Press Releases & News

January 15, 2009 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc., a leader in informational data and student services space, today announced the launch of its newest application Classifier. Utilizing a best-practices approach, Classifier allows students around the country to quickly and efficiently find classes at their university that fit their schedule.

The Campus Destinations Classifier key features include:

Searching & Adding Classes / Personal Events
Students can easily search through courses offered at their university by course name, course code or professor name. When a student finds a class that they need to take, students may add this to their required courses - when a student finds a class the want to take, students may add this to their optional courses. Classifier shows users which classes conflict with classes in their required courses as convenience to save time and energy.

In a situation, where there are more than one section of a class, users have the option of adding all sections to their schedule or a specific one. Classifier makes it easy to see all the possibilities a student can encounter when planning of a potential semester schedule.

Viewing and Modifying Selections
Once a student has added their classes, students may easily view their class schedules in a text and graphical format. Students may switch classes from required to optional from either tab. In addition, if a student has created a schedule with more than one potential outcome, users can cycle through the potential schedules by using the arrows at the top of the screen or using their keyboard.

Saving Schedules
Registered users of Campus Destinations can save their schedule. Saved schedules allow the user to: write notes about their classes, export their schedule to Outlook, iCal or Google Calendar, and share their schedule with other users through a Campus Destinations URL.

Calculating GPA
Classifier has also includes a tab where students can easily calculate their GPA on a 4.0 / 5.0 or custom scale. Students will find that this tool saves them time when calculating their major GPA versus their cumulative GPA.

"Classifier will change the way students across the country schedule their courses, increasing efficiency," said Robert Buechler, Senior Software Architect and the leader of the Classifier project. Scott Siegel, President of Campus Destinations added, "From textbooks to maps, Classifier has enabled Campus Destinations the ability to tie a multitude of our applications together making an all-encompassing product for our users on-campus."


Classifier will launch at 8 universities in its initial launch, free to all students: Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Southern Methodist University, Cornell, Duke, Wake Forest, Michigan and Syracuse. Classifier is looking to expand to all Campus Destinations universities across the nation by mid 2009.

February 4, 2008 Dallas, TX - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced its expansion plans to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

"We see a lot of potential in SMU," said Seth Warner, Vice President of Corporate Operations. "As we continue to expand, we are looking foruniversities with the goal of better serving their student populations. SMU represents our expansion beyond the Southeastern United States, and we are very excited to be offering our services on this campus."

Campus Destinations is expanding to SMU under the leadership of Fielding Graham, an SMU student and member of the Campus Destinations team.

"This expansion is yet another step toward making Campus Destinations the household name for mapping and dining information on college campuses," said Graham, a member of the Corporate Staff and the SMU team. "Our team is excited to implement our web-based services here and at other Texas schools and continue to improve the way we serve campus communities."

Campus Destinations has already established a Black Card Program at SMU and intends to have mapping functionality within the coming year.

February 21, 2008 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced its expansion plans in the state of South Carolina, with three new universities to be added in March 2008: the College of Charleston, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina. "We see a lot of potential in South Carolina," said Seth Warner, Vice President of Corporate Operations. "As we continue to expand, we are adding these three universities with the goal of better serving their student populations. All three have the characteristics and target populations that have proven successful in the past, and we are very excited to be offering our services on these campuses." Campus Destinations is expanding to these locations without employees on the ground. They are currently looking to expand their staff at these locations and are currently seeking candidates to apply to resume@campusdestinations.com. "This expansion is yet another step toward making Campus Destinations the household name for mapping and dining information on college campuses," said Peyton Bryant, a member of the Corporate Staff and the Wake Forest team. "Our team is excited to implement our web-based services in these South Carolina schools and continue to improve the way we serve campus communities." Upon its initial release scheduled for March 17, 2008, these new universities will have the ability for user registration, popular destinations and information on local businesses & restaurants. Campus Destinations will introduce its mapping feature and Black Card capabilities by the Summer of 2008.

