innovative media content providers and urban
events marketing firm in the US and serving the Latino community.  The
firm targets US based Latino audiences with exciting event promotions
that deliver this exciting consumer segment and a healthy return on
investment.  For more information about these and other RPI events and
media properties, log on to www.LatinoBaseball.com or call Ralph Paniagua
at (212) 679-6755.

About CITGO:
CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of
transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals, refined waxes, asphalt
and other industrial products.  The company is owned by PDV America, Inc.,
an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the
national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.  For more
information visit www.citgo.com.

                                         Contacts: Ralph Paniagua
                                          R. Paniagua, Inc.
                                          212/679-6755 (office)
                                          917/446-3346 (cell)
                                          Ralph@rpaniagua.net

                                          J.M. De Jesús
                                          QUADRANT TWO PR
                                          (646) 234-7196
                                          jm@q2pr.com

14th ANNUAL HISPANIC HERITAGE DAY AT THE BALLPARK

CELEBRATION IN SIX BIG LEAGUE U.S. STADIUMS

URBAN YOUTH BASEBALL EQUIPMENT GIVE-AWAY

New York, NY — August 21, 2007 – R. Paniagua Inc., the Latino media content provider and media-leveraged special events marketing firm, announced two unique urban baseball programs in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month 2007. 

            RPI, publisher of Latinobaseball.com, will produce its signature big league baseball event, Hispanic Heritage Day at the Ballpark in six stadiums including Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston throughout the month of September.

Now in its 14^th year of celebrating the legacy of Latinos in big league baseball, RPI has enhanced the program by allowing fans to vote for their favorite local player online, and designing an Urban Youth initiative that will distribute much needed baseball equipment to 200 teams in the Top 4 US Hispanic markets.  

“RPI consistently delivers relevant cultural promotions that deliver results to corporate sponsors and value to the community,” said Ralph Paniagua, President of R. Paniagua Inc., publishers of Latinobaseball.com.  “Now that our events and media properties have come of age, and the Latino contribution to baseball has surpassed all expectations and still continues to grow, the timing to introduce this multifaceted program is right on schedule. And in 2008 we will add an educational component.” Paniagua concluded. 

RPI’s Latinobaseball.com brings the rich culture of Hispanic Heritage Month and Latinos in baseball to greater prominence with the Hispanic Heritage Day at the Ballpark events. This year the HHD will honor the #1 local Latino player in New York, Chicago . Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles and Miami . But the added feature is that fans will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite player online at Latinobaseball.com. And one lucky fan in each market will participate in the pre-game presentation. 

RPI has enlisted the support of Miami-based Hispanic marketing agency BVK/Meka to develop an Urban Youth Baseball Initiative in four top US Hispanic markets for one of this agency’s top clients.  The initiative will provide baseball equipment bags to 200 youth baseball teams (Ages 12-13), selected by their local big league franchise in each of four major U.S. Hispanic market cities.  Each bag will contain 3 wooden bats, 1 dozen baseballs and 15 gloves for 12-13 year olds. Teams not selected can log on at the site for their chance to receive the custom made equipment bag.    

 “At BVK we know that for Latinos, baseball is an important part of our lifestyles, our psyches, our dreams and motivation.  We are proud to help our client participate in a program that keeps the dreams in our youth flourishing and promotes team play in inner-city Latino USA ,” said Gonzalo Gonzalez, Managing Director of BVK/Meka. 

  The R. Paniagua name has become synonymous with Latinos in baseball, publishing Latinobaseball.com, a site dedicated to preserving the history of Latinos in professional baseball in the US and the Caribbean .  

            Latinobaseball.com documents all of the past and present statistics and keeps rankings of the top Latino baseball players in the big leagues, in addition to historical statistics on the Caribbean Winter League and Caribbean World Series. Latinobaseball.com even contains a searchable database of every Latino who has played in Professional baseball by Country of origin and a Photo gallery that presents a historical overview of Caribbean baseball dating back to 1878.

