Trustees Gard Jameson and Richard Keeler were keynote speakers at Expo Ser y Primer Congreso Mundial del Ser held in Mexico City May 24 through 26, 2002. Expo Ser was an international exposition dedicated to physical health, intellectual enlightenment, and spiritual illumination that attracted approximately 15,000 people. It was held at the World Trade Center, the premier location for exhibitions in Mexico, and included presentations, exhibits, workshops, and artistic performances.
Expo Ser was promoted throughout Latin America-from Florida to Argentina-via the Internet, cable TV, radio, magazines, billboards, and direct mail. Promotional materials were also placed at schools, health and sports clubs, universities, spas, bookstores, cultural centers, and other institutions.
Approximately 350 individuals attended the Urantia Foundation presentations, a number exceeded by only one other presenter. Gard Jameson gave an introduction to El libro de Urantia and Richard Keeler gave a brief history of the Urantia Papers and information about Urantia Foundation. Excerpts from Mr. Keeler's presentation appear below.
In exchange for Gard and Richard's participation, Urantia Foundation was given a 14 square meter booth with an excellent location. El libro de Urantia was available at the Foundation's booth and at two booths sponsored by one of our distributors, Random House-Mondadori.
El libro de Urantia was the single best selling title at the fair. It accounted for 50% of Random House's total sales.
Expo Ser provided a wonderful opportunity to get in touch with people interested in El libro de Urantia. Members of the Asociacion Urantia de Mexico (AUM), Mexico's new affiliate of the International Urantia Association, helped to set up the booth and greet visitors. We enjoyed the kind support and assistance of AUM members L.P., Mary Tere Ortega, Janette Becerra, Maria del Refugio Fragoso, Mercedes Heredia, Edgar Ibarraran, and Jesus Rodriguez. Hundreds of people stopped to ask about the book, including many current readers making contact with Urantia Foundation and AUM for the first time.
This event provided an extraordinary opportunity to plant seeds for the future spread of the teachings of The Urantia Book in Latin America. Through contacts made, a prison book placement program has been initiated in Mexico and AUM members were able to put together several potential new study groups.