There are many parts of the culture here that make mono, well, mono. The walls at the center of the agency that hold the ideas we work around. The lack of departments. The bike-powered smoothie maker that occasionally shows up in the kitchen. Chris, Michael, and Jim’s decision that the week of 4th of July should be for family. (Among many others.) So we’re proud to be one of Minnesota Business Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. It’s a nice honor for a really nice place where we get to do what we do best. See the whole list here. And congrats to all.

Webby fever has swept the online nation. “The leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet” is in its 16th year, and has become a competitive arena for websites, interactive advertising, film and video, mobile, and apps. Three of our entries were selected as official honorees: The Human Doing for both the “Integrated Campaign” and “Mobile and Experience” categories, and the Blu Dot Swap Meet for “Online Guerrilla and Innovation.” Kudos to our teams, and we look forward to seeing the Webby winners revealed in May.

Yesterday we threw a surprise celebration to mark the swearing in of Eva Anderson as she officially became a citizen of the USA. A custom cake (above), ice cream, beer, flags, and fireworks (okay, projected fireworks) had our favorite Croatian-born account supervisor a bit shocked as a red, white, and blue antennae headband was plunked onto her head. We toasted, we laughed, and then we tried to decide whether the most classic Super Bowl national anthem was done by Whitney, Christina, or Kelly. Naturally. Congrats, Eva.

Our newest client in 2012 is the National Hockey League. They’ve selected mono to work with them on developing strategic and creative solutions for a number of league platforms. We’ll be dedicated to creating even more awareness for the NHL far and wide. Ladies and gentlemen, start growing your beards. More to come later this year.

The mono internship program is designed to cultivate the next generation of creative problem-solvers. At mono, we believe in the power of simplicity, collaboration, and doing what has never been done before. If you’re a writer, designer, art director, strategic thinker, or digital wiz with a genuine appetite to rethink how creativity can solve problems, then join mono in Minneapolis for a paid, full-time summer internship. The program begins in June and runs through August. Please send a PDF or a link of your best work to internship@mono-1.com by 5/1/12.