8 minute read
the beneFits oF a new year’s rockin’ eve
Edward Zayas,
Chief Strategy Officer, Discover Puerto Rico
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The New Year’s tourism miracle
When the clock marks midnight on Dec. 31st, and people around our time zone start to celebrate the arrival of a new year, more than 18 million people will be watching on their TV sets (or streaming to their phones or tablets) how Christmas is celebrated in Puerto Rico. To be honest, by that time, viewers will be well in-tune with images about the Island, different aspects of our culture, local attractions, and so forth. Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in Puerto Rico is a huge marketing event. It is the real deal. A once-a-year event, to be exact. It is a onetime exposure, but what an exposure it is.
According to the National Basketball Association (NBA), the 2021 Playoffs averaged 4.25 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, and TNT networks. The games peaked at 12.5 million viewers when the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns during the sixth game of the NBA finals.
The 2021 Major League Baseball World Series averaged 11.75 million viewers. As you can see, viewership is way beyond those stats for the New Year’s event. The over 18 million viewers it reaches is the equivalent of one in every 20 Americans. The first week after it was announced that Puerto Rico will have its Spanish count down and become one of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve locations, we saw evidence of what a great deal this is for the island. The Convention Center District Authority is investing $3.6 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds on the event. In one week only, we got over $10 million in earned media value. Just to give you an idea, that is the value of the exposure in different news outlets that Puerto Rico has had since the announcement.
For every dollar invested, we have already received $2.7 in media exposure. And that can only increase from here. The event production team is yet to announce Puerto Rico’s countdown host and musical guest. And the event itself generates its own news coverage. The purpose of the event is to bring the destination to the mind of the viewers. That effort is paired with digital marketing and public relations strategies.
There is more good news. As of October 31st, the expected occupancy rate for the last week of the year is 41% higher in 2021 than in 2019. This metric is based on hotel bookings, and it defies some current understanding about the industry.
Let me give you some context around this: in 2021, visitors are booking with way less anticipation. This means that while visitors now book their visits with around 35 days in anticipation, New Year’s visitors are planning 60 days ahead. That shows a rising demand surrounding New Year’s celebrations, and Dick Clark’s event is definitely the new kid on the block.
The event is going to put Puerto Rico on top of the mind of millions of potential visitors. It is the best way to culminate a record-breaking year in tourism in which the industry has bounced back from a terrible pandemic and, surprisingly, has experienced the highest lodging revenue in its history while arrivals are exceeding 2019 figures.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve will hopefully extend this year’s tourism good fortunes throughout 2022, when the marketing budget will double with the federal ARPA funds.
Víctor Rodríguez
Public Affairs Specialist, Social Security Administration
Social Security benefits increase to be notified by mail
About 850,000 people from different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds in Puerto Rico qualify for a 5.9 percent increase in their Social Security benefits for 2022. Federal benefit rates increase when the cost-of-living, as measured by the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index (CPI-W), rises. The CPI-W rises when inflation increases, leading to a higher cost-of-living. This change means prices for goods and services, on average, are a little more expensive, so the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) helps to offset these costs. The SSA will be mailing COLA notices throughout the month of December to retirees, beneficiaries with disabilities and surviving family members of beneficiaries, in addition to their representative payees (if any). Those wanting to know if they are eligible for the new benefit before the written notification is mailed, can securely obtain their Social Security COLA notice online using the Message Center in their “my Social Security” account at www.ssa.gov/ myaccount. Anyone can access this information in early December before the mailed notice.