RPI’s track record of success contains highlights such as being the first company to produce and broadcast the Caribbean World Series on US Television, Latino-themed English language television properties such as Latin Beat and VIVA America on BET Jazz channel, and the World Domino Tournament on ESPN Deportes. The company also introduced VIVA NY Magazine, the first US bilingual publication distributed monthly in the NY Daily News, in addition to publishing Latinoboxing.com and Latinobaseball.com. RPI produces some of the top US Latino cultural, musical and educational events in the genre today.   

For more information visit www.Latinobaseball.com or www.rpaniagua.com. 

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New York, NY – April 4, 2007 – QUADRANT TWO PR (Q2PR) CEO, J.M. De Jesús, announced today that his firm has been selected as a finalist in the Hispanic market account review for the Cash Zone® regional PR and marketing assignment.   

If selected, the assignment would represent the fifth banking and financial services client for the nationally respected boutique PR and Multicultural Marketing Communications firm.   In the past, Q2PR has represented four other banking and financial services companies including: Banco Popular (NY), Wells Fargo (LA), Fleet Boston (prior to its becoming part of Bank of America), and Chase Home Finance (National).  

About Q2PR: QUADRANT TWO PR is a nationally recognized General, Hispanic & Multicultural PR and Marketing Communications firm based in Guttenberg, NJ and operating throughout the US . The firm was started in 1994 as QUADRANT II MEDIA CORPORATION, and restructured under its new name in 2006.  The firm has served the Fortune 50 and 500, and other smaller and mid-sized entities seeking to get their messages out to the public and other constituencies. The firm operates in the business to business and business to consumer sectors and specializes in the US Hispanic market niche, in addition to its general market capabilities. To learn more visit http://www.q2pr.com

About J.M. De Jesús: José Manuel De Jesús is a bilingual media and marketing expert with over 20 years of experience as a journalist in TV, radio, print and the internet, US Latino marketing and public relations. In 1994 he began Quadrant II Media Corporation(renamed QUADRANT TWO PR in 2006), a national Hispanic market public relations and marketing communications firm and serves as its President & CEO. Q2PR’s portfolio includes work for some of America ’s largest and most successful corporations including: Ford Motor Company, Chase Home Finance, Kraft Foods, Eastman Kodak, Miss Clairol, Welch’s, P&G, PepsiCo and many others. In 2000 the firm was awarded the Ford Motor Company’s Minority Supplier, Minority Dealer Initiative account. De Jesús began his career an independent producer in the mid 80’s and in 1988 joined WPIX Channel 11 News as weekend assignment editor and community affairs reporter.  In the early 90’s he worked at WNYW Fox 5 News as an early AM assignment editor and field producer.  In the mid to late 90s he was a crime court and investigative reporter on Bronxnet News 67.  De Jesús is published in El Nuevo Essex (El Nuevo Group Newspapers), WorldVoiceNews.org (formerly USAVoice.org), LARitmo.com among other publications on Business, U.S. Hispanic Affairs, Latinos and the media, and general assignment news. In addition, J.M. is a member of the National Society of Hispanic MBA’s and Chairman of the Corporate Advisory Board of its Denver, CO chapter.

###

Taco
Bell reported that the Centers for Disease control had placed the blame on the lettuce used as the culprit responsible for the more than 80 E. coli bacteria food poisonings reported in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. 

