Hello! My name is Tanner Hertzog and I am the new intern here at HMG Creative. I am about to begin my senior year at The University of Texas at Austin where I am studying Public Relations and Business. I have a huge passion for digital branding, and specifically interested in learning how to handle a crisis via social media. I am so excited to be here at HMG Creative. I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for me to learn even more skills on how to manage a brand online and how to connect with potential new clients. Aside from social media work, this is a great opportunity for me to learn the ins and outs of the marketing/business side of operations in the “real world.” I have learned so much in the classroom, but it’s a completely different situation when you are actually using what you have learned in the workplace.

Prior to beginning this internship, I was running all of the Moody College of Communication’s social media channels. I was responsible for overseeing all the distribution of content, as well as the promotion of our account to current and prospective students as well as alumni. This internship provided me with my first opportunity to manage a brand’s social media network, and I learned a great deal about how to effectively grow a brand online.

When I am not working, I enjoy spending my free time exploring all that Austin has to offer. I am a self-taught guitar player, and was a competitive swimmer for 17 years. I have the competitive attitude in everything that I do, especially in the classroom. I am also an avid fitness guru. I spend a great deal of time working out in the gym, and focusing on a healthy diet.

I am looking forward to providing you guys with some great insight into this industry, and hopefully we both grow together over the next 5-6 months. Please follow me on Twitter @tannerhertzog, and if you have any questions for me please feel free to reach out!

If you have ever been in Austin in the summer, you know it is a lot more than just a hot southern town in Texas. It is chalk full of activities everyday, ranging from relaxing by the water to listening to live music with your friends. So, whether you are here for the whole summer or just dropping in for a visit, there will always be something going on for you to do. To make things easy for you, we have highlighted some of our own “must do’s” for the 2015 summer for all of you who will be in Austin at some point!

Must Do #1 – Barton Springs

This has been an Austin classic for a very long time. Nothing beats spending a long day out at Zilker Park and then cooling off in the 68 degree natural springs pool. The hot summer days combined with refreshing cold spring water make for the ultimate refresher. Follow it up with some relaxing on the large grassy hill in the sun to warm back up!

Must Do #2 – Blues on the Green

This one goes great when pared with Barton Springs. Blues on the Green is a FREE event that is held out at Zilker Park on select Wednesdays throughout the summer. Hosted by KGSR, bands like Bob Schneider and Shakey Graves will preform for families and friends out for a fun night of live music and fun. Check the schedule to see when the next date is!

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Can you say three-peat? The team here at HMG Creative is shooting to win our third straight FAVE award! But before we can even start thinking about winning, we have to make the ballot. We are asking everyone to consider nominating us under the “FAVE Small Business” category! The FAVE awards recognize local Sukanto Tanoto businesses in a variety of categories such as FAVE Happy Hour spot and FAVE Live Music venue. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the FAVE Awards Gala on November 13th!

The past two years we have not only been nominated but we have taken home the gold in the “FAVE Professional Services” category. This year we may be competing in a new category, but we are still the same team! We’d sincerely appreciate your nomination—thank you in advance. While your at it, feel free to vote for all of your FAVE’s in the all the different categories that they have available!

And if you do take the time to nominate us, don’t forget to let us know! Send us a shout-out using the hashtag #VoteForHMG on our Twitter @hmgcreative or our Facebook page so we can say thanks!

[button size=”large” type=”square” color=”light-blue” icon=”circle-arrow-right” url=”http://www.aycawards.org/nominate/”]Click Here To Nominate![/button]

We were very excited to get an opportunity to collaborate alongside Cox Media to tackle a website redesign for Career Point College. At first glance, we knew this website needed a makeover, and we were full of ideas on how to revamp their site and promote further success for Career Point College. To begin with, they were managing multiple websites that essentially had the same information on them. So right off the bat, we knew we needed to not only develop an updated website, but also to create a way for students and prospectives to access information in a single location.

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The Situation:

The State Bar of Texas sought out help from our team here at HMG to revamp its online presence towards its members (lawyers) and public citizens. The site has always strived to serve as a community resource: the first place that bar members and the public go for information about Texas lawyers, the State Bar and laws in Texas. With that in mind, the goal for the redesign was to enhance the overall user experience, simplify the current web offerings and enrich the member/public value.

Detective Holmes:

We began the project with a thorough discovery phase where the requirements of the project were defined in greater detail and then the initial strategic and creative direction was established. This phase also involved an analysis across the existing platforms and performance of the State Bar of Texas website. We preformed a complete review across all available site traffic reports, dashboards, heat maps, and log files.

We also focused on the analytics of two primary factors: visitor site behavior and demographics. This analysis brought to life how users are finding the right bits of information and how we can make that process smoother and more efficient. The demographics told us who our core audience is, thus allowing us to take this into consideration as we approached the redesign.

As part of the discovery phase, we preformed an analysis of which ad placements and approaches had and had not worked in the past for the previous site. Later on in the project we balanced our findings against the user experience and visual design of the site to create the best possible ad placements without jeopardizing the consumer’s usage of the site. Continue…

We have some fantastic news to share with you guys! We were recently recognized by Clutch as one of the “Leading Digital Marketing Agencies” in Texas! Simply put, Clutch identifies leading software and professional services firms that deliver results for their clients. These decisions and recognitions are based on a matrix of factors including company experience, client list, industry recognition, market presence, and client reviews.

“The strongest agencies are dedicated to keeping up with the most current trends in the technology industry,” stated Ayrald Hubert, Senior Analyst at Clutch. “These Texas based firms work diligently to provide their clients with the newest and most cutting-edge digital strategies available.”

We are flattered to have been named a leading digital marketing agency, and cannot thank Clutch enough for this honor! Be sure to head over to our profile on Clutch’s website to view our near perfect rating and read some reviews from our past clients!

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Having just graduated from the University of Texas (hook ‘em!) and with the final days of classes already under my belt, the past few weeks have been full of reflecting and looking back over the past semester. I can hardly believe that just a few months ago I was starting here at HMG, taking the reigns from their previous rockstar intern, Emily.  I feel like I’ve accomplished a TON and learned so much here, and I’m very grateful to have been part of the team this semester.
To wrap-up my time here, I wanted to share a few highlights from my experience as an intern and some of the projects that I’m most proud of.
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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.

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]

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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