One of several Latino-themed panels in SXSWi had the title “Austin: Latino Internet Capital of the World,” and, by all indications, no one in the room thought it necessary to quibble with the bold title.
Bloggers, writers, artists, app developers, musicians, and the curious came for the free tacos, as did representatives from some major marketing and P.R. firms catering to the Latin market (LatinWorks, Bromley Communications, among others). Not only was Texas represented but so were Argentina, Venezuela, and Mexico.
No one argued that Austin was the place for a digitally savvy Latino to live and work – its location and cost of living along with a creative environment across several spectrums (music, the computer industry, education, arts) make it a no-brainer. And then there are the tacos – or not. A recent New York Times article by John T. Edge sang the praises of Austin’s breakfast tacos causing an uproar on social networking sites, especially after Cindy Casares, the managing editor of Guanabee.com wrote about it (she turns her nose up at Austin’s breakfast taco treasures, preferring those found in San Antonio.)
Guanabee.com, the “gossip, pop culture, and media site for the Latino in you,” aimed at young, college-educated professionals is based in New York, but brought its presence to Austin when Casares decided to move back to Austin. Originally from Brownsville, she’s been in Austin for a year, joining a wave that has seen the quiet but energetic growth of LatinWorks, Mercury Mambo, the relocation of Banda Elastica, the Latin rock and music site, from Mexico to Austin two years ago, and countless other known and unknown moves that is, from the collectively felt hunches in the workshop that attracted 25+ participants, has made Austin the go-to place for the Latino technoratti to live, work, and more importantly, thrive.
This article appears in March 12 • 2010.