If you've seen our Vicarious Vacations photos on Facebook, you know the B team likes to travel. This year we wanted to share that love of adventure with our friends through the B fly contest. We took entries on our Facebook page for a chance to win a $200 Virgin America flight voucher as a prize.

The lucky winner? Stephanie Arnold, right here in Fort Worth, TX.

“I was so excited to win the B fly contest! I had never flown on Virgin America before, and let me tell you, it was AWESOME! They really know how to treat people. I used my voucher to fly to San Francisco to visit my best friend, who moved there 2 months ago. I had never been there before, and I had a great trip! Thanks so much, Balcom, for giving me this opportunity!”

Connect with the Bs on Facebook, Twitter or sign up for our quarterly Letter B emails. Who knows, you might be our next winner.

Balcom takes the question "You know what happens when you assume?" to heart. In order to avoid that, we surveyed business owners and marketers about their agency needs and how their 2011 marketing strategy is evolving. B-teamers disbursed the survey through email, social media and good ol' fashioned word-of-mouth. After running our B Heard survey for almost three weeks, here's what we found.

The Numbers

Percentages below are based on 68 total survey participants.

How do you think your marketing and/or communications will evolve in the coming year?

What is the greatest obstacle preventing you from achieving your marketing or communications goals?

Which area is your business or organization struggling with most?

If you could attend a training session on one subject, which would it be?

If you were to supplement your staff, which position would you add?

The Trends

What are the big focuses for 2011?

• As you can see from the graphs above, this year will bring more online, more web and more digital initiatives. Everyone is moving forward with their online outreach.

• Social media will definitely be used as a marketing tactic. Are you still leery of social media? Don't worry, you aren't alone. We found many are still unsure how to maneuver in and use social media effectively.

What are the struggles for 2011?

• Money makes everyone fret and this year is no different. Cost and affordability are still primary obstacles for most.

• Seeing the big picture and plan integration are also leaving people scratching their heads.

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We're using this research to better serve our clients in 2011. Have questions about the information or still scratching your head about your marketing strategy? Let us know.

What's on your radar?

A few weeks ago, B-teamers Chip, Brian, Holly and Steph headed down to Austin, Texas for SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive). Though they are still recovering from the social media and innovation education overload, they took a little time to sift through their notes/tweets and share a few highlights from their trip.

Top 5 sessions from Chip:

• The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk

• Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki

• Discussion with Dennis Crowley (Founder of Foursquare)

• Tim O'Reilly Interviewed by Jason Calacanis

• The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, oh wait, my alarm clock (@tenaciousb) didn't work for that one...

Top 5 quotes from Brian:

• "Work for 90 minutes with no interruptions. Take a small break to refresh then start again. Repeat."
  by Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz)

• "Do what you can for the other person, not for yourself."
  by Guy Kawasaki

• "If content is king, context is God."
  by Gary Vaynerchuk

• "In terms of content, shoot with a sniper rifle not a shotgun."
  by Felicia Day

• "Reimagine content. Don't recycle it. Make it more awesome and rebroadcast."
  from the book "CONTENT RULES"

Top 5 takaways from Holly:

• Not every sketch ends with a great design. But almost every great design starts with a sketch.
  The key is to generate ideas quickly and at very low cost. Pen and paper is still the best way.
  Ordering Disorder: Grid Design for the New World

• Design for goals and behaviors, aptitude and attitude, not generation
  Your Mom Has an iPad: Designing for Boomers

• Making ideas happen = creativity & ideas + organization & execution + communal forces + leadership capacity
  Stop Dreaming, Start Doing: Tips For Execution

• When you incorporate giving into your business model, you attract better customers AND better employees.
  Keynote: Blake Mycoskie

• Brand is not a logo, stationery or product. It is a gut feeling.
  Designing Ideas, Not Objects

Top 5 insights from Steph:

• Business is becoming more human.
  With the advent of social media, businesses are being forced to engage consumers in dialogue and build positive lasting relationships, as opposed to broadcasting canned messages to the masses. Founder of TOMS Shoes Blake Mycoskie and author of "The Thank You Economy" Gary Vaynerchuk, both presenters at SXSWi, understand that being human — that is to say, being compassionate and caring — is good for business.

• Social networks are evolving to fit our real-life connections.
  Facebook has acknowledged and attempted to resolve the confusion of overlapping real-life networks online through customized status updates and Facebook Groups. However, Facebook users have been reticent to take advantage of these features to form online groups that more closely mimic their real-life networks. Enter group messaging: Startups like GroupMe, Beluga, Fast Society, Kik and GroupedIn are attempting to create true-to-life communication tools whereby people in a specific social group can communicate privately. These more intimate social networks may be the next big thing in social media.

• Social networks are the new customer service line.
  Whether we like it or not, social media is providing consumers unprecedented access to the businesses that offer them products and services. In lieu of the customer service department, consumers are heading first to Facebook and Twitter to offer complaints, questions and outright rants. Companies must adapt to "social CRM," where consumer concerns are addressed via social networks. If they don't, they can expect social media crises the likes of "United Breaks Guitars" and "Chipotle Cat."

• Humans are important. We can't rely on algorithms to create digital media.
  Algorithms have placed ads for food blogs (See Slide 80) next to news stories of devastating poverty. They recommend you friend your ex on Facebook, after you've just defriended. Human beings are essential to creating a conscientious digital experience.

• Time is a limited resource. Energy is not. We must maximize our energy to succeed.
  During his keynote address at SXSW, Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project and author of "The Way We're Working Isn't Working," asked members of the crowd to raise their hands if they felt demands on them had increased over the past year. All hands went up. He then asked who expected demands to continue to increase. All hands went up. Tony stressed the importance of rest and recovery in excelling in our fast-paced, technology-driven world.

I would not consider myself a forward girl when it comes to matters of the heart, but this Valentine's Day that will all change. I'm officially professing my love for MailChimp.

As the primary email service provider we use for our clients, MailChimp has been courting me for a while. He just stands out from the rest and has proven himself worthy to be my Valentine.

Just a few characteristics that make MailChimp so special:

• Ambitious - MailChimp looks toward the future and is always trying to better himself. He's constantly updating and evolving to make himself a forward-thinker in his career and the email marketing industry.
• Intelligent - MailChimp is smart. He stays in the know of the newest email trends and topics. Thankfully, he is clever enough to keep me educated as well through all of his online resources and guides. 
• Great to my Family and Friends - MailChimp makes it easy for my family and friends to love him too. Every encounter is a breeze with simple email subscriptions, updates, and unsubscribes.
• Listener - MailChimp always listens to my relationship concerns and along with his customer service team tries his best to solve my problems quickly and efficiently.
• Sense of Humor - MailChimp makes me laugh. His light and clever tone makes talking with him the highlight of my day. He also shows me he cares by sharing funny comments or videos he came across. Just a little something to make me smile during those busy work days.
• Caring - MailChimp cares about making our relationship the best it can be. What girl doesn't love to analyze a relationship? He is open and offers up reports to let me know what is and isn't working for us. 
• Attractive - Simply put, MailChimp is good looking. Just take a look at his website: www.mailchimp.com.

I love you, MailChimp! I know we will continue to grow our relationship to make it the best it can be.