Good + Innovative Design = Gold Ad Award Winner At Cannes Lions 2010

In my World Water Day post on March 22nd, I shared with you an inspiring and totally innovative live ad that was on display in Paris, at the Place du Palais Royal.

I’m thrilled to tell you today that the “Water talks” installation designed for NGO Solidarités International by BDDP won a Gold Award in the Outdoor Display category at the Cannes Lions 2010 international advertising festival.

Congratulations to the French agency BDDP Unlimited and its team.

Here’s the full video of the installation, from setup to display:

Here’s again what I’d captured ad hoc on my BlackBerry:

The State Of Twitter… On Paper [Infographic]

Another Twitter update, this one short and sweet, from The Next Web.

UK’s Bingo-Reviewer.com adds social features to facelifted website

Exciting news in the world of UK online gaming ! Leading online bingo website Bingo-Reviewer.com has unveiled its brand new design. The best part is that it’s not just about having a super-sleek-newly-polished look but more importantly about integrating valuable new social features to enhance players’ experience.

Beyond providing information and reviews to popular sites like Foxy Bingo, Bingo-Reviewer.com now gives its visitors the capacity to interact and share their tips and experiences, with Bingo News & Gossip, a forum, competitions and user reviews.

Richard Sharp, owner and founder of the site said: “Early feedback has been excellent, and many regular users have told me they can’t wait to start connecting with fellow Bingo fans. Online Bingo is such a popular social activity and a perfect way to spend a little ‘me-time’, so we’re looking forward to developing our community throughout 2010”.

It looks like while the Casino Affiliate Convention took place last week in Amsterdam… the most exciting news was in the offing in the UK online gaming world.

Social Media World Forum kicks off ! What to look out for…

 Social Media World Forum kicks off in London in a few hours from now.

So, yes, I’m in London, staying with my friend Laura D. (thanks a lot for letting me crash !), ready for what promises to be a big day, regardless of the quality of the forum — which is what a lot of attendees are waiting to see: real added value or just a fluke ?
And aside from that first question, the program is indeed so vast that the ambition to just check every single thing is either an insane illusion or utter madness.

On my part, I’ve decided to focus on the Social Media section, including a) the exhibition to check for the latest developments just entering or about to hit the market; b) the conferences, c) the workshops where I’m hoping to learn a thing or two as well… and d) the networking shindig tomorrow evening ! When I say Social Media, I mean specifically as related to public relations, marketing and advertising.

Within those topics, I’ll be looking at social media “good” from a business perspective as in how it can be integrated as part of an overall business strategy rather than remain a stand alone, for non-profit activity.

Just a quick example: look at Mozilla. The latest version of its web browser is called “Namoroka” (pronounce “Namuruk”) after the name of a region in Madagascar (hence why I know how it should be pronounced: I’m partly from Madagascar and was actually born there. Yes, I do speak Malagasy). Mozilla actually supports the preservation of that area. But now, I’d like to know how this articulates itself into the bigger company picture and its business. So that’s one of the angles that I’m willing to explore.
How does it help the Namoroka national park to be associated in name to Mozilla ? What (and how) does Mozilla harness its web power to help that part of the world ?

Looking at design as integrated into Social Media will also be a focal point for me. I’m yet to define how I’d like to see that.

Anyway, here’s an update on the open list I launched on Twitter for those who are either just interested or coming to the Social Media World Forum today and tomorrow  here in London: I’m happy to count 98 people on the #smwf open list

To add yourself, simply follow the list at: http://ow.ly/1gOaz or http://twitter.com/merrybubbles/smwf. And please RT !

Again … if this post sounds cryptic to some of you, I strongly recommend you join Twitter altogether and start using it for pleasure, work, or information purposes. There’s a lot out there to benefit from, I promise.

See you later for the forum itself.