BAIAblog

BAIA has a new website!

Dear friends of BAIA,

The New Year starts with a bang for the BAIA community: we are launching a redesigned web site and a revamped BAIA Link.

Here is what’s new:

• Redesigned BAIA web site: the new site spells out what BAIA is all about. It lists upcoming events on the home page, and showcases the most recent discussions within the community. The new look and feel makes navigation a breeze. In short, we hope that the new web site will make it easy for you to find the information you need and to get involved with the organization. Check it out at www.baia-network.org and tell us what you think. Please share your feedback on BAIA Link or just send us an email at info@baia-network.org.
• Revamped BAIA Link: this is where our online community congregates to find out about news, jobs, interesting and useful nuggets of information. BAIA Link has currently more than 850 members and operates on a social networking platform. Its is the first online network launched in the United States by a chartered Italian business organization. Take a look at recent discussions and be sure to post your questions or suggestions. You’ll be amazed by the wealth of knowledge you will uncover.
• Our social media presence is now seamlessly integrated: check out the new BAIA Facebook page, BAIA Twitter page, and LinkedIn group – and make sure to become a fan and/or follow BAIA. We want to foster vibrant on-line conversations within the BAIA community – and your contribution is crucial!

These changes reflect a stronger commitment for BAIA to serve the needs of a growing Italian community in the US. They also reflect a very ambitious agenda set by BAIA for its 2010 activities. Thanks to the increased appetite for information and contacts in the business communities operating between Italy and the US, BAIA will launch a series of new initiatives in 2010. More on this in upcoming blog posts.

We are grateful to the Italian diplomatic mission to the US, the Italian Embassy in Washington and the Italian Consulate in San Francisco, for their unwavering support for this project. These institutions strongly believe in the value of BAIA and in the role that BAIA Link plays in bringing together the business communities operating in the US and Italy, with a special emphasis on bridging the knowledge and contacts gap between industry, academia and the investor community.

Thank you.

Matteo Fabiano
Executive Director, BAIA

2010 Wishes from the Italian Ambassador to the USA

We are pleased to republish Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata's Holiday Wishes to the Italian-American Community (text only in Italian, dated Dec 23, 2009):

"Cari connazionali,

e’ questo il primo Natale che trascorro a Washington come Ambasciatore d’Italia. E’ un Natale speciale per me e per la mia famiglia e desidero far pervenire a voi tutti e alle vostre famiglie gli auguri di un sereno Natale e di un felice 2010.

E’ un augurio che rivolgo a tutti gli italiani d’America: al Presidente ed ai Consiglieri del COMITES, ai parlamentari italiani eletti nella nostra circoscrizione, ma anche a tutti coloro che vantano origini italiane e, vorrei dire, a chi ama il nostro Paese e si riconosce nei valori di liberta e solidarieta’ che l’Italia rappresenta nel mondo e che uniscono da sempre Italia e Stati Uniti.

Sono valori, liberta’ e solidarieta’, che hanno segnato anche il 2009, anno di straordinario rafforzamento delle relazioni tra i nostri due Paesi. Relazioni tra i governi, ma anche relazioni tra i popoli, tra la gente.

Il 2009 e’ stato certamente l’anno della solidarieta’ che italiani d’America e americani hanno mostrato in maniera commovente nei confronti delle popolazioni dell’Abruzzo colpite dalla tragedia del terremoto. Primo tra tutti il  Presidente Obama.

Solidarieta’ e liberta’ sono valori condivisi. E’ nel loro nome che l’Italia ha ancora una volta assicurato agli Stati Uniti un convinto sostegno nella battaglia contro il terrorismo in Afghanistan. Lo abbiamo fatto mossi dallo spirito di alleati e amici affidabili: 1000 soldati italiani si aggiungeranno nei prossimi mesi ai quasi tremila che sono gia’ li’ impegnati a difendere liberta’, pace e sicurezza.

Amicizia e affidabilita’ sono le “qualita”’ di un rapporto antico e profondo. Ma esso non potrebbe esistere senza il fondamentale apporto degli italiani d’America. “Gli italo-americani contribuiscono in maniera eccezionale all’identita’ di questo Paese: sono modelli di riferimento, innovatori e straordinari uomini delle istituzioni”. Lo ha detto il Presidente Obama il 12 ottobre di quest’anno in occasione del Columbus Day.

La vostra, la nostra, e’ una comunita’, una famiglia i cui membri sono presenti a tutti i livelli e in tutti i settori della vita di questo grande Paese. L’America ha accolto milioni di italiani. Dai loro figli e dai loro nipoti – scienziati, politici, imprenditori – questo Paese e’ stato costruito cosi’ come oggi lo conosciamo.

L’Italia di oggi e’ quella dei militari italiani impegnati fianco a fianco con i soldati americani in tante parti del mondo; e’ l’Italia della Fiat che sostiene il rilancio della Chrysler; quella di Giovanni Falcone che continua a combattere Cosa Nostra insieme agli uomini di legge americani; e’ l’Italia di Roberto Vittori, l’astronauta italiano che con lo shuttle della Nasa portera’ la nostra tecnologia nello spazio; quella della Fondazione ISNAFF che lavora per creare una rete tra gli oltre diecimila scienziati e ricercatori italiani in Nord America; l’Italia del maestro Riccardo Muti che nel 2009 ha diretto la Filarmonica di New York e nel 2010 sara’ direttore a Chicago; quella delle opere di Morandi esposte al Metropolitan. 

Sono queste, insieme alle tante altre, le “Italie” dell’eccellenza, della serieta’, della creativita’, dell’arte: la garanzia migliore che anche il 2010 sara’ un anno fruttuoso per le relazioni tra i nostri due Paesi.

Vorrei pero’ chiudere con un augurio un po’ speciale per il 2010: non e’ rivolto ad una persona, ma alla nostra lingua, strumento unico per la diffusione della cultura e della conoscenza – non solo italiana – negli Stati Uniti. Un augurio accompagnato da un concreto impegno affinche’ l’italiano si diffonda sempre di piu’ negli Stati Uniti. Un impegno assunto anche sul piano finanziario dal mio Governo, in stretta, proficua collaborazione con le principali associazioni italo-americane, per riportare l’italiano nell’Advance Placement Program. Per il successo di questo sforzo c’e’ bisogno anche di voi.

Auguri a tutti voi e alle vostre famiglie!

Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata"

BAIA Contest: Win a 10-person Tasting at A.G. Ferrari

Thank all of you who attended the BAIA event at Santa Clara University last Thursday. 

Dr. Odorizzi, CEO of EginSoft,  gave a fascinating presentation and it was an excellent opportunity to mix and mingle with the students involved in the Fulbright BEST program at the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) at Santa Clara University, kind host of the event. 