Originally the blame was placed on the green onion used in the Taco Bell products but statistical analyses conducted by the CDC determined that it was contaminated lettuce used which most likely carried the harmful E. coli.  President Greg Creed went on a full PR “defensive” to assure the public that its food is safe for consumption and that the contamination was limited to outlets in those four states and has been eradicated by thorough cleanings.  As yet undetermined, is the extent to which this incident has damaged the Taco Bell brand name?  Surely the image polishing and damage control will continue as a testament to the management leadership of Mr. Creed in a crisis and the crisis communications advice he receives from his publicity agencies of record. RBC Capital Markets analyst Larry Miller was quoted by CNN and said the outbreak could affect Taco Bell sales in the short term. “It will take time for consumers to get confidence back, but it will come back,” he said.Over 80 people became ill after suffering food poisoning in reaction to eating the tainted Taco Bell products.  Naturally, there will also be civil law suits resulting from this incident.  We will be watching and report on the goings-on.  Taco Bell has had other troubles in the past.  According to recently televised reports, a male employee was arrested after allegedly spitting into a customer’s food.  Nine people remained hospitalized, including an 11-year-old boy in stable condition with kidney damage. New Jersey’s health commissioner has said the most recent case of E. coli was reported November 29, so the danger of infection appears to have passed.  E. coli is found in human and livestock feces. Undercooked meat is the known cause of most E. coli infections. E. coli can also be found on leafy vegetables such as spinach or sprouts. The germs can be spread by people if they do not thoroughly wash their hands after using the bathroom.Escherichia coli (E. coli), is ordinarily a harmless and common bacteria, but certain strains can cause abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, fever, kidney failure, blindness, paralysis and even death.Taco Bell established a telephone number for members of the public with concerns about the outbreak, 1-800-TACO BELL.J.M. De Jesus 

Publisher - HispanicPRNow.blog.com &

President

QUADRANT TWO PR

jm@q2pr.com

The National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA)  held their 17th Annual Conference and Career Expo at the Duke Energy Center in downtown Cincinnati, October 26-28, 2006.

The theme of the conference was “Embracing our heritage and bridging our future.”  The principal sponsor was Procter & Gamble.  The conference is said to have been the largest of its type ever held in the city and the second largest ever held in its history overall. 

Over 9,000 sponsors, professionals and students attended the conference.  The event also featured the unveiling of a new research publication in addition to a high-gloss magazine, Hispanic Professional.

The event featured numerous receptions and luncheons highlighting speakers from Procter & Gamble, Ford Motor Company as well as from other large corporate entities in attendance. 

My personal favorite was the exhibit floor with hundreds of exhibiting companies there to recruit the best and the brightest Latino business minds. Of all the parties, Target Corporation put on the most entertaining.  It was like being at Club Target. The lights, the music and the live performers were terrific.

I’m happy to report meeting impressive Latino’s from throughout the entire nation. 

I also had the pleasure of assisting the PR effort, setting up some additional TV interview coverage for NSHMBA President Lourdes Hassler.

In all, it was a fantastic conference and I feel extremely proud to be included in the membership of such an amazing and dynamic organization.     

J.M. De Jesus

Publisher HispanicPRNow.blog.com &

President

QUADRANT TWO PUBLIC RELATIONS

jm@q2pr.com

Publicist, entrepreneur and business advisor, J.M. De Jesus recently announced his appointment to serve as President of the Corporate Board of Advisors for the Denver Chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (or NSHMBA by its acronym). 

Mr. De Jesus, is currently President of QUADRANT TWO PR, a national PR and marketing communications firm specialized in the U.S. Hispanic and multicultural markets. 

“We feel fortunate and are very excited to have a person of JM’s experience and depth of knowledge in the public relations and media industries, share his expertise with our membership,” said Stephanie A. Herrera, President of the Denver NSHMBA chapter and Herrera Mortgage.
 

“It is a distinct honor for me to be offered and accept this charge for the betterment of both the Colorado and national Hispanic communities around the U.S. by a branch of what is the premiere Hispanic organization in the U.S.” said De Jesus.  “I hope to be able to assist the chapter management in its promotion and image both locally and on a national level, with future members and its sponsors.” he added. 

José Manuel (“J.M.”) De Jesús is a bilingual media and marketing expert with over 20 years of experience in journalism, public relations and US Latino marketing.

In 1994, he launched QUADRANT TWO PR (formerly QUADRANT II MEDIA CORPORATION), a national Hispanic and multicultural market public relations firm and currently serves as its President.

QUADRANT TWO PR’s portfolio includes work for some of

America’s largest corporations including: Ford Motor Company, Chase Home Finance, Kraft, Eastman Kodak, Miss Clairol, Welch’s, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Anheuser Busch and many others.

