Is there any stronger marketing message than a testimonial? Probably not. Companies like Angie’s List and organizations like the Word of Mouth Marketing Association will tell you that testimonials are peerless. If a couple of Indianapolis residents have their way, cities like ours may soon agree.

A few months ago, Pat Coyle, Director of Database Marketing for the Indianapolis Colts, read with interest an article in the IBJ about the recent branding efforts being undertaken by several groups across the city. The idea was to pool their resources, focus on one branding concept, and get a better response by having all of the groups singing the same tune. At the time of the article, the group had just rejected “The New Midwest” as a possible candidate and had retreated to the drawing board to come up with something new.

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But ultimately, I feel fine. Came across this applet today that allows you to graphically peruse the “feelings” of bloggers everywhere, in a maddening rush of swirling dots. Search the data based on any number of criteria, and you can quickly narrow the range of possibilities to find out who’s feeling what. The display can alternate between dizzying or straightforward, but it’s always beautiful.

For kicks, choose just your own state and city and find out what the people around you are feeling right now…

Amazing.

Thinking about moving to Indianapolis, or just interested in what makes the people here tick? Take a few minutes to find out at I Choose Indy. Or, if you’re interested, you can see why I choose Indianapolis.

We finally gave up on lessons at the YMCA and went to the infamous local sage, Margi. From the looks of things, I think it worked. The photo at right is after three or four lessons and shows Jack performing his world-renowned belly flop.

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I’ve come across a blog today that purports to be about “landscape architecture and related fields,” a topic about which I have little interest. And yet, I still spent several minutes reading various posts while uttering brainy remarks like “wow” and “gosh” and “holy moley.”

Anyway, to truly appreciate the scope and depth of posts about things like wave generators that are currently being used to create letters in a washtub but could drown New York with a tsunami shaped like a classic Italian garden or the hydromechanical complex being built in the Florida Everglades to better supply them with water, you really have to just go read them. Regardless, Alex Trevi has a finger on the pulse of an odd and compelling topic and he writes in a manner that brings it all to light.

Be sure to see:

[Versailles in the Pacific]
[Theatrum Machinarum]
[Hawaii]

In many ways, the site reminds me of a book I recently read called “About Grace“, described by Publishers Weekly thusly: “The majesty of nature, the meaning of courage, the redemptive power of love and the pathos of isolation—all are gracefully explored in Doerr’s story of the price paid for a gift.”

They went on to say, “So why does so little seem to happen in this beautiful, ponderous and sometimes monotonous first novel?” Touché. I found myself at once bored with the story and marveling at how well it was written.