L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 6 the globe, certainly belongs to this category. There is no doubt, however, that his heart is equally divided between our peninsula and the West of the States, where lots of u s h a v e f o u n d t h e i r s e c o n d home. What is your cultural back- ground? Was there a specific moment, in which you devel- oped a passion for politics? I followed my passion for t r a v e l i n g a n d e a g e r n e s s f o r broadening my international per- spective. Therefore, I pursued my studies in Political Science at t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f N a p l e s "L'Orientale", directing my attention towards International Affairs and, eventually, major- ing in Japanese and Legal/Social Institutions of the Far East. In 1990, I joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs starting my diplomatic career and, because o f m y k n o w l e d g e o f t h e F a r East, my first post abroad was in Tokyo, Japan. Have you ever experienced stage fright, before your public speeches? Of course, I did! Particularly, my first public speeches gave m e s o m e a n x i e t y , b u t t h e n I learned to overcome this very natural fear, through constant practice, day after day. If you have competence and believe in what you say, everything comes easier. Having taken acting classes in my high school and university days helped too! At the end of the day, no mat- ter what, every time you speak in public, you always experience some tension. However, I con- sider it a positive feeling, whom you learn to control and use as an incentive to give your best. After a brief banking expe- rience in Naples, working for what was then called: Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, you became CEO for the pub- l i s h i n g h o u s e : P r e f i n Editoriale, again in your home- town. How were those experi- ences in terms of building up your skill set? I was for some time in the banking sector, where I had a precious first taste of a struc- tured work setting. The editorial experience was v e r y u s e f u l , b e c a u s e o f t h e expertise I gained in terms of writing and reporting. I gradual- ly refined the craft of extrapolat- ing the essential elements from a specific reality and communicat- ing those concisely. To date, I still apply those skills on a regu- lar basis. Moreover, since desktop pub- lishing technologies were emerg- i n g i n t h o s e s a m e y e a r s , m y position in the publishing house offered me the opportunity to become an IT expert. L a t e r o n , I e m p l o y e d t h e s a m e s k i l l s a t t h e I t a l i a n M i n i s t r y o f F o r e i g n A f f a i r s , making my part in launching the first Embassy internet site and, thus, informing our global web presence, which remains, to date, the one with the most innovative IT architecture. F r o m 2 0 0 2 t o 2 0 0 6 , y o u served as Consul General of Italy, in Sydney. What distin- guishes the Italian-Australian c o m m u n i t y f r o m t h e l o c a l Italian-American community in L.A.? The history of the two migra- tions is very different. Despite the dates of the migratory surges may look similar, the numbers are totally different. B e t w e e n 1 8 8 0 a n d 1 9 2 0 , Italians, who resettled in the United States, were at their peak. These days, first, second, third ( a n d s o o n ) g e n e r a t i o n s o f Italian-Americans coexist with one another. The Italian-Australian com- munity, instead, is largely com- posed of immigrants, arrived between the 1940's and the mid 70's. Therefore, in most cases, they have experienced Italy first- hand. Having been here for more than a year, I am now familiar not exclusively with Italians and Italian-Americans living in L.A., but also with those who settled i n t h e r e s t o f S o u t h e r n California, as well as in Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, since they are all under my jurisdic- tion. Due to the vastness of these territories, the Italian-American community is necessarily more spread out and it lacks a real physical pole of aggregation, s i n c e t h e h i s t o r i c a r e a i n Downtown L.A. - despite Saint Peter's Italian Church and Casa Italiana are still standing - has changed greatly. However, Italians and Italian- Americans here have other chances to feel like a community again, thanks to COMITES (Committees of Italians Abroad), the Federated Italo-Americans of Southern California, the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles for the cultural offer and, of course, the Consulate General and the services we provide. There is also a new genera- tion of expatriates, active in m a n y f i e l d s , e n t e r t a i n m e n t , research, business, etc. It coex- ists alongside the previous gen- erations and they all benefit from something new, the virtual connection! Especially, through social media, they experience a sense o f i n c l u s i o n t h a t m a y p r o v e often even more thriving than any "material" gathering. A con- nection that is very vibrant and fascinating for its extreme vari- ety. On October 22, 2014, you began your office as Consul General of Italy. What were your biggest challenges and your major accomplishments, so far? S i n c e m y m a n d a t e l a s t s around four years, I don't think is appropriate to talk about goals accomplished yet, but, accord- ing to the feedback I receive, it seems people are quite satisfied w i t h t h e w o r k w e d o a t t h e Consulate General. Through a committed team effort, we work daily on making all the proce- dures more and more efficient. The Consulate General plays also an essential role of coordi- nation among all the institutions, officially associated with Italy, the so-called "Sistema Italia" (Team Italy), composed by the above mentioned IIC-Italian Cultural Institute, which is part o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f F o r e i g n A f f a i r s ; I C E - I t a l i a n T r a d e P r o m o t i o n A g e n c y ; E N I T - I t a l i a n G o v e r n m e n t T o u r i s t B o a r d , a s w e l l a s t h e I t a l y - America Chamber of Commerce West. And what are your plans for 2016? First of all, to be even closer t o t h e d i f f e r e n t a r e a s o f m y C o n s u l a r d i s t r i c t . I h a v e a n intense program of visits, assist- ed by the other partners of Team Italy, and I am confident that, to experience first-hand the various realities of this part of America, is going to help me in a better execution of my job. Moreover, as far as LA is concerned, given the importance of the entertainment sectors, we have an active role in the organi- zation of many Italian film festi- vals. In particular, the Taormina Film Fest - LA; the just ended L o s A n g e l e s , I t a l i a - F i l m , Fashion and Art Fest; the Milan I n t e r n a t i o n a l F i l m F e s t i v a l (MIFF) and, in mid-November, Cinema Italian Style (during which the Italian movie candi- date for the Oscars is officially presented). These events play an essential role of attracting talent and funds from Italy, but also towards our country. By the end of 2016, we also plan to hold a meeting with the s c i e n t i f i c p o o l o f I t a l i a n researchers, active in the area. W e a r e a l s o t r y i n g t o h e l p s t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s between the two sister cities of Los Angeles and Ischia, the vol- c a n i c i s l a n d i n t h e g u l f o f Naples, as well as establishing a twinning between the port of L.A. and the one in Palermo. In conclusion, what's your o p i n i o n a b o u t L ' I t a l o - Americano, as aggregating ele- m e n t f o r t h e l o c a l I t a l i a n - American community? Considering the crisis experi- enced by the traditional press, I think that L'Italo-Americano, which is undergoing a process of great renovation, is on the right path. By embracing so enthusi- astically the latest digital means of communication and social media, it creates an ideal aggre- gating space for everybody. I ' m a n a v i d r e a d e r o f t h e newspaper, in both the paper and digital versions, and a follower of its social media channels, and I'm also happy of our collabora- tion with L'Italo-Americano to give voice to the major topics relevant to the community. We are also working with the newspaper to create something new for our community on the occasion of the Italian National Day and Republic Day, on June 2. T h a t s a i d , h a v i n g g r e a t l y a p p r e c i a t e d h o w L ' I t a l o - Americano was able to renew itself so deeply and to face bold- ly the contemporary challenges, I warmly wish longevity to this historical paper and look for- ward to its future successes! LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY Consul General of Italy goes back over the tur ning moments of his career for L'Italo-Americano Consul General of Italy, Antonio Verde. Photo Courtesy of A. Verde. Continued from page 1

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