Calling all runners!  In a great example of the power of the Internet, thousands of runners in hundreds of cities have signed up to participate in the Global Group Run on July 9th, organized through a partnership of RunKeeper and Meetup.

Without question, LinkedIn has become an important tool for the job hunter and companies looking to hire.  Recognizing this, employment site Monster.com has launched BeKnown, a jobs network app for Facebook that allows users to import content from LinkedIn profiles to manage on Facebook.  Having been kept relevantly separate, it will be interesting to see if and how the consumer will merge their personal and professional lives …

Do you consider yourself an influencer?  You can now prove it as startups are rating influencers based on engagement and motivation on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, not just followers and connectors.  What’s your score?

In advertising news, location is all the rage. According to a recent survey, advertisements on location-based apps will account for over one-third of all mobile ad spend by 2015.  How can you take advantage of the location trend?

Mexico has suffered this vacation season, as reports of its drug war and subsequent violence and kidnappings are keeping tourists away.  The company’s tourism board is embarking on a branding campaign to lure vacationers back to its beaches and engaging in a public relations push to combat the negative stories, according to Ad Age. The man leading the charge is hopeful that word-of-mouth will be the best tool. In our industry, word-of-mouth is extremely important for referrals.  How successful do you think it can be to change America’s negative perception of the country?

In what is dubbed the Oscars of the advertising industry, the 58th Cannes Lions festival took place last week. In a gathering that before simply recognized the best of the best in the space, the gathering has become a “festival of creativity” with the large agencies meeting with executives of technology companies like Facebook and Google. The highlights focused on personalization and customization of content. This is one of my favorite industries to follow, not only for the creativity but more so the rapid change it is undergoing as new technologies continue to be introduced.

Have a great week.