We are indebted to our friends at A.G. Ferrari for providing the wonderful food and wine. Thanks to our friend Luoise  at A.G Ferrari Sunnyvale we are able to offer a fabulous bonus. One lucky BAIA friend has the chance to win a 10-person Wine & Cheese Tasting Event gift certificate at A.G. Ferrari Sunnyvale, CA.

It is easy to win:

1. Go to the BAIA Link home page http://link.baia-network.org.
2. Submit at least a discussion or a blog entry on any Italian business related or topical subject you wish.
3. All submission between Nov. 5th through Nov. 30th, 2009 will enter the contest.

Submission will be reviewed by BAIA and rated based on content and follow on discussions which are generated. BAIA will announce the winner on Dec 3, 2009 at our BAIA Winter Mix event in San Francisco!

We are also pleased to remind you that there is a wonderful event on Saturday, Nov. 7th sponsored by Slow Foods and A.G. Ferrari. Donato Enoteca in Redwood City, headed up by Executive Chef Donato Scotti (formerly of Palo Alto, “La Strada” fame) is organizing a large wine event . A.G. Ferrari has graciously secured a discount of 10% for any BAIA Supporting members who wish to attend. Simply visit www.donatoenoteca.com to purchase tickets (BAIA Supporting members, enter the discount code we have emailed you to receive your discounted price.)

Last, but certainly not least, don't forget to check back with us for our upcoming BAIA Winter Mix at Bella Pelle in San Francisco on Dec 3, 2009!

A Message from the new Italian Ambassador to the USA

Effective October 1, 2009, the new Italian Ambassador to the United States has taken office in Washington.  Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata assumed his duties as Ambassador-designate of Italy to the United States after having held the position of Italy’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (full bio here). 

In taking office, the Ambassador extended a welcome message to the Italian community, which we are pleased to republish below (in italian):

"Cari Connazionali,

nell'assumere la guida dell'Ambasciata d'Italia negli Stati Uniti desidero rivolgere, come primo atto della  missione che sto per intraprendere, a tutti Voi, ai rappresentanti eletti negli Stati Uniti, alla comunita’ di origine italiana, a quanti trovano nel mio Paese un riferimento ideale e culturale, il mio saluto unito a sentimenti di forte ammirazione per quanto la Vostra, da oggi la nostra, comunita’ ha saputo e continua a fare per consolidare lo straordinario rapporto di amicizia  tra Italia e Stati Uniti. 

Il tricolore issato all’Ambasciata a Washington, insieme a quelli nei Consolati, negli Istituti di Cultura e in tutte le istituzioni e associazioni italiane sul territorio americano sono il segno dell’accoglienza e dell’invito rivolto a tutti i membri della grande famiglia italo americana: siamo qui per far crescere questa famiglia e sappiamo di poter contare sul sostegno e la partecipazione attiva di ognuno dei suoi componenti, anche attraverso l’importante strumento della diffusione della lingua italiana in questo Paese.

Ci separano pochi giorni dalle celebrazioni del Columbus Day. Piu’ di ogni altra questa ricorrenza segna la profondita' storica e culturale del contributo italiano alla formazione e alla crescita della societa' americana. Erano italiani, uomini di pensiero come Filippo Mazzei, d’azione come Giuseppe Garibaldi, di scienza come Antonio Meucci, che in America, come in Italia, sono stati fautori degli ideali di liberta’ e di unita’ nazionale, ancor prima che si consolidassero nei nostri Paesi le attuali realta’ statuali. Un ricchissimo, comune patrimonio di valori politici, culturali, umani si e’ consolidato tra le nostre societa’ e i nostri Governi nel secolo e mezzo di rapporti diplomatici tra Roma e Washington.

Oggi il mio Paese vede negli Stati Uniti un partner essenziale per contribuire al proprio futuro di liberta’, di prosperita’ e di pace. Cio’ deve avvenire a livello globale e in un quadro transatlantico che incoraggi l’Europa a esercitare tutte le sue responsabilita’ sulla scena mondiale.

Ho trascorso molti anni in Nord America come rappresentante dell’Italia e dalla mia esperienza, anche quella recentemente maturata alle Nazioni Unite, ho trovato sempre conferma della strettissima unita’ d’intenti che lega Roma e Washington su questioni vitali della convivenza tra i popoli quali la sicurezza internazionale, l’economia, la tutela dei deboli, la protezione dell’ambiente: lo sforzo comune in Afghanistan, l’impegno per il disarmo, il sostegno al ruolo dell’Onu nel settore delle operazioni di pace e dei diritti umani sono solo alcuni dei punti piu’ qualificanti di un’azione congiunta che Italia e Stati Uniti hanno ancor piu’ intensificato in questi ultimi anni.

E’ la fotografia di un rapporto solido che, come conferma un recente sondaggio sui legami transatlantici, non riguarda solo i nostri governi, ma appartiene anche ai popoli ed e’ ben radicato nelle stessa opinione pubblica. Il grado di sostegno e di condivisione che ottiene attualmente l’immagine degli Stati Uniti in Italia e’ superiore al 90 per cento, un valore in assoluto tra i piu’ elevati che si registrino tra i 27 Paesi dell'unione Europea. 

Vi e’ spazio per approfondire questi straordinari legami diretti che si accompagnano all’alleanza politica tra i due Paesi. A cominciare dalla cultura, con particolare attenzione all’insegnamento e alla diffusione della lingua italiana, dall’innovazione tecnologica e dalla cooperazione in campo economico ed industriale: i recenti successi italiani nel settore automobilistico rappresentano la sintesi ideale di questi tre elementi e costituiscono un modello per futuri progetti comuni.

Per immaginare e realizzare questi progetti serve il contributo di ognuno di voi, che cosi’ spesso manifestate il vostro legame verso l’Italia con una straordinaria partecipazione alle vicende del nostro Paese, sia sotto il profilo della solidarieta’ come e’ stato il caso in occasione del terremoto in Abruzzo, sia con il sostegno verso le iniziative per la diffusione della nostra cultura e della nostra lingua in questo Paese.

E’ con questo auspicio che inizio la mia missione, consapevole dell’apporto che ognuno di voi puo’ dare all’affermazione del ruolo e dell’immagine dell’Italia negli Stati Uniti. 

Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata"

Interview with Paul, Ferrari, CEO of A.G. Ferrari

Italians living in the Bay Area are lucky. We can easily get all the ingredients for a real Italian dinner, or if we are lazy, we can get a real Italian dinner to take home. It's not the big supermarkets that support our culinary traditions, nor the canned food aligned on the shelves at the corner grocery stores. What allows us to feel close to Italy is Ferrari Foods, a group of high quality Italian food stores spread throughout the Bay Area. Enter any Ferrari Foods store and you quickly realize that the store is not a well kept secret of the Italian community. All ethnicities of the Bay Area are well represented among the excited customers browsing through delicious items offered by Ferrari. The person that continuously scouts Italy for the best food and the most original ideas to bring to the store is Paul Ferrari, the CEO of the company and grandchild of the founder. I asked Paul a few questions to get his qualified opinions about his business and the status of the Italian food industry here in USA.

