Mullen, SapientNitro and Applause were the big winners at the 18th annual MITX Awards for excellence in digital marketing, technology and innovation, held Thursday night in Boston's Seaport District. Of the record 31 awards given out, Mullen scored the largest number, including a best industry marketing award in the Travel, Entertainment & Leisure category, and innovation awards in the Best Use of Mobile and Best Use of Social Media categories. Mediahub/Mullen took the award for Best Performance Marketing Campaign. SapientNitro was the next biggest winner, taking home awards for Best Use of Experiential Marketing and Best Use of Online Video.

Quincy, Mass.-based Propel Marketing, one of the area's fastest-growing marketing firms, is expanding its array of digital services and diving deeper into mobile. The digital marketing group will now offer video production, logo and customized landing page design. Propel also announced that it was moving away from traditional Web site design and will now only create responsive design or mobile-friendly sites for clients. The firm already offers Web site design, SEM/SEO, social media management, display advertising, retargeting, online directory services and reputation management.

Fantasy sports provider DraftKings has scored a sweet deal with the World Series of Poker. The Boston-based online platform has signed up to be the the exclusive fantasy sports sponsor of the WSOP, one of the most popular and lucrative gaming events on the planet. Under the deal, DraftKings will provide WSOP-branded fantasy poker satellites that will award players with entries into the WSOP's coveted $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event in Las Vegas. The satellite prize awards, worth $12,000, will cover the Main Event's $10,000 entry costs plus travel to Vegas.

The Ad Club has announced the names of the judges for the 54th annual Hatch Awards for excellence in creative branding and marketing. The organization is leaving no stone unturned this year in terms of recognition. Awards will be presented in a whopping 71 categories covering practically every major mode of communication including TV, radio, print and digital. There's even a Hatch Award for Best Annual Report.

EY has released the names of finalists for its New England Entrepreneur of the Year, and about a quarter of the list hail from the region's marketing, media and ad tech sectors. Of the 35 area entrepreneurs nominated this year, ten headed up companies that were engaged in marketing, mobile apps or online platforms. Andrew Graff of Allen & Gerritsen was the lone agency nominee. He's joined by Christian Dumontet of Foodler, an online platform for ordering takeout food.

MassChallenge, the world's largest startup accelerator, has unveiled this year's roster of feisty competitors and at least dozen ad and media-related techs have made the cut. So who are the lucky dozen?

Temkin Group has released its annual customer service survey, and the winner is..... USAA. By a long shot. The financial group, which caters to military personnel and their families, claimed three of the top 12 positions, with its banking group ranked No. 1 for customer service. USAA's insurance unit shared the No. 2 slot with Amazon.com, while its credit card division finished in the top 12. Also making it into the top 12 were Chick-fil-A, Publix, H-E-B, Starbucks, Costco, QVC and Trader Joe's.

Just nine days until MITX unveils the winners of its annual What's Next Awards for excellence in digital marketing and technology. There will be no shortage of awards at this year's digital lovefest. MITX has expanded its list of categories to an impressive 25, covering everything from industry-specific campaigns to tech innovation. Categories include Best Innovation in Wearables, Best Online Video Innovation, Best Use of Experiential Marketing, Best Use of Social Media, Best Use of UX, Most Innovative Mobile App, and Most Insightful Big Data and Analytics Innovation.

WGBH Radio's Innovation Hub is on a national roll. The Boston-produced public radio show, which focuses on emerging technologies and innovation, has teamed up with online business and technology news outlet Xconomy. Xconomy will post the weekly program for each of its nine markets, which include Boston, New York, Seattle, Boulder/Denver, San Diego, Texas, Detroit, San Francisco and Wisconsin. The weekly posts will include a preview Q&A with one of the show's guests. The show is hosted by WGBH's Kara Miller.

Ad tech firms and online platforms were big winners at the New England Venture Capital Association's second annual NEVY Awards on Wednesday. Clypd founder and CEO Joshua Summers shared the Rising Star Entrepreneur Award with ClearSky Data's Ellen Rubin. Clypd runs a platform for the programmatic trading of TV and video ads. What ClearSky Data exactly does is unclear, as the company claims it's still in "stealth mode." Care.com and Kayak shared the Best Exit Award. Caregiver marketplace Care.com reportedly raised around $91 million from its IPO in January. Travel tech guru Kayak, which went public in July 2012, was …