The Mambo Scene and Salsa On2 - Salsa Social Networks

Posted on February 8th, 2009 by Allan Tabilas

 

In recent years, online social networks have grown immensely in popularity.  Sites like Myspace and Facebook are in the mainstream, with users communicating and sharing their digital lives online.  So it’s only appropriate that salsa dancing specific social networks are arriving to fill this need.  Two new sites have launched in December 2008/January 2009, The Mambo Scene and Salsa On2, both based on the Ning.com social network engine. Ning offers the ability to create social networks with hooks for friends, pictures, videos, both forum and blog posting, events, and articles.  So while both networks have these common functions, we will briefly write about their unique and different features.

The Mambo Scene, started by Johnny Johnson, is a sister site to his new magazine of the same name, which launches in March.  The network is also a collaboration with Washington D.C. salsa promotion Stuck on Salsa, with Earl Rush.  Johnny was the main publisher behind the print magazine La Voz Del Mambo, which focused on the “underground” mambo scene in between the summers of 2006-2007.  Some of the essence of La Voz lives on in the Mambo Scene, as the network features some older interviews on the interviews section with dancers such as Ismael Otero and Taiti and Cristel.

Less than two months in existence, the Mambo Scene boasts almost 800 members who have shared photos and videos, created groups and forum posts.  Need your video fix?  Watch The Mambo Scene TV, which highlights random salsa videos throughout the web.  Need your music fix?  Listen to the Mambo Scene radio, which has recruited some twenty DJs.  The Mambo Scene Digital Newsletter, which appears to be a mini-version of the upcoming magazine, has just recently debut made its debut in flash, with an interview with 2006 World Salsa Championships on1 3rd place dancer and Salsamentary member, Darlin Garcia.

Salsa On2, started by Waygee Ho, is a sister site to MamboNYC. The New York based salsa portal is complete with a calendar of events, a forum, a built-in social network of dancers, performance videos including New York groups like Santo Rico and Yamulee, and full length/extended interviews with dancers like Frankie Martinez, Magna Gopal, Duplessey Walker, and Ahtoy-Wonpat Borja.

“Building The On2 Online Salsa Community.”  Reflecting the global salsa community, and to extend the MamboNYC idea even further, Waygee is actively recruiting writers, correspondents, and dancers around the world, and already have secured reporters in China (Irene Yuan) and France (Rita Kizilos), similar to international writers/reporters for Salsapower, Salsaweb, Salsa-Central, and SalsaDynasty.com Portugal.

Salsa On2 has over 300 members, features MamboNYC’s large video archive, and is available in several localized countries and languages, including France, China, and Japan.

So connect with your existing friends, and make new friends in the salsa community with The Mambo Scene and Salsa On2.

Tags: , Johnny Johnson, Salsa On2, The Mambo Scene, Waygee Ho
Posted in dance | No Comments »
Permanent Link