Paul can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?

In 1916 my Grandfather, Annibale Giovanni Ferrari, was sent to live in the US from the Emilia-Romagna at the age 16, when my Great-Grandfather Rocco Ferrari worried that the war might claim the life of another one of his sons. He worked for a while in food establishments in San Francisco. A childhood spent in the family’s gastronomia in Italy led to him opening the Parisian Delicatessen in San Jose in 1919. He called it this because at the time French food was considered the best, not Italian, though the food was of course Italian! The business later moved to Berkeley the East Bay (he always wanted to be near well traveled university professors and students who would appreciate his food) and I grew up playing in the shop with my dad Harold running it. My taking over the business the 1980s was the next natural progression.

The Italian community in the US is always struggling between old stereotypes (both positive and negative) and the new Italian reality (both positive and negative). What can we do as Italians and American-Italians to improve and modernize the perception of our culture in this country?

I strongly believe that education is key. Hollywood has helped to create a lot of these stereotypes, and what many Americans consider to be “Italian” is mainly representative of the southern half of Italy. While the south is a rich and wonderful land, it is not the whole of Italy and regionally very different of course. Since food is my background, and food is culture, I enjoy taking on the challenge of educating Americans through the regional food specialties we carry in our stores. Some of the items we carry even surprise Italians who may not have tried Troffie pasta from Liguria or Taralli from Puglia if they are not themselves from these regions.

You frequently scout Italy looking for new delicious products to propose in your shops scattered throughout the Bay Area. How has the food offered from Italy changed in the last 15-20 years? What changes should we expect in the future?

A new generation is starting to take over in Italy. About 15 years ago I was worried that there might be an expiration date on some of the small businesses I was working with. Many were run by an older man or woman with their children and grandchildren off investigating other professions. Now I see many of these younger family members finding their niche within the family business and bringing new life to them. It’s very exciting. With them they are bringing in innovation to add to the tradition. We see this reflected in new and exciting food combinations, innovative design in packaging and expanding product lines. It is wonderful though that the focus on traditional production techniques is as strong as ever. Another changing area is that there is a huge focus in the US on organic products, local, green… many of which are ideas that are innate in Italian foods from small producers like those we work with. While previously non-existent, marketing to this is becoming more prevalent in Italy as consumers are looking for official certification.

The Italian food tradition is based on small producers and local traditions. This doesn't match very well with the American approach which is based more on big corporations and a large homogeneous market. Can Italian products thrive and succeed in US on a larger scale?

Yes, I believe so but I feel we are looking at two different markets. Italian foods offer simplicity and health, two key factors for Americans when they are doing their shopping. Many of the US consumers are looking for pasta, olive oils, vinegar and sauces imported from Italy, which thanks to big brand names are often cheaper than domestic brands yet offer authenticity. However there is also a separate, market for high end Italian specialty foods that include higher quality import cheeses, limited production olive oils, pastas created with bronze dies, more expensive regional specialty foods. These two different consumers will each help Italian products thrive but their buying patterns are different.

Ferrari Foods shops are concentrated in the Bay Area. Is there a cultural reason behind that (like a strong Italian presence), or is this a strategic decision of your company?

We are here because Annibale Ferrari came here. We are very fortunate to be in such a food & wine oriented part of the country and I still see room for growth here.

We see many times low quality non-Italian products sold under some supposedly Italian brand. Do you think in the long term this can affect the good name of real Italian products? How can Italy and Italians protect the reputation of their own brands and products against these cheap marketing tricks?

This is the main reason we opened an office in Italy. This was and still is big problem. This is the reason I am in Italy every 6-8 weeks visiting vendors, helping with production, making new contacts. It isn’t enough to find a producer, you must also maintain strong relationships in order to know exactly who, and what, you are working with.
It goes back to education as well. In our stores we spend a lot of time educating both our staff as well as customers on the key differences between true Italian food products and much of what you find out there. The DOP symbol is vital to this as well in protecting the products as well as the producers’ business in Italy. The law behind the symbol ensures that only products genuinely originating in a given region, and following traditional production techniques, are allowed to enter into commerce as such. The legislation came into force in 1992 to protect the reputation of the regional foods and eliminate the unfair competition and misleading of consumers by non-genuine products, which may be of inferior quality or of different flavor. When you purchase an item with this symbol, you are supporting the highest standards for producers who are continuing centuries old traditions. Conzorzi play a fundamental role as well in that they place special focus on initiatives aimed at protecting the quality and unique original characteristics of their product. They are dedicated to safeguarding the flavors and the diffusion of historical, cultural and traditional knowledge related to the product itself.

While the American food industry is strongly based on the concept of brand, as something that belongs to a corporation, the Italian industry is more based on "brands" without any specific owner (e.g. Taleggio, Lardo di Colonnata, etc.). Within Europe this problem has been addressed by the EU. What is the situation in the US and what should be done to better protect these "brands"?

We in the United States still have a long way to go as we are just starting to scratch the surface on this issue. Farmers markets, a focus on producers and the like are helping to bring awareness to this. People should get to know their grocer, their local restaurant’s chef, and ask questions about where their food is coming from and who makes it. When you see a cheese you love on a menu, ask if it’s local or imported (depending on the cheese you’d prefer one or the other). Again, symbols like DOP that protect authenticity are important. Going even further, it’s important to educate consumers that even with authentic Italian products, there are varying degrees of quality and the price is affected by this. It’s important to know that when you purchase cheese for example from a small Italian artisan, rather than a large Italian corporation, you are most like going to pay more. Much like when choosing to buy organic, the choice to buy from smaller producers is your vote to protect the quality and traditions behind the product.

I would like to thank Paul Ferrari for taking time for this interview. If you have a question for Paul or for BAIA please feel free to contact us or leave a comment below. I would recommend to visit your local Ferrari Foods store to experience in person the quality and variety of their selection. If you don't live in the Bay Area you can find most of the Ferrari Foods products on Amazon!

Franco Folini

An Interview with Mona Caron, Muralist in San Francisco

Walking the streets of San Francisco I'm always fascinated by the variety and colors of murals and graffiti. Mostly concentrated in the Mission area, murals are popping up everywhere in the city where there is an empty wall available. In this large diversity I recognize and enjoy one particular set characterized by an absolutely unique and intriguing style. These are the murals created by Mona Caron, a local artist who hails from Ticino, the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. Interestingly, Mona is from the same small village as Gottardo Piazzoni, a well known local artist of the first half of the twentieth century, who's most famous artworks are now exhibited at the De Young Museum in the Golden Gate Park. I'm deeply fascinated by Mona's murals. When standing in front of one of her murals I feel like my eyes are gently guided through a dynamic perspective that continuously and gradually changes from a bird's eye to spectacular closeups. Like a good piece of music that gives me new pleasure every time I listen to it, Mona's murals reveal new details and hidden meanings every time I peruse them. In order to know more about Mona Caron and her artistic experience, I asked her for an interview.

