Ciao from Rome!
Dear friends, I would like to inform you that the audio version of We the ItaliaNews, the podcast born two years ago and which is now a real news broadcast followed on various platforms and social media by more than 1000 followers for each episode, is also on Spotify. Every Monday and Thursday there is a new episode, which tells you what happens in Italy. You can find it here.
This month we reached 65,000 pieces of content on our website. That's a lot, but we're working to make it grow even more: every day there are 25 news on Italy and the United States, and then the interviews, the magazine both in pdf version and with individual articles, newsletters, video and audio podcast, books, events, and soon a surprise that will involve each of you directly. This surprise will end next June 20, when we will organize the first event here in Rome celebrating the Italian American community.
Also, next month our magazine will celebrate its 150th issue, and will see a restyling of its design, thanks to our great expert Giovanni Vagnone. And again, in April will begin the tenth year of our interviews, which were the first starting point of what would later become We the Italians: to celebrate this anniversary, now that we have exceeded 270 interviews, I thought I would return to see Marco Marinucci, a wonderful Italian entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, who was the first interviewee (back in those days the interviews were only in Italian!). All this in April, on We the Italians.
Our We the Italians’ family keeps growing. We have a new Ambassador in two of the United States: we’re at 45 States out of 50+1 (Washington DC). Ron Onesti is our Ambassador in Illinois, the Prairie State. Ron is president and founder of Onesti Entertainment Corporation, producing over 200 concerts, corporate events, shows and festivals annually all over the United States. Ron Won three Emmys for “The Happiness Club,” a PBS special highlighting the singing, dancing and choreography by inner city kids against drugs and violence. He produces over 200 live shows a year at the historic Arcada Theatre in Chicago. Ron is President of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans (JCCIA) and the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (NIASHF) and serves on the annual Columbus Day Parade committee in Chicago.
Besides, David G. Calderone is our Ambassador in Alaska, The Great Land. David is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Alaska with more than 35 years of experience. He is a first-generation Italian American, his father coming from Alfedena (Abruzzo). David received his Mechanical Engineering Degree from Oakland University in Oakland (MI) in 1985. He has a Master's Degree in Engineering Management. He also served for 7 years as a United States Air Force Officer, achieving the rank of Captain. He has lived in Alaska since 1989.
This month we also welcome another member of our team: Gina LeDonne joins Juliet Haller and Elaina Savino in managing our Tik Tok account. Gina is a proud Italian American from Boston, Massachusetts. Her family is from Sicily, Avellino, and Emilia Romagna. She has been to Italy various times, speaks Italian, and is obtaining her BA in Italian studies at Assumption University.
Let me remember you that the yearbook of We the Italians is available with the 24 interviews of the past year, both in Italian and English. This is our eighth book: one in English, one in Italian, and six yearbooks like this one, in two languages. In this first month the edition of 2021 has sold much more than the editions of previous years in their first months of release, and this makes me very happy because it rewards the work of all of us. I hope more of you will want to purchase the volume, which you can preview and buy here.
Please don’t forget our virtual store, the perfect place where to buy gifts for your family, your friends and – why not – for yourself! You can find more than 20 products in different colors: t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, onesies, mugs, notebooks, pillows, totes, tapestries, pins, laptop and smartphone cases, magnets, stickers, masks. Buy We the Italians!
I can't hide from you that the war in Ukraine is worrying many Italians, just as the restrictions due to the covid are loosening because, although the pandemic is not over, from this point of view things seem to be improving, also thanks to the arrival of higher temperatures. From Rome to Kiev there is the same distance that there is between New York and Houston, and Ukraine is considered part of Europe. I invite you to always follow We the ItaliaNews, in which I tell you what is the situation in Italy. Please stay safe, please stay healthy. Even with all that’s happening, the future’s so bright, we gotta wear shades! Stay safe, ciao from Rome
