A few years back our friend Dave Schroeder of Pilotvibe decided it was time to put the Midwest on the ‘flash’ map, and started Flashbelt.

For those who don’t know - its an incredibly educational and inspirational 3 days of presentations, panel discussions and workshops. Speakers typically have a focus, whether industry (advertising, commerce, education) or specialty (flash audio, as3, animation etc) and often are well-known for their groundbreaking work in a specific area or project. Its a refreshing mix of Adobe Scientists, authors/gurus, well known designers/developers and independent experimental producers. Our own Nick Longtin even presented last year.

Whether you are someone who sells interactive projects, designs for the web, or develops flash interactive or other, I would highly recommend catching at least a couple of presentations. You will learn and walk away inspired. It rivals the feeling of Spring in Minnesota for the interactive industry.

June 8-11th in Minneapolis, MN - See you there

Behind the glitz and glamor of a few Web 2.0 brands are some truly terrible work environments. Workspaces even coal miners wouldn’t care for. Valleywag has been collecting photos and horror stories from some of the most egregious offenders here.

To be fair, I will admit that even at ArcStone we occasionally force employees to work in less than ideal situations. Take for instance, the above photo showing an ArcStone blogger diligently writing without a chair or table.