Today I learned about something gives me more hope for the future of mankind than I've had in a very long time.

Having lived for many years in Louisiana, I was very affected by the this year's Gulf oil spill disaster. My obsession with news about the spill led to the discovery of a lot of disturbing revelations about the oil industry, which quite frankly disgusted and depressed me on a very deep level.  

Considering the tragedy of the spill, and now the explosion of another offshore rig in the Gulf today, I've been frustrated by a lack of clean energy alternatives available to average consumers. I know that if the option to purchase cleaner and safer energy were avaiable, millions of people like me would choose it. 

I recently have had the pleasure to meet one of Cleveland's entrepreneurs Carolyn Grossi of Little Flower Products LLC! She has always thought of ways to teach her children the importance of saving, spending wisely and sharing.  About a year ago Carolyn developed The Princess Money Manager™ -- a tool that inspires and teaches children to become young money managers.  

Her first piece of advice to parents: start early and use tools that will excite and engage children. Carolyn is fortunate to have her very own focus group, her children. She found out that what she has created seems to excite her children to save, share and spend wisely.

The Princess Money Manager can be purchased at www.aprincesslovestosave.com for $40.00 plus shipping. There is also option for young boys called the Superstar Money Manager. Ten percent of profits from the bank will be donated to three organizations: St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Food for the Poor and Providence House, a crisis nursery in Cleveland, Ohio.

UNIQLO, a really cool  (and very affordable) Japanese clothing store that I love shopping at when I've over there, does something to make me like them even more.

They run a program called UNIQLO Recycles. Simply put, you can take your old UNIQLO clothing into any store and they will distribute them to needy people around the world. Very cool.

I probably have 20 UNIQLO t-shirts. The other day Quicken Loans President Jay Farner said to me "Clayton, you have a lot of t-shirts. I've never seen you wear the same one twice." Now you know my secret (though I admit I do wear them all more than once).

Here's one of my least favorites in the pic above, but I still like it (or I wouldn't be wearing it).

UNIQLOhas one U.S. store in New York City (on Broadway in SoHo), so American's can get their UNIQLO on while hanging out in the Big Apple.

When I heard that Canine To Five was offering Quicken Loans employees free doggy daycare for a month in order to welcome us to our new office in downtown Detroit - I was filled with mixed emotions.

Obviously, I was happy and excited to take my dogs, Betty Bacon and Murdoch AKA "The Doctor" to daycare every day for a month.  I hate leaving them at home alone all day. We generally spring for daycare once a week, but this offer gives them a pass to run around and play all week long!

But I was also a little nervous.  Would they like this place?  Would they get along with the other dogs?

This morning, I took them to daycare for the first time.  Like a mother dropping her child off, I fought back tears as I gently removed their collars...

OK - there were no tears, but I was excited to hear that I could see them on Canine To Five's Flickr page around noon. 

The clock struck 12 and off to Flickr I went.  How were they doing?  Were they having fun? Click through to find out...

Today is Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen! What does that mean?

From the Miracle Treat Day site:

One thing's for sure, Dairy Queen loves kids and kids love DQ®. That's why $1 or more from every Blizzard® treat sale on Miracle Treat Day, August 5, 2010 will help sick and injured children in your local Children's Miracle Network Hospital. Since 1984, DQ has raised over $81 million for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Let's make 2010 a record-breaking year! Join DQ  and help make miracles happen.

Totally joining in on this one. I think I'll get an Oreo Cheesequake Blizzard. What will you get?

I love Canine to Five, a dog boarding and daycare facility near downtown Detroit.

I've used them to board my dogs and attended their dog park events and even took my youngest dog to training they offer.

So when Liz, Canine to Five's owner, made the incredible offer for Quicken Loans team members moving downtown (1,700 of us in the next few weeks) to attend dog daycare for free for one month, I HAD to share that here.

That's an incredible offer and I hope many of my fellow Quicken Loans team mates take advantage of it and support Canine to Five once the free offer expires.

Liz has done a great thing with Canine to Five, taking a previously abandoned building in the Cass Corridor neighborhood (just north of downtown) and turned it into a viable, clean and overall wonderful business. It's businesses like Canine to Five that are helping Detroit turn the corner and become a better place.

