A couple of weeks ago, a new book "Empowered" hit the store shelves. They also included free downloads during the premier week for U.S. Kindle users. I was made aware of this promotion through my Forrester enewsletter subscription (which I signed up for after reading Groundswell). In this past year, using free ebooks, whitepapers, research data, etc has become the norm for companies looking to increase leads by using this inbound marketing technique. However, I haven't seen anyone give away a Kindle book like this before! Even if you don't have a Kindle, why not download the book and read it on the Kindle App for your iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Mac or PC?

In the past year, I've been reading more and more about how companies are testing and using barcodes in offline marketing campaigns.  You can add these QR codes or barcodes to anything where you can place an image, so you have an endless amount of ways to add them to your marketing material. I created this image to the right by using qrstuff.com. After scanning, it will take you directly to our Facebook page (give it a try!).  This last week I've noticed mentions in two local publications that allow the reader to scan a barcode, or QR code, with their smartphone to receive some "bonus" information.

Today in Milwaukee AirTran Airways celebrated the debut of 'Brewers One', a new  Boeing 717 painted with the throwback Milwaukee Brewers logo and colors. The event debuted the new plane, celebrated the team's 40th anniversary in Milwaukee as well as presented a $50,000 check to the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee for their summer camp program.  Twenty kids from the YMCA were in attendance and had to pull the plane twenty feet (along with some Brewer assistance) to receive the check. Rollie Fingers and Brewers executives discussed the team's importance in Milwaukee the past 40 years along with appearances from the Racing Sausages and Bernie Brewer.