Last week I had the pleasure of attending a sneak peek of a new exhibit opening at The Tech Museum in San Jose.  The exhibit is called The Tech Silicon Valley Innovation Gallery and features four brand new installations developed by Adobe, Google and nVidia and Intel.

Adobe’s contribution to this new exhibit is titled Infinite Creativity.  It was designed under Adobe’s direction by interactive media firm Second Story and funded through the Adobe Foundation.

The simplest way to describe Infinite Creativity is as a giant digital canvas.  Visitors use their hands to create works of digital art on a touch pad screen.  Their art is then combined with creations from other visitors using the station and displayed on a large screen for all to see.  Words really don’t do it justice.  So check out the photos of the exhibit posted below.  Better yet, be sure to head over to The Tech when the exhibit opens on September 15^th to see (and create!) for yourself.

Infinite Creativity is a reflection of what drives Adobe – creativity, collaboration, innovation – and what we strive to enable through the technology we bring to our customers.

Last Thursday, Jan. 28, I had the privilege of presenting a luncheon keynote at the CMO Summit event in Los Angeles. I co-presented with Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of The Advertising Council, which is an incredible organization. Our message to the audience of senior marketing execs was that it’s critically important to get more companies involved in corporate social responsibility to create positive social change.

In my segment of the talk, I highlighted the work we have done with the Adobe Youth Voices program, including our partnership with the Black Eyed Peas’ Peapod Foundation. I showed the public service announcement we made with the Peas as well as a youth music video created by a group of 15- and 16-year-old boys at our Redwood City, CA, Adobe Youth Voices/Peapod Academy. Adobe Youth Voices enables kids in under-served communities around the globe to create digital media (videos, animations and still photography) expressing their views on issues in their community. Adobe provides the software and curriculum and faculty and volunteers provide the training and inspiration.

CSR is a great opportunity for all companies to strengthen their brand and connection to their customers. Companies should choose a cause close to their product and culture, so there is good alignment, and they shouldn’t be shy about promoting their CSR cause to their customers. Our own research has shown that our customers really want to know more about what Adobe is doing in the CSR space, so we’re going to continue to get the word out.
The positive feedback from my peers showed me there is a lot of interest and enthusiasm in the marketing community for CSR, and I’m hoping this event will lead to more discussion about how we can help make a difference.

Peggy Conlon (right) and I during Q&A at the CMO Summit

• Ann Lewnes is Adobe’s senior vice president of Global Marketing and is on the Board of the Adobe Foundation and The Advertising Council