Minnesota is the home to an amazing advertising, marketing, and interactive development community – some would say that everyone who works the state that I call home is ‘Above Average’.

No other conference helps elevate Minnesota’s talent like the MIMA Summit.  It’s the biggest annual marketing and technology conference in the Midwest, presented by the oldest interactive marketing association in America. (FULL DISCLOSURE: I’m MIMA’s Vice President.  So, I have a soft spot in my heart for the organization – not to mention that I’m a bit of a Minnesota towny).  

This year’s theme is No Boundaries: The Rapid Evolution and Diversification of Digital Marketing featuring keynotes by gaming expert Jane McGonigal and former Apple chief evangelist and best selling author Guy Kawasaki, as well as over 32 sessions with an incredible roster of national speakers on digital leadership, mobile e-commerce, SEO, digital strategy, social media and more (breakfast, lunch and a happy hour included).

And, you’ll network with over 700 of the smartest interactive marketers around (I know most of these people and they’re good folks).  I’m attending and I hope you will join us.

via MIMA Summit 2012 with Guy Kawasaki & Jane McGonigal – Minneapolis, MN- October 10, 2012.

Only a year ago, the charts were dominated by stars who had come out of the old machine of radio and major-label promotion: Katy Perry, Rihanna, Adele, Maroon 5. This year’s biggest hits — “Call Me Maybe,” Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” and Fun.’s “We Are Young” — started in left field and were helped along by YouTube and Twitter before coming to the mainstream media.

via How ‘Call Me Maybe’ and Social Media Are Upending Music – NYTimes.com.

Dog gets wet. Dog shakes. Water comes flying off fur. Anyone who has ever had or been near a dog or seen a movie in which there is a dog knows this familiar sequence of events. It seems simple. But it is not.

via Dogs Can Shake 70% of the Water from Their Fur in 4 Seconds, Here’s How – The Atlantic.

The beautiful expressions of 58 dogs in under 4 minutes.

You can’t make something go viral. You don’t decide, I don’t decide, the audience does. Asking for something to go viral is almost as absurd as calling your newest launch a “viral marketing campaign.” Really? Your campaign is to get people talking to other people about your company? What campaign isn’t about that? Viral isn’t a campaign, it’s a result of a good or really bad one.

via Why No One Will Watch Your Crappy Corporate “Viral” Video, And How To Fix It | Fast Company.