“JM” is a Certified Business Advisor at the Boricua College Small Business Development Center in Brooklyn, NY and is a former Account Supervisor of PR at the UniWorld Group, Inc., planning and managing the agency’s Hispanic market press and community relations initiatives on the Colgate-Palmolive Bright Smiles, Bright Futures (Sonrisas Brillantes, Futuros Brillantes) and Mead Johnson Nutritionals (Nutrament) accounts among other multicultural duties. He served as general market consultant to the launch team for Lactobacillus GG and scientific poster sessions on Welch’s Purple Grape Juice accounts among many others as consultant to Julie McQuain Public Relations and Mammoth Group.

De Jesús began his career an independent producer in the mid 80’s and later joined WPIX Channel 11 News as assignment editor and community affairs reporter. In the early 90s he worked at Fox flagship station WNYW Fox 5 News as an early AM assignment editor and field producer. In the mid to late 90s he was a crime court and investigative reporter on Bronxnet News 67. De Jesús is a freelance reporter/photographer for the Spanish language Grupo El Nuevo newspapers in northern NJ and has been published in Electronic Media, Hispanic Business, Vista Magazine, LARitmo.com, VIVA NY, NY Latino and other publications on US Hispanic affairs, Latinos and the media and general assignment spot news.

“JM” is currently an MBA in Marketing candidate at Regis University in Denver, CO, and holds a BA in Journalism from Baruch College in New York.

  The National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) was created in 1988 as a 501(C) (3) non-profit organization. Widely known as the “Premier Hispanic Organization,” NSHMBA serves 29 chapters and 7,000 members in the
U.S. and Puerto Rico. It exists to foster Hispanic leadership through graduate management education and professional development. NSHMBA works to prepare Hispanics for leadership positions throughout the U.S., so that they can provide the cultural awareness and sensitivity vital in the management of the nation’s diverse workforce. The organization is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Applauds Bush Immigration Stand

I applaud President Bush’s stand for the rights of Latino immigrants.  Immigrants who make a tough choice of leaving families behind to endure the long, rigorous, sometimes deadly trek through the desert, and now, across a border lined with trigger-ready civilian Minutemen.  Theirs’ is a path of desperation, not choice.   Poverty, hunger and no sight of a brighter future would send anyone on a quest for a better life.

The National Guard will not resolve the administrative land-mine employers face processing paperwork to hire legally.  Visas are labor intensive and HR nightmares for companies with many immigrant employees.  A streamlined application process needs to be created, then employers would have no reason for non-compliance and immigrants could rise out of the shadows as defenseless migrants who are helping fill a need for employers in the U.S.

Katie O’Brien, CEO

ListaLatina.com

415-571-3587

Katie@Lista-Latina.com

I have the distinct honor of having been on the PR team for the FC Barcelona United States Tour 2006 which took place from August 4-12 in Los Angeles, Houston and New York for three exhibition games.  FC Barcelona is part of the Interliga.

Due to the recent FIFA World Cup media coverage, the sport of soccer is enjoying what is perhaps its greatest popularity ever in the US.  This tour confirms and further illustrates the power of professional sports icons such as Ronaldinho of Brazil, Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon and Rafa Marquez of Mexico, all of whom play on FC Barcelona. FCB boasts the largest fan membership of any soccer team on the planet. 

I was recruited for this fascinating assignment by Miguel Sebastia, President of I-Latina in NY, with whom I also share this enviable success.

The tour was promoted by Major League Soccer and sponsored by Cingular.  The team itself is also sponsored by Nike. The tour included two unforgettable Nike clinics in L.A. and NYC on two recently renovated soccer fields located in inner city communities.  In NY for instance, the clinic took place on the Lower East Side.  Unfortunately, the rain diminished the number of participants to a couple of thousand people  (Yes, that’s right that’s the diminished number). While in L.A. over ten thousand attended the clinics which featured players like Lionel Messi giving pointers to inner-city youth interested in the game and featured a three-on-three tournament after the team’s visit.