Mona, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your artistic activities?

My name is Mona Caron. I am a visual artist, mostly a muralist and illustrator. My large paintings appear on buildings, mostly in the streets of San Francisco, while my small paintings tend to be tiny, and appear as illustrations for books or magazines or posters or other uses. I also do painting performances sometimes.
I'm Swiss-Italian, from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. That's where I went to school through the Liceo (high school). We focused on literature in French, English, and German. Then I went to the University of Zurich for three years studying English literature and then dropped out and came to San Francisco and enrolled in the Academy of Art University downtown, majoring in illustration. Now I mostly work as a muralist, but I was never schooled in this endeavor. I'm a autodidatta (self-taught) person.

You came to San Francisco from Intragna, a small village in the Ticino region of Switzerland. What limitations might there be for an artist living in a small town, even if it's a beautiful Swiss village?

The area I’m from is a place that I still derive inspiration from. My connection with nature, and the way I observe and represent it, has everything to do with my place of origin. However, there are not too many opportunities there for me to live as an artist, and at the time I left there, I had not even considered becoming an artist yet. Even though the nearby town of Locarno (and Ticino as a whole) is actually quite rich in culture and has a lot of artists residing there, it was necessary for my own path to go far away to both become an artist and explore what I’m about.
I started creating murals thanks to a chance encounter. I was invited to do my first mural here in San Francisco when a member of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition approached me right upon my graduation from the Academy of Art University. At first I refused, simply because I had no idea how to do a mural -- that is, how to paint something hundreds of times the scale of my own body, and somehow still keep control over how it looks. I was encouraged to just, well... figure it out! So I did. I feel that the city has pushed me toward this attitude of possibility by giving me the opportunity to expand the range of things that I can do. That, I find, is another thing that differs between my place of origin and SF.

You invested an incredible amount of time in creating some of the most astonishing murals in town. But murals are one of the most fragile forms of art, being exposed to weather, vandalism, etc. How do you deal with this intrinsic fragility of your art?

I try to use certain precautions, like using only permanent pigments, and varnishing the finished painting, but unless you create real frescoes on fresh plaster and keep them in protected environments, which is not an option in a modern city street, murals are not forever. That’s just the way it is. Because of this, sometime my work feels a little like doing a giant intricate sand mandala, like Buddhist monks do, which are meant to be blown away by the wind at any moment. But one of the thing that matter the most to me when I do a public mural, is not so much the finished product as the effect of creating it.
I work very, very, very slowly. More slowly than not just people but society as a whole expects. We live in a society that is really sped up. Everything keeps getting quicker and quicker and we all are getting shorter and shorter attention spans. There is an expectation to produce things quickly and move on. By contrast, my murals are almost like super slow-motion performance art, and it is meant to stand in opposition to this trend. When I start a mural, people expect to see me there for days, but it ends up being months. I definitely do put an unexpected amount of life energy into something that people, as you were saying, expect to be ephemeral. But it’s precisely when people in the street realize my commitment to a spot that they themselves start changing their attitude towards it, start slowing down too, start looking and appreciating more closely the very place I’m working in, which they share with me. In that moment of pause, that’s when the conversations get really interesting.
It may be a combination of nostalgia, as well as a Utopian direction for me, to hark back to a time in which people were still able and allowed to truly invest time, love, and care in the craftsmanship of what they do. And of course that is something that flies against the principles of capitalism and the necessity of creating ever-greater profits. The world’s trend has been towards cheaper, worse-made products. Craftsmanship is now a total luxury. As a public muralist, I want to lavish some of that lost time and love onto public places shared by all, people of all class backgrounds and cultures.
In terms of vandalism, I've been pretty lucky so far. There is nothing that prevents it from happening. While the mural is in progress anybody could come and vandalize it and destroy the work, that's just the nature of the beast of working in the street. I am conscious of that, and I simply decided to take that risk. Once a mural is finished it gets coated with anti-graffiti varnish, as required by the City. But I actually tag my own murals! Since I live in the street for long periods of time I meet everybody that frequents the street, including some taggers. The Market Street railway mural is full of tags of the kids I met around there. Except I put them in myself: I had the kids write their tags to my sketchbook, and I put them in the mural in prospective, in a way that works with my cityscapes. And since in my cityscapes I always try to show the myriad ways in which people interact with public space, adding the tags is only obvious, as I also include my favorite guerrilla posters, stencils, all sorts of stuff you find in the street that I find interesting.
One of my leitmotifs is public space and how it is used. I'm always wishing for a more convivial way of co-inhabiting public space. By visually referencing all sorts of subcultures in my murals with cityscapes, I make different people aware of each other. And my being on the street painting is something that in itself brings about a little bit more of this conviviality: people may be going home, or shopping, or coming from works, and the mural presents a reason for them to stop and look. And maybe another neighbor stops and looks. And both start commenting to each other about what they are seeing. All of the sudden they ask for each other name, and where do they live, and a connection is made. I see this happen all the time. And that's really what my work is about.

Ever changing perspective is one of the features that I appreciate the most in your artworks; it adds dynamism and forces me to look in continuously shifting angles. Is this feature in some way related to your personality or your vision of the world?

I don’t really know. I'm sure that in the process I can’t help but express something about my personality subconsciously, but that is a side effect, not a goal. I'm a communicator, and I want to tell stories, and advocate things.
You mention my use of different perspectives. It is just a way for me to fit everything into the picture that I want to tell about. Since I’m free to create anything I want, visually, I stay away from showing things from an angle that is too close to the one we’re accustomed to. I portray the life we know, but perhaps from a bird's eye view which kind of gives you a sense of distance and allows you to reflect on the “bigger picture,” or from a bug’s eye view which brings you to a level of minute observation that we rarely have time for in our regular lives. This way, people recognize the familiar things in the painting, but are given a new perspective on them (literally and figuratively). This way, I may elicit reactions such as "Oh, wow! I never truly noticed this thing or place that I walk by every day, what is it about? Why does it exist? Why is it here? Has it always been like this?" And then, crucially: “Could it be different? Could it be better?”
When I paint nature from a bug’s eye perspective, I’m trying to make a more poetic point on the beauty and richness you find within anything upon close, loving observation. I try to make the most humble of plants look spectacular and rich, separating beauty and ornateness from monetary value. For example I might show a beautiful flower but also a dried leaf, seeds, and dead things,... everything in nature has beauty. And that connects to the statement I was making before, about wishing we had more time to truly see things. Most people don't have the time to go crawling around pulling up a random weed to gaze at its beauty - people will think you’re crazy. That’s a state of innocence that we have as children and a kind of openness I’d like to remind people of in my artwork.