The neighborhood has a lot of meaning for me. I went to high school down there (at Cass Tech) and I have to say that after years of watching the area decay, it's finally turning the corner.

You know those Michigan summers that we anxiously await all year long for? Well now, the rest of the world knows what we’re talking about thanks to David Arquette.

While filming Scream 4 this summer in Ann Arbor, he’s been tweeting non-stop about how amazing Michigan is! If you don’t believe me, just take a look!

David's tweets have included photos of Michigan sunsets, local restaurants and even a pawn shop in Pontiac he had luck at! Pure Michigan has also taken notice of David's positive tweets promoting Michigan.

Old Spice has consistently had some really great commercials.  I really enjoyed the ones that featured Michigan native Bruce Campbell, but the new series featuring the incredibly handsome, charming & resourceful Isaiah Mustafa has slayed me.  Old Spice Man, I am a happily married woman - but I am wondering, would you like to join our union?  We have room for one more, but only if that one more is you.

I am hoping you answer my question, just like you've been addressing your many adoring fans on YouTube today.  The people have questions, and the Old Spice Man certainly has some answers.  I think that if Old Spice Man has the time to address the comment that he actually has a "nerdy voice", he can respond to my proposal of a marriage that is illegal in most (all?) states.

 

 

So over here at the DIFF we're pretty big fans of our hometown of Detroit.  Thus, we write about it a lot.  Its really just that we have so much pride in our city we can't seem to help ourselves. 

But let's be honest here for a second.  Detroit needs a bit of sprucing.  And like most cities that need some work, we have a lot of graffiti.  Now, I've always been a fan of graffiti - so long as its done with taste and art in mind.  Senseless tagging is just vandalism.  Anyway, I was reading an article from the Detroit News about this pretty famous street artist who, low and behold, made his way to our fine city.  As it turns out, Banksy (the famous street artist) gave us one of his creations on a wall of a building about to be torn down.  Unfortunately, there are some not so happy things going on as a result of that, but I'll let you read the detnews.com article to find all that out.

What I think is more interesting is the artist himself.  Banksy is apparently a very under the radar street artist from London whose works sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Pretty nice living, eh?  He paints meticulous depictions of people and adds in some social commentary to go along with it.  I went on over to his website and I must say, his work is kind of amazing.  What's even more cool, is that he lets you print out his work from his website to make your own BanksyGear. What?!?  Artists giving away their art?  With all of the arguments out there about sharing music and movies and fear of copywrite infringement, I was really surprised.  Not to mention, for us little people who can't imagine buying art for $100,000 or more, that's kind of a cool gift to pass on. 

So mosey on over to the banksy.co.uk website and take a peek.  Even if you aren't a fan of graffiti, you'll be impressed.  I especially like the one he did in Detroit.

I have always wanted a pink car since I can remember.  Recently I was “googling” images of pink cars and came across an affordable hot pink Smart Car.

Smart Car came up with this awesome idea a few years back to let you have whatever color and pattern you want for your car with their Smart Car Skins and Smart Paint Skins. I personally like the Smart Car warped magenta skins and the colors Warrior Pink and Kandy Electric Fuchsia. You are even able to design your own skin by submitting it to them directly.

Even though I could never buy this car due to being almost 6’1” and I do not think that even half of my body would be able to fit inside, I thought this was an awesome idea that gives you an opportunity to have digital clothing for your car. This may seem like a corny and strange idea, but I can see this being very popular in the future.
Check out the Smart Car Skins and the Smart Paint Skins.

Photo Credit to http://www.smartpaintskins.com/html/standard.html#FuchsiaPink

Big accomplishments are always the result of a build-up of small things. Regardless of the importance, attention to the detail ultimately leads to larger success. In fact, consistently doing the little things shows you care.

It is this attention to detail that The Diff has awarded its first annual “Little Things Matter” Award to EzineArticles.com

EzineArticles was cool enough to send me a coffee mug and coaster as gifts for becoming an expert author on the Ezine site. The gift definitely made my day!

