For those unfamiliar with the event, Boston’s Ad Club scheduled a daylong conference, which, aimed this year to “celebrate revolutionary brands, companies, and individuals that were ‘born’ in Boston, and whose innovation is influencing others around the globe.”

That was the conference’s mission statement, and I say mission accomplished. Between the hours of 8:00AM-6:00PM, attendees were treated to 32 of Boston’s premiere talent taking the stage over the course of 17 presentations.

As I type those numbers out, I’m still in disbelief. To think all that quality information was successfully managed into one day (huge props to the organizers).

But as I type those numbers out, I also shudder at the daunting task that is properly describing every single presentation. Even if I tried to summarize the entire day, it would be at the sacrifice of each presentation’s individual impact. So rather than summarize or describe every single presentation, I’d like to focus on just a few that made this event a memorable one.

Early in the morning, Mayor Thomas Menino and two of his right hand men, Andrew Feinberg (Policy Advisor to the Mayor) and Mitchell Weiss (Chief of Staff to the Mayor), introduced the audience to a brand new initiative: Boston’s “Innovation District.” Like all good plans, the strategy was clear and concise: Create a living environment that will attract and retain innovators to Boston. With 1,000 acres in South Boston ripe for development, the Mayor and his staff plan to create such an area — one that offers affordable housing, communal workspace for businesses, entrepreneurs and researchers, as well as a fun living environment that is, well, worth living in.

Once completed, this project has the potential not only to attract brilliant minds to the area, but also to produce ideas that could have impact on a local, national, or international level — creating new jobs at every level in the process. It’s a forward thinking vision that reminded me of environment’s importance in innovation, and why our agency’s environment has been — and must continue to play — a critical role in our own success.

A little after lunch (it was chicken with risotto, in case you were wondering), the amiable CMO of ZipCar, Rob Weisberg, greeted the crowd. ZipCar was recently named one of Ad Age’s thirty “Hottest Brands in the World,” and Mr. Weisberg explained exactly how his brand got there: its values.

The presentation kicked off by engaging the audience in an exercise where we all stood up. The CMO asked us to close our eyes and think of our first unaccompanied drive—the one from our youth. He asked that we hold onto that feeling during his presentation, because it’s that sense of freedom, which is the core value that guides everything his brand does.

Many in the crowd were shocked by the financial burden of personal transportation. The CMO revealed that 19% of HHI is spent on our cars, even though they sit idle over 90% of the time. “That’s a lot to spend on something you hardly drive.” Not to mention, one vehicle doesn’t fit every user need — moving day is different than a beach trip. And the fact remains public transportation doesn’t address all our needs when it comes to transporting larger items like furniture, or traveling further distances.

Given all these problems, ZipCar has professed a simple, yet transformational vision: Urban transportation is broken. And their brand plans to fix it.

ZipCar has a solid definition of success for that mission: It’s the day the world’s car sharing members outnumber car owners. Talk about ambitious, but that’s the brand’s ultimate goal.

That goal and the brand’s core values are put on cards and given to each employee to carry on them at all times, to help guide the ideas of any brand discussion they may enter. The result is successful promotional ideas, fun fleet options, and clever innovation — the kind that turns an iPhone into a reservation device, car finder (honk the car from your phone in the parking lot) and key to your ride.

ZipCar’s presentation spoke to a simple tenet we often take for granted. That tenet being, when a brand knows what it wants it usually gets what it wants. ZipCar really knows what it wants and it makes sure every employee from top to bottom is on the same page. It has created a brand culture that knows where it’s going, and, as a result, is figuring out how to get there on a daily basis. We would all do better to ask ourselves in a simple, clear way: Where is our there? Let’s define it in the simplest terms possible—if it’s longer than a headline, it simply won’t do. Once we have that, the “how to get there” part comes easy.

The end of the day had me thinking robotics might not be as far off in the future as I once believed. As Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto coursed through the speakers, Chairman of the Board, CEO and Co-Founder of iRobot, Colin Angle took to the stage. A true storyteller, he brought the audience along his personal journey of struggles and lucky breaks for his company.

iRobot is best known for its cleaning product, the Roomba, but it wasn’t always going to be called that. The original names they had in mind were Dust Puppy and Cybersuck, until they made the positive move to hand off naming to an outside company. An important lesson that, sometimes, we get too close to what we’re working on for us make the right decision.

Initial sales were not so hot for the intelligent vacuum, but, as luck would have it, the Roomba became a success after a Pepsi commercial starring Dave Chappelle woke up the world to the idea of its category. Later on, luck would hit again when an SNL skit advertising the “Woomba” added a secondary boost to the product’s awareness. Both were unexpected, free promotions that were embraced as they launched the company further into the public eye.

Just like ZipCar, iRobot knows where it wants to be. Even just ten years from now, Mr. Angle envisions his robots assisting in the care of aged baby bombers. But what impressed me more than Colin’s vision was his drive: his company had 14 failed business models, yet continued on. How many of us would have stopped at the third failure? How about the tenth? It goes to show that a sound vision can keep you going, and if you keep going, you just might see that vision become real.

