First FedEx Office offered free resume printing on what it declared Free Resume Printing Day last month; now, job seekers can tap UK-based FreeMyCV for free distribution of their resumes to job sites far and wide.

Aiming to reduce the time job-seekers spend registering and sending their resumes to all the many different hiring websites, FreeMyCV.com uses a tailored integration system that enables the user’s details and CV to be automatically registered to a wide variety of partner job websites within minutes of submission. Users simply sign on with FreeMyCV for free and upload their resume. The service then sends it out automatically to select partner job sites, the list of which currently includes Monster.com, JobPatch.com and--a familiar face to regular Springwise readers—TheLadders. Each partner site specifies in advance the type of candidates it's interested in—by location, sector or salary level, for instance. FreeMyCV sends each resume to as many as 10 such UK sites, including any mix of general and industry specialist sites as determined by the candidate's qualifications. The system's technology even knows to avoid submitting users' resumes to sites they're already registered with.

Whereas FedEx Office's effort was a combination of free love and sympvertising and sympvertising for branding purposes, FreeMyCV is made possible by its partnerships with job sites, each of which pays to participate. Either way, of course, it's all good to consumers. How could *your* brand help the unemployed, the debt-strapped or the otherwise economically afflicted?

Website: www.freemycv.com
Contact: www.freemycv.com/ContactUs.aspx

Spotted by: Jonathan Kyle

What do grass, sand, water, snow, wood and dirty streets have in common? Answer: they've all been used as a medium for advertising, as we've noted on several occasions before. Now there's yet another option for unconventional marketers: soap foam mixed with lighter-than-air gasses such as helium.

Flogos—the result of such a mix—are flying foam logos that float through the sky, and they've actually been around for almost exactly a year* following their introduction last spring by Alabama special effects company Snowmasters. Available in 12-, 36- and 48-inch sizes, Flogos can travel up to 30 miles and float as high as 5,000 feet, depending on their formulation. Most last from 30 to 40 minutes, after which time they evaporate without a trace, making them completely environmentally friendly, the company says. Flogos customers have included Lindt chocolates, the California Angels, Disney World, Mercedes-Benz and Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, to name just a few. The company has also expanded into 18 offices worldwide, with new locations including China, Japan, Singapore, Mexico, Turkey, England, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Israel, Africa, Australia and Canada.

In addition to providing a novel way to break through the advertising clutter, Flogos also mesh nicely with the trend toward "eco-vertising" and other environmentally sustainable approaches. Could be a fun one to partner with—the sky's the limit on the possibilities! ;-) (Related: Media agency focuses on low-eco-impact advertising.)

Website: www.flogos.net
Contact: info@flogos.net

Spotted by: Bill McMahon

* Background detail: Flogos got so much buzz last year, that we ended up not covering it. But when it showed up on our radar again this spring, we were curious to see how the concept fared since it was launched.

Entrepreneurial types may already be familiar with Ideablob, the online community where big thinkers and small business owners can exchange feedback on their business ideas. Credit card issuer Advanta sponsors the site, which launched back in 2007, and now it's adding live events billed as "open mic nights" for great ideas.

Bloblive is a networking event that's essentially intended to be a live version of Ideablob: Attendees air their business ideas in front of a live audience of fellow participants in exchange for advice, feedback and connections. The first Bloblive was held in Philadelphia last fall; since then, it has been expanded to Nashville, San Diego and Los Angeles as well. Events are held several times a month, with entry priced at USD 10; both venue and "brain food" are provided. Memberships are also available for USD 20 per month, providing free access to all local events as well as pitch coaching, members-only breakfasts and other benefits. Bloblive events are also streamed online; updates are broadcast on Twitter.

Just because the economy is a shambles, that doesn't mean the end of entrepreneurship—in fact, in many ways, it's the ideal time to launch something new, as we've noted before. The swelling ranks of entrepreneurs, minipreneurs and sellsumers can use support both online and off—one to bring to (aspiring) entrepreneurs near you? (Related: Professional feedback, instant and peer-to-peer — Tech support for minipreneurs.)

Website: www.bloblive.com
Contact: hello@ideablob.com

Making it as straightforward as possible for young people to get checked out, a London council has initiated a new Chlamydia testing system. The service, offered by NHS Hounslow in West London, lets residents between 16 and 24 go online to request a free self-testing kit by post. In their own time and space, users provide a urine or swab sample and post it off to a laboratory. The results are delivered by text message or post, depending on the user’s preference.

The service began in February 2009, announced using less high-tech systems: 19,000 of the borough’s residents aged 16–24 received a letter announcing the scheme. Despite such wide reach, the text messaging service will not be automated. Real people will write the initial text messages and will provide text responses to queries, giving users the personalised advice and information they need without the awkwardness of speaking to someone over the phone. By choosing less engaging types of communication, the council expects to engage more users. Which is a smart example of tailoring your approach to your audience's needs. One for others to follow, in healthcare and beyond?

Website: www.tdlpathology.com/hounslow

Spotted by: The Register via Judy McRae

Dutch hospitality group La Bergère is developing a new hotel in Maastricht, dubbed Hotel X for the time being, and is going to decorate it using furniture and knick-knacks purchased from ordinary consumers.

The underlying concept for Hotel X is described as "style, sex and soup", which—in a nutshell—stands for design, attraction and authenticity. To find unique furniture and nostalgic elements that will create the desired look and atmosphere, Hotel X is calling on people to rummage through their attics, spare rooms and garages, and offer their unused objects for sale. People can upload a picture of the item they'd like to sell, along with a short description and their asking price.

To give a sense of what they're looking for, www.stijlsexensoep.nl shows examples for a wide array of categories, from chairs and tables to art, ceramics, posters, 'collections', boardgames and even plants (cacti, preferably).

While authenticity and nostalgia are design styles that hotels have been adopting for a while, this is an unusually clever way both to find remarkable pieces, and to garner interest in the hotel before it opens. Moreover, by encouraging people to look for cash in the attic, it taps into a very of-the-moment trend that our sister site trendwatching.com calls sellsumers: a recession-induced need for cash is fuelling concepts that help consumers make money instead of just spending it. (Related: Qbic, a high design, low touch hotel, which is also part of the La Bergère Group.)

Website: www.stijlsexensoep.nl
Contact: info@la-bergeregroup.com