I recommend Ezine for anyone trying to gain more exposure when writing, or for a business trying to position itself as an expert in its respective field.

Making employees love working at your company is a key to having a successful business. To do this, Quicken Loans does its best to get rid of old corporate structure and make sure every employee is on the same playing field. “Boss” is a four-letter word and each team-member has a say in projects vital to the overall success of the organization. That’s a culture we can be proud of here at QL.

This focus on culture is why we love Woot.com CEO Matt Rutledge’s recent email to his employees. In the letter, Matt announces Woot’s big decision to join Amazon and answers some burning questions in an awesome way.

Garden Court Condominiums in Detroit ran a contest that encouraged people to submit a 2 minute video about why they love Detroit.  The winner would live in Detroit, staying in a Garden Court condo rent-free for a year and blog about their adventures in the city.  The contest is now over, and here is the winning video:

I love this video and can't wait to read all about Brandi Kay's adventures in the D on the blog!  Congrats, Brandi & we'll see you in Detroit!

via Detroit Moxie

In the New York Times article, Fostering Entrepreneurs, and Trying to Revive a City, writer Pamela Ryckman focuses on the startup companies Bizdom U has helped launch and its goal of growing Detroit’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“Bizdom U operates on the principle that entrepreneurs are born, not made,” writes Ryckman. “Its program leaders do not necessarily believe entrepreneurship can be taught. Instead, an essential part of Bizdom U’s job is to unearth candidates with a distinct combination of vision, ambition, drive and risk tolerance, and then mold them into business owners.”

 

While sitting outside at a family party this weekend, I noticed my 8-year-old niece’s wrists were covered with little neon bracelets. So, I asked her what the significance of them was. She gave me the most shocking look and couldn’t believe that I had never seen these stretchy, new accessories. It took me the longest time, before I noticed that when the bracelet is removed, it takes the shape of an animal or another fun figure. Such a simple idea and now they’ve turned into a bigger fad than the power bead bracelets of 2000. If you’re a parent, chances are you’ve seen or heard of these bracelets before me. Apparently, I’m out of the loop with the latest “tween” fashion crazes, because they’ve been around for a little while now. They were born in Birmingham, Alabama in 2008 and continued to spread to cities everywhere. With that, these unique wristbands have been banned from some high schools because students use them like rubber bands, reaping havoc for teachers. (At least this is what my niece informed me of!)

By the end of my weekend, I was excited to learn that I wasn’t the only one who just discovered these popular bands. The day after my niece introduced me to them, I met a 26-year-old guy who was sporting one around his wrist. I couldn’t help but ask him “Which animal is that one?!” He got a kick out of it because he just found out about them as well. To top it off, when I got to work Monday morning, I talked to yet another person who came into contact with these little animal bracelets, because of his sister. So now, if you see someone wearing one of these, you'll know what they are and want in on the craze too!

 

Credit for above image: http://kxua.uark.edu/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/animal_bands.jpg

 

Startup Weekend has gained an international reputation as an event where young professionals and business leaders alike can join together to launch new startup businesses. An all-weekend event, Startup Weekend looks to bring the best out of local creatives as they work together to come up with the next big idea. The movement is international – so whether you’re in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, or somewhere else, chances are there’s a Startup Weekend near you.

A number of Quicken Loans employees were lucky enough to make it to Startup Weekend Detroit this past April. Here are just a few of the highlights from the event. Enjoy!

Image via The Burton Theatre's Facebook Page. 

The Burton Theatre is a prime example of what makes Detroit so great.  The theater is the product of four friends who wanted to open a movie theater in Detroit, and decided to do so in a vacant public school.  It's a really cool story and you can read more about it here.

Over the holiday weekend, the Burton decided to up their game.

Quicken Loans is a great place to work.  There is always something fun going on and yesterday was no exception.  The IT teams had a post-it note mural competition!  They created post-it note murals all over the 4th floor of the Quicken Loans office and they results were really cool. 

Facebook fans - we're back with more free stuff!

In the spirit of the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run, we will be giving away a $50 Cavs store gift card in a random drawing of our Facebook fans today (5/13/2010)!

