On October 5, 2009, Boulder Digital Works at CU (BDW) launched its first 60 Week Program. Since then they've had forty-eight full-time students through the program, and people have landed at great places. They work at companies like CP+B, AKQA, Deutsch, Goodby, Saatchi, Team One, BBH Labs, Ascentium, W+K, EVB, Big Spaceship, Fallon, Grey, Crocs, and Gaim. And many are making a real impact on work and business – Deutsch currently has two grads on staff, Charlotte Myerberg and Erin McHugh.

Besides the smarts and dedication of the program's leadership and management, David Slayden, Michael Lightner, and Jenna Conlin, and the support of Chuck Porter and MDC Partners, one of the things that's made the program so strong and unique is the quality of its supporters. Over the last few years some truly amazing digital and creative minds have advised BDW, mentored at the program, or been a part of the 'Making Digital Work' executive workshops.

People such as Matt Howell, Ben Malbon, Kat Egan, Scott Prindle, Robert Reich, Scott Witt, Alex Bogusky, Edward Boches, Jay Wolff, Shane Steele, Allison Kent-Smith, Kip Voytek, Rae Ann Fera, Eugene Wei, Dave Schiff, Alex Burnard, Eric Eccles, Diego Rodriguez, John Winsor, Rei Inamoto, Mike Geiger, Neil Robinson, Mason Reed, Tim Malbon, Gareth Kay, Jeff Benjamin, Justin Gold, Matt Walsh, Brian Skahan, Joe Corr, Mattias Hansson, Brandon Berger, Faris Yakob, Gary Koepke, Will Aldrich, Rachael Powell, Lisa Rutherford, Will McGinness, and Randy Guthrie. To name a few.

If you're looking for a digital career boost or are passionate about creativity, technology, and marketing, but aren't quite sure what to do yet, I recommend that you take a look at the program. Boulder is an innovation town, and you'll get access to some remarkable thinkers, job opportunities, and of course, big mountains.

BDW is accepting applications for its next 60 Week Program now: http://bdw.colorado.edu/#/apply/

Here’s another piece on the "tech divide," and how the knowledge and capability gap between traditional and digital agencies appears to be closing, as evidenced in work like W+K’s Old Spice social media campaign. There’s some really great insights in here about what’s driving the change, but I think it could go a little further.

As I explained in my AdAge article on a similar topic a few months back, some agencies have already closed the gap, completely. It’s not a question. And in my mind, the conversation should be over. The talk should turn to the work and away from what type of agency is making it.

CP+B has been an integrated and digitally-centered organization for almost a decade. From Subservient Chicken to multi-million dollar e-commerce sites to social media to new platforms to mobile and enterprise systems, we’ve done it and driven business results in the process. And even more significantly, we’ve also built brands with our clients in the process. Something no digital agency can claim.

It’s always been my belief that there are fewer great idea people than there are talented and well-trained technologists and that it would only be a matter of time before the best traditional agencies would become ‘technology-enabled’ and capable of doing exceptional interactive.

As the industry moves forward, you’ll very likely see more and more press worthy and innovative thinking come from the so called ‘traditional’ set.  Pure utility without story is soulless, and consumers still need to connect emotionally with brands in order to build affinity and preference. To find success in the post-digital world, you’ve got to be able to create something that people want to talk about. It may be a platform, yes. But it also needs a culturally sticky idea.

The agencies that have a history of building brands, changing pop-culture, and that have also successfully integrated technologists into their creative process and departments will have a decisive advantage in creating and developing the next set of ground-breaking digital marketing case studies.

It’s going to be an exciting year as far as digital marketing innovation goes. There are indeed more people at the table. And as I mentioned in my previous piece, clients can stop thinking about which traditional, social, mobile, and digital shops to call and start thinking about which ‘marketing agency’ may be right for their business.

You can read the two articles here:

-Adweek, “Closing the Tech Divide” - http://bit.ly/aCCs21
-AdAge, “Give Shops More Credit for Work that Bridges Digital Divide” - http://bit.ly/bS6zgU