Conferences, Book Launches and Much More in the XI Dominican Book Fair in New York

The Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD/Funglode) facilitated a number of activities at the XI Dominican Book Fair over the last weekend, October 12th and 13th, 2018.

The XI Dominican Book Fair got underway Friday October 12th, when Dominican Minister of Culture Eduardo Selman gave welcoming words and highlighted the importance of Professor Juan Bosch, to whom the XI Dominican Book Fair in New York was
dedicated.

The New York City Commissioner of Culture, Carlos Sánchez, thanked the Fair’s supporting institutions, among them GFDD/Funglode. Sánchez stressed that the celebration was developed under the leadership Franklin Gutierrez, who is a supporter of the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Culture and the Dominican Diaspora in the United States.

GFDD Director
in New York, Yamile Eusebio and International Exchange Program Assistant, Manuel Medrano were present at the Book Fair and helped facilitated the various workshops, conferences and chats that took place.

Among the events led by GFDD/Funglode were a workshop on food journalism and digital marketing, a discussion on Dominican cuisine and several books launches with Dominican authors. Dozens of interested guests gathered at the George Washington High School on Audubon Ave in
New York City to participate in the two-day-long fair.

In the early afternoon of Saturday, the discussion “Digital Communication and its Role in Spreading Dominican Food” took place, under the direction of Food Blogger and food journalist, Elaine Hernández. It was an audiovisual demonstration focused on the power of technology and websites such as Trip Advisor and Yelp, which support the sharing of cuisine and food recommendations.

Among the points highlighted by Hernández were that, until very recently, communication about gastronomy was limited to journalists and the most well-known cooks. Nowadays, such tools can be used by the entire public to promote the spread the love of cuisine, and in this case Dominican foods and recipes.

Linda Valette, businesswoman and author shared with around twenty guests her experience and trajectory in the financial sector. In her book “Ser Mujer
en un Mundo de Hombres” (Being a Women in a Man’s World) Valette stresses the importance of chasing your dreams, despite facing obstacles or barriers that hold you down. As a businesswoman, Valette faced many gender-based obstacles. Today she is the head of one of the most important international financial institutions in the Dominican Republic.

Valette, who has received recognition from Forbes and Mercado magazines, took photos and signed books at the
GFDD/Funglode table following her presentation.

The final event on Saturday was a launch of the book “From Scratch. Creando desde la nada,” with its author Ricardo Tirado, economist, coach and international speaker. Tirado shared with an engaged audience the importance of doing things that make us happy, which was the driving force for him to make this very book. “From Scratch. Creando desde la nada” offers readers the opportunity
to build a mindset that can be used in any aspect of life, to create something out of nothing; all it takes is dedication and motivation.

The Book Fair activities continued with two exciting discussions on Sunday afternoon and evening.

The conference “the Juan Bosch Library located at Funglode in the Dominican Republic,” took place in the afternoon and was led by Aida Montero, the director of that library. Montero highlighted the
learning opportunities that the institution offers the general public, mentioning that the library is an “open resource for all things Dominican.” Among those resources are the Revista Ahora Digital, digital catalogues, electronic resources, bibliographies, United Nations archives and many audiovisual tools.

The last presentation with GFDD/Funglode was the launching of “I Jornada del Conocimiento. Los centros de informacion: motores del
cambio que transforman vidas” (1st Knowledge Conference: Drivers of Change that Transform Lives). This activity was also led by Montero, the editor of the book.

The book is a compilation of presentations that took place at Funglode headquarters on July 23rd  and 24th, 2014. The Knowledge Conference aimed to create a dynamic space for the debate of ideas and exchange of viewpoints and a place for students and professionals involved in the field of libraries,
books and information. During this presentation, Montero shared one of the most novel initiatives of the library, La Guaguita Cultural, which attempts to create a space for dynamic community building and to tap into the literary, artistic, cinematographic and cultural potential of children, young people and adults in the Dominican Republic.

More information on the Juan Bosch Library: http://bibliotecajuanbosch.org