I remember when the idea of Online Retail first entered the marketplace in the mid 1990s. Traditional retailers were threatened by the thought of eCommerce. There was a rush to build Web sites to keep up with the Joneses. Nobody wanted to be left out. If they’re doing it, we need to do it right?

There’s a business in Seattle with a 22-person staff and a space that combines a factory, showroom and retail store – which is open to the public only one day a month. Its product category has intense competition from several big-name brands sold through hundreds of distribution channels, yet the business owner designs all the products and hand-makes all the prototypes. Other than the once-monthly store opening, his goods are sold through his Web site. Sound like the perfect way to ensure your foray into entrepreneurship is brief – or, at best, get just enough business to get by? Actually, Tom Bihn is one of today’s most outstanding success stories.

It isn’t often these days that insurance companies are seen as the good guys, but State Farm bought a ginormous amount of positive brand image with its sponsorship of OK Go’s new video, “This Too Shall Pass.” The sponsorship included the expense involved to allow fans to embed said video on their own blogs and Web sites – an action that the Australian band’s own label, EMI, no longer permits.

Attempts to explain social media vary according to the teller – much the old story about five blind people describing an elephant based only upon whatever part of the animal they’re able to touch: Those who experience just one aspect of it lack the total vision.

Directing, encouraging and inspiring everyone to focus on the society-changing big picture that social media represents was the purpose of the second annual Social Media Week conferences, held simultaneously in five major international cities (New York, San Francisco, Toronto, London, Berlin and Sao Paulo) February 1 through 5.

Today’s post was supposed to be Technetium’s unified vote for #1 of the 2000s. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there are too many good Super Bowl commercials to limit it to just one.

We’ve decided to post some of our team’s favorites. Feel free to post comments with your own fav's.