Every single element in your murals is painted with an incredible respect for the reality while never trying to become a photographic representation. What drives you to be so respectful for example of the shape of a flower or a plant?

I'm not always so accurate. I do strive for some accuracy, because I don't think you can ever improve on nature. But because I'm a human not a plant, when I observe a plant, I sort of empathize with its gesture, I imagine what it must feel like in my body to be that shape. I see the tension and relaxation of the way it grows, and I end up feeling it like a gesture, a dance. So then I paint the flower or plant as I feel it, and what comes out is rarely perfectly botanically accurate.

As an artist you seem to immerse yourself in the problems and issues of our time, without being afraid of taking sides. How do you relate with artists who live protected in the art galleries or museums and keep their art insulated from everyday problems?

I do not assume that artists seen in galleries and museums do not relate to the problems of the world. Some do and some don’t, every artist is different and I have seen strong and interesting work being done in galleries. Perhaps what you refer to is that sometimes art is abstracted in such a way that seems inaccessible to vaster audiences. I recognize that. I do see myself differently from that because I do emphasize communication within my visual art: my point is narrative, not just aesthetic, and my visual narration is not abstruse but very approachable. Muralism is a populist medium, and fits with artists, such as myself, who seek to communicate to audiences of all backgrounds, of all social classes. I want to draw in, not intimidate, people in the street.
You were saying that "I'm not afraid of taking sides." Of course I take sides, but I try not to beat people over their head with a political position. I try to be a little slyer than that. For example, I’m a little bit of a tradition-breaker as my political murals look, well, “pretty.” There is a great tradition in the twentieth century art which says that the medium, look and technique of artwork need to reflect your feelings and also the themes that you are talking about. So if that is war or injustice and you are angry about that, this ought to be reflected in your technique, in your stroke, in your selection of the medium. It may be a block print of the German impressionist rather than a painting of the century before, for example. I love that tradition, but I don’t do that in my murals. I fabricate Trojan horses with an appealing, even soothing first impact. My work is on the street, people see it everyday. I want to provide a respite, some pleasure at first impact. Which is also a way for me to draw more viewers in for a closer look, less of a self-selected audience. Then, once people are close and at ease, that’s when the rest of the message unfolds. And the way it unfolds is, I hope, not in a preachy, slogan-like way. Rather, I just lay out all the things I want you to consider, calmly and matter-of-factly, and allow you, the viewer, to wander from one thing to the next and make causal and comparative connections amongst things. And it works, people get it. I’ve heard the humblest of people articulating the ironies and reflections implicit in my mural with razor sharp accuracy, and make deep, incisive comments on it all.
Lastly, I don't do galleries because I do really prefer being in the street, despite all the dirt and craziness. The environment of an artwork influences our perception of the artwork, inevitably. So if you put any object in a pristine white gallery, it is bound to look extremely precious and rarefied. The white walls, the wine and cheese and well-dressed people, and most importantly the price tag next to the painting, all these things together make the way we perceive the artwork. The street does something completely different to a mural, and I enjoy that different effect. I kind of like the strange way a mural impacts the surrounding reality in the street as well... it almost turns real life into a storybook, and people become characters within it.

I would like to thank Mona Caron for taking time for this interview. If you have a question for Mona or for BAIA please feel free to contact us or leave a comment below. I would recommend to visit Mona's website to find out more about her and her art. If you are in San Francisco please take the time to visit her murals.

Franco Folini

An Interview with Dianne Hales, Author of "La Bella Lingua"

As an Italian I always loved my mother tongue. When I was a kid I believed Italian was the most musical, easy to write, and enjoyable among all the languages. My first experience as a student with French grammar was a confirmation of the indisputable superiority of Italian. Only later did I realize that any language, if approached with interest, perseverance, and curiosity, can be as enjoyable as my mother tongue and would reveal its own beauty. Over time Italian has become to me like an old friend. The sound of a well spoken Italian, or the words of a well written Italian book are among the pleasures of my life. Knowing how long has it taken for me to begin mastering English, despite living in the US, I felt surprised by the deep knowledge and "padronanza" Dianne Hales (blog) has for the Italian language. Her recent book "La Bella Lingua" is an incredible source of information not only for students approaching the Italian language, but also for Italians. She goes through words and expressions revealing fascinating details, connections, stories, and unexpected etymologies. Dianne's sparkling writing style keeps us on the page stimulating our curiosity and providing for a delightful read. As I know Dianne personally, thanks to the ItaLingua school in San Francisco, I wanted to ask her a few questions about her new book and her love affair with the Italian language.

Dianne can you tell us a bit about yourself and your activities as a writer?

I’ve written thousands of articles and dozens of books, both for a general audience and for students, and I’ve served as a contributing editor for several national magazines in the U.S., including PARADE, Ladies Home Journal, and American Health. But nothing I’ve done has been related to Italy or Italian. This is brand-new territory for me—which makes it exciting.

The same features that make Italy and Italians so lovable and exciting can also be irritating. How did you manage to stay always so enthusiast about Italy (and Italians) while learning the Italian language?

Maybe we all feel the same mix of affection and irritation with our countrymen, perhaps because we see the best and the worst of ourselves in them. Italians always went out of their way to help me with my research and were so delighted that I was writing about their language that I never had any reason to feel irritated.

In Italy, dialects are very important in preserving local cultures. Dialects can also be an obstacle toward a more integrated and strong nation. What is your view on this topic? Should we dump our dialects and pursue English as the global language?

No, please! Dialects are the spices that make Italian such a delicious brew of a language. Isn’t it wonderful that different regions came up with so many different ways of saying the same thing and that you can still hear echoes of their individual histories in their dialects? If I were Italian (forse una Romana de Roma), I would be just as proud—and protective—of my dialect as of the national language.

Despite your brilliant writing skills, writing a successful book about a topic such as the Italian language can be a challenging goal. What motivated you in sharing your passion for this language in a book?

As a journalist, I know a great story when I see one, and the tale of how Italian became Italian—which even few native Italians know—has everything: drama, war, beautiful women, heroic men, art, humor, mystery, food, music, movies and, of course, love. My goal was to write a book worthy of the Italian language, and my greatest gratification has come from Italians who tell me that I have given them a new perspective on and appreciation for their language. At my book presentation here, Valeria della Valle of La Sapienza said that I wrote of “l’Italia e l’italiano che vorremmo,” the very best of the country and the language.

Italians seems to be obsessed with food (soccer and women also score very high). In your experience how do Italian food and Italian language mix and influence each other?

