Have SWAG, Will Blog

I'm a cheap slut if you give me stuff.

I guess that really makes me a dirty whore, but the fine folks at Plaid sent me an email last week asking if I'd blog about their upcoming West Coast Tour in exchange for some Plaidness. Plaidness arrived today in the form of a lime green T and a cool little button, along with a nice card begging me to blog about them. So here we go.

In seriousness, I blog about Plaid because they are an agency getting it right. They did this last year, and it was a bizarre success. After their East Coast Tour, I shamelessly asked Darryl if he'd hire me on as Plaid's Southeast Doer of Whatever It Is I Do. Darryl graciously replied, "Dude. Uh. No."

Reason I'd gladly be a Plaid Head is that they're not claiming to be Web 2.0 Social Media Gurus - even though they are. They aren't claiming to understand all there is to know about traditional media - even though they do. They are innovators - in a traditional way. And like Advance out of Denmark, or Th!nk here in Orlando, they are doing the agency blog thing in a way that isn't ruthless corporate huckstering. Read Brand Flakes for Breakfast. You'll rarely find a self-promoting post in that entertaining and educational blog.

I mean seriously - who piles a bunch of media pros into a rented van covered in branded plaid stickers and outfitted with three video cameras and high-speed wi-fi to traverse the country in an effort to drum up business and draw attention to their efforts? They'll have live video, a Twitter feed, an ever-growing Flickr set and updates from not just themselves, but the people they meet along the way. That is unique, daring and smart. To top it all off, Uncle Bill is a part of it, doubling the cool factor.

It almost inspires me to be daring enough to wear this lime green T.

Keep an eye on the Plaid Tour and learn a thing or two about advertising, business development and customer service. It's not only an education, it's a fun, real-time summer diversion.

If they're heading to your town (Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Redding, San Fran, San Luis Obispo, LA, San Diego, Vegas) get out and have a beer with them.