This is a continuation of #VLPowerSummit: Voto Latino Launched it's Four-City Leadership Tour in NYC on April 11-12, Exclusive Interview with CEO Maria Teresa Kumar [Part I] ;  #VLPowerSummit and the #VLInnovatorsChallenge: Voto Latino's President and CEO Maria Teresa Kumar Shares the Development of the Tech Contest [Interview] [Part II] ;  #VLPowerSummit: Breakfast Plenary, Business and Community Leaders, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., and Unidos Latinos [Exclusive] [Part III]; #VLPowerSummit: NYC Leadership Tour Kick-off Event, Lemon Andersen and Establishing History Through Personal Stories and Poetry [Exclusive] [Part IV];  #VLPowerSummit: Business and Community Leaders, PepsiCo's Javier Farfan, and the Godfather of Hispanic Branding and Inventor of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Richard Montañez [Part V]; and #VLPowerSummit: The God Father of Hispanic Marketing and Inventor of Frito-Lay's Flamin' Hot Cheetos Richard Montañez Shares His Story [Exclusive] [Part VI]

"Game Changers: How Media Impacts Change," hosted by panelists Dr. Helen Troncoso, Vanessa Gonzalez-Plumhoff and Annette Raveneau, was just one of many sessions offered as first-round workshops at the Voto Latino Power Summit on April 12 in NYC. The session's goal was to investigate media-specific theories of change, discuss how the media environment influences daily life, and how current trends have contorted and shaped norms and values in today's society.

The workshop was moderated by the Communications Project Manager at Voto Latino, Yándary Zavala, who quickly introduced the panelists, and dove into the prepared topics. Zavala offered the team of panelists a question: "How does your organization use social media to impact change?"

Gonzalez-Plumhoff, the Director of Latino Leadership and Engagement Public Policy, Advocacy & Communications Division at Planned Parenthood, was the first to respond to the question, stating, "From Planned Parenthood's perspective... you probably see us in the media all of the time... we have a strong and robust, social and digital media team ... the way that we look at it is we provide services to so many women across the country ... 3 million women... and reproductive healthcare and preventative care, and what we really see as our mission, in the media, is that as many women as possible know the services that we provide and how to access them; because we can provided services for either free or on a sliding scale. And, not a lot of women, surprisingly, know that... not as many as you would think."

"[Women] have heard of Planned Parenthood, and they've heard stories, and read some things online... so they have this sort of idea that Planned Parenthood is out there somewhere. But, we're like, 'No... we're your local community center, we're right there on the corner.' So, we really try to make sure that women understand, we are a healthcare provider, first and foremost," Gonzalez-Plumoff said. "That's really the message that we're trying to get out... and we're really an advocate for healthcare, but we also use social media... so that as generations of women understand that they can come to us for a range of services. We've really beefed up our social media presence in the last few years. We have a phenomenal team. In social and tradition [media]; we have a health media aspect, where we do reproductive and health studies."

Planned Parenthood also has an advocacy arm, where they rally for change at the Supreme Court for women's health; Gonzalez-Plumoff cited the recent Hobby Lobby situation as an example of when the organization happened to be vocal on behalf of women everywhere. She also offered that specific media personnel works in those areas, in digital, and on the ground, to make sure that everything flows together to create one voice, though there are multiples areas of concentration.

"As the director of Latino engagement, it's really important that as we're moving forward, that this demographic and the Latina voice are always represented in that conversation; be that in the talking points, in the people who we ask, in the people who we are asking to speak to the media. We also have this understanding the faces that are speaking to us, need to look like us. And, so Planned Parenthood is taking active steps to making sure that this is really how we're presenting ourselves, especially because one-in-four of the women that we see in our health centers are Latina."

PHOTOS: Voto Latino Power Summit 2014 in NYC: A Decade of Celebrating & Empowering Latinos

Raveneau, the National Latino Press Secretary at Enroll America/Get Covered America chimed in on the subject of social media and its use to motivate change. Raveneau said, "We are leaders in the country educating people on the Affordable Care Act, the health care marketplace, and how [people] can gain financial assistance and pay for their health insurance. As, we know, Latinos and African Americans... basically all minorities were... still are... 7.5 million and counting [have access], and that's a great success, but that doesn't mean that there isn't an issue with people having health insurance. So, that's what we do. We have different departments in our organization... we have field work. Our organization, as they campaign, we have people go door-to-door and talk to people about healthcare. It's really not glamorous, but it's something that we need to do, and we know that it works." Raveneau said, and also shared that Get Covered also employs the "earned media" method of attracting more clients and participants. She further explained that 'earned media' is a term that describes media that's "earned and not paid for," it's a reporter covering an event, as opposed to publicity gained through advertisement.

Press releases are created by organizations, and those details are made available on to newspapers, television stations, radios, word-of-mouth participants -- and more recently, blogs, websites, emails, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and etc; offering methods of marketing, which are free and/or less expensive than owned or paid media, which are can be costly for startups, and non-profits. Earned media can be credited for attracting sponsors, contributors, customers, followers, attendees and participants for events and various endeavors for free.

"We basically try to educate people who wonder, 'What exactly is health care? What is healthcare insurance?' Because so many of our people have never had health insurance. We tell them that they can have cheap health insurance, and we created a marketplace, but people don't know what that card means. Even if they get the card, they don't know that they have to pay the monthly premium, or else the insurance will get cancelled. And, then, [they need to know to] use it; use the preventative services. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we have free preventative services, or services that are included in your health insurance. Earned during the process of educating people, we then realize that there's now this great opportunity that we now have when offering people insurance. Not just for insurance for children, but for [adults] as well; as to keep [them] healthy, so that [they] can take care of that child."

