Stay up to date on all of the issues that matter most to you – you now have the power to clear the static of those presidential campaigns plastered all over the radio, billboards, television, email, yard signs, etc.  Ignore the smear campaigns, and get right down to business.  Apps for your smartphone or tablet.

Key points from this video:

• 68% of viewers share video links.
• More than 50% of the videos on YouTube have been rated or include comments from the community.
• Having a video on the landing page of your website makes it 53% more likely to show up on the first page of a Google search.
• The average user’s visit to a text and image-based website lasts only 43 seconds; for a website with video, the average visit lasts 5 minutes and 50 seconds.
• Customers that watch videos of products or services are 85% more likely to make a purchase.

London has prepared the 2012 Olympics to look unlike any other. The iconic ferris wheel, The London Eye, will light up the games in a very clever way.

EDF Energy and a team of MIT graduates will scan Twitter for Olympic related tweets during the games. The team will scan Twitter for tweets such as #energy2012, London 2012, Olympics, Torch Relay, etc.

An algorithm will decide the amount of positive or negative emotion in the messages. This is how they will determine the ferris wheel’s colors during a 30 minute light show every night during the games. Yellow means positive, green means neutral and purple means negative.

Do you intend to alter the color of the ferris wheel by tweeting during the Olympic games?

Here is the full list of brainy cities:

1. Charlottesville, Virginia
2. Lafayette, Indiana
3. Anchorage Alaska
4. Madison, Wisconsin
5. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
6. Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa City & Dubuque, Iowa
7. Honolulu
8. Johnstown-Altoona, Pennsylvania
9. Champaign & Springfield-Decatur, Illinois
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul
11. Boston-Manchester (Massachusetts/New Hampshire)
12. Austin
13. Rochester, New York
14. Gainesville, Florida
15. Fargo-Valley City North Dakota
16. Lansing, Michigan
17. Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo
18. Burlington-Plattsburgh (Vermont/New York)
19. Pittsburgh
20. Syracuse, New York
21. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
22. Columbia-Jefferson City, Missouri
23. La Crosse-Eau Claire, Wisconsin
24. Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York Pennsylvania
25. Springfield-Holyoke, Massachusetts

Congratulations, Lansing. As if we needed another reason to love you.

Find the original article here: America’s Brainiest Cities by Richard Florida

What do you think of the advertisement? Is this the first of many Twitter television spots?

Found on Rock the World's Facebook Page

Besides being a 5k race and music festival, could you go into more detail about what Rock The World is all about?

It’s a festival for the whole family to enjoy. People can come out and race, enjoy the music and have fun with the kids. The scenery at the race locations will blow you away! The main event on Saturday will feature the world record attempt– the longest distance traveled on a slip-n-slide in one hour. University of Oregon set the current record and we are ready to surpass them.  Our slip-n-slide is 190 feet and will be placed on the sledding hill in Fitzgerald Park–also known as Victoria Falls.  Everyone that’s racing will be able to go down the hill during their race.  At 7 p.m., Victoria Falls opens to the community for the record attempt. We have unique obstacles, and one is modeled after the show Wipe Out. The rest is a surprise! Participants will find out more on race day!

Sounds like a lot of fun! What is the difficulty of the course?

Everybody should be able to get through the obstacles. Mount Kilauea is the only obstacle everyone must pass because there are rock cliffs on either side–there’s no other way go on to the next obstacle.   Participants are allowed to skip any other obstacle. Our Eiffel Tower obstacle may provoke the most fear. It’s a 14 foot tall structure, where racers must climb up one side and down the other. If somebody thinks it’s too difficult, they are able to pass. Most of the other obstacles are easy to get through.

What was your inspiration behind Rock the World?

We have seen the market explode for races involving mud and obstacles. We started brainstorming about a more adventurous style. In the Grand Canyon obstacle, you must grab a torch, clip it to a wristband, and take it to the Statue of Liberty obstacle. Then you must walk “Statue of Liberty style” across a balance beam. Rock the World has a different twist compared to other mud and obstacle course races.

Found on Rock The World's Facebook Page

What’s the age range? How is it family friendly? 

Racing participants must be 14 and up. We really wanted to make it more family friendly to include people of all ages. The Warrior Dash is an aggressive event– I would not want to bring my little kids there! At Rock the World, we have six local Michigan bands playing throughout the day. The most prominent bands we have are Starfarm and Global Village. We look for high-energy bands playing recognizable songs that are appropriate for all ages.

Do you have any goals set for the event?

Our primary mission with Rock the World is to give people an avenue of becoming active in a fun way. The typical 5k race and marathon training can get boring. The obstacle course races have taken off because they are fun.

All races are located in Michigan. Are you planning on keeping this a “Michigan only” race or are you thinking about expanding? Where would you like to see Rock The World in the future? 

We have scouted locations all the way from Michigan to Florida, and plan to start branching out in 2013.

We have another race at Willow Metropark in Detroit on September 29. We try to find unique parks that people will come back too. Fitzgerald Park is full of rock cliffs and trails, while Willow Metropark has a water park and wide open spaces.

There’s certainly a lot to look forward to with Rock The World! I have also noticed that you seem to have a strong presence on social media. Can you give small businesses some helpful tips for starting out?