We’ll notify the winner by a message through Facebook. If you are currently a Quicken Loans Facebook fan, good luck! If you’re not a fan, you have until 5:00pm EST today to become one and get a chance to win! Please spread the word!

Another installment for our Bizdom Biz Feature series. This time, we welcome PostEGram to the Quicken Loans family. Read on to learn more about this awesome new venture!

If you’re like millions of Americans, chances are you’re on Facebook. Furthermore, odds are you’re uploading lots of photographs.  About 2.5 Billion images are uploaded to Facebook every month. It seems as if it has never been easier to share your life in pictures with your family and friends, right?

Well it certainly is easy to connect on Facebook, but the truth is there may be someone special missing all those snapshots of school events, birthday parties and vacations—and that person is Grandma. Statistics show that about half of all Americans over the age of 65 do not have Internet access. So while you’re uploading images from your mobile phone, poor Grandma is looking in her mailbox looking for a letter from you.

That’s where PostEgram comes in. 

Calling all Facebook fanatics!

In the spirit of the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run, we will be giving away a FREE LeBron James Fathead (estimated value $99.99) in a random drawing of our Facebook fans today (5/7/2010)!

We’ll notify the winner by a message through Facebook. If you are currently a Quicken Loans Facebook fan, good luck! If you’re not a fan, you have until 5:00pm EST today to become one and get a chance to win!

Please spread the word!

On April 21, David Carroll, Vice President of Administration at Quicken Loans attended the Michigan’s Next Great Companies 2010 Summit in Bath, Mich. and spoke about the company’s culture.

The summit brought business leaders from across the state together to help Michigan companies grow by focusing on culture and how their working environments can fuel innovation and creativity.

Michigan’s First Gentleman, Dan Mulhern, spoke about the importance of corporate culture and the keynote address was delivered by Bo Burlingham, author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big.

David Carroll’s presentation was part of an informal panel in which several companies had the opportunity to discuss how they make their organization a “great place to work.”  David explained that the Quicken Loans culture is a combination of a million little things and that our ISMs (18 guiding principles) enable all team members to live the culture each day.  Quicken Loans has been named to Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for seven consecutive years.

To learn more about resources to help your business receive recognition for a positive work environment, check out the Michigan Advantage web site.

Did you know that you can help clean up the BP oil spill using something found right on top of your head?  I stumbled across this interesting video from a chairty called Matter of Trust this morning.  They create oil absorbing booms and mats using hair collected from salons, individuals and pet groomers.  Hair is a natural, efficient and abundant material for collecting and containing petroleum spills.  If you're interested in donating to this cause or encouraging your salon or doggy groomer to do so, you can find more information here.

One of my favorite home & product design blogs, Design*Sponge has a recurring feature that I just LOVE.  It's called "Living In" and it utilizes some of the most notable films ever to grace the silver screen and showcases products that would allow you to convert your surroundings into their world.  Today they featured a quintessential film from my childhood, Stand By Me.  I love this movie and the inspiration boards she created using various screenshots made me swoon.  I want everything!  Well, except the blueberry pie...

FACT: The internet can often be an intimidating, overwhelming, scary and/or distracting place.  That’s why I love any tool that can make my e-life easier.  The more time I save searching for the perfect vintage teak chair the more time I can spend sitting in that very chair snuggling up to a vat of chocolate ice cream, watching Glee and gently weeping while I mouth the words to each song.

That’s why I LOVE crazedlist.org! 

Scotty Simpson's Fish and Chips - my favorite fish and chips place of my entire life turns 60 today. And for today only, the prices are the same as the day they opened in 1950.

Scotty's story is a cool story. It's a story about a small business lasting a lot longer than anyone thought it would. It's a story of the last business still standing from the old days in Detroit's Brightmore neighborhood.

The Detroit New wrote this great piece about it last week.

I'm so happy to have found these photos!  It combines two of my loves, yoga and adorable animals!  Yes, these images are photoshopped, but I don't care!  One day, I hope to be as skilled as young lola:

More photos at Dogster (via Boing Boing)

This is one of the best and truly viral videos I've seen in a while. Sent to me by the former DIFF Ninja.