Italy’s food and language meld together as smoothly as “cacio sui maccheroni.” Both boast a rich and rollicking history dating back to ancient times. Both vary greatly from region to region. Both reflect centuries of invasion, assimilation and conquest. The very words for simple culinary techniques—rosolare for make golden, sbricciolare for crumble, or sciaquare for rinse—make my tongue tingle with delight. Of course, one pleasure always trumps reading about Italian cuisine: eating it!

While we can name several exceptional Italian writers, the Italian language seems to miss the extraordinary talent of a Shakespeare or a Pushkin. The most important Italian writers seem to be too old or too academic to excite the current generations. Is Italian language too big and multi-medial to fit comfortably in the pages of a book?

Franco, your countrymen, particularly Florentines, would be horrified! Only Shakespeare, with all his collected works, can even compare with Dante Alighieri. More than seven centuries after his birth, Dante still rocks—literally. Bruce Springsteen, Patty Smith, and bands like Radiohead and Nirvana cite him as an inspiration as did John Milton, William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Ezra Pound, and Sigmund Freud. Roberto Benigni is selling out his TuttoDante shows around the world. College professors in the U.S. tell me that students flock to their courses on Dante and Italian literature. Pushkin? That was the name I gave my first cat. Dante? Vive sempre.

You list many great reasons to start studying Italian. Almost all of them are about passion, art, music, and history. Can studying Italian make also sense from a business point of view?

Italian may not seem the obvious choice for business, but no other language embodies the ideals of Western culture and civilization. For many centuries knowing Italian was the mark of a well-bred, well-educated person. I believe the same can still be true. With Italian, you learn courtesy, respect, diplomacy, a deep appreciation for all dimensions of culture. No other language may be better at distinguishing the sfumature, the subtle nuances of a situation. As long as business involves people—unique, complex individuals with so much to express and communicate—Italian will be relevant.

Many of the people reading this interview are struggling, like me, with a similar experience: we are trying to improve our English language skills. Based on your experience, do you have any suggestions for us?

To my surprise, Italian followers of my blog, which focuses on Italian colloquial expressions, have told me that the posts have helped them learn idiomatic English. To me, that is the most difficult thing in any language. I would suggest reading English newspapers and magazines to pick up expressions that Americans use every day—such as “hit a home run” or “make a long shot”—that aren’t taught in language classes. How else would you know that our equivalent of “in bocca al lupo” is “break a leg”?

I would like to thank Dianne Hales for taking time for this interview. If you have a question for Dianne or for BAIA please feel free to contact us or leave a comment below. If you enjoyed Dianne's interview do not hesitate to order a copy of "La Bella Lingua". I promise you will not be disappointed! I also suggest to visit Dianne's blog for daily "pills" of Italian vocabulary and culture.

Franco Folini

An Interview with Nora Archambeau, Intern Placement Specialist

Internship in the US is for many people a life-changing experience; usually a very positive one. When young European men and women return home after a few months spent working in an American company they are changed. It's a difference many of them carry with them for the rest of their lives that makes them special and more valuable on the professional level as well as individuals. Some might find their own country too small to fit in as before, and feel a strong desire to explore more of the world. They are no longer Italian or French anymore, nor are they Americans. They have simply become citizens of the world -- a special category of open-minded, free-spirited, multi-cultural people. On the other hand, US companies hosting interns from Europe get exposure to a pool of fresh, determined, brilliant young talents. They get new ideas, enthusiasm, and the opportunity to test-drive some of their best future employees. In order for the two halves of the internship to meet successfully, both sides may need some help. Nora Archambeau with Intern Abroad USA, is one of the few people able to make the magic happen. Here is her interview.

Nora, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

I’m a native San Franciscan, born into a big French-Irish Catholic family of four sisters and one brother (poor guy!).  Exposure to different cultures began early on living in the Mission District, where Mexican-Americans, Italian-Americans, and Irish-Americans all shared the same neighborhood.  The family eventually moved to the East Bay where I completed schooling, then attended Holy Names University.  It was here that my passion for internationals grew since there was a school for English as a Second Language (ESL) on campus.  Meeting people from Italy, France, Brazil, Venezuela, Germany, Japan, etc. made my “little world” so much bigger and exciting!  Having a B.A. in Psychology and a Minor in French, I decided my 1st real career would be in International Education.  I also wanted to fulfill a dream and experience living in France.  It’s been a blessing that I’ve lived in both Paris and Dijon, have spent time in South India, and have traveled to several Eastern and Western countries. I have an M.A. in East-West Psychology and think it’s fun to be called an Indophile and a Francophile.  In this highly changeable world, many of us are pushed to and often have a thirst to fulfill many gifts.  One of these gifts is using the combination of business, education, and internationalism to find clients interns from Europe, and hopefully, later the world, through Intern Abroad USA!

Internships can be a great opportunity not only for young students but also for companies.  What are your recommendations for small companies looking to hire a few interns?

Here are a few of my recommendations: (a) Clarify your reasons for hiring an intern; (b) What are the primary goals you’d like to see fulfilled in 4, 6, or 9 months? (c) Which country would you be interested in hosting an intern for your business? (d) How can you best support bringing out the talents and gifts of a young professional? (e) What is there to learn from hiring and working with an intern? (f) Which service company can you trust and could offer the smoothest hiring process?

In a few words, can you tell a young European student why s/he should leave the comfort and beauty of a European city for an internship in Florida or California?

For the sheer adventure of doing it! The word ad-ven-ture is defined as: (1) an exciting or extraordinary event or series of events; (2) the participation or willingness to participate in things that involve uncertainty and risk; (3) to dare to go somewhere new or engage in something dodgy!
Adventure, newness, and risking all provide the ingredients that shape and mold us into strong, more capable, and creative individuals. Opening up to new experiences, new cultures and people, and exposure to different beauties expand and stretch our thinking, beliefs, and approaches to problem-solving.  If I hadn’t adventured out at night on the streets of Venezia and trusted I’d find my way back, well, I’d probably still be wondering around, living in basilicas here and there, having never again found my pensione in Dorsodoro!

Many interns come from Europe mainly to improve their English.  Which other, less evident, benefits can they receive working in a foreign country and a unique environment such as the San Francisco Bay area?

Some of the benefits they can receive are: (a) Learn to trust more in themselves and in others; (b) Hone their intuitive and intellectual abilities; (c) Build on adaptive and flexibility skills; (d) Increase culture-to-culture communication proficiency; (e) Add new conduits in the brain; (f) Willingness to accept a larger variety of ethnicities! (g) Know that there are differences working in SF and Silicon Valley.  SF offers warmth, friendliness, cultural variety, intuitive thinking, city excitement with a hometown feeling; Silicon Valley presents self-sufficiency, methodical thinking, high energy environments, and a constant production of innovative ideas.

Based on your experience, what are the most common realistic and unrealistic assumptions interns have about the San Francisco Bay area?

