Now, before you pull out your light sabers to defend his honor, know that Alex is a self-proclaimed nerd. He’s more than happy to talk about new web stylings, cool fonts, great new independent music or classic sports uniforms. And if you’re really, really lucky, he’ll do his Gollum impression for you.

Fortunately, Alex’s nerd cred goes beyond being a fan of Lord of the Rings. He’s definitely got the smarts to qualify. While earning degrees in marketing and interactive web development from Creighton University in Omaha, Alex interned at several marketing and design firms. He also studied for five months at the Florence University of the Arts in Florence, Italy, and traveled all over Europe at the same time.

Now if you’ll excuse us … we need to get back to debating with Alex what would be better: running a record label or owning a vineyard in Tuscany. Jinkies! Even Alex’s fantasy careers are creative, nerdy and awesome. Just like him.

Avera McKennan began as a small seed planted in the mind of Helen McKennan, who donated the money to open McKennan Hospital in 1911. Since then, Avera McKennan has grown to be a 545-bed tertiary hospital that employs 550 physicians in 60 distinct specialties. According to Regional President and CEO David Kapaska, the hospital’s first 100 years has been a journey of faith.

So, too, was the planning of such an ambitious event, which appropriately honored the hospital’s donors, sisters, doctors, nurses, employees, volunteers, innovative leaders and patients. Congratulations to Avera McKennan on 100 incredible years.

In the latest TV commercials for Avera Heart Hospital’s Planet Heart screenings, people with heart problems tell their own stories. So many people think heart disease can’t happen to them—including Linda Olson.

To encourage others to go for a Planet Heart screening, Linda Olson talked about when she had a heart attack. Hear Linda tell her story below in this video produced by Avera Heart Hospital and HenkinSchultz.

What made you decide to get involved in Synergy?
“I wanted to be more involved in the community and meet other like-minded individuals. Synergy has been a wonderful experience for me. It’s great to have a group where young professionals can learn and grow in the three tiers of Sioux Falls Synergy. I’d strongly encourage any professionals in their 20s or 30s to join Synergy. It’s a wonderful way to meet other young professionals in our community—and you’d be doing positive things! Sioux Falls Synergy is also a great way to promote your company. Networking is key to many things.”

What are some memorable things you’ve done as part of Synergy?
“I’ve really enjoyed the civic opportunities Synergy has for its members. During my time as the Civic Chair I was able to coordinate many civic projects for our group such as volunteering at the Backpack Program and Lunch is Served, decorating the Ronald McDonald House for Christmas, putting on a Halloween party for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program and taking part in the Breakfast of Caring. This year’s Fourth Annual Breakfast of Caring was a HenkinSchultz pro-bono client: HorsePower! I’m excited to see how much support Synergy was able to raise for their great program.”

What’s the most beneficial thing about being involved in Synergy?
“I think it is the civic projects. In 2011, Synergy logged more than 500 volunteer hours. It’s great to join with other like-minded professionals, help people in need and make our community a better place to live. The social aspect is a close second. I enjoy meeting new people, keeping up with what’s going on in the community and reuniting with long-time friends at the networking Hot Spots each month.”

White space makes people stop and notice. With all that other visual noise out there, white space is out of the norm. No matter where it’s used, it attracts attention.

People love it. White space is what makes people say that the design is “simple, crisp, clean and modern.” Lots of white space also gives off an exclusive, luxurious feel—something people love to be a part of.

White space balances a design. It helps to think of white space and copy/visuals as being equally heavy visually—if you want your copy and visuals to be noticed (and not lost in the design) there needs to be white space to balance the design.

It provides direction. People read top to bottom and left to right—the use of white space can change that. Good white space will direct the reader’s eye across the page, ensuring that the design is reviewed in the intended order.

White space emphasizes. You know what I’m talking about. Those ads with ONE thing on them surrounded by….nothing. For example, in this ad for the Volkswagen Beetle, you don’t even notice the white space. You’re solely focused on looking at that one thing in the middle of all that white space.

White space is a great tool to use because of its many benefits. However, you need to be intentional when using white space—it won’t just happen in designs. Take a look around; see what others are doing with their white space. And then ask yourself, “What’s my white space doing for me?”

