On Monday 17th, MEET Italy hosted a brainstorming session with iconic Italian journalist Federico Rampini.

The roundtable included a focus group of MEET Italy entrepreneurs and professionals from different fields alongside Mr. Rampini and IIC Director, Valeria Rumori. The MEET Italy delegation included Davide Accomazzo, CIO of Thalassa Capital and Co-founder of MEET Italy, Guido Laudisa, creative force behind Ethos Factory, Valentina Martelli, RAI TV correspondent, Nicola Serragiotto, President of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce West, Yi Zhou, multimedia entrepreneur, Sassan Masserat, international business lawyer, Cynthia Catalino, estate lawyer, and Francesco Mitrangolo, owner of best in class Lillo Caffe’.

The lunch occurred in the beautiful gallery room at the Italian Cultural Institute where the guests were surrounded by the works of the “Not an Artist” modern art exhibition.

The conversation quickly centered on the role Italians play in the economic process of Los Angeles. There was a consensus that Los Angeles has become a multifaceted economic reality where experimentation and creativity give sparks to many new commercial trends. This city characteristic seems to suit perfectly the expat Italian mindset which carries the seeds of centuries of creative heritage and yet it craves for fertile ground often not found in its own motherland.

Italians do seem to often regenerate in the salty air of the City of Angels and assimilate that risk-taking attitude that in many instances appears to have been lost back home. This process of assimilation and regeneration does not come without a price. It was pointed out how often the Italian expat’s modus operandi eventually drifts into an almost complete assimilation of the surrounding dynamics which leads to a generally acknowledged difficulty in creating and maintaining bonds among our talented community.

A good segment of the discussion also revolved around the issue of how to deal with the rising and changing commercial power of China. Mr. Rampini pointed out how the China 1.0 blueprint or the copy and export model has been largely succeeded and now we are dealing with a much more sophisticated competitor. A few voices around the table discussed the challenges the Italian industry and service complex faces to adapt to such a new global marketplace. The new model requires a radical shift from the traditional product driven approach, to a sophisticated plan of attack which integrates product development, modern branding strategies and a careful marketing analysis to regain the prestige “Made in Italy” products had in the past.

On the subject of domestic politics, Mr. Rampini also commented off the cuffs that in regards to the upcoming mid-term elections, he has not yet formed a complete opinion on how they may play out. Mr. Rampini pointed out the recent problems in putting too much trust in polls results and also, interestingly, he quoted the difficulty of the Democratic party to show a unified front. He mentioned how the bi-coastal Dems have significantly shifted to the left, while the mid-American Dems are focusing their effort toward a much more conservative platform.

The brainstorming session was concluded by a tour of the “Not an Artist” exhibition by gracious host and MEET Italy co-founder Valeria Rumori.

Feel free to contact Davide Accomazzo for more details on the brainstorming session and if you are interested in the MEET Italy platform on how to get more involved.

This event was courtesy of: