TIJUANA U.S. Rep. Bob Filner visited Wednesday morning with organizers of the upcoming innovation conference and challenged them to reach out in creative ways to encourage San Diegans to attend.
The organizers meet weekly in Tijuana's chamber of commerce to plan Tijuana Innovadora 2012, to be held Oct. 11 to 21 at the Centro Cultural Tijuana.
It's the second time the conference is being presented. Like the inaugural one, in the fall of October 2010, the event is being organized to highlight the innovation occurring in the city on many fronts.
Nearly 700,000 people attended that conference, in which former Vice President Al Gore spoke, as well as the founders or Wikipedia and Twitter, among dozens of other innovators.
Filner said the binational region offers many opportunities beyond business, such as art and culture, but too many barriers get in the way.
The Democrat, co-chair of the Congressional Border Caucus, listed the long border waits and San Diegans' negative opinion of their southern neighbor, as two of them.
"This is a vibrant, energetic city," he said. "But many San Diegans do not want to come here."
He told the organizers that talking to business leaders in San Diego was useful but so was reaching out to community groups and clubs, which form public opinion.
"You have to think outside the box," he said, then proposed an idea of how the two sides could see each other differently.
"What if you put people on the rooftops on either side of the border," the congressman said. "Once you get away from the ground stuff, the view of the other side is beautiful."
The congressman said he would do all he could in spread the word about the conference from San Diego to Washington, D.C.
Filner is a candidate for mayor of San Diego, a fact noted by the meeting's host and conference founder, José Galicot.
"I'm the only candidate that even mentions Mexico," Filner told the group.
Another San Diegan addressed the meeting, Chris Yanov, the founder and president of Reality Changers, an organization that tutors disadvantaged high school students and helps them to get into college.
Yanov told the meeting why it was so important to help young people choose a path away from destructive forces around them.
And he announced that his organization would be supporting the Tijuana Innovadora effort to work with Tijuana's youth.
editorial@sandiegored.com
[sidebar]Two causes
The high-tech conference Tijuana Innovadora will be Oct. 11-21, 2012. Proceeds will go to accredited non-profit organizations.
Reality Changers assists at-risk high school students to succeed in high school and get into college. The organization works in San Diego and Solana Beach.
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