March 11, 2009 Davis, CA - Designing the perfect schedule made easy - An overview of class scheduling websites (http://www.theaggie.org/article/3262)

The Aggie
Written by MEGAN ELLIS
Published March 11, 2009

This is second pass week, a chance for students to perfect their spring quarter schedule. Websites such as Siscast and Campus Destinations' Classifier aim to simplify the scheduling process.

Campus Destinations: Classifier (campusdestinations.com)

Campus Destinations is a website that includes not only a simplified schedule-maker application, but also a list of local restaurants and places in the town of your university. Students can also shop for low-price textbooks and calculate their GPA on the website.

"Classifiers is an application that we have created for students in order to maximize their weekly schedule," said Eric Stromberg, vice president of expansion for Campus Destinations. "You can even use [Classifiers] to schedule class events, club events and sports events.

"Once you have created your schedule, you can save it under your user name on Campus Destinations and share it with your friends who are on Campus Destinations," Stromberg said.

While the Classifier application does not provide teacher or course reviews, it can organize your schedule around events as well as mark which classes are required for the user's major.

"The main function of [Classifier] is that students can access their class list and mark courses as either required or optional. Our system will highlight, in red, the classes that are required. If you have a conflict in your schedule, like say a club meeting on Wednesdays, our system will tell you what classes fit your schedule," Stromberg said.

Campus Destinations was launched by Duke University students in 2005 and became incorporated in 2006; Classifiers rolled into UC Davis in February. According to Stromberg, 250 UC Davis students used the Classifiers application within four days of its introduction to the campus.

"I think that the most important thing on our website is Classifiers. It can save students a lot of time. College students are always pressed for time, so hopefully, Classifiers is something that will help them manage their course load," Stromberg said.

Pamela Orebaugh, a sophomore English and film studies major said that such websites as Siscast and Campus Destinations helped with scheduling difficulties.

"Using [those websites] is better because you're not allowed to have time conflicts when you schedule your classes on Sisweb. [They] help find your schedule so that you don't have time conflicts," Orebaugh said.

April 10, 2008 - By Errol Pierre-Louis: http://www.appscout.com/2008/04/the_online_mapping_service_for_2.php Navigating a sprawling college campus can be a pain. MapQuest and Google Maps comes in handy when you're looking for directions around a city, but they can't tell you the shortest route to get from your dorm to the obscure lecture hall across campus. However, Campus Destinations can. The service provides online mapping capabilities to help college students find the directions to residence halls, libraries, cafeterias, gyms and other important places on campus. Along with offering directions, Campus Destinations also provides dining reviews and helpful profiles of the popular destinations on campus. This isn't like other mapping services, where you plug in addresses. Instead you chose a starting and ending point from Campus Destination's database for your campus, and the site maps out the shortest pedestrian or bus route to reach your destination. The map gives you detailed directions, including approximately how many paces it'll take to get where you want to go. Unlike other mapping services, you can't grab and move the map around with your mouse. The Destinations section of the site lists the more popular spots on campus with images, histories, and descriptions of buildings. It also lists info students may want to know, such as the location of bathrooms, photocopiers, computer labs, vending machines, and the best places to get cell phone service. These profiles are not only useful for students, but also for prospective students, parents, and anyone looking to read up on a particular campus. In the Dining section, you'll find a list of restaurants around campus and the local community, along with reviews supplied by Campus Destination staff. The service offers a Black Card: For $8 you'll get 10 to 20 percent off at many participating vendors. Right now Campus Destinations' service is available for only six colleges, but the company has plans to expand to over 50 by mid-May, including Notre Dame, Georgetown, Cornell, and Stanford. Campus Destination reps say the service should be available in over 250 colleges by the end of 2008. They'll also add cool new features, like a "safest route" option and the ability to add multiple destinations so you can enter you schedule and map out directions for the rest of the day. Once it is available for more colleges, Campus Destination could prove to be a pretty nifty site for college students nationwide.

