• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 13, 2014

Well this might be a first. Jacksonville, Florida-based agency 5ivecanons has decided it will accept bitcoins as payment for its work. Bitcoins, as you may have heard, are all the rage and are basically a form of digital currency (with a physical element as well) that is "mined" from digital servers without connection to a financial institution. Yeah, we know. Google it. Anyway, of the decision to accept this new form of currency as payment, 5ivecanons President and Creative Director Adam Shaffer said, “Can we create an award-winning TV spot with Bitcoin? Yes, we can. Do we think that anyone will really do this in the next few weeks or years? Probably not.”  The agency promises it's not a publicity stunt. No word on whether or not they can promise bitcoin will be around for very long.

Now here's how you should leave one gig for another. Not with a whiny blog post or a witty video or some under-handed swipe at your former employer. No. Leaving in style, if you're Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai Creative Director Ryan Gerber, means you leave behind a couple of tricked out motorcycles, part of an art show called Oil+Ink. When the show ends January 20, the bikes will remain in the possession of W+K Shanghai.

So when is a pro-business campaign for a city not a pro-business campaign? Apparently if it's the “Building Alberta” effort backed by Alberta Premier Alison Redford who, it seems, is in hot water for spending $1.7 million on the campaign. One man, Wildrose Conservative Party Assemblyman Rob Anderson, thinks the campaign is a waste of taxpayer's money and an attempt to promote the government's plan to borrow billions to fund construction projects. Well, um, isn't that the point of most pro-business campaigns cities run? Anderson isn't budging and said, “There is not one dollar in that money that was spent that was in the best interests of Albertans. There is no point to it. It does no good. They are just taking taxpayer money and promoting themselves.” Oh now come on, Rob. What's wrong with a few politicians usurping tax dollars for their own personal benefit?

Without mincing words, the usual criteria for hiring a summer intern, bluntly speaking, is based on the intern's level of hotness. Oh really? You don't agree? Take a good solid look at your interns and get back to me. Anyway, Campbell Mithun aims to approach hiring its interns a little differently. The agency will ask applicants to submit their thoughts, ideas and strategies on how to market the Hyperloop, Elon Musk's pie-in-the-sky futuristic transportation concept. Of the approach, agency Director of Human Resources Debbie Fischer said, “When he introduced the Hyperloop, Musk called upon ‘all members of the community to contribute’ to development of the concept. We, too, like to solve problems with an open architecture work process. What a great real-world scenario for advertising professionals of the future to tackle; we’re excited to see their ideas.” Best of luck, interns. But you should still comb your hair and pull up your jeans.