Today, our very special guest is Laura Jordan, Head of Art at Glue London.

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
I absolutely love Get the Glass - it did the unthinkable and really ate at my time...

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
That you need to be totally committed to research and development - you need take on an exploratory attitude in order to remain sharp. Also, that change is the lifeblood of our industry and you have to embrace it...

3) As a digital marketer/creative person what's on top of your agenda for 2008?
Top of my list for 2008 is to make sure we stay focussed on ideas... but in terms of media/execution the world of physical computing really excites me!

Time to visit London again, this time to have a quick talk with Adverblog's friend Nicholas Gill, Business Partner at OgilvyOne Worldwide and blogger himself at [Bluurb]

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
I love the VW Night Driving campaign as it's a great example of the "360" brand experience but also capitalises on and openly embraces user generated content: creating your own edit of the excellent TV ad using jumpcut and also creating or looking at great night drives from around Europe with a Google Maps mash up. Really taps into the brand promise of the Golf.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
That being part of the social media landscape is a fundamental basic before you even start to help clients with strategic direction. How can you have a sensible conversation on the merits of the big shiny object syndrome if you've never experienced and participated in Second Life, Twitter, the blogosphere etc. As Kevin Keegan once said, "you can't win the raffle if you don't buy a ticket." Don't just talk, act.

We are back in France on this cold Friday afternoon, to meet with Christophe Martin, creative director at PublicisNet and founder of Computerlove (the site we all love :-)

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
I enjoyed the works of Yugop for the Uniqlo brand, the global thing done for the Sony Bravia, the Dove and the Diesel Heidies campaigns, to name a few. This are all successful, smart and well produced, i can't ask for more !

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
Content is king. Experience is queen.

Today for our daily Interactive Advent Calendar interview we visit Germany, where we meet Heike Brockmann, Creative Director at Scholz & Volkmer.

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
"The Chain" for Nikefootball by Framfrab / Denmark. The football comes into the screen from the left and exits on the right - perfect for the endless chain, perfect for usergen. This is how usergen should be: fast, simple, international, entertaining, fitting the target and the product! I love it, although you can't call me a football fan at all.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
Sure everything is still in movement from classic to online and back, and yes we learned a lot about it, this year.
But what always impresses me in the end are the people. Get the right people - people who are crazy, weird, stubborn, egocentric, witty, etc. People you love to work with.

3) As a digital marketer/creative person what's on top of your agenda for 2008?
I would love to see more live events on the web - the connection between virtual and real.

We're back in Europe today, visiting London to meet Vincent Thome, strategic planner at Tribal DDB London and blogger.

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
Nike Plus was in 2006, right? Then, even if it hard to choose one, I think it will be "Spot the Bull" for Orange. I like how the game created links between the two worlds using GPS technology. I think that it also demonstrates that, in digital projects, creative use of technology is as important as creative concepts.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
When people pay attention to or ignore something, attention data can be created. It reflects their interests, activities and values, and it serves as a proxy for their attention. These data are an incredible valuable source of insights. We should continue to educate clients on the value of good measurements and data mining to transform sheets of numbers into powerful insights. I don't want agencies to become Google or Facebook but we can definitely be better at using data.

Today it's time to travel overseas to meet Christina Yu, VP and Creative Director at Lowe Roche Canada.

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
First off, the caliber of work digitally is amazing. So much innovations, such great ideas. It's true i like the Heides campaign. But also love the HBO voyeur screen saver. It felt like contemporary art. too cool. and I just couldn't stop looking at it. Such complicated details and beautiful art direction. Great idea.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
Don't give up. When things get difficult people choose the easy road. It's been amazing to watch everybody in my agency trying to figure out how to make things work and make thing great. But on the technical side, to treat everything traditionally non-traditionally, because then you'll get innovation.

We start the week in Paris aujourd hui, meeting Laurent Buanec Emerging Media Manager at MindShare France, who shares with us his point of view from the media side.

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
The Simpsons Movie. Doh! I saw little yellow avatars everywhere! Viral strenght of this simpsonize-me application has been huge. How many of yours (or friends of yours) put their simpson avatar on their myspace (or any other social networking sites) profile?

Daft Punk: Alive 2007. Clever. It has been embedded everywhere, and particularly on opinion leaders pages. Simple. Innovative. Cool gadget. Fit the target. Fit the "product" environment. Plus this concert was brilliant!

DIesel Heidies. And not to be a crawler! That was the ultimate interactive experience. Some never done before. Fun & sexy. Completely matching the audience/target and the brand DNA.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
This year more than ever I 've learnt to manage the "Employee of the Month" effect. Myspace, Second Life, Facebook ... when you go from struggling to demonstrate potential opportunities of a new plateform, to prevent danger of rushing on it without any perspective, before it runs out of fashion and gets burn or forgot ... all that in a semester.
I've also been witnessing a disruption in advertising landscape. Lines are moving. Creative, Media, Interactive agencies and media houses tend to offer more and more same services. Each one is developping fields which used to be exclusive to others. Imagine, it is a little bit like if some web users become journalists, directors, or even content providers! Looks like cards are dealt again, and not only in the public sphere. To be continued...