April 13, 2008 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced that Arup Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer, has been featured in College Pros. College Pros is a blog about the "faces of the future." Check out Arup's interview titled "Arup Banerjee: Conquering All Directions" at http://collegepros.blogspot.com/2008/04/arup-banerjee-conquering-all-directions.html

July 3, 2008 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced a partnership deal with CampusBooks.com today. The partnership should generate revenue for both companies as it brings together separate services to similar niche markets. The partnership will be developed and will be fully functional before the beginning of the 2008-2009 academic year.

The partnership evolved from an initiative taken on by COO of Campus
Destinations, Seth Warner, and Vice President of Marketing & Development, Nick Maginot. Said Warner, “I look forward to the possibilities this partnership will bring. Not only will it generate revenue for the company, but it will further establish Campus Destinations as the premiere site for serving the needs of today's college students."

The deal was a joint effort with Jeff Cohen, the Vice President of Business Development for CampusBooks.com. Jeff stated that CampusBooks.com is looking to expand its reach in providing students the best available comparison shopping tool for textbooks.

The Campus Destinations website will feature a Textbooks tab in the future, and this will allow students to search for textbooks and compare them by lowest price from a number of distributors and merchants.

"This is yet another feature that will save student money and time,” said Campus Destinations CEO Arup Banerjee. “We are excited to see how this type of partnership will drive our site and serve our users as we couple it with our ongoing expansion."

July 5, 2008 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced the introduction of its new “Textbooks” tab on its website today. The result of a partnership deal with CampusBooks.com, the tab will allow users to search and compare low prices for textbooks. The textbooks tab will continue to be developed and will be fully functional before the beginning of the 2008-2009 academic year.

The tab will feature a search engine, powered by CampusBooks.com, that will allow users to search for books by title, author, or ISBN number. Once the book has been found, the user will see a comparison of the lowest prices from a number of vendors and distributors. While the books will be purchased directly through the vendor or distributor, Campus Destinations Inc. will see a commission on every book sold through searches on its site.

As Campus Destinations COO Seth Warner stated, “This feature works very well with our niche market of students on college campuses. As students return to campus each semester, they need to find their way to classes, buy books, and use a number of other services we provide. This textbooks tab will solidify Campus Destinations as the essential site for student returning to school.”

The full implementation is currently in development with the Campus Destinations software team, as they work to create the aesthetics and functionality that will allow this feature to be fully integrated into the Campus Destinations site.

July 10, 2008 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced that former Senior Software Architect Owen Wendland would be serving in a new role. The company has appointed Wendland as Chief Technology Officer.

“I am very excited with where how far the company has come in the past several months,” Wendland said. “I foresee even greater progress in the coming months, as our staff knows what we are doing and is poised to take CD to the next level. We have several projects which should further establish us as the premiere site for college students”

Wendland will oversee several of the new software projects in development at Campus Destinations, Inc. His appointment symbolizes great progress at the company and his leadership will help Campus Destinations reach the next phase in its software development.

July 10, 2008 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced an exclusive partnership with American Airlines, Inc. The partnership will benefit all holders of the company's Black Card, which offers discounts at a variety of local and national businesses. The deal is the result of a relationship built with Chris Koller of AA, and the hard work of CEO Arup Banerjee, COO Seth Warner, and VP of Marketing & Development Nick Maginot.

"The American Airlines deal is the result of months of thoughtful planning and hard work," COO Seth Warner said. "This deal clearly makes the Black Card a must-have and solidifies our marketing position at new campuses as we rapidly expand. The brand recognition associated with American Airlines will further establish Campus Destinations as a name brand on college campuses."

The Black Card program has seen great progress since its inception in 2006. The ability for holders to have exclusive discounts with American Airlines will provide a greater draw for new users and will encourage more large businesses to sign on.

July 17, 2007 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced that former Co-Presidents Arup Banerjee and Scott Siegel will be serving the company in new roles. The Board of Directors have appointed Banerjee as Chief Executive Officer, and Siegel as President and Chief Operating Officer. Both will still remain on as Co-Chairmans of the Board of Directors.

