I have to admit, I have been fascinated by the Virtual Good / Social Gaming market lately.  It is something I am going to be thinking / writing about more often in the coming weeks for sure.  In the meantime, here is a great presentation that was recently given at the Virtual Worlds Conference.   Great primer for those new to this space.  [presentation embedded below].

Talk about a presentation getting some nice buzz.  First Fred Wilson posts about this new presentation he just saw and then Henry Blodget writes about the same presentation on Silicon Alley Insider.  Looks like David Gillespie knows how to catch the eye of the right folks in the marketing blog world.

But then again, after taking a look at the presentation myself, I needed to jump on the bandwagon because it really is filled with some great insights.  Hands down my favorite quote is this:

Advertising got really good at speaking in 30 second chunks to a captive audience… Then quickly found most brands had nothing to say on the 31st.

(Note: RSS Readers – Click through to see the embedded presentation below.)

For the past 6 years, Morgan Stanley’s Mary Meeker has been one of the highlights of the Web 2.0 Summit.  Last year was the first time I saw her presentation in person but every year is a must read report / powerpoint.  This year is no exception as Meeker gives an overview of the economy and then dives deep into why the “Mobile Internet is and will be bigger than most think.”  The full PowerPoint is embedded below and filled more valuable nuggets than I could possibly hope to capture in a summary.  Take the time to read this thing all the way through…it is a must look at report for all Brand Marketers.

Mary Meeker’s Internet Presentation 2009

Are your fans passionate enough about your brand that they would make your ads for you?  If you are Etsy, than the answer is yes thanks to their Handmade Moment contest. I don’t know about you, but if I saw this on TV, I would have never guessed it was “Handmade.”

News came out today of a national marketing campaign that aims to position Cincinnati as “the Silicon Valley of consumer marketing.”  As the Cincinnati Enquirer states, “the work grew out of the Agenda 360 community-wide plan sponsored by the Cincinnati USA Regional chamber, which set as one of its goals the creation of 50,000 jobs by 2020.” In support of that goal, this work will specifically “support entrepreneurial companies in consumer marketing in Cincinnati.”

In this regard, the effort seeks to build on a substantial core of marketing talent already here, drawn by major advertisers such as P&G, Macy’s and Kroger, and organize it, expand it and tell the world about it.  One example of this that is already underway is the Digital Hub Initiative that happened last month here in Cincinnati.