I cannot believe that the 2nd annual Ad Fair is almost history. It has been a great week for the creative community in West Michigan. Thanks for helping us celebrate the terrific talent of people who call this area home.

Tonight is the main event, the Silver Medal Award and ADDY Awards presentation. Congratulations to Steve Frykholm, vice president of creative design at Herman Miller -- our Silver Medal Award winner for creative leadership. Even his beard is a design statement (Photo credit: John Brouwer, Grand Rapids Press)

And a standing ovation to all our Silver, Gold and Best of Show winners to be announced tonight!

As president of Ad Club this year, I am honored and exhausted to be part of such an energetic organization. On top of everything else, the organization is transforming from an Ad Club to AAF West Michigan -- to align more closely with our namesake, the American Advertising Federation.  

Despite the economic challenges we all face, it's rewarding to work side-by-side with local business professionals who make creativity the centerpiece of their work and their lives, every day. Thank you. 

Elect a president who carries a Blackberry, and now we're examining (yet again) the immediacy of how news breaks and who our news sources are today.

Should TV reporters tweet on the air, or politicians tweet from behind closed doors? And just because we can make something public, should we? There needs to be a required class on that. More 

PR teams have been vital in helping companies manage communications during times of crisis. Now, the first images of crisis reach the world through our phones before reporters or PR pros are even engaged. The first news responder can be anyone.

Mark Hannah examines the need to be more strategic than ever before with the new rules of citizen journalism. And are people really using the term "user-generated media"? More