If you’re like me and you’re always striving to stay up on the latest trends, there’s a new Web site that just might be your savior. It’s called edopter.com and it bills itself as a social trendcaster. It essentially allows users to upload things they see as trends - but it doesn’t take your word for it. It combs the Web for evidence of buzz and even takes user feedback to rate the popularity of the trend.

They even have the site set up so that you can go in and input your information and find out what trends are popular for your demographic. Pretty cool. So what did I find out? I found out that apparently for males 25-30 in the DC market, Five Guys and Slugging are pretty darn popular.

Found via Scherer Cybrarian, our favorite research information firm.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

What have I gotten myself into? Well folks, of all the announcements that I’ve made on this blog, this is probably the most dramatic. I am excited to let everyone know that I will be running for President of the United States in 2008! I hadn’t really considered it until my good friends at Brandflakes alerted me to some things that they had been hearing all over the internet.

Here’s a video to explain how it all came about - thanks Channel 3 news:

So there you have it. VOTE OHM IN ‘08. I’m taking suggestions for my campaign slogan. So far, I’m thinking about going with: “Change that you might not necessarily want to believe in.”

Update:  Thanks, Melissa - “Vote Ohm or Go Home.”  I am loving it.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

Whether you see it as disturbing or not, I’ll bet there will be a big market for these. They are branded caskets, and they are made by a company out of Detroit called Eternal Image, Inc. It seems they already have licensing deals with Major League Baseball to produce caskets branded after your favorite baseball team. If you’re into the Tigers, here you go:

And just recently they started working with CBS Consumer Products to produce Star Trek caskets. NICE. If you’re not into the whole burial thing, why not live on in one of these:

What will they think of next? I’ll bet brands are going to start sponsoring tombstones. Yikes. Thanks to Adfreak for the tip.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

I was reading one of my favorite design and branding blogs yesterday and I found out about a really cool organization in New York that I think really needs to come to the city of Baltimore. Groundswell is a community mural project that uses murals to bring positive change in cities. The description on their Web site reads:

Groundswell is a NYC based nonprofit that brings together communities, professional artists and grassroots organizations to use art as a tool for social change.

In a nutshell, it’s a non-profit that does beautiful murals with a positive, meaningful message in areas where crime, violence, poverty, drugs, etc. are a problem. Hey Baltimore, are you listening?

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com/

I’ve been really busy lately developing a proposal for some work for a really great higher learning institution, but I’m happy (relieved) to say that I’m finally finished. I’m really happy with the way it turned out and pumped about our chances. I hope to have more news on this in the next month or so…

In the past couple of days I have seen a couple really great links that I wanted to share. Both are related to some really strong, marketable business concepts. The first is a company called Rmbrme. You can visit their site HERE, but essentially it’s a text messaging service that is aiming to replace the modern business card. To use Rmbrme you sign up for an account and link your social media sites to your account. That way, when you meet someone at an event, you can simply ask for their email address, which you then text to Rmbrme. The person whom you’ve just met then gets an email from Rmbrme with links to all your social networking sites. I’m probably hacking the description Go to their site to learn more, or read an interview with Gabe Zichermann at Sustainable Life Media HERE.

I also heard a story about a new business out of Ireland that’s headed to Maryland that I wanted to pass along. Wavebob (what an amazing name) has picked Annapolis for its new US headquarters, which is pretty exciting. Wavebob has a technology that harnesses the energy generated by waves and turns it into usable power. What a great idea - just like Ze-Gen, which I wrote about this morning, Wavebob turns something that is wasted into something that is usable. We love that kind of stuff. Welcome to Maryland, Wavebob. We’ve been waiting for you.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com/

I wanted to pass along a new site that a friend from the CSBA passed along to me recently dealing with sustainable business. The site/movement is called GOforChange and you can see it here:

http://www.GOforChange.com.

It is essentially a website that presents stories of positive change in the Baltimore region. It includes articles, a social network, and discussion forums. They are also developing a marketplace to connect site visitors directly to local products and services.

Also check out the profile for Typecast Press. Their entry includes a picture that has the Orange Element coasters that we developed for our 5th Anniversary Party and that they produced for us!

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com