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This adventure started as a hobby back in early 1996. Cesar Plata
always enjoyed participating in community activities and held
several leadership positions in high school, in different organizations
at UC Davis (BS Mechanical Engineering '93), and in San Jose, CA.
Cesar has had a long standing desire to keep the Latino community
better informed regarding events, activities and community resources
throughout the Bay Area. The initial service consisted of a weekly
email list of events and resources that Cesar believed would be of
interest to several hundred of his friends, co-workers and acquaintances.
Cesar realized there was and still is a SERIOUS
problem in the Bay Area Latino Professional Community - there are so
many talented individuals willing to volunteer and promote education,
but so many people are not AWARE of the events and available resources.
Likewise, many Latino organizations do great work but do not promote
their services and/or recruit members effectively. It is very important
to recruit and train members of all organizations, especially recent
college graduates, to learn, and become mentors and community LEADERS.
Cesar noticed that usually the same people attended most Latino
community events. He realized there was a need to help inform the
Latino Bay Area community as a whole (especially recent college
graduates willing to participate in community activities) of events and
community resources. Also, there are many community organizations that
provide similar services which struggle for volunteers and resources -
it seems logical that joining forces would be more economical and
effective!
Cesar's simple philosophy and purpose is to promote unity, education,
leadership, and eliminate exclusivity within our community - invite
everyone to get involved, join forces and work together! If more people
became aware of events and opportunities to get involved in community
activities, especially mentoring of our youth; our community would
naturally grow stronger and more united, and the high school and
college graduation rates would increase too.
By 1997, Cesar found his hobby and idea gaining a substantial following
throughout the Bay Area Latino community. Cesar distributed by email a
comprehensive list of Bay Area Latino cultural, education, and career
events, and a list of community resources (predominantly organizations
serving the Bay Area Latino community). Also, the Latino online
community requesting the Calendar of Events had grown to more than 1000
subscribers.
By late 1998, Cesar began to fine-tune his concept of keeping the Latino
community informed. Realizing the potential to better serve the Latino
community and helping other businesses, he decided to follow his dream
of becoming an entrepreneur by transforming his hobby into a full-time
business. Throughout 1999, Cesar formed a substantial partnership with
key organizations and businesses throughout California and muybueno.net
was formed with the help of his friend Rhéal Paquette.
Cesar realized people needed to connect not only online but also in
person. He borrowed the concept of First Fridays from the
African-American community, and organized monthly Latino Professional
Socials in San Jose. Eventually, he also hosted similar socials in San
Francisco and Berkeley.
Over the course of 1999, MuyBueno surfaced as a true online and real
community of Latino professionals throughout the Bay Area.
On January 20th, 2000, we hosted our redesigned website launch at the
Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. Over 500 people attended and
muybueno.net received extensive media coverage (radio, publications,
newspapers, and television).
By 2004, we expanded our horizons and changed our focus to reach out to
the community at large. We purchased the domain infobayarea.com and
have brought together very diverse crowds at our monthly mixers.
infoBayArea.com has successfully positioned itself with thousands of online
subscribers, extensive media coverage, a series of online services, a
resource center for the community, and a virtual and real gathering
site for Latino professionals, students, and the community at large.
By January 2011, Cesar Plata and his business partner, Roman Zhovtulya, launched everyCircle.com - Cesar's dream has finally been realized!
The possibilities and opportunities to grow statewide, nationally, and globally are limitless. We will continue to create and provide more applications and features for many online communities of executives, decision-makers, professionals, business owners, and community leaders to network, collaborate, and do business with each other, online and offline.
We thank you for visiting our website and look forward to connecting with you. The adventure continues...
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