Association for Latino Media, Marketing & Communication Research launches

A group of professors from around the country culminated at Florida State University the creation of the Association for Latino Media, Marketing & Communication Research (ALMMACR), whose mission is to enhance the teaching and research of this growing arena of the field of communication.

“We also want to create a network of scholars and industry professionals committed to improve Latino-oriented media and markets via systematic and reliable research in the United States and other parts of the world where those media and populations intersect,” said Federico Subervi, a founding member of ALMMACR.  

During the inaugural meeting, the founding members approved the Association’s bylaws and the selection of the individuals that will comprise the board of directors.

Dr. Subervi, researcher and scholar at Kent State University, was elected as the first President of the organization and Dr. Alejandro Alvarado, a communications consultant and former professor at Florida International University, Vice President. Other elected officers are Dr. Manuel Chavez, from Michigan State University, Treasurer; Dr. Enrique Becerra, from Texas State University, Secretary; and Dr. Sindy Chapa, Director of the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication, At Large board member.

One of the association’s goals is to continue organizing and carrying out bi-annual conferences that bring together scholars, media professionals and students whose interest converge in the research, teaching, and/or practice of Latino-oriented media, audiences and markets.  Thanks to the leadership of Dr. Sindy Chapa, the fifth and most recent of those gatherings took place February 19-21, 2015 at Florida State University. The sixth conference will take place in February of 2017 at California State University-Fullerton, and will be chaired by Inez González, Director of that university’s Latino Communications Initiative.

ALMMACR will also support the ongoing publication of the International Journal of Hispanic Media, published by Texas Tech University’s Thomas Jay Harris Institute for Hispanic and International Communication, directed by Dr. Kenton Wilkinson, who also serves as the journal editor.

ALMMACR will soon apply to be a non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service.