"This is an exciting time for our company," said Arup Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer. "As we continue to expand and develop, this new structure should provide us with the best means of handling our day-to-day needs. Campus Destinations has been restructuring all summer to make sure we maximize our efficiency and value to our patrons. We also feel this structure lends itself to the development of Campus Destinations as a nationally known name on college campuses."

These new structural changes mark a new phase in the growth of Campus Destinations, Inc. With its current expansion and growth plans, Campus Destinations will operate more smoothly and will reach a broader market with greater effectiveness.

August 1, 2007 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced its expansion plans, with three new universities slated to be added in January of 2008. "Our goal has always been to serve the campus community," said Seth Warner, Vice President of Corporate Operations. "And with this expansion, we demonstrate again our continued desire to provide students with the best, most innovative solutions to some of their most basic campus needs - mapping and dining." These new universities will have the primary mapping components, walking directions and campus landmarks, as well as the full services of the Black Card and the dining portal. "This expansion is yet another step toward making Campus Destinations the household name for mapping and dining information on college campuses," said Prad Nadakuduty, Vice President of Corporate Innovations. "Our team is excited to implement our web-based services in new arenas across the country. The expansion to such schools as SMU, UNC, UVA, and Trinity College is a strong indicator of the expansive potential of Campus Destinations."

August 21, 2007 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced the release of its improved Black Card program, a student discount card designed to save students money at local businesses and restaurants. The card will be sold to students, faculty, administrators, alumni of three university communities: Duke University, Wake Forest University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Black Card features discounts from over 70 businesses and restaurants.

"The Black Card is designed to help students save money on one of their biggest personal expenditures - food & dining," said Vice President of Corporate Operations Seth Warner at the launch of the Black Card. "The Black Card is also a great way for local businesses to create direct advertising to university students, a segment of the market that has not been fully catered to in the past."

"We have the best deals at perennial student favorites, as well as national partnerships like our relationship with American Airlines," said Warner. "The array of deals represented on this year's cards shows the growing name recognition that the Black Card and Campus Destinations have with local businesses. We are very proud of this year's card, which essentially pays for itself after just a few uses."

A list of participating restaurants and specific deals can be found at www.campusdestinations.com

The Black Card can be purchased online at www.campusdestinations.com or through sales representatives. On-campus sale schedules will be posted online. The Black Card is valid from August 21,2007 through August 20, 2008.

August 27, 2007 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced the public launch of its newly integrated, user-friendly website, which includes enhanced features specifically designed to enhance the user experience.

"Our staff has worked tirelessly this summer to create new online solutions for university students� everyday needs," said Andrew Waterman, Chief Software Architect for Campus Destinations. "The seamless integration of components within the Campus Destinations system will provide the most user-friendly experience around."

The new version of the website can be seen at www.campusdestinations.com. Students can also find information regarding the Black Card at each of our three universities. Users can create profiles that allow them to read/write restaurant reviews, and they will be compensated for their efforts.

�The release of the fully integrated Campus Destinations website demonstrates our continued efforts to realize our goal of helping students save time and money, �said Arup Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer of Campus Destinations. �As students return to school this semester, we hope that Campus Destinations can be the place they turn to for all their dining and campus mapping needs.�

The restructuring of the website will allow Campus Destinations to easily expand to other locations and integrate their software with other vendors. Currently, Campus Destinations expects to expand to 8 universities by January 1, 2008.

September 9, 2009 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc., a leading information services company in the collegiate sector, is pleased to announce the release of its new citations tool: http://www.campusdestinations.com/global/citation. This new tool will allow students to save time by automating citations for all of their educational needs.

The application allows users to cite various documents in MLA for free. Users can upgrade to premium or pro accounts to obtain access to other citation formats, such as APA and Chicago / Turbian. Subscriptions for premium accounts are $2 per month or $8.95 for the year, while pro accounts are $3 a month or $12.95 for the full year.

In addition, Campus Destinations for a limited time will be partnering this application with its Black Card program and allow all cardholders to obtain premium access for a full year with the purchase of a card. This allows students to automatically save the full amount of the card price, if purchased online � strengthening the value proposition for purchasing a Black Card.

