The Velocity Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan recently brought together a collection of experts to discuss the future of cities. We’ve highlighted a selection of the most inspiring ideas.

Italian coffee maker Illy Caffe will challenge Starbucks Corp’s stronghold over the US out-of-home coffee market by expanding its reach within independent coffee shops, rather than opening up its own.

George Parker is the perpetrator of adscam.typepad.com. Every week he shares his opinions on the advertising world with PSFK.

Over the next two months, PSFK will be hosting Redscout’s SPUR video series. It will explore the intersection of brands, strategy, innovation and the world of account planning. We hope to spark a lively discussion, and inspire those working in the field.

Next week, PSFK will be hosting Good Ideas Salon, Brooklyn. We’ll be enjoying local fare, and featuring a panel of guest speakers discussing small batch culture and local entrepreneurship.

As further evidence of the increasing threat that crowdsourcing poses to advertising agencies, PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew will reward marketing duties for a $100 million-plus business to a consumer-picked player, via an online contest beginning in late November 2009.

This holiday season online retail giant eBay will be going analog – making the leap from the web to real-life with a pop-up shop set to open November 20th in New York City.

In a disturbing example of invasive advertising, German agency Jung von Matt has come up with “flyvertising”.

Writer / actor John Hodgman has presented an interesting theory about a coming geek-centric future in a recent interview with the Kansas City News.

Victors & Spoils launched today, touting itself as the “world’s first creative (ad) agency built on crowdsourcing principles.”

Over the next two months, PSFK will be hosting Redscout’s SPUR video series. It will explore the intersection of brands, strategy, innovation and the world of account planning. We hope to spark a lively discussion, and inspire those working in the field.

New augmented reality goggles are helping Marine mechanics perform vehicle maintenance almost 50 percent faster than the current method — using technical manuals on laptops.

Expanding on the actions of its many environmentally conscious residents and businesses, San Francisco recently became the first U.S. city to legally mandate the recycling of food.

George Parker is the perpetrator of adscam.typepad.com. Every week he shares his opinions on the advertising world with PSFK.

PSFK sat down to talk with Diesel Founder Renzo Rosso about inspiration, the Internet, nature and more.