Today was my first Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) Summit, but it won’t be my last. Solid attendance (600+), a great venue (The Depot in Minneapolis) and a stellar group of speakers (folks from Yahoo!, Google, Pew Internet & American Life and a keynote from 37signals founder Jason Fried) combined to make this a really enjoyable event. My head is swimming with ideas and insights from the days sessions (and just a little from the cocktail/after party).

Presentations and podcasts of the event are available — definitely worth checking out. Kudos to MIMA for putting together such a thoughtful experience. It was a fantastic reminder of how vibrant the local interactive community is. I’m really looking forward to next year!

A few highlights:

• LA-based Schematic shared some impressive examples of multi-dimensional/3-D navigation in projects rangings from DVDs to interactive video walls in airports. Dale Herigstad, Chief Creative Officer, made a point that sticks with me: of all the screens a web site can be viewed/experienced on, only the computer relies on mouse-driven navigation. All the others — gaming system, phone, TV, etc. — use up-down, left-right controls for navigation. The success of your site across these different realms depends on how well users can experience it without a mouse. With the introduction of the more touch and gesture navigated devices, this is an issue designers will need to start considering. I certainly hadn’t given it much thought before.
• Jim Lecinski from Google had a lot to say about some trends that will shape the digital landscape. I don’t know about you, but when Google tells me what they think is hot… I listen. You can see many of these trends reflected in Google’s product and service offerings — like the shift from storing information locally to remotely in a “cloud” online, an increased focus on video and letting the user define the way to consume your information. My favorite was the notion of “atomizing and distributing” your content. Breaking it up into small bits and sending it our to relevant audiences, rather than wait for them to come to you. Of course this is the whole point of modern search marketing, but there are exciting new channels developing. The one I’m really jazzed about is Google Gadget Ads — essentially a micro-site, the size of a banner ad that can contain a wide variety of content types (Flash, JavaScript, video). The amazing part is that Google serves and hosts the media and you can take advantage of it’s entire content network.
• Finally, the afternoon keynote from Jason Fried of 37signals was incredible. Not only did he use the coolest presentation slides I’ve seen in a while (simple message, big white text, each slide on a different background color), but his message was revolutionary. Like their ever-expanding product line attests to, he believes that true collaboration requires new rules, new procedures and new tools. Contrary to popular wisdom, he’s found that fewer meetings, passive digital communication (compared to direct verbal) and physical isolation from one’s colleagues actually increases productivity and enhances the collaborative process. I’m looking forward to reading his book.

Tags: 36signals, gadget, google, mima, mimasummit, schmematic