It's from a group that did a study showing that behavior can be changed with fun.

In this case it worked. They made walking stairs (one of the least fun things in the world) fun.

See how they did it.

Thanks DIFF Ninja!

Wow. This is a cool thing to happen on Earth Day.

So anyway, I got an email from my buddies Charlie and Tarun over at MS&L Digital and they asked me if I had some questions for home safety expert John Drengenberg, the Consumer Safety Director at Underwriter Laboratories (UL).

I said yes. I sent them the questions.

The questions were answered live in a webinar and they sent me this video.

Wow. This is cool. Happy Earth Day!

Got a tip from by buds over at MS&L Digital on a cool sweepstakes Delta Faucet's is running and I wanted to share with our readers.

The Delta Make a Mess Sweepstakes is a pretty cool contest. To enter, all you have to do is go the Delta Faucet site and use their tool to draw an online finger painting. Once it's submitted, folks can vote on it and you might be a lucky winner of a Delta Faucet featuring their Touch20 techonology.

There is also a Delta Make a Mess Facebook page and a Delta Make a Mess Twitter page.

Good luck!

I love Starbucks. I've said it before and I'll say it again.

And today, they give me another reason to love their great coffee.

It's free!

I'll make this easy for you. Go to any Starbucks today and get a free mug of coffee (up to 20 oz.). All you need to do is bring in a reusable mug. Here's the full story from Starbucks.com:

Join the movement. On April 15th, bring a reusable travel mug into your local Starbucks and get a free brewed coffee.

One person can save trees, together we can save forests.

For the good of the planet, Starbucks is encouraging everyone to switch from paper cups to reusable travel mugs. One day in March thousands of New Yorkers made the switch. Join them now by taking a pledge to do the same.

Go on now. Get the world's best coffee free.

Guess what, y'all? Shortly after we posted the email exchange between Steve Madden's customer service and our anonymous DIFF reader, yet another customer service rep contacted our friend and had a completely different take on things. 

Alina, Customer Service Manager from Steve Madden, offered to completely replace the boots and even more, since they were no longer available, gave a $100 credit towards a new pair!

Picture here you'll see our friend's brand new boots, purchased with her Steve Madden credit.

Major props to Steve Madden for working this issue out and truly delivering on their 100% Customer Satisfaction promise. We believe in the same thing here at Quicken Loans and always go above and beyond to do what's right for our clients.

Today, Detroit’s Bizdom U entrepreneurial bootcamp was featured on CNBC’s Power Lunch program.  The segment, which features interviews with Dan Gilbert and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, focuses on the need for a strong entrepreneurial core as part of Detroit’s recovery.

Bizdom U teaches entrepreneurs everything they need to know to start a thriving business in the city of Detroit.  While undergoing four months of intensive training, the entrepreneurs develop a plan for a scalable business that must be located in Detroit.  If the business plan is ultimately approved, the entrepreneur receives funding and continued mentoring along the way. 

Check out the Bizdom U video on Youtube.

You have to love a great April Fools' Day joke.

Starbucks  (my favorite world-wide coffee chain - I'm still waiting for some VIA samples to arrive at my desk) today introduced the 128 oz. Plenta and the 2 oz. Micra.

I have to admit, a 128 oz. cup of Starbucks coffee sounds pretty good to me. I might have to go to the hospital after I drank it, but I would enjoy every drop.

Here's some info from Starbucks.com today about the Plenta and Micra:

Plenta™ (128 fl oz) and Micra™ (2 fl oz) cups arrive in Starbucks stores this Fall. Derived from Italian word for plentiful or small, the Plenta™ delivers coffee lovers record amounts of the world’s finest coffee beverages while the Micra™ delivers a quick and satisfying morsel of goodness.

Recognizing the potential impact the Plenta™ presents for municipal waste collection, Starbucks is also suggesting several subsequent uses for the Plenta™ cup post coffee enjoyment. Suggested usage options include popcorn receptacle, rain hat, perennial planter, lampshade or yoga block. The Micra also serves as a convenient milk dish for kittens, soft boiled egg cup or paper clip holder.

