DIGITECH TALK SPEAKER Date: Saturday, June 8 Time: 12:30pm Topic: Bridging the Gap between the Virtual and Reality   Bio: Ricardo “ Dimarco” Barea was born in Miami, FL to Cuban Immigrant entrepreneurs during a time that fused politics, music, art, street culture and business - The Early 1980s. Today he is a futurist, an artist, an entrepreneur and community organizer.

His early teens consisted of early entrepreneurial plays leading him to produce music and launch record labels and recording studios in the heart of Miami Beach. He produced original and remixed songs for global artists like Destiny's Child, Brandy, The Ting Tings, Maze and Rick Ross. After producing 2 Top 10 Billboard Songs and being invited to participate as a voting member of the Grammy Academy he sold all of his entertainment industry businesses to achieve the next phase of life purpose - making a direct positive impact on as many people as possible through serial social entrepreneurship.

In 2010, he graduated with a Masters Degree in Internet Marketing and founded a Digital Marketing & Advertising Agency (The Greenside Agency) which focused on delivering results for both small and large brands facilitating experiential campaigns for GNC, Senor Frogs, The Red Cross, Intercontinental & Saks 5th Avenue just to name a few.

In 2014, he launched Midtown Miami Magazine, an innovative crowd-source publication model focusing on UGC (user generated content) tailored to connect Small Businesses with Local Creatives and Social Media Influencers in the development of #TheNewMiami.

In 2017, his partnership with the CDD and The Shops at Midtown Miami sponsored the creation of the MMM Pop-Up Art Gallery + Social Lounge that served as an incubator and interactive space that exhibited local artists, musicians, wellness ambassadors, technology innovators with the surrounding millennial community in Midtown, Wynwood & Edgewater.

This space allowed the creation of the MMM LIVE app and the MMM Interactive Magazine. The MMM LIVE app allows the MMM Magazine to be scanned and takes the viewer to videos, VR/AR experiences, games, social media accounts to get a deeper experience of the people,places and stories within the pages.

The MMM LIVE app also serves as an interactive app that helps anyone discover amazing things all around the city with geo-location specific push notifications that help you connect to the history and the lifestyle of the city around you, while communicating with the top influencers,artists and decision makers through the social networking modules. To date major partners and customers in the platform include the PAMM, Frost Museum, Faena, Ball and Chain, SLS and many more.

Through Dimarco’s tight-knit network, innovative mind state, artistic background, aesthetic sensibilities and collaboration-driven acumen he aims to develop a city-wide social network on the MMM LIVE app that will enrich the locals experience, drive sales for businesses and build a closer community all over Miami and into other Millennial markets in the US and abroad.