Realistic
(a) working in America can sometimes lead to a permanent job; (b) having a U.S. company listed on one’s  resume or CV may open more doors once having returned home; (c) their English will most definitely improve; (d) most Americans are sincerely friendly and helpful whenever possible.
Unrealistic
(e) working in America guarantees permanent employment; (f) the opportunities to advance economically are unlimited; (g) Americans have ALL the answers!
Last, You just may fall in love… with the City, with technology, with Noah’s Bagels… or maybe even with the love of your life!

As Europeans, we look to Silicon Valley as a reference model for business and technology.  When looking at Europe at large, what do you see that could be successfully imported to help Americans perform even better in the SF Bay area?

(a) To take a longer time to work on the product before it is launched to the market so that less recalls occur; (b) To cultivate the social side of a business relationship more before launching into potential business deals; (c) Communicating more from a cross-cultural perspective can lessen conflicts and allow for smoother decisions to be made, e.g., the EU; (d) To encourage Americans to increase their attention span from nano-seconds to minutes!
Franco, thank you for inviting me to be interviewed!

I would like to thank the Nora Archambeau for taking the time for this interview and for the important work she does every day with Intern Abroad USA promoting and supporting Euro-American internships. If you have a question for Nora or for BAIA please feel free to contact us or leave a comment below. Nora is also an active member of our online community BAIA Link where she can also be reached.

Franco Folini

An Interview with Francesca Gaspari, Director of Italingua

In a tall building in downtown San Francisco, facing the crowds on Market Street, there is a small but notable Italian school. Every day in the classrooms of this school passionate teachers engage students in the culture and language of Italy.  The school's name is ItaLingua, and it is led by Francesca Gaspari. Despite living in the Bay Area for several years, Francesca still has the freshness and enthusiasm of a newcomer who has just landed at SFO from Europe.  Francesca combines her passion for everything Italian with the skill and determination of an entrepreneur. I recently met Francesca and asked her a few questions to learn more about this important bastion of Italian culture which seems more known to non-Italians than to the Italian community itself.  Here are my questions and Francesca's responses.

Francesca can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

I’m originally from Bergamo, a historical town in the north of Italy, and I moved here to California at the age of thirty following jazz and love. I hold a diploma as a clarinet player from the Conservatory of Bergamo.  I also spent three years studying acting. I have a passion for teaching. This is the background that supported me in working on my main project to create an Italian language school. As soon as I came here I started to look for opportunities to teach Italian. I was motivated by my passion for teaching and by the interest in our language I noticed from Americans and especially Italian-Americans who wanted to recreate a connection with their parents' or grand-parents' language. Among several other ventures, I created Salotto Italiano, a private Italian school I led from 1990 to 2000. In 1996 I began working with ItaLingua Institute, starting as part-time teacher to become in 2001 the school director. At ItaLingua I’ve done countless activities, from organizing cultural workshops to teaching classes. I love to combine the teaching of the Italian language with specific Italian culture topics based on my students’ interests.  Unlike other schools, I organize Italian classes about literature, opera, Italian music, and Italian cinema. For my students I also organize special events with important guests such as Italian cuisine chefs, opera singers, Italian journalists, and more.

ItaLingua is a popular Italian School in San Francisco. What motivates people to study the Italian language?

Our students have many reasons to join our classes. Some are planning trips to Italy; others have Italian relatives or are tracing their family history. Many are attracted by our language because they love Italian art, music, architecture, fashion, cooking, and wine. In every ItaLingua class, students are involved in a complete visual, emotional, and phonetic experience.  We try to bring language to life and let our students realize how beautiful, fun and sexy Italian is - so they keep studying it.

Many people don’t see the benefits of promoting the Italian language outside of Italy. Do you have any experience to share to help people understand the strategic value of your job?

Like Italian paintings or opera or literature, the Italian language is a work of art. Just as learning about Michelangelo or Verdi or Dante enriches anyone’s appreciation of beauty and its creators, learning Italian enriches appreciation of Italy and all things Italian. I believe that the promotion and teaching of the Italian language has an impact not only on the “diffusion” and appreciation of the Italian culture, but can have a positive effect also on the interaction between Americans and Italian businesses. For example, when a student of ItaLingua cooks a Barilla pasta plate, or drives a Vespa on the streets of San Francisco, or watches a Muccino movie, he/she will know the culture that generated those products and will experience some sort of positive connection.

Based on your experience, what are the major positive or negative stereotypes of Italians here in the Bay Area?

I am not really familiar with any negative ones. Our students admire Italians and want to learn our language to acquire Italians’ style, vivacity and joy in living. Those are not stereotypes; those are peculiar features and integral parts of our Italian culture.

What are the major differences between the ways Italian and other European languages and culture are presented and promoted in the US?

Spanish language is so widespread in the United States that people study it for practical reasons. The French government supports the Alliance Françoise and promotes the study of French language as a symbol of the culture. Chinese and Japanese are popular languages because California has close ties to Asia. I think Italian is unique because many people study it for the sheer love of the language and the fun of learning it. As a spoken language, Italian ranks about 19th—much lower than Spanish and French—yet it has become the fourth or fifth most widely studied language in the world. My hope is that Italian teachers abroad and the Italian government can “revitalize” the interest for our beautiful language.

You have been in San Francisco for some time. How has the Italian community changed over the years?

The Italian community has always played a significant role in the Bay Area. One major difference is that several decades ago many Italians were the children or grandchildren of Italian immigrants. Now many are fourth- or fifth-generation Americans, and their ties to Italy are not as strong. More interestingly, we are now seeing a new generation of Italians coming to the Bay Area. They are university students, entrepreneurs, researchers, and professionals. Those people are gradually changing the traditional perception of Italy and of Italian culture providing a more updated and modern image of our country. For the old Italians, as well for the new ones, the Italian language is vital in keeping their ethnic bond and preserving a sense of pride in our Italian heritage.

What can Italian associations like BAIA and Italian institutions like the Italian Consulate do to help promote the Italian language and culture?

I would love to see all of us working together to celebrate the language, for instance, during Italian Language Week in October.  I’d like to offer classes in conversation and culture in Italian-owned or Italian-associated businesses, do special events on the language of Italian food and wine at restaurants and wineries, and involve children and families in Italian traditions and folklore. Language is the lifeblood of a nation and a culture and by promoting the Italian language we are promoting the essence of Italy.

I would like to thank the Francesca Gaspari for taking the time for this interview and for the important work she is doing every day at ItaLingua supporting and promoting the Italian language and culture. If you have a question for Francesca or for BAIA please do not hesitate to contact us or to leave a comment below. Francesca is a member of our online community BAIA Link where she can also be reached.