The jokes on me Starbucks, because I really do want a Plenta. But I still love you as much as ever.

What a cool story.

Amy Prior, the former DIFF Ninja, sent this to me and I want to share with you all.

Hans Smith, a 22-year old college student with cerebral palsy, has never set foot on a baseball diamond. He's never held a bat or thrown a ball.

He can't.

But he can play virtual baseball using Sony's PlayStation, and that he does well. He loves it so much he wrote Sony and letter telling them how grateful he was for the opportunity to experience baseball, even though his physical limitations prevented him from playing.

Sony employees were so moved by the letter that they modeled a team player on the virtual Cardinals after Hans Smith.

You can read the entire story here on ABC News.

Props to Sony for making a normal guy feel like a hero. I'm proud to say I own a PlayStation.

Check out Quizzle's latest video, aptly titled "Is Your Credit As Good As Your Game?"

Quizzle partnered with our friends at Last Pictures to film it and we think the whole thing turned out great! Check it out and please share with all your friends. And if you don't have a Quizzle account (Um, hello! Free credit report and score!), sign up today.

Everyone has morning rituals. Some people get up, stretch, have a cup of coffee, hop in the shower, brush their teeth, let the dogs out, etc. The first thing I do in the morning is check Woot.com.

My friend and former Quicken Loans team member Jarrett “Spiderman” Knyal introduced me to Woot about four years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. Maybe it’s an uber-geek personality that drives people like Jarrett and me to get so excited about a cult-like “deal-a-day” website or maybe it’s an online shopping addiction - who knows. Call it what you want, but you really can’t have too many Roombas (those nifty robotic vacuums that clean your floors, Jetsons-style).

Since my first Woot purchase (a Roomba, of course), I’ve amassed nearly 50 Woots (that’s what us in the “in crowd” call the daily Woot products), ranging from over a dozen t-shirts, countless screaming monkeys, a “bag of crap” (the most coveted of all Woot deals), two Dyson vacuum cleaners, a color laser printer, the greatest oven mitts I’ve ever owned, and of course, a marshmallow gun. There’s a special feeling when you arrive home from a long day at the office to discover a Woot box on your porch. It’s like one more little slice of happiness to round out the day.

Quicken Loans has been named one of FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” for the 7th consecutive year! To celebrate, our Recruiting Team is hosting a Career Fair on Tuesday, 3/9/2010 to showcase some of our open career opportunities! The Career Fair will be from 4:00 pm – 7:00 PM EST.

If you are a high-level performer who makes a difference in all that you do, check out our Mortgage Banking position at the Quicken Loans Careers site and attend our Career Fair! You’ll be on your way to success within your first year.

When: Tuesday, 3/9/2010 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Where: Quicken Loans, 20555 Victor Parkway, Livonia, MI 48152

Welcome to what we hope is the first of many posts to feature the launch of a new Bizdom U business. For those who don't know, Bizdom U is an entrepreneurial school in downtown Detroit from Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert.

You might remember us mentioning Guffly before - they're another Bizdom business which is about 6 months old.

So, without further ado, here is the first pitch to you, our dear DIFF readers from one of the newest Bizdom grads - Roger Williams of Launch Learning Group:

In these economic hard times chances are you know someone out of work or looking for a new career path. If so, a career in insurance may be right for them.  There is an unlimited income potential, flexible hours and it’s an industry that is still growing even in this economy.

To assist people in breaking into the insurance industry, my partner Antonella Solomon and I just launched our business out of Bizdom U to help prospective insurance agents acquire their license by training them to pass the State exam on the first try.  Our business, Launch Learning Group, has a new training model and we have broken the old mold of insurance training which is typically traditional, lecture based and boring.

The 11th Annual Cavaliers Career Fair is tomorrow from 1 - 4pm. It’ll be hosted at the Quicken Loans Arena, just before the the Cavaliers take on the New Orleans Hornets at 7:00 PM. Your $27 admission to the career fair includes a ticket to the game! For more information, check out The Q's website.