Commensurate with the release of the new application, Campus Destinations has also released its newly designed site. This site will focus on the core services that allow students to recognize the utility that Campus Destinations provides them. In particular, the company is highlighting the following features:

� CD Citations: Campus Destinations' citation tool which allows users to automate citations in MLA format for free. Users can upgrade to premium / pro accounts to get more features including APA and Chicago / Turabian citations.

� Black Card: The Black Card enables the college community to save at various national and local vendors. Over the years, Campus Destinations has partnered with such vendors at Chipotle, 1-800 Flowers, and Shoes.com to bring discounts to the college market.

� Textbooks Search: Campus Destinations has created an easy to use interface to search, compare and buy textbooks from various vendors including: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Half.com and more. Average savings from users using this feature are above 60%.

� Classifier: Classifier enables students to optimize their schedule on-campus. The application allows students to pick various classes in a primary and secondary bookbag and compare schedules in real time. Students can also schedule personal events, input comments, and export their schedule to Outlook / iCal and Facebook.

� On Campus Information: Campus Destinations has aggregated content about on-campus locations at over 40 universities. These popular campus destinations highlight facilities, cool facts and more.

� Local Business Information: Campus Destinations has aggregated content about local businesses around 40+ universities. Users can explore recommendations, reviews and information at all of these locations and registered users can share their experiences.

September 10, 2009 New York, NY - The management team of Campus Destinations, Inc., a leading information services company in the collegiate sector, is pleased to announce that is has acquired GradeFund, the pioneer of alternative education financing. With over 18,000 registered high school, college and graduate students, GradeFund offers a community-based approach to education financing, as an alternative or supplement to traditional scholarships.

According to the US Department of Education, in 2007, the U.S. spent over $970 billion dollars on education. Nearly $80 billion dollars were spent on college loans alone. Despite the current Presidential administration's concentration on quality education, turbulent economic conditions have limited the spectrum of viable options for young adults pursuing secondary education, resulting in considerable need and an opportunity for GradeFund to help millions of students.

Chairman of Campus Destinations, Arup Banerjee commented, "GradeFund is a tremendous asset that arms students with an essential tool in furthering their education. We are pleased to bring on a very experienced management team with the fresh perspective necessary to revitalize GradeFund, guide the business towards greater profitability, and more importantly, assist students across the country in achieving their goals."

Banerjee has appointed Zachary Suchin to the CEO position of GradeFund, Inc. Suchin was the former CEO of publicly-traded social media company, College Tonight, Inc. and its collegiate platform, TheQuad.com. Suchin�s operational experience in new media and raising capital will be supplemented by the addition of a new COO, his former business partner and CTO of College Tonight, Jason Schutzbank. Suchin and Schutzbank collectively have over 15 years of professional experience in the Internet sector, primarily focused on the education vertical.

Suchin said, "Our immediate focus will be on increasing the Company's brand recognition, diversifying the target demographics for a product that equally benefits students from 'both sides of the track,' and toggling the Company's effective revenue streams to support the natural growth that will occur once the greater population becomes aware of the service."

Founder of GradeFund, Michael Kopko, commented on the smooth transition, "I couldn't be more pleased with the capable hands in which GradeFund finds itself, and I sincerely look forward to both watching the Company evolve, and assisting the new management team in this next phase."

The next ninety days will represent a restructuring period that is geared towards streamlining the user experience and refining the free services business model in order to accommodate significant growth. During this period, GradeFund users can continue to use Campus Destinations services and register at http://www.gradefund.com.

Suchin added, "GradeFund has a wonderful story to tell. It's time to end full dependency on decreasingly-available scholarships and high-interest bearing loans... time to inspire hope, tear down financial barriers and to incubate the next generation of innovators and leaders."

For further information or press inquiries, please contact info@gradefund.com.