Franco Folini

An Interview with Roberto Bonzio, Reuters Journalist

A couple of months ago I received an e-mail from Roberto Bonzio, asking for an interview. Roberto told me he was here in Silicon Valley for a few months on a project about Italians. After a few e-mails, we set up an appointment and a few days later we met at my office. We spoke for a couple of hours about my experiences here in the US and my company, Novedge. A couple of days later Roberto published the interview on his blog, Italiani di Frontiera. I read the interview and was amazed to discover how much Roberto was able to capture from our talk. Despite taking few notes during the interview, he understood all the details about our online system and strategies, as well as our company strengths and weaknesses. Impressed by Roberto's professional capabilities, I've become an avid reader of his blog and discovered a mine of interesting articles, stories, and people. Despite not being a journalist myself, I wanted to return Roberto's favor and so invited him to be interviewed for the BAIA blog. Here are my questions and his responses.

Roberto, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

I was born in Mestre Venezia, start working as a reporter in Venice newspaper Il Gazzettino, as my grandfather Roberto, my father Giovanni "Gibo" and today my brother Giampaolo. I moved to Milan in 1986 at national newspaper Il Giorno, joining Reuters Italian service in 2001, now in a 6 months leave of absence here in California. Be pro-positive and nonconformist have been often not helpful, working in Italy, in media too. I got some more opportunities in reportages around the world for magazines. Then I found in Reuters a fantastic chance for good journalism and international perspectives. And in the web the ideal environment for my unordered curiosity. That goes from movies (I graduated at Venice University in History of Cinema, dissertation about Harpo Marx), to music (I play a lot of instruments, you wouldn't believe how many and how badly), rugby. And new media.

What is your project "Italiani di Frontiera," and how you come up with this idea?

Less than a year ago, I was just trying to figure out how "to survive" to come as a freelance journalist in leave of absence in USA, with wife Pola Science teacher and kids (Alessandro 18, Francesca 16, now happy students at Gunn High School in Palo Alto). I knew few about Italians in the Bay. Three e-mails changed my mind (and hopefully my life): from Matteo Daste (BAIA) Jeff Capaccio (SVIEC) and Palo Marenco (Silicon Valley Italian Study Tour). I understood from their committed answers there was a big story waiting to be told. And this was the right moment (not only for Super-Euro), in a blooming of activities (Baia, Sviec, Mind the Bridge...), and commitment of US Embassy too. In Italiani di Frontiera I am interviewing entrepreneurs, researchers, engineers. Some young newcomers, some veterans with outstanding records, as Federico Faggin, Roberto Crea, Enzo Torresi. They are a mine of gold of memories, enterprises, challenges. Still more precious are their thoughts and critical comments about Italy, its qualities and its faults. Now a blog, then an interactive web site with videos, Italiani di Frontiera will be a book in Italy, sponsored by Centro Formazione Management del Terziario for FrancoAngeli Publisher. And more is still in my mind...

After spending some time in the Silicon Valley, how has your opinion of America and the American way of life changed?

I first came in USA 30 years ago as a young hitchhiker At that time this was an other world from Italy. Big cars and standardized behaviors impressed me more. Today cars are a bit smaller, I'm still impressed by standardization and predictability in daily life. Sometimes I find it funny or boring. But I realize these strict rules are fundamental ground for a multicultural and multi ethnic country. Meanwhile, Italy and Italians became more standardized and stereotyped, after years of flat consumerism and silly hedonism pumped by TV model over exposition. But they lack a ground standard of rules and civic commitment, quite strong here. We still have a sense of quality of life, in terms of friendship, food, beauty. While sometimes I had the feeling that a part of American way of life, in its pursuing of success, has still the goal to make money to show money and money symbols. And then... what else?

After interviewing so many "Italians," did you find some sort of common background or shared archetype?

Yes, absolutely. And much stronger than I expected. Perhaps we managed for centuries to survive with unpredictable as individuals. And our classic roots, deeper than we realize and remember, are the best background for an open mind. Italians graduated in averaged Italian Universities act wonderfully here. Many of them told me they feel to have a special capacity to solve problems out of the standard better than others. Somebody thinks too  you can recognize a software "made by Italians" for a particular touch of creativity an aesthetic...

Once you are back in Italy, do you think you will be able to communicate and share your experience?

If I'll fail, I'll be the only one to blame. Because I think contents and thoughts from Italiani di Frontiera are of extraordinary value, for what in my view is today Italy. So many outstanding goals achieved thank to Italians to remember, while the country dramatically lacks memory. And so many examples to study and pursue, in hard work, creativity, courage, challenge on a global competition, both in entrepreneurs and in corporations. Mainly  ignored in a country dulled by local argues and silly gossip. A country of emigrants, now pretending to isolate and protect itself, than better widely exploit its talents. Let's open doors and windows in Italy, to fresh air! More web, more English speaking. More good models for young people. More chances for inspired ideas. And more sights from abroad, from Italians in the Bay too!

The Italian community in California is very fragmented. Only now are Italians becoming aware of being part of a community and gaining a benefit from that. What can associations like BAIA and Italian institutions such as the Italian Consulate do in this direction?

They can act stronger, in building a powerful community here. But I really think that in this, meetings and networking must be supported by a strong cultural effort. This means first to know what other Italians are doing here around. Then be aware how strong can be their contribution and example non only each other but for their country. Business opportunities are not enough, we need a careful consideration. About qualities that let Italians here acting fantastically: open mind, improvisation, aesthetic taste etc. And a critical reflection on what obstacles the emerging of the same qualities in Italy in entrepreneurship. It is a cultural effort because from my work it emerges that bad habits, distorted traditions (for example family extensions in corporation management) are for Italy heavier chains than old infrastructure and lack of financing.

Will you come back to California with a new project?

Telling the truth, I'm just ready to stay... Kidding (not too much). At the end of July I have to go back to Reuters in Milan and finish my work on the project. For me and my family it would be a dream to come back to stay. There are a lot of subjects and links to work on, in media between Italy and the Bay. I could have ten more "start up" projects in my head, as a web radio, needing a venture capitalist I am afraid... because this adventure 'til now has been hardly self-financed. Good investment for me, my wife and mainly for my teen son and daughter, in their international open mind experience at Gunn High School (while Ale, soccer striker, scored 18 gols in 7 match with Stanford Earthquakes...). One new project is already a part of Italiani di Frontiera. I called "Italindiani" some outstanding Italians in the West, discovered by my friend Cesare Marino, anthropologist at Smithsonian Institution and one of most prominent experts of Native Americans. Nearly unknown both here and in Italy, they deserve a book for themselves, having in past centuries the same bold spirit of Italiani di Frontiera we all need to challenge the new 21th Century Global Fronter.

I would like to thank the Roberto Bonzio for taking the time for this interview and for the incredible work he has done in such a short time exploring the local Italian community and exposing the  unexpectedly long list of entrepreneurs, researchers, and influential people. If you have a question for Roberto or for BAIA please do not hesitate to contact us or to leave a comment below. Roberto is also a member of our online community BAIA Link where he can also be reached.

Franco Folini