While we'd love to have all our DIFF readers come work at QL, there will be more than 35 companies represented at tomorrow's career fair. If you're in Ohio and need a job, this is shaping up to be the career opportunity of the year!

While you're there, say hi to my friends Pete Ferency and Amanda Huizenga, who will be attending to represent QL and Fathead. AND they’ll be raffling off free Fatheads at the fair!

As always, visit the Quicken Loans Careers website for a current list of available opportunities.

We did it again!

For 7 years running, we've had the privilege of being a part of FORTUNE Magazine's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For"! We're proud to retain the same position as last year, #29. We also continue to be the #1 ranked company in Michigan.

Check out part of FORTUNE'S profile of Quicken Loans:

What makes it so great?
Nation’s fifth-largest retail mortgage lender will move its headquarters this spring to downtown Detroit from the suburbs. The move, which will affect 1,700 employees, is owner Dan Gilbert’s idea.

Some of you might think a move to *downtown Detroit* is not a perk. But if you read the DIFF, you know we think it's the best thing since sliced bread. Not only are we excited to be a part of Motown's revitalization, we're excited to just be in the city - working, living, loving it.

You can see a little more insight in these quotes from our Chairman Dan Gilbert in a press release posted this morning:

“Our ranking on FORTUNE’s list is proof that a company’s culture and people can overcome any challenge. The last several years have been difficult for many companies in the home finance sector, but thanks to our extraordinary team members, and our take-charge, innovation-based culture, we not only survived – but achieved new company records in closed loan volume, client experience ratings, revenue and profitability,” said Quicken Loans Founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert.

“Our 3,000-plus dedicated and empowered team members continued to raise their level of awareness and met the challenges that faced them every single day. The passion and will to ‘figure it out’ was key to Quicken Loans’ accomplishments in an extremely difficult economic environment during the past couple of years,” Gilbert added.

I can't really say I've ever agreed with anything more. We did have challenges. We're not perfect. But the greatest thing about working at Quicken Loans is that everyone is a leader. You see something that doesn't make sense? Fix it. You want to make a DIFFerence? Do it.

My everyday job here as Social Media Manager is help make clients I come across on the web happy to work with Quicken Loans. And I'll tell you this...if I wasn't happy, I don't think I could do my job. My one bit of unsolicited business advice - make your employees happy. If they're happy, they'll make your clients happy. There's your bottom line.

This morning Kelly sent me a Tweet that today was the day Motown Records founder Berry Gordy incorporated his first record label,  Tamla Records.

A year later Tamla became Motown Records and the rest is history. Dozens of top 10 hits. Millions of records sold. Detroit became an international leader in the music industry and the hits of Motown are songs that we're all still singing today. 

It all started with a dream. I'm assuming everyone knows about Motown Records, but if not I linked to the Wikipedia page above. Check it out and teach yourself some history. Even if you don't like the Motown sound, you have to respect the awesome machine Berry Gordy built with his own hands.

And since we just finished the Christmas season, I thought I'd share my all time FAVORITE Motown song - Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer by the Temptations. This is a jam.

Thanks for all the great tunes, Mr. Gordy.

One of the things I love writing about on this blog is great consumer stories.

The examples of when businesses, both small and large get it right and make me want to share.

That's what happened recently on my most awesome 10-day excursion to Aruba (check out the video below and you can see the Jeep!).

We found the best place to rent a jeep in Aruba, Value Aruba Car Rental. Value Aruba Car Rental is a small, family-owned business far off the main track and we only found it because my wife's due diligence in researching out Aruba jeep rental options. Her work paid off and saved us about $300.

That's right. By going with Value Aruba Car Rental, we paid $300 less than the big name brands (you know the ones I'm talking about) for our Jeep for one week. And I'm talking the EXACT same Jeep. The only difference was we paid $300 less than the big names wanted for the weekly rental.

Google is celebrating the 2009 Holiday Season by donating $20 million to charities around the world. I know I've pat Google on the back before, but I just see it as giving credit where credit is due. Sure Google is a huge company that I'm sure makes huge profits. And really there are a bunch of other things they could've done with this money. But instead of adding to their empire or throwing an epic party, they decided to be The DIFF and do the most good by donating to those in need.