Today my guest is also a countryman of mine, Giuseppe Mayer, Managing Director Interactive @ Saatchi & Saatchi Italy.

1) Which is the digital project that has impressed you most this year and why?
I would say the Nokia Nonstop Living project and the Wilkinson Fight For Kisses campaign ()... and, of course, Zoogam :-)

Even so, I think we've still got a long way to go. In Europe - to say nothing of Italy - I can't see any projects like Nike Plus which is really able to integrate technology, strategy and creativity in a truly innovative way, giving all these elements the same dignity. On the one hand, iì's a pity, for it means we still haven't fully understood the potential that digital media can offer us. On the other, it's a great opportunity for growth, which I believe our clients can't wait to take up. Let's get it on :-)

2) In your job, what is the most important thing you've learnt this year?
I've learnt that you can't play safe - not daring for fear of taking risks is the riskiest thing you can do in this business. We need to go beyond the old models; there aren't any barriers any more between creativity and media, between online and off-line. There's no "business as usual" any more, and the magic 30-seconds recipe is just a dim memory - creativity without a strategic lever to direct it and without the technology it needs is just idle play - after a single visit, the users get bored and, basically, clients don't need it.

We have to go out into the field to learn how to use these new tools, how to coordinate them and create the emotional connections that are key to developing a relationship between client and brand, and end up by making it a lovemark.

TIme to move South this week-end to find out the point of view of Panos Sambrakos, Business Unit Director at OgilvyOne Athens.

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
The website of Stella Artois impressed me the most out of anything I've seen this year. It totally changed my perception of what a brand site could be like, and how storytelling can evolve nowdays through true interactive video.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
In 2007 I learned that making a viral is like trying to make a fire on a deserted island without a lighter. There so many things that you need to take care of in order for your fire to catch quickly and spread wild.

Time to start moving South today... from the UK we flight to The Netherlands, to meet Martin Cedergren, Executive Creative Director at AKQA Amsterdam.

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
My favorite pick is the very smart idea that Jung von Matt, Germany did for SIXT. In a time when the web is flooded with flash sites it's a big relief to see such an innovative approach.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
Maximize it! If you are going to do an experince, do it all the way. Make people cry for more. Or if you are going to do functionality, make it super simple and very easy to use. Everything in between belongs to the trash can!

We don't have to travel today, as we stay in the UK to meet with Rob Ford the "brain" and the owner of the site we all love, The FWA. Here are his 5 answers...

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
I really didn't have to think too hard about this... Get the Glass! by North Kingdom and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is the most outstanding digital project I have seen in a long time. It actually made the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I first saw it. The production levels impressed me the most, not forgetting the super-creative ideas behind the whole project. This is a definite contender for Site Of The Year.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
Print and TV are dead. When you read that one of the world's leading creative magazines has a monthly readership of only 13,000 you know there is no contest between print and web. Sites like Digg probably get that many people in twenty minutes. I've been really and surprisingly impressed with Facebook. Was never a fan of MySpace, took up LinkedIn but found it rather pointless but Facebook has actually been useful and is one of the reasons I am actually writing this.

I'm impressed by the enthusiasm the interactive Advent calendar is generating! I'm already thinking about publishing two Q&A; per day, or to make the Advent last longer ;-)

Today we travel to the UK, to meet Daniele Fiandaca, COO of Profero and founder of Creative Social.

1) Which is the (European) digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
If I'm honest the best work for me in 2007 has come from outside Europe in particular from Japan with my favourite being the Uniqlock campaign for Uniqlo. Not only was the content beautiful (I still have the screensaver on my machine) but I loved the way it tapped into the blogosphere for global distribution - over 15,000 users in 76 countries have posted the qlock to their blogs so far.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
There is an amazing opportunity for agencies born out of the digital era to become those agencies of the future that advertisers will increasingly be working with. After all its not about making traditional channels work harder but about finding new ways to engage with the consumer.

Today we go West (but we stay in Europe) and in Portugal we meet Armando Alves who is the Head Of Interactive at Draftfcb Lisbon. He also writes a blog, called A source of inspiration.

1) Which is the digital project that impressed you more this year and why?
Orange Unlimited, for reminding us that simple is beautiful, and building a successful integrated campaign. Other notable projects include the Heidies by Diesel or the recent one by Renova Power, Spain, "Quien Es Fermin". As for agencies, Northkingdom and FarFar still amaze us with outstanding work, with some great work coming from Eastern Europe, like ParkStudio's work for Fanta or Nokia.

2) In your job, which is the most important thing you learnt this year?
I've learned to quit looking at my own bellybutton, and start looking to what regular users are doing online. Call it interactive etnography or something like that, but the truth is that we professionals are so much self-absorbed that it all feels like a big echo chamber. For instance, it amazes me the tons of people that don't have a clue what twitter is, but instead use regular email to keep their friends updated.

Advent calendar: Gregory Pouy

Advent calendar: Mark Ashley-Wilson

Interactive marketing Advent calendar

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