Atlanta-based B2B marketing agency MLT Creative is bringing social media expert and author Jay Baer to Atlanta for an exclusive speaking engagement.

ATLANTA, Ga. – Sept. 21, 2011 – Atlanta-based B2B marketing agency MLT Creative is bringing Jay Baer – noted social media strategist and author of The NOW Revolution: Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter, and More Social – to Atlanta. Baer will be in town for a private speaking engagement at MLT Creative’s Idea Launch Lab, and to deliver the keynote address at an MLT-sponsored meeting of the Atlanta chapter of the Business Marketing Association (BMA).

CLARKSTON, Ga. – Sept. 20, 2011 – It may not feel like beach weather, but don’t tell your ears that, because surf rock is coming back to Clarkston.

Surf Fest – an annual outdoor concert serving up food, beer and a whole slate of surf bands from across the Southeast – begins at noon on Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Clarkston Community Center Field, 307 College Ave., Clarkston, Ga.

Back after a year-long hiatus for what will be its fifth outing, Surf Fest was both founded and revived by Wayne Foster of Foster Sound – a company that specializes in live concert audio for small to medium venues. Foster got the idea for the event about seven years ago after his friend, Randy Duke, introduced him to surf rock.

“We went to see an Atlanta-based group called The Penetrators, and after that my friends and I started talking about how cool it would be to get a bunch of surf bands together and put on a show,” Foster said, “so that’s exactly what we did.”

Billy Mitchell, president and creative director of MLT Creative – one of the event’s sponsors – is excited to see the event’s return. “We definitely felt Surf Fest’s absence last year,” he said. “It’s an event we’ve always attended and really looked forward to, so we’re thrilled to see it come back to Clarkston.”

In addition to MLT Creative – which also designed all the promotional materials for Surf Fest, including its website – other sponsors include Tamale Queen, Kona Brewing Company, WREK 91.1 FM and, of course, Foster Sound.

Popularized in the ‘60s by legendary artists like Dick Dale, surf music combines traditional rock, rockabilly, country and blues, along with influences from Mexico and the Middle East. The mellow, often purely instrumental sound is commonly characterized by double-picked, staccato guitar notes distorted by the distinctive crunch of heavy reverb.

But Foster sums the genre up much more simply.

"It's just happy music," he said.

Surf Fest's line-up this year includes Daikaiju, Stratogeezer, Aqualads, El Fossil, The Necronomikids, The Monterreys, The Mystery Men?, The Surge! and more.

All proceeds from beverage sales at Surf Fest go to benefit the Clarkston Community Center. Gates open Saturday at 11 a.m., and the show begins at noon. For more about Clarkston Surf Fest, visit www.clarkstonsurffest.com.

 Atlanta-based B2B marketing agency MLT Creative received two wins out of three nominations at the 2011 Atlanta Marketer of the Year Awards.  

HubSpot User Group Atlanta, nicknamed “HUG ATL,” will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, April 5, at MLT Creative’s Idea Launch Lab on the east side of Atlanta.

Atlanta-based B2B marketing firm MLT Creative recently opened the Idea Launch Lab, a new meeting facility designed to increase communication between the agency and its clients.

Atlanta-based marketing firm MLT Creative was recently listed among the nation’s top direct marketing agencies, as well as top business-to-business agencies overall, in BtoB Magazine’s “Marketers Resource Guide ‘11.”

Nominations have begun for the 3rd Annual Business-to-Business Twitterer of the Year (B2BTOTY) Awards, honoring outstanding Twitter practices in the world of B2B marketing.

Atlanta-based B2B marketing firm MLT Creative is hosting a new webinar that examines Twitter’s ever-expanding role in the B2B marketplace, featuring guest speaker Trey Pennington.

 Atlanta-based B2B marketing firm MLT Creative recently teamed up with Storyville Coffee Company to host an evening of live music, the profits from which went toward the fight against modern-day slavery and human trafficking.