About GradeFund:

GradeFund is a community-based approach to student education financing that encourages academic success. Family, friends, philanthropists, corporations and other organizations work together to reward high school, college and graduate students alike for performing well in their pursuit of academic excellence. Having been featured in BusinessWeek, ABC News, NBC News, Fox News, CBS News, and Time Magazine, this revolutionary, patent-pending method of student financing has never been more appropriate than during the current economic downswing. For more information, please visit www.GradeFund.com.

September 17, 2007 Chapel Hill, NC - From the Daily Tarheel, by David Gilmore, Staff Writer

With the help of a new Web site, students soon will have a one-stop destination to map directions to their classes, get discounts at stores on Franklin Street and read reviews of local restaurants.

"We want to be the information provider for students, alumni and prospective students," said Seth Warner, a Duke University senior and vice president of CampusDestinations.com, a student-run site that just started at UNC.

The site's main component, which lets students search for directions to campus buildings, will be operational within six months.

"We want to be the MapQuest for college campuses," Warner said.

Popular biking and jogging routes will be added, as well as a scale that rates routes' safety. There also will be a tour of the University for prospective students.

Students who create profiles can review local restaurants, and Warner said that eventually the company plans to pay users for the reviews.

The site also features the "Black Card Program," a card that gives students discounts at 24 local restaurants and stores. The card costs $10, and Warner said it has been successful at the other two participating universities.

"It's currently owned by one-fifth of Wake Forest students and one-fourth of Duke students," he said.

Campus Destinations was started in 2005 by two former Duke students. So far, more than 1,000 students from the three participating campuses have created profiles.

Officials plan to expand the site to N.C. State University, the University of Virginia, Southern Methodist University in Texas and Trinity College in Connecticut.

The site debuted at UNC earlier this month and has been active at Duke and Wake Forest for more than a year. Since launching a revamped Web site, Campus Destinations has received about 60,000 hits.

Myles Aitkens, a UNC senior and managing director of Campus Destinations at UNC, has been working on attracting UNC students to the Web site.

"Word of mouth is the best way," Aitkens said, adding that he also posted fliers on campus and created a Facebook.com ad.

Freshman Rebecca Lovewell said that although some of the Web site's main components have yet to be implemented, she thinks it'll be a helpful addition for students.

"It'll be nice to know where things are instead of hoping to find it."

Original article found at: http://www.dailytarheel.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=7923cb57-eb73-4bd5-bba5-8014d89d67fa

