Hello! I’m Ryan Gardner – the new Social Media and Marketing Intern at HMG Creative. I’m currently a senior Advertising & Business Foundations student at The University of Texas at Austin, graduating this May.

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and then moved outside of Dallas about ten years ago. Living in the suburbs made me very interested in living in a city, so I packed up for school in fall 2012 and headed to Austin, gravitating toward the music scene here. I can’t imagine a better city to go to college in. In my spare time, I’m frequently at concerts, still exploring the city with friends, or relaxing indoors at BookPeople or Whole Foods.

In December I wrapped up a Graphic Design Internship at It’s Time Texas, an Austin non-profit focusing on promoting health and fitness. Previously, I’ve held internships in PR, marketing, social media, and graphic design. Once the holidays ended, I wanted to switch over to the marketing agency environment, making the position at HMG a perfect fit for me.

This semester, I’m looking forward to running the social media accounts, connecting with clients and publications, and writing. It’s only day one, but I’m excited for all the upcoming opportunities here! To learn more about me, feel free to connect with me on Twitter at @RyanGardnerC or by email at [email protected].

[UT image via consultyourcommunity.org]

With the year coming to a close, 2014 “round-up” posts are taking over our social media feeds. We’ve seen a few good ones here and there, but we’ve got to say this one shared by Mashable takes the cake. We got an adrenaline rush from the first minute alone! Also go check the best shaver for men .

If you have a couple (seven-ish) minutes, watch this compilation of 223 viral videos that took over the internet this past year. Well done, YouTube.

Per Stirling Capital Management is an S.E.C.-registered investment advisory firm specializing in holistic financial planning, investment portfolio management, and other comprehensive wealth management services that are as unique and varied as are its clients. However, the cool part about the company is that it’s not for everyone. Driven by the idea of “Common Interests. Uncommon Results,” the company recognizes that “As strange as it may sound, Per Stirling is not for everyone.” It is when clients hit a financial point of success or wealth that it becomes time to find the right partner to help preserve and conscientiously manage these financial affairs – and that is when Per Sterling comes to the rescue.

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CBIONE has been a market leading specialist in the circuit breaker industry for over 35 years. During this time, the company has developed a strong and reliable reputation in the electrical industry nationwide for our quality products, competitive prices and superior service. Providing a large inventory of new and reconditioned circuit breakers, CBIONE came to HMG with needs for a new website design, Google Analytics, and email marketing.

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With the healthcare landscape constantly shifting, expanding, and evolving, Tango Health helps you make sense of it all with its Health Benefits Optimization. The company gets employees the right plans, while stabilizing the costs of benefits and even reducing them. Tango customizes by analyzing data to determine the ideal mix of employees to your exiting benefit plan. It educates using online tools to help employees choose the best plan. This saves money for both the company and the employees.

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This year there will be over 600 sessions at SXSW Interactive. The majority of the sessions were picked via users on the SXSW PanelPicker, with more than 3,000 ideas entered. The result is a variety of influential speakers in categories such as Art, Science, and Inspiration, Branding and Marketing, Content and Distribution, Fashion, Gaming, and Sports – and that’s just a short list. While there are many speakers we would love to hear, we’ve narrowed down a list of 5.

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SXSW is a lot of fun, but it can also be very exhausting, loud, and busy. Sometimes we all need a break from the festival to re-charge. To help out, we have a list of 10 things to do outside of SXSW while in Austin.

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Epicom is a technology solutions firm focused on consulting and executing complex CRM and Marketing Automation deployments, customizations and integrations. The number one reason the company is in business is to make other companies successful by providing better, innovative technology solutions. To do that, they’ve built a team and culture focused on what’s best for their customers. The core values are to deliver quality, try new things, have fun, and grow as individuals and as a team.

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California Dental Certifications is a Dental Assisting Training School for all stages of students in the dental community as well as new students looking for that perfect career. CDC’s goal is to help you feel good with your training. They offer all Certification needs for your RDA application as well as all prep courses necessary to pass your RDA. The warm, modern, and open environment you will experience is something which helps evoke camaraderie among the students and instructors alike.

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April in Austin is one of the nicest months of the year. The weather is just perfect, making it a great time to go kayaking, hiking, biking, or cruising around the city with your windows down. Spring has officially set in, and to help you kick it off in the best way possible, we have a list of five fun things to do this month!

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