So hats off to Google again. They've put their money in the right place and done a world of good in the process.

Earlier this week, Quicken Loan team members were greeted in the lobby by 4 members of the the Detroit Doubletree Hotel staff with around 600 freshly baked chocolate chip cookies!

The cookies were a welcoming gift to us at Quicken Loans, who will be Doubletree's new neighbors when we relocate to downtown Detroit in spring 2010!

Every Quicken Loans team member was handed a cookie in a Doubletree cookie sleeve and a flyer with more information about Doubletree's lovely downtown Detroit location.

Thanks Doubletree for cookies and satisfying some team members' morning hunger!

Real is always better than fake. And apparently Caribou Coffee agrees. On our most recent after-lunch coffee run, we discovered that they've switched from using chocolate syrup to pieces of real chocolate instead.

Now, I didn't get a chocolate drink myself this time, but my friend did and she gave it rave reviews.

Caribou even took the extra step and gave a little blurb about the switch on the cup sleeves...As if the wonderful chocolatey goodness you're sipping on wasn't enough of a clue.

So good job Caribou, for switching to the real stuff and making your coffee that much better.

Got an email from my Twitter friend Charlie Wollborg of Curve Detroit last week.

Now, Charlie knows the interwebz and Charlie knows (probably all of) Metro Detroit, so I take his emails very seriously.

Because he's a serious dude.

Not really. He's actually a really funny guy who loves bacon.

But he is a total wealth of knowledge.

Charlie was writing me about this neat competition going on for certain places to be included in a special collection of Street View for Google Maps.

From the GOOG:

Thank you to everyone who sent suggestions for locations they'd like to see photographed by the Street View trike. We were inundated by more than 25,000 great ideas!

Now it's your turn to cast the final vote to tell us which locations you'd most like to see on Google Maps.

Explore the finalists listed below and shown on the map, then cast your votes within each category. You can vote as many times as you like until the deadline at 11:59pm PST, Monday, November 30th.

We'll work closely with the relevant organizations to secure permission to collect images of privately-owned locations.

Michigan is lucky enough to be in 2 categories: Michigan State in University Campuses and the Detroit Zoo in Theme Parks & Zoos. All it takes is a click to help the Great Lakes state win. Go here to vote. Let's make Michigan The DIFF!

And I totally agree with this last sentiment from Charlie: "Twitter, Facebook, email, blog or carrier pigeon, help spread the word. This is a great positive PR opportunity for our state." Go vote & share!

I got an email this morning passing along this great list of cool sites for Twitter lovers.

You can read the full list here of 101 Tools for the Ulitmate Twitter Expert.

It's a pretty comprehensive list and covers everything from Twitter backgrounds to integrating the music you're listening to into Twitter.

I won't repeat the list here, but please go check it out.

Thanks Michelle for send this along!

Indecisive about what to wear in the morning?  Unprepared for the temperature outside? Thanks to StyleCaster, there's now an app for that.  Yes, your iPhone can now suggest what to wear to help you get dressed every morning.

This iPhone app takes into consideration what the temperature is outside in your location, and provides recommendations of stylish looks.  Like the StyleCaster website, this app it provides customized style tips, news, videos, and beauty trends.  You can now have an extensive catalog of the latest designer clothing right at your fingertips.

Beyond clothing, consumers can also get information on products, hair styles, stores, and makeup advice all from each styled look.  The best part about this app?  It's completely free.  So check out the StyleCaster iPhone app, and cut your time getting ready in the morning by half.

I know what you're thinking. Another video, Kelly? Too easy. GIVE US THE GOOD STUFF! WE NEED THE DIFF!

Well, my people, this is it. Over the weekend, I became more than slightly obsessed with this video from Chow.com. It's not new, not cutting edge, fancy schmancy technologically-advanced or even celebrity dance-y pants. This video? THIS.VIDEO.IS.PURE.AWESOME.

There are times in life when you come across someone with such a zest for life that it leaves you scratching your head. They're that happy? Can't be *that happy* all the time. They leave you questioning their motives or even the source of their unapologetic energy (whatever they're on can't be legal).