L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2015 www.italoamericano.com 6 A first step into the new year looking back at 2014: a conversation with Mauro Battocchi, Italian Consul in San Francisco 2014 has been a long and full year for the Italian community in the Bay Area. As moments and people marked the last twelve months, the end of the year is the time when people look back to find what is worthy to bring with them in the new one. We talked about this and more with Mauro Battocchi, who started his man- date as Italian Consul in San Francisco two years ago. While he con s id ers "a p r ivileg e to serve in a gorgeous city with Italian roots, especially at the present time in which Silicon Valley is the hub of the global digital revolution", he can't wait for 2015 to begin, in order to put in actio n mo re ex citin g projects. First of all, which thing you are most proud of and what can b e d o n e mo re fo r th e Italian community? So far it has all gone beyond my expectations. I have found people, among Italians, Italian- A mer ican s , an d I talophiles , eager to work with enthusiasm. We ho s ted th e I talian P rime Minister, many Mayors of Italy's largest cities, we raised more than $300,000 for Italian pro- jects, we relaunched the teaching and learning of Italian with the "We Love Italian" campaign. I feel the pride and the cohesive- ness in our community, which encourage me for the future. Why did you choose a blog to interact with the communi- ty? www.sanfranciscoitaly.com is a communication channel to help bring Italians together and make the general public aware of our message about Italy. A sort of Wikipedia of anything Italian in Northern California. Also the website www.weloveitalian.org is an amazing resource for those interested in our language. Last time an Italian Prime Min is ter came h ere w as in 1982. Did we miss any oppor- tunity in the last two decades? Or Mr Renzi's visit was just timely right? I believe the visit came at the right moment. It allowed him to convey his message of change to the Silicon Valley leaders. It also enabled our Italian community to showcase their achievements to the Italian general public. It had a positive impact both here and in Italy. Italians living here can be role models for our country that is now "reinventing itself" after a long crisis. A thought on Mr Renzi's quote: "We have to renovate ourselves, being jealous of our past but in love with what future can bring". The P rime M inis ter is prompting Italians to imagine a future that can be better of our glorious past. This is a tough call, but indeed we as a nation have all the material and intellec- tual assets to come out of the long recession stronger than we were before. I talian s ab road are n ow engineers, scientists, educators, an d en trep ren eu rs . I s th e stereotype of Italy as spaghetti, pizza, and mandolin country still dominant? This stereotype was probably in vogue in the '60s or '70s. The new cliché is about the best cui- sine in the world, fashion, luxury and design: Italy is among the five manufacturing nations of the world, there are niches of excel- lence in high-tech. We Italians have to be fully aware of this and tell a different story of ourselves. The "Made in Italy" brand is a synonym of high-quality prod- ucts. In 2014, Silicon Valley has b rou gh t th e b es t of I talian business, culture, and language in th e U S . Wh at s h ou ld w e expect from 2015? There's the plenty in the mak- ing. We'll start the year with a promotion of Tuscany and the City of Pisa. In April, the Italian Innovation Day will evolve into a European-wide event, with Mind the Bridge Foundation tak- ing the lead in bringing together the different European startup communities in the Valley. In June, San Francisco Opera will launch a new O pera by the Italian composer Marco Tutino, "La Ciociara". I have no doubts that our superstar at SF Opera, SERENA PERFETTO M us ical D irector N icola Luisotti, will make of this world premiere a triumph. On e th in g to k eep from 2014 and one thing to look for- ward to in 2015. In 2014, we conveyed the message that Italian does matter in N o rthern California: the potential of business and cultural exchanges is enormous. In 2015, we'll have new projects to teach and learn the Bella Lingua. I expect to see this phenomenon s now balling into a broader trend, whereby the Italian com- munity at large feels more empowered and bold in promot- ing our beautiful language in the w orld. The Italian Bus ines s community has also launched the non-s top flight S an Francisco-Italy petition. The flight will definitely happen – the question is when. If Italians and Italophiles care for this bridge to become even stronger, they can sign the petition on www.italy-sfo.org. So far 1630 people signed up and I really believe there could be many more. The Consul General with previous San Francisco Mayor, Willie Brown, and Daly City Mayor, David Canepa, during Festa della Repubblica, Italy's Republic Day, 2 June 2014 Jan. 14, Wed. - Night Out In North Beach - Benefiting the Joe DiMaggio Playground. Info www.DiMaggioPlayground.org Jan 14, Wed. - Bimbo's Night Out In North Beach - Benefiting Joe DiMaggio Playground. Info www.bimbos365club.com Feb. 3, Tues. - Italian Community Services and Business Association Italy America (ICS/BAIA) event at Club Fugazi, home of the Beach Blanket Babylon, 678 Green Street, San Francisco. Info at agency@italiancs.com or tel. (415) 362-3565 Feb. 8, Sun. - Le Donne D'Italia Bubbly & Bingo. Join San Francisco's Italian Womens' Club for lunch and a afternoon filled with fun, and Bubbly and Bingo with cash prizes, at the Italian Athletic Club. For more details and tickets contacts Antonette 415-509-4810 or email sagit19@aol.com Through Apr. 19, 2015- Primo Angeli: A Retrospective. The Museo Italo Americano will exhibit the works of San Francisco design legend, Primo Angeli. Info: Phone: (415) 673-2200 , E- mail: sfmuseo@sbcglobal.net Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., Building C Consul Mauro Battocchi giving start to California Mille in April 2014 Consul Mauro Battocchi with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi during his visit in the Silicon Valley

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