Be active and engaging. Also, keep a close eye on what others are doing on social media. The biggest deficiency we see for some race organizers and small businesses are that they don’t utilize social media. Create content that’s interesting–don’t just focus on your product. A lot of our social media has highlighted different businesses. We have blog posts featuring fun things to do in the area, tips for runners etc.

In what other ways have you been reaching out to spread the word about Rock the World?

We are visiting eight schools on our college campus tour right now. Michigan State is Thursday! We come to groups on campus, then give away promos, prizes and have them take a picture with us. We have had human pyramids and roof pictures. We will post the craziest shots on Facebook and whoever wins with the most Facebook “Likes” wins a party pass valued at $500 form Rum Runners. Thankfully our charity, Ele’s Place will provide us with volunteers for our campus tour. We have a couple of other things planed, which will be announced the night of the event.

Other ways we have exposed Rock the World are via radio, television, and news. Tomorrow we will be on LCC’s radio and television show. Social media has been our main hit with exposure.

Found on Rock The World's Facebook Page

You mentioned working with Ele’s Place. Could you tell us more about this organization?

Ele’s Place is a healing center for grieving children, focusing on children that may have experienced a death of a mother, father, sibling, or someone close dealing with terminal illness. Ele’s Place allows these children to communicate in small groups and open up. We love working with them and hopefully we’ll be able to donate a portion of our proceeds to this great cause!

We hope these events are successful! As you know, LSJ Media loves Lansing. What is your favorite thing to do in Lansing? 

That’s a tough question because there is so much to do! I really enjoy watching the Lugnuts. The atmosphere and the fireworks at the end are really fun! Everything has become so revitalized which is exciting to see and has attracted so many people.

To learn more about Rock The world, visit their website here. You can also check them out on Facebook and Twitter @_RockTheWorld

Source: Mobileactive.org

In the past decade, we have shifted from using bulky, brick-like phones with only a dial pad, to flip phones with cameras, to smart phones. These popular smart phones have not only changed the way we communicate in our social lives or in business, but have opened a whole new ground-level for humanitarian aid. Lending a hand has become a faster process via social media–and it’s powerful.

In this video by TED Talks, Paul Connelly illustrates how the mobile device can inform, coordinate and guide relief efforts.

What are your thoughts?

Paul Silverman was the original Creative Director for Mullen Advertising beginning in 1973. Silverman’s began his career in fictional writing making him an excellent copy writer in his future work. He helped launch Mullen Advertising nationally from the campaigns he worked on including Timberland, BMW, and the “When I Grow Up” monster.com ad. According to agency founder Jim Mullen, “Paul Silverman was the smartest person I even knew as well as the key creator of our agency’s creative culture”. Silverman paved the path for future creatives in the field of advertising and will always be remembered through his inspiring words.

The Super Bowl has produced some of the best commercial spots the advertising world has seen. In this blog I would like to count down the five best Super Bowl spots from last year. Lets take a look!

#5 – NFL – “Best. Fans. Ever.”

This greatest moments montage only ranked number eight in the USA Today polls, but I believe it belongs at number five. Featuring some of the best shows on television, (Seinfeld, The Office, Cheers, Full House, Family Guy, How I Met Your Mother, Friends, and Glee) this spot really took root in the hearts of many NFL fans. People of all ages could connect with the spot giving it such a great reach. The message was clear and heart warming. The NFL did a great job giving a shout out to their loyal fans.

#4 – Pepsi Max Love Hurts

Ranking number five in the USA Today poll was this hilarious spot. Even though this spot was quite exaggerated, it shed some light on relationships and let us laugh at our inner jealousy for thirty seconds. At the end of the commercial we have the unexpected twist that makes the spot come full circle. This spot sits as the second most funny spot of the 2011 Super Bowl.

#3 – Doritos Pug

After taking millions of consumer generated ideas and footage, Doritos came up with this ingenious spot. Tied for 1st place in the USA Today poll, this spot only earned the number three spot in my book. It was definitely the most funny, but not the most emotionally engaging or product oriented. The Spicy Nacho Doritos took second place to the acting and adorable pug. Overall, great spot!

#2 – Chrysler – “Imported From Detroit”

This spot is awarded the most underrated spot of the 2011 Super Bowl. Chrysler had a very specific target audience it wanted to reach, and they did that ten times over. They featured the Chrysler 200 and the City of Detroit. They touched the hearts of Michiganders everywhere and especially those with the auto industry heritage. Overall I thought they did a great job. Only ranking at number 44 in the USA Today poll, “Imported From Detroit” takes a deserved number two in my book.

#1 – Volkswagen – “The Force”

“The Force” was very much with VW when they made this spot. If there is any spot to be remembered from the 2011 Super Bowl, it will be this one. Touching parents, Star Wars fans, car lovers, and everyone else, this spot takes the number one seat in my top five poll. VW had the best concept and idea of any rival commercial. Their spin of creativity was unparalleled even to the Kenny G. Audi spot. VW takes a much deserved best spot of the 2011 Super Bowl.

Let us know what you thought of our count down. We would love to hear your comments. Also tweet at @LSJMediaBizDev with the hashtag #sbads and let us know what spots are your favorite.