Perhaps my biggest takeaway from this event is that Boston has produced some remarkable talent with an influence well beyond that of the city itself. And as I left with the rest of the group from Mullen with new insights fresh in our minds, I know we also left with the same feeling: Our agency is in Boston, and if there’s any proof that great things can come from the people in this town, we have a damn good shot of being one of them.

Winsor and Boches @ AdClub crowdsourcing event

There was a heady and at times esoteric forum on “crowdsourcing” yesterday put on by the AdClub. John Winsor from Crispin Porter Bogusky was the featured guest interviewed by Edward Boches from Mullen. The event drew a sizable and diverse crowd from the client, consultant and agency world, everyone looking to understand and harness this tidal wave of social media that is re-defining communication and creativity. Personally, what struck me is that the two guys on stage came from writing and journalism backgrounds and have migrated into and through the ad agency world to their new focus on social media. Winsor has been quite savvy in recognizing on-coming change in the publishing world and managed to capitalize rather than being destroyed. He’s a true chameleon.

In the spirit of the event I crowdsourced the attendees, asking several of my colleagues to weigh-in with observations on the dialogue:

Alex Leikikh – managing partner, mullen
“I found it ironic that the two oldest guys in the place were on stage. Also, we need more practical application thinking it seems around crowdsourcing…where should clients with significant budgets start?”

Kalley Thomas – pr/social influence acct. director, mullen
“The discussion regarding the level of feedback companies should feel obligated to provide to contributors was interesting.  I understand that people are looking to participate and whether their idea triumphs or not, it’s always good to know how you did. However, from an agency and client time perspective, it’s not always possible to provide in-depth feedback to everyone (imagine reviewing 1500 logos and critiquing each). It’s important to clearly set expectations with contributors about what they can anticipate out of the exercise – and then stick to it.”

Michael Bourne – vp, pr/social influence, mullen
“The creative ability of crowds is both a threat and an opportunity for people in creative fields, who must up their game to remain competitive with outliers. The ability to uncover talent that is otherwise hidden outside a company’s walls is unprecedented. Only those who can tap this creativity for the greater good will be the true ‘Crowd Sorcerers.’”

Nicole Berard – associate creative director, mullen
“I was most interested in the discussion about what crowdsourcing means for creatives, and a bit surprised by the level of apprehension. There is definitely a generational divide—most younger folks have been naturally crowdsourcing for most of their lives, thanks to the Internet (even if the “crowd” is only a network of close personal friends). I suppose to feel threatened you need to believe in the notion of “job security” to begin with, and that seems pretty antiquated. If someone can do my job better and cheaper do I really have any right to it? That’s capitalism, baby.”

Brenna Hanly – emerging media specialist – mediahub
“I struggle with the type of crowdsourcing that involves allowing the masses to vote on the best idea. In my opinion, we are losing out on great ideas/achievements in that way. The idea that rises to the top according to a popular vote is going to be something that appeals to a lowest common denominator and therefore can never be really great in any one way, rather it will be good in many ways. But then again maybe that is what advertising is supposed to do – appeal to the masses?”

Joe Grimaldi – president/ceo, mullen
“It’s real and here to stay and grow, but there’s a lot of thinking to be done about how a company organizes and manages to max effectiveness.”

Expect more about this event on mullen.com, including a piece on “10 things to help you get started in crowdsourcing.” It will have ideas, tips, explanations, many that came from people at the AdClub event. Plus, the AdClub is going to post a pre-recorded video version of the discussion.

From our perch at 40 Broad Street in Boston Mullen has a lovely view out to the New England Aquarium and Boston Harbor.  We’re constantly reminded of the great oceans in the distance and compelled to do something to preserve this precious natural resource.  In partnership with the Aquarium we’ve just launched “Live Blue,”  a digital community experience that allows you to explore endangered areas in the world’s oceans and make a commitment to preserving your personal slice of the sea. As the site points out, it’s so easy to make a difference.  Buy local produce, drive a fuel-efficient car, walk, take the train or bike to work and you’re doing your part.  Please have a look, claim a plot of the sea as your own and share the news through the social media capability that’s built into the Live Blue experience.  Did we mention you can get a t-shirt with your ocean coordinates?  Mullen’s technical and creative teams collaborated to develop Live Blue and we’ve claimed a plot in the coral reef off of Thailand.

Jon Sarkin painting a mural for Mullen at 40 Broad

The Rolling Stones rendition of Tumbling Dice plays constantly this week in the Mullen Boston cafe.  It’s inspiration for artist-in-residence Jon Sarkin who’s here creating an original piece of frenetic genius to enliven the new space.  Mullen CD Jim Amadeo gave Sarkin our one word tagline – “unbound” – as a creative brief,  to which the artist replied,  “do you know what you’re getting into?”  Sarkin’s Mullen project is profiled in The Boston Herald. His story of how a stroke caused him to discover his true gift was chronicled in The Boston Globe. Tom Cruise has screen rights for a movie about Jon.

You can watch Sarkin’s unbound Mullen piece develop on video or see it in pictures.