That’s because Frank’s determined to meet the actor some day. And if Frank sets his mind to something, well, it’s probably going to happen. Need proof? Frank’s the author of a dozen or so books. He studied Mandarin Chinese for three years before moving to China for pre-production on his first feature film. Then, he developed a language-learning podcast that was the #1 rated educational podcast in the world on iTunes (beating out CNN and Anderson Cooper, no less).

Oh, and we should mention the reason we recently hired him. Frank’s a talented video producer who loves his career because it allows him to be creative in so many ways.

Yet Frank says his favorite role in life so far is being a husband. All those accomplishments and he’s mushy?! Awwww. We take back that jab we made up there about New Yorkers.

It’s tough to get out of dancing if you hang out at HenkinSchultz for a while. That’s because at every anniversary and holiday party, House Lyricist and Choral Instructor for Big Events Lynell Unruh (also known as our creative director) leads a song and dance. And this year, my friends? This year’s anniversary performance is a doozy. It has to be, in honor or our 20th anniversary.

We’re not going to ruin the surprise by telling you what the song is. Come see for yourself! You may even feel moved to join in.

HenkinSchultz. Thursday. 4:30. Be there.

Let’s start with the basics. Viral marketing, quite simply, is getting a message to spread rapidly, just like a virus does. Viral marketing campaigns are trendy right now—remember the Old Spice Guy? There have even been literal viral marketing campaigns (yuck). Viral marketing doesn’t work for every business, but paired with a strong traditional marketing campaign and aimed at the right audience, viral marketing efforts can take off.

If you’re thinking about such a campaign, take the temperature of your campaign before making a decision. Here are some points to keep in mind:

Consider return on investment. Will your viral marketing campaign help you sell your product or spread your message? If the answer is no, it’s not helping your business and it’s not worth the effort.

You still have to plan. It takes ample thought and strategy to make any campaign successful, especially a viral marketing campaign. Strategizing on how to spread the message is an integral part of the campaign, and making a misstep could mean the campaign doesn’t produce the desired results.

Sharing must be built-in. Customers need the tools to quickly share your campaign with others, or its not going to spread. During a South Dakota Department of Education campaign aimed at high-school students, we provided students with sidewalk chalk and wording to spread the message themselves. Built-in sharing can be as simple as links to share on Facebook or forwarding the message to friends.

It doesn’t work for every business. It’s hard to predict what goes viral. While not a marketing campaign, this video of grandparents trying to figure out their computer has more than 7 million hits on YouTube. Having a thorough understanding of your audience and your company’s goals can help you determine if viral marketing campaign is a good fit.

You can’t control what customers say. You can, however, start the conversations and see where they go. Interaction with your customers during these campaigns can help propel the campaign further.

All your campaigns should be shareable. Sure, it’s appealing to think your viral campaign could spread like wildfire, but don’t you want all of your campaigns to have a strong message for people to share? Any campaign, traditional or otherwise, should have a strong message and value for your customers.

Passion for creativity is the foundation that HenkinSchultz was built on 20 years ago. We strive to be inspired every day and to inspire our clients, too. After the jump are some fun ways we promote creativity and passion for work among our employees.

An actual HenkinSchultz party. Yes, they get can a little theatrical, but that’s because we’re passionate about throwing parties.

Have fun with internal promotions: Marketing ourselves gets our creative juices flowing. Our holiday window display and JazzFest commercial are just a few promotions that have had us dancing and giggling in the halls. Right now we’re working on our 20th anniversary celebrations, and we can hardly contain our excitement. The festivities are fantastic, and they’re coming soon.

Sing and dance: It’s true. We’re a musical bunch. During certain holidays and celebrations, we have a tradition of dressing up in costume and serenading the bosses with new lyrics to old songs. There’s also lots of shimmying.

Celebrate: We begin each month by celebrating staff anniversaries and birthdays. Creativity comes so much more easily with stomachs full of bagels and donuts.

Take a break: Work is important, but so is play. Every year, the HenkinSchultz crew whoops it up at a JazzFest tent. We also take a break for babies, marriage, retirement and holidays.

Brainstorm: Some of our best work comes from just throwing weird ideas out there. Some stick, some don’t, but they all help us come up with some imaginative campaigns.

How do you promote and sustain passion for your work?