By now, I am sure you have heard of a promising social network called Pinterest. Within the past year, Pinterest has become the fastest growing social network. As of January, Pinterest has had more traffic referrals than LinkedIn, Google+, and Youtube COMBINED! This up-and-coming site offers its users the chance to create their own lifestyle magazines out of virtual bulletin boards by "pinning" photos they like to their own personal pages.

The vision for a football program at UNC Charlotte is finally becoming a reality! As a recent alumni of UNC Charlotte, I could not be more excited!! UNCC Officials see this football program as a win for Charlotte. They hope the program will strengthen the bond between the university and the community by creating excitement on and off campus. 

The Instagram craze has hit full force since its acquisition by Facebook and new availability on Android.  Are you on Instagram? It is rapidly becoming an app that is hard to ignore. Instagram allows you to apply various filters and effects on photos from your phone with a seamless and easy to use interface. You can then share your photos with other users on Instagram or post them on Facebook. It's almost like a photography social network! Instagram is currently dominating the mobile photo sharing market. Since its release in September 2010, the popular photo sharing app has rapidly grown to over 15 million users.

Download Instagram Today!

RITZ Marketing let their employees loose in the Queen City last week for a friendly team-building scavenger hunt. We were divided into two teams. Team Ritzy was led by Danielle, who brought her hard-working spirit of energy to the team. Team Sup was led by Dan, whose ability to navigate without getting lost was crucial. Off went Ritz Marketing for an unforgettable day of adventure!

The Ritz Marketing Team took the Marshmallow Challenge this morning.  This is a fun and great exercise that encourages teams to experience simple but profound lessons in collaboration, innovation and creativity.  The Winning Team at 34.5 inches tall: Danielle, Tracie and Derek.  Take a look at the link attached to learn more about the marshmallow challenge.

http:// www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/en/id/837

Opportunities present themselves throughout life and serve as the stepping-stone to a brighter future. Ritz Marketing was my big opportunity and I am so thankful that I’ve been able to intern here for the past few months. I have gained hands-on experience and feel better prepared to establish my own career when I graduate from UNCC this May.

We’re about to be a whole lot richer.  Government officials estimate that around $200 million will be pumped into our economy, thanks to the Democratic National Convention (DNC), which will be held here in September.  (Many are estimating that number to be much higher, considering that Denver, CO. came in at $250 million four years ago.) 

With around 35,000 visitors, there's going to be some needs – from construction to security.  This is great news for local businesses!  This is even better news for what’s being termed “Diverse – Owned” businesses.