SITE NAME - KEYWORDS

After several years in the business and many successful sports socials the last few years, I decided to officially launch a networking group geared just for professionals working in the sports industry in Charlotte, NC. With so many major sports in our city, Super bowl bound Carolina Panthers, Bobcats, NASCAR, Charlotte Knights as well as a host of major league sporting events such as the Wachovia Championship, Bank of America Criterium, Coca-Cola 600, 24 Hours of Booty and others.

Not only will you finally be connected to Charlotte's elite business leaders in the sports, but build and grow your own business by making key connections. I plan to host a social in the spring, so stay tuned.

We invite anyone that is connected with sports in a professional setting such as

• sports community leaders/team owners
• sporting events
• sports related products and services
• sports event planners, coaches
• sports media
• advertising/marketing
• athletes/retired pro athletes
• agents
• retail shop owners
• club organizers
• facilities/venues
• Pro or semi-pro teams

Our passion is to create business connections, increase doing business and build awareness for the sports community in Charlotte.

Click here to join the group.

We look forward to 2009 and watching this group grow.

A satisfied client called again. The upscale Charlotte restaurant, M5, needed a poster to remind customers it was time to order Holiday gift certificates. The creatives at the Auer Agency looked out the window, saw the leaves starting to fall and were inspired. The result: a cool, attention-grabbing poster in the fall spirit.

October 17_The Auer Agency inspires Matthews fitness team When the Matthews location for Lifestyle Family Fitness got ready to compete in a companywide fitness challenge, they needed a motivational identity. The Auer Agency created their logo and, riffing off the Presidential campaign, came up with the name Matthews Mavericks. For good measure, they threw in an inspirational tagline, "There's only room at the top for ONE." The Matthews team was ready to WIN.

No, it's not a skin care product, but Hale Razors is a product of the Auer Agency's left field creativity. The Larry Hale Insurance Company wanted some nifty shirts for its softball team. Naturally, they came to Auer, the sports apparel experts. The Auer creative team designed a devilishly clever mascot, Lil' Hale Razor (get it?) and then printed the shirts. One of Auer's specialties is designing sports apparel with an innovative printing process called sublimation. The process allows designers to use more colors and print techniques than screen printing. The Hale team competed at the World Softball Tournament at Disney. Bet Walt would have been impressed with their shirts.

The United States Patent and Trademark office believes the name, Auer Agency, and its three orange circles is as distinctive and memorable as the CBS eye, the once-bitten apple and the Nike swoosh. So when you see the name or the circles look for the itty bitty TM.

Just like the innovative solutions we provide for our clients, we're unique, too.

The Auer Agency provided design expertise, manufacturing knowledge and offered an introduction to other cycling industry contacts as Canadian-based Nspirez.com launched its private label cycling jersey line.

Nspirez.com plans to invite visitors to their site to submit inspirational quotes and positive messages. Each month one quote or message will be chosen and a cycling jersey designed.

The Auer Agency designed the first cycling jersey in the series.

The Auer Agency was hired by the Charlotte Chocolate Company to create an appetizing new identity and spice up the company's collateral material.

"Some assignments are just too delicious for words," says Mariellen Auer, the agency's owner. "We had a fun time retooling the logo and giving the marketing material a tempting new look."

While working on the company's image, the Auer Agency also created a new tagline for the local chocolatier: "Please save the earth. It's the only one with chocolate."

The Auer Agency is a Charlotte-based sports marketing and graphic design firm that delivers innovative marketing and brand ideas to amateur and professional teams, schools and sporting event organizers…and loves chocolate.

The Auer Agency is collaborating with Charlotte Health and Fitness magazine and Paschal Innovative Promotions to launch The Event Marketing Forum. The Forum, the brainchild of Mariellen Auer, brings together the directors of popular sporting events with potential sponsors. Event directors can pitch events or concepts to those companies with an interest in sponsoring sporting events.

"It's a great match," says Mariellen, the owner of the Auer Agency. "Having all the event directors and potential underwriters in one spot at one time, helps get the ideas - and the dollars - flowing. Sometimes it's hard to make those connections. At the Event Marketing Forum, making the connections with the right event and the right sponsor is a lot easier."The Auer Agency also designed a flyer to promote the event.

The Auer Agency is a Charlotte-based sports marketing and graphic design firm that delivers innovative marketing and brand ideas to amateur and professional teams, schools and sporting event organizers.

The trendy Charlotte restaurant, M5, wanted to highlight their menu choices featuring Mediterranean summer produce - squash, eggplant, peaches and tomatoes. So they asked the Auer Agency for a poster design they could to display in the restaurant.

"The project had some interesting ‘ingredients'," says Auer Agency owner, Mariellen Auer. "It had be edgy, turned around quickly and star the vine-ripened tomatoes. It was unusual, for sure. That's why we jumped at the chance to create the poster."

The design executed in "tomato reds" and "healthy greens" on a golden background invites the patrons to savor these great foods.

Did the client like the design? "They ate it up," says Mariellen.

M5 is located in SouthPark and is part of the Harpers Restaurant Group. At the restaurant, old world meets new. M5 Modern Mediterranean blends the flavors and timeless elegance of the Mediterranean with contemporary urban chic.

When Charlotte Health and Fitness magazine wanted help in creating an identity and marketing materials to attract sponsors and nominations for its newest project, Charlotte's Best Athlete event, it turned to Charlotte's Best Agency.

"We created a brand identity for the event and then developed a series of marketing materials to promote the event," says Mariellen Auer, owner of the Auer Agency. "It was critical that the image grab people's attention and spur interest because the magazine wants to franchise the event to other cities."

When The National Business Association appointed Mariellen Auer vice president of the local chapter, little did they know what a fortuitous decision it was.

Not only did Mariellen help them redesign their logo, but she also guided the organization in a name change that better describes their mission. The National Business Association 4 Sports has sharpened its focus on sports related businesses. Auer also helped launch a second Charlotte area chapter. Expansion isn't over yet. Auer and the group are looking to add chapters in Pittsburg, Tampa, Atlanta and Kansas City to go with the two in Charlotte and one in New York.

Oh, and Mariellen came up with a new tagline for the organization: Putting on a New Game Face. The tagline will be displayed on the new brochure her agency designed and produced for TNBA4S