The most impressive thing to me was the amount of people which attended the games.  In both L.A. and Houston attendance records were set for the matches against Chivas Guadalajara and Chivas America respectively.  Both those matches ended in ties by the way.   

In NY/NJ the match was against the NY Red Bulls at Giants Stadium. By media accounts, the Red Bulls normally average a bit over 15,000 fans. The August 12 match was sold out and attended by no less than 70,002, according to the stadium announcers calling the game. 

The press coverage was a frenzy and my personal institutional efforts netted hits in print, TV, the Internet and other media.  Chief among the institutional tour for the team was a visit to a local children’s cancer hospital in Houston where sick children from around the world were able to meet, greet and get autographs from FC Barcelona players, some of whom were so moved they reportedly left the hospital in tears.   The team also was treated to a special visit to NASA facilities in Houston that not even certain armed forces generals and members of the executive branch ever get to see.

I had the honor of working with SUMWorld publicists David Morton and Gabe Gabor, who recently informed me that due to our combined efforts, “This tour was the greatest ever in the sport of soccer and the history of the U.S.” These gentlemen are tireless and top professionals in the field. It has indeed been my pleasure to meet them in the process of handling the tour’s institutional media coverage of team executives.

J.M. De Jesus

President

QUADRANT TWO PR

jm@q2pr.com 

Hispanic PR and Media Family,

I wish to extend a warm invitation to you, to post your news, information and insights on what’s happening out in the ever-growing and exciting world of the Hispanic PR and media communities.

We know that you guys are making things happen, so please let the rest of us-and the online world-know by posting comments and news of your-and your client’s-work efforts.

What’s the latest campaign doing out there and who is conducting it? If it’s you or your staff, we want to hear from you.  Just go to the bottom of this listing and click on “Comments.”  We look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

J.M. De Jesus

Publisher

http://www.HispanicPRNow.blog.com &

President

QUADRANT TWO PR

(646) 234-7196

jm@q2pr.com

I recently had my heart crushed when I read the story about a family in Stillmore, GA which had been forced to abandon their US born child with a babysitter after the father had been arrested by federal immigration agents and the mother fled into the Georgia countryside, along with dozens of other undocumented workers.  This happened in a small and sleepy town of about 700-prior to the influx of immigrants, mostly from Mexico-who transformed the town’s economy into a bustling one. 

I do not always agree with our President but in one thing I am in complete agreement with him on-and I believe Stillmore is a perfect example of this. We need these people to make our own economy operate.  Just look at what reportedly happened in Stillmore after the raids and arrests began in Stillmore, GA.  Stores where the immigrants purchased food and other products were forced to close after reporting that their morning sales had dropped from over a hundred to just a few, since most of their customers were the immigrants for products like food, cigarettes and beer.   Local trailer-parks where many of these people live, were almost completely abandoned. No one was left around to pay the rents to owners. This is a real disaster for our economy.  A local chicken processing plant-the only large business in the vicinity-lost over a hundred workers after being forced to demand residency and immigration status checks from their employees by the federal agents. 

Local residents and business owners were apalled and one man told the AP, “These people may not have American rights but they sure do have human rights.  There ain’t no reason to treat them like animals. They are not here to blow us up. I’m a die-hard Republican, but I think we missed the boat on this one.” 

In taking such a “tough” and humiliating stance on immigration, are we biting the nose off of this country’s economy?  It would certainly seem so by the example of Stillmore.  There must be other alternatives and I call upon our legislators to make this issue more of what it is, an administrative, not a criminal matter.  Heaven knows, there are plenty of criminals in our society who should be evicted from this country, not hard-working people who are actually helping the economy with their living expenditures and are actually creating business growth where none seems to exist.   

Please stop outsourcing our jobs overseas and start creating a comprehensive and sane immigration policy that demonstrates an appreciation of the difference between hard working people-we should be welcoming as neighbors-and criminals.

J.M. De Jesus

President

QUADRANT TWO PR

(646) 234-7196

jm@q2pr.com