Raveneau, who is also a journalist, went on to say that as a regional director in Florida, Georgia, Texas and Arizona, she handles anything related to communications for those states, managing national Latino media in English and Spanish at Univision, Telemundo, and Fox News Latino, and any other network or publication interested in facts or information regarding the healthcare as it relates or caters to the Latino community. She also trains her organization's staff in speaking to Latinos in an engaging and effective way; teaching them how to communicate with Latinos in Spanish, not just talk to them in Spanish. Raveneau offered a for instance, saying that the correct term for healthcare insurance in Spanish is seguro médico or seguros de salud, but many use aseguranza when speaking to Latinos, which isn't a word in Spanish; but it's a word that's often used in relation to insurance.

Raveneau asked, "What would be the point of us speaking or talking proper Spanish, if the people who we're trying to reach cannot understand what we're saying?" She reinforced her desire to offer information in a way that Latinos understand, as it relates to language and numbers, communicating the tools available on her organization's website, GetCovered.org, which has an insurance calculator that deduces an estimate of health insurance policies for those seeking health insurance or looking to change their plans.

Tronsosco, who is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, Health & Wellness; a bilingual on-air health expert; and the Co-Director of the NYC chapter of LATISM, contributed to the conversation. In regards to the organization's tactical use of social media, she said, "We have the largest collection of Latinos working together in social media. Our mission is to advance the economic, social and civic status of the Latino community. And, basically, what that means is that we use social media to do good. Social media is what I like to call 'the new media,' because ten years ago, when I was in your position [as a young Millennial] there was no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram ... or Pinterest, all that stuff. It's not a fad, social media is here to stay. It has changed how we socialize and interact with each other. And, what LATISM likes to do, is we take the amazing online conversations that we have with each other ... through Facebook and through Twitter ... and we turn it into in-person networking. We make people, like you and me, into community activists. Which, you know, should be the goal for all of us. Latinos as you probably know, we love to talk, we are natural born networkers... so we are the absolute best at social media."

The entire panel, throughout the workshop, reinforced the idea that it's important to offer information from all fronts, to reach out with a personal touch, to always keep it "real" yet professional. Spaces such as Twitter only allows you to communicate so much text at a time, so the goal is simplify information in a way that's beneficial, smart and concise for all those who may be reading. But, limited space can be shifted to support a mission, as proven by Troncoso, who revealed that LATISM started with just one tweet. She also said that she's used her Twitter to host all-night Twitter parties, which have gone to make millions of impressions.

Gonzalez-Plumhoff also was able to impart that information and solidarity has become more accessible with the assistance of social media, particularly for an organization like Planned Parenthood, who're at the forefront of women's health and needs. She and Raveneau also shared the importance of building strong face to face-to-face relationships with reporters at bigger publications, as well as weekenders and local publications, recognizing that those are often the ones who're truly in touch with the desired audience. Dealing with reporters at various publications demonstrates value, according to Gonzalez-Plumhoff, and also teaches how to deal with media at every level.

The workshop also extended ideas regarding communicating with Latinos in English and in Spanish in order to attract and pool as many as possible, making sure that Latinos at level of English comprehension feel that they have access to information that isn't always made available to all. Deviating from customer-focused media, Zavala iterated the importance of strong relationships with reporters and press, and offered the concept that as a part of an organization, you have to stay on top of engagement, and nurture relationships with media; so that information can be effectively shared with the masses.

The "Game Changer" workshop, like much of Saturday's social and intellectual interactions, took place online and offline, as the Voto Latino Badge system was in effect -- workshop experiences were collected on an online resume, which participants are able to share with future employers. Also, attendees were encouraged to communicate and transcribe their experiences on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook throughout the day.

Important takeaways from the "Game Changer" workshop, and the entire Voto Latino Power Summit event, were as vast and broad as the varying interests, concerns, and needs of the Latino community; yet, there were some standout impressions: the importance of Spanish-speakers and Spanish-speaking experts at events looking to target Latinos is paramount; recognizing that younger generations are the door to the older generations -- this is important when trying to attract older generations to causes/offers that are only present online; and vice versa is true: as older generations are identified as the number one factor in pushing Latino Millennials to get healthcare.

Also, being professional and consistent, as well as personable, is rewarding when hoping to create strong relationships and create key connections, and try to understand the person who you're connecting with.

Be creative and authentic, and offer attractive information, in any respect, and it will earn you esteem. Discerning one's cultural terrain, building strong bridges, creating artful slogans, drafting impressive press releases/resumes/tweets, and arming oneself to change the narrative for Latinos at the dinner table and beyond can make for a successful campaign when hoping to be person of influence. Work to impact the world through social media as a thought leader (be someone who brings something to every conversation) and do more than "talk" online, but create meaningful real relationships with people, which can be erected in real life.... over coffee, possibly. Begin with a vision, be intentional, measure personal connectivity, and empower others to empower themselves, and that can and will lead to power, success, and being a great leader.

The #VLPowerSummit in NYC was just the first of a four-city, national event that will also go to Miami (June 13-14), San Jose (Oct. 17-18) and San Antonio (Sept. 12-13). Stay on top of news and developments by checking out Voto Latino's Twitter and Facebook pages.