Tony's Mexico Trip – A report from Latin America – March 4-9, 2007
Introduction
Tony arrived on March 4 for a whirlwind visit covering 6 major events:
- Tecnologico de Monterrey Meeting.
- BLI Training.
- Centre for Research and Development of Intellectual Capital Site Inspection.
- Launching of iMindMap in Latin America.
- Launching of Buzan Latin America website.
- Government Leaders Meeting.
Tec de Monterrey Meeting
Sergio Garcia de Alba, the former Minister of the Economy, and now the “brain” behind the initiative for renovating the number one private University in Mexico, Tecnologico de Monterrey, invited Tony and the team to his house for evaluating a long-term alliance.
In his new position as President of the Innovation and Change Management Institute of the TEC, Sergio is in charge of propelling the TEC to a World Class level as an education Powerhouse for Latin America. The TEC has more than 40 Campuses throughout Mexico and Latin America.
Sergio expressed his strong desire to enter into a long term alliance with Tony and Buzan Latin America, since he is convinced that his organisations need a team of experts for developing Intellectual Capital initiatives with leading-edge tools such as Mind Mapping and “Learning How to Learn”.
We met for three and a half hours and decided that the next step would be to develop a fully-fledged proposal for the long-term alliance.
The evening was enlightened by the music played by one of Sergio’s daughters. A modern Mexican-Spanish style with rhythmic guitars and strong voices delighted the audience. It was a memorable evening and one that opens important windows of opportunity.
BLI training
For the first time ever in the Americas, Tony directly trained 40 people in Stage One of the new BLI certification programme, the Mind Map Foundation Course.
The objective of this brand new programme is to insure that new BLIs reach World Class level in teaching Mind Mapping. The primary objective for the BLI is to guarantee that every participant graduates from the Mind Map Course excellently, according to the Mind Map Laws and Guidelines.
The venue was a magical setting in the middle of Mexico (Cañada de Negros in La Purisima). The site was an old Hacienda with stunning gardens, which has been renovated in a post-modern Mexican style with impressionism-like colors and ample rooms, with tall ceilings and minimalist decoration.
The participants ranged from elementary school teachers to high government officials. While the initial Mind Maps were average, as the event evolved, participants showed great improvement. The attached Mind Map Gallery of eye-catching Mind Maps attests to their significant progress.
Participants expressed a strong desire to pursue the full certification (Stages 1 through 5). Tony announced that he will come back in October-November for the graduation ceremony.
Participants organized a classical Mexican cheer (porra) to express their gratitude to Tony while wishing him the best and a prompt return to Mexico.
Centre for Research and Development of Intellectual Capital
Tony visited the building and infrastructure that will house the Centre for Research and Development of Intellectual Capital, and a State Buzan Centre.
The building, formerly an hacienda and one of the town’s icons, is located in Jalpa, at the heart of midland Mexico. The 19th Century building is being renovated and will be equipped with leading-edge technology to provide cutting-edge services. The Centre will have video conference facilities for transmitting courses all over the world. The building will combine 19th Century Neo-classical style with 21st Century infrastructure.
Tony will officially open the Centre in October of this year. The centre will coordinate major initiatives such as research projects on Mind Mapping, Memory, Creativity and Learning.
In April, a group of ten teachers will participate in the first major research: The 2007 Mind Mapping Creativity Survey. This project will demonstrate the massive power of Mind Mapping in boosting creativity, and will be led by Americ Jenkins. Americ received a Suma Cum Laude Master in Sciences degree from the University of Oregon for research in this area.
Launching of Buzan iMindMap in Latin America
The Latin American launch of Buzan's iMindMap took place during the BLI training event. This breakthrough Mind Mapping application is the only one that is able to draw curved branches with text that follows the angle of the lines while filling their length.
The software is destined to become a blockbuster in the Latin American market.
Launching of Buzan Latin America's Website
On March 8 we officially launched the Buzan Latin America website (www.buzanlat.com).
The website, the first ever Mental Literacy site in the Americas, has been developed using Mind Map principles. The entire site is designed so that it can be navigated with Mind Maps. These Mind Maps have been created using the iMindMap software platform.
Although the website is still a “baby”, it is showing rapid progress. The site already has a User Group functionality for creating a Mental Literacy community in the Region and a Mind Map Gallery with a selection of Mind Maps from Latin America. In the near future, the site will add video podcasts of significant Latin American Mental Literacy events.
Government Leaders Meeting and CAPI Launching
The icing on the cake was the meeting / dinner that we had on March 8 in the Hacienda de los Morales. The Hacienda houses a World Class dining experience with haute Mexican cuisine, dazzling gardens and sumptuous early 20th Century rooms.
The event gathered government and business leaders including Abelardo Escobar, Minister of Agrarian Reform, and undersecretaries of the Ministry of Economics.
The CAPI (The Centre for the Articulation of Intelligence) was launched during the event. The vision of this government-sponsored non-profit organization is to help grow small and medium sized businesses while fostering the creation of jobs, a key initiative of President Felipe Calderon. This will be achieved through Strategic Intellectual Capital projects jointly sponsored by the CAPI and the Ministry of Economics.
Setting a strong primacy, followed by the dinner, Tony gave a 30 minute speech on the new Paradigms for the 21st Century: The Era of Intelligence and Mind Mapping as the Natural Language for the New Millennium.
The Minister expressed his strong support of the projects driven by the CAPI.
Likewise Miguel Angel Toscano, undersecretary of the Economy, stated that Mind Mapping is the key thinking tool for the Ministry of Economics, and that they look forward to using this methodology for several strategic initiatives during the next six years.
As Tony departed to New York for the 10th USA Memory Championship, he attested the onset of major exciting projects which will help achieve the Vision of creating a Mentally Literate Latin American Region.