Those preferring to access their COLA notice online and not receive the mailed notice, can log in to their personal “my Social Security” account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount to opt out of the mailed COLA notice, and any other notices that are available online by updating their Preferences in the Message Center. Social Security beneficiaries can also receive a text or email alert when there is a new message available. This option allows the beneficiary to know when the SSA has important information available – like the COLA notice. January 2022 also marks the date when other significant changes will be taking place, based on the increase in the national average wage index. For example, the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll tax in 2022 will be higher. The retirement earnings test, or the wages or self-employment income exempt amount will also change in 2022. Changes can be reviewed at www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/ colafacts2022.pdf. You can find more information about the 2022 COLA at www.ssa.gov/cola. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Social Security offices are not receiving visitors, except for previously arranged appointments due to limited critical situations. However, we continue providing our services by phone and through the internet. If you have questions on Social Security benefits and services, please access www.socialsecurity.gov. You could also access our automated services at 1-800-772-1213 or call your local Social Security office Monday to Friday from 9:00AM to 4:00PM. To locate the telephone number of your local field office, please type your residential zip code at www.ssa.gov/locator/.
Gladys RodríguezOlleros plays the main role in The Sound of Music. >Courtesy
Theater helps heal the loss of her daughter
The play gives the actress the opportunity to continue living and working on what she loves most
Jan Figueroa Roqué
When Gladys RodríguezOlleros takes the stage to play María, in a local production of The Sound of Music, the audience will see a free-spirited, warm, kind and determined woman. But behind the character lives a mother who is still healing after the loss of her daughter. In 2020, Rodríguez-Olleros and her family faced the cancer diagnosis of one of her daughters.
“She was diagnosed with an incurable cancer,” the actress said about her daughter, who suffered from Diffuse Intrinsic Trunk Glioma (DIPG). This form of cancer causes a brain stem tumor and affects three percent of the world’s children. Gladys Isabel Rodríguez Rodríguez’s illness lasted a year and a month. She passed away last June 16. She was bedridden for five months, which were extremely hard for her and her mother. “With God’s help, I’ve managed to become strong enough, emotionally, to be able to sing at concerts and weddings, despite the ordeal we had gone through,” the soprano said.
In the midst of her mourning, the artist learned about the auditions for the musical The Sound of Music that Producciones Santa Bernardita (PSB Productions) was producing, with Father Willie
-Gladys Rodríguez-Olleros, Actress and singer
Peña at the helm. The musical is scheduled to premiere on December 10 at the Centro de Bellas Artes (CBA) in Santurce.
Life Goes On
“When the call for auditions was made last July, a month after my baby passed away, I was not going to go. I said, ‘Why should I go? They already know me. If they need me, they will call me’,” Rodríguez Olleros said.
Nevertheless, the actress/singer decided to audition. It was then that she was informed she would be starring as the main character in the musical.
“This was like an opportunity to continue living and to continue working on what I love. In this case, as a volunteer donating my time and talent. It’s like an opportunity to start a new chapter, but a little angel watching in heaven,” she added.
But the soprano will not be the only one healing a still open wound. Another of her daughters is also part of the cast.
“It has been a healing process for her, and she has been able to see that life continues after tragic moments that seem to extinguish all hope in life. We are still here on Earth and there are reasons to move forward,” she said, convinced that they serve as an example to those who have to go through mourning during the holiday season. This is not the first time Rodríguez-Olleros participates in a musical directed by Father Willie, neither is the classic unknown to her. The first time PSB Productions produced the musical, several years ago, she was also part of the cast. “I was a senior in high school and this was the first musical I had participated in, and the one that helped me decide to study music and theater. Back then, I played the eldest daughter, Liesl von Trapp, who has a beautiful part in the play,” she recalled.
In fact, Years later, RodríguezOlleros assumes the main role of the play, which also has Miguel Marrero, as Captain Von Trapp In 1965, The Sound of Music launched actress Julie Andrews to fame. and music performed by a live orchestra conducted by Jan Rivera. “This is the story of the nun who takes on the mission of being the governess of orphaned children and her presence transforms their home,” said the actress about Maria. In 1965, this was the role that catapulted actress Julie Andrews to fame. “There is no one who can make a better Maria than her. In fact, I cannot make it better. I am going to follow my own style because it is impossible to outperform her. Nevertheless, I use her as a model for her natural charm. I’m preparing myself with great care to deliver an excellent performance,” Rodríguez-Olleros concluded.
