MKTG INC believes in the power of community and giving back. That’s why we’ve launched MKTG INC’s charitable arm, MKTG INC 4 Good.

For this year’s initiative, we’ve partnered with TopSpin. TopSpin has a 2011 fundraising goal of $1 million, which will benefit 11 youth and educational charities in each host city (New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles). In addition to a cash donation, MKTG INC will provide in-kind program management services, will handle development and production, will provide support in the procurement of sponsorships and will be responsible for creative design for program events.

We encourage everyone to donate a few hours of their time to help those who need it most. See our list of partner charities below, and contribute what you can. Thank you!

NEW YORK:

A BETTER CHANCE: This organization helps ambitious high school women from the New York City area attend Fayetteville-Manlius High School while living in a supportive environment.

GROUNDWORK: Groundwork supports the development and empowerment of youth, families and communities so that young people have an equal chance at a healthy and happy future.

PREP FOR PREP: Prep for Prep finds the most promising children of color in New York City and prepares them for success in leading independent day and boarding schools. Prep then offers its students support and an array of ongoing leadership and professional development opportunities.

CHICAGO:

NOBLE STREET CHARTER SCHOOL: Noble Network of Charter Schools has been delivering outstanding public education to low-income high school students in Chicago for more than a decade. Noble is the largest and highest-performing open-enrollment high school in Chicago. It serves more than 7,000 students and 98% of its graduates enroll in college.

WITS CHICAGO: Working in the Schools (WITS) is a literacy organization that increases the reading proficiency and learning capacity of low-income and minority students in Chicago Public Schools with the help of dedicated volunteer tutors and mentors.

ROWE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Rowe was founded to address the acute need to better educate children on Chicago’s poverty- and crime-impacted West Side, and prepare them for college and life success from kindergarten. A progressive, “college prep” charter school, Rowe combines rigorous academics with social services and socio-emotional support for students and their families.

SAN FRANCISCO:

BREAKTHROUGH COLLABORATIVE: Breakthrough Collaborative prepares high-achieving middle-school students for college-preparatory high school programs. Breakthrough also recruits and trains outstanding high school and college students to become Breakthrough teachers and pursue careers as educators.

PREFUND: The Potrero Residents Education Fund’s mission is to support and improve public education in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill district, primarily Daniel Webster Elementary School.

KIPP: KIPP Bay Area Schools operates high-achieving public schools in educationally underserved communities, developing the knowledge, skills and character students need to thrive.

LOS ANGELES:

CITY YEAR: City Year partners with public schools to provide full-time, targeted intervention for students most at-risk. Our teams of young leaders support students through in-class tutoring and after-school programs that keep them in school and on track to graduate.

SCHOOL ON WHEELS: School on Wheels’ volunteer tutors give educational assistance and support to homeless children living in Southern California, providing weekly one-on-one tutoring for children who live in shelters, motels, group foster homes and on the streets. Students receive school supplies, uniforms, enrollment assistance and around-the-clock School on Wheels’ support.

Photo credit: TopSpin

As the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks approaches, there is a strong urge to put those fateful events in context. MKTG EVP Bryan Duffy shares his thoughts about the day and what unfolded afterwards in a guest post for Chief Marketer’s The Big Fat Marketing Blog. Read the full text here.

We’re proud to announce that MKTG made Event Marketer’s It List of the top 100 event agencies for the second year in a row.

We’d put together an event to celebrate, but we’re kind of busy with clients at the moment. Check out the full MKTG write up here.

Flight delayed? Good. If you’re taking to the skies on Virgin Atlantic, it’ll give you more time to play around with Google’s new Chromebook. Event Marketer did a nice write up of the program MKTG developed with Google to drive awareness of its soon-to-launch laptop. Lucky airline passengers and guests of New York’s Ace Hotel can get their hands on these sleek PCs from now until the end of September.

Smile, we’re on camera! Event Marketer this week took special note of the Photoshop & You pop-up space that MKTG produced for Adobe in San Francisco earlier this month. The experience, located in the former HANG art gallery, celebrated the art of photography through antique-camera collections, how-to sessions and workshops, and neighborhood photo walks.

What’s the first thing you think when you think of Lady Gaga? If your name is Louis Marino, you think direct-to-consumer marketing.

In the inaugural post for his new column for Fast Company, MKTG’s own Creative Studio head explains what we as experiential marketers can learn from Mother Monster, leaving us with just one question — does this new column make Louis a member of the papa … paparazzi?

Image credit: violet.blue

Ad-industry rag The NY Egotist got a real earful this week when they came by the MKTG Creative Studio for a chat with our own Louis Marino. After 20 years in the music and fashion industries, including 2 as creative director at Bad Boy Entertainment, our man Marino knows a thing or two about keeping beat with the big boys. In the Egotist profile posted here, he talks about how music informs his craft, how celebrities can best avoid Twitter troubles but still engage their audience, and what MKTG’s own future business objectives are (clue: rhymes with Pick Grass).

Image credit: The NY Egotist

Lazy summer days are no time for smart marketers to be lazy, says MKTG’s own Charlie Horsey in an Ad Age article this week. The opportunities for building strong, long-term connections with the elusive Gen Y consumer, he says, are much more numerous in the season of outdoor festivals, sporting events and good old-fashioned fun in the sun. In other words, to reach Gen Y ya gotta strike while the summer is hot.

Talk about playing your cards right. The distinctive design of the MKTG business card has caught the eye of Media Bistro’s AgencySpy, whose feature story on the best biz cards in the biz was inspired by our own. If you’ve met one of us, you know our cards feature a pared-down design on the front and a cavalcade of clever copy on the back. If you haven’t yet, get to know us here. Very nice to meet you!

Around the Studio today we are love, love, loving this Chrome video. And for this reporter it’s about all the exercise she’ll get all month. Enjoy!