After launching Digital in Action in New York last November, the Digital team headed to Chicago this past week for the next phase of Burson-Marsteller’s internal training initiative. Needless to say, it was a great two-day event that helped shed even more light on the importance and applicability of digital in the public relations/communications landscape. (Photos will be uploaded to our Flickr page in the coming days).

As I begin my next leg of travel tonight from the San Francisco bay area to San Diego for the Graphing Social Patterns conference, I wanted to share some interesting take-aways I noted during this weekend:

• Thought sharing: No matter where you are, whether in the Valley, on the US East coast or around the world, having a place (either physical or virtual) to share your thoughts about a certain subject can only advance your knowledge/awareness of a familiar/new area. In my case, I had some great conversations with software developers, marketers and venture capitalists at…of all places…a community car show on Saturday morning in San Jose. By not only actively listening to various stories among professionals about the technology space, but also asserting your point of a view, a deep dialogue emerged where passion and creativity were of utmost importance.
• Collaboration: Even though this was my first visit to Silicon Valley, it became obvious that collaboration among all disciplines and professions acts as a glue that ignites innovation. One startup founder I met makes sure that his house in San Francisco also acts as a co-working space for interested members and employees. People efficiently work together to produce a point of view that is clear and powerful.

So what does this have to do with Digital in Action? A lot, actually. From the two programs launched thus far in New York and Chicago (and one coming up in Miami this week), thought sharing and collaboration among participants helped drive a powerful business and communications point of view before their clients. Digital in Action offers a place for participants to share and create compelling digital programs.

Where do you see the bulk of your innovation and collaboration take place?