September 28, 2007 Durham, NC - From the News & Observer, by Sue Stock, Staff Writer To most 22-year-olds, the receipt for a breakfast biscuit is just an annoying piece of paper. But Taylor Mingos hopes to turn those little scraps of paper into a business. Mingos has introduced shoeboxed.com, a Web site that helps users archive receipts and filter out spam e-mail messages from companies they once patronized. "I want to eliminate paper receipts entirely," he said. "I saw my mom collect literally shoe boxes full of receipts. They're very archaic in a society where everything has gone digital." Shoeboxed.com, introduced two months ago, may be based on a simple idea, but Mingos knows simple ideas have gone on to dot-com immortality. Inspired by the recent success of sites such as YouTube, Facebook and MySpace, Mingos and other young entrepreneurs are going into cyberspace with new ambition and ideas. They want to follow in the footsteps of the dot-com millionaires of the 1990s, who are watching the new generation with great interest. Realistically, it's a statistical certainty that all can't succeed. So, while they scramble to create the next YouTube, these young entrepreneurs are treading carefully to avoid their predecessors' pitfalls, building their futures but determined not to repeat the mistakes that led to the dot-com bust. Mingos was inspired by his experience two summers ago working to help introduce StudiVZ.net, Germany's equivalent of social networking site Facebook. Mingos now leads his own staff of 25. "We were students, for the most part, working on that site, and we won," he said during an interview in the shoeboxed.com office at Durham's Brightleaf Square. "When I started Shoeboxed, it was surprisingly easy to find people who wanted to do something big." That's the draw for young entrepreneurs and possibly the reason for the latest wave of dot-com startups, said Ted Baker, an assistant professor in the Department of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at N.C. State University. "After the bubble [in the 1990s], people were like, 'The fad about entrepreneurship is over' " he said. "Among college-age students and graduate students, it's stronger than it's ever been, and I think it's driven by this desire to have an impact." Getting the money One thing that has changed is the funding opportunities for dot-com wannabes. During the heydays in the 1990s, investors wanted a piece of the next big thing. Venture capital was seemingly easy and endless. This time, the road is a bit rockier. Investors have long memories of money lost, the economy is shaky, and there's more competition. Venture capital funding in dot-com startups surged a few years ago when people began buzzing about the more interactive Internet, dubbed Web 2.0, said Chris Gill, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs. After that, funding trailed off, he said. That doesn't mean there's not money out there -- it's just tougher to get. Ninety-eight percent of new ventures fail, Gill said. Most venture capital groups that he works with will see 2,000 to 3,000 proposals a year, meet with about 10 percent of the entrepreneurs and fund half a dozen, Gill said. That doesn't mean the latest dot-com wave is all gloom and doom compared with the first. Shoeboxed.com's offices, for instance, have all the funky flavor of their predecessors. Mingos' taste runs to Ikea furniture, Play-Doh and Tinker Toys. The company hopes to make its site compatible with financial software such as Quicken, which might catch the attention of Intuit, which makes the software. Managing the risks The new entrepreneurs benefit from dot-com pioneers: People now understand that Internet-based businesses are legitimate ventures. "What we tell people is: If you've had the idea, 50 other people in North America have had the idea, and 200 people around the world have had it," Gill said. "The challenge is to market it and develop it better than the rest of them." Arup Banerjee, CEO of campusdestinations.com, said he is aware of the successes and failures of the 1990s. "I've looked at the technology boom," he said. "They'd go to like 300 [dollars a share], and now they're trading at, like, $8." But that's not stopping him from trying his own venture. Campusdestinations.com, introduced in the fall of 2006, maps college campuses and gives students walking directions, driving directions and bus routes and points out local landmarks. Banerjee estimated that he and his business partner have invested $50,000 of their own money in the startup. They also found an angel investor to back them. Before the investor stepped up, the company was looking for venture capital and found the process difficult. "When we started out, we were thinking, 'We can easily make $1 million in the first six months,'" he said. "They really, really grill you until the point where you show them some financials. ... They will tell you: This is something you can do. Or they'll tell you: ... you definitely can't do this." More than two years into the development of the project, Banerjee said the company is approaching the break-even point. And that's with creative approaches to salary that offer employees stock options and ask colleagues to go through an internship program in lieu of cash compensation. Despite the financial pitfalls and personal risk, Banerjee said he thinks the company or its patents will be bought out. "Even if the company goes bust, the patents are intellectual property," he said. "And if Google decides five years from now that they want to buy it, then the company's way profitable." Inspired by successes That's certainly how many first-generation dot-coms made their millions, including many companies in the Triangle. OpenSite Technologies, which supplied auction software for Web sites, was acquired for $444 million in stock in 2000. Scot Wingo has hit gold more than once. He debuted Stingray, which made software for online auction sites, in 1995; he was 24 and sold it for $12 million. In 1999, he started AuctionRover, then sold it eight months later for $166 million. Wingo is now CEO of Channel Advisor, a Morrisville company that makes software to help retailers sell products on the Web. The veteran of three successful dot-com startups said the best time to start a company is when you're young. "Now I have three kids, a mortgage, a car payment and all that stuff," he said. "At that point, I had a mid '80s Honda that was falling apart, but I didn't owe any money on it." Still, Wingo cautions would-be entrepreneurs. "We were able to sell the company literally two months before the bottom fell out," he said. Those kinds of cautionary tales don't seem to slow Shoeboxed CEO Mingos. Though he just graduated from Duke University in the spring -- with a triple degree in biomedical engineering, electrical engineering and German studies -- Mingos is enthusiastic about his project and has mastered the art of CEO-speak. "At a startup, you sleep with one eye open -- if you sleep at all," he said. Gill of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs said Mingos shouldn't be discouraged if he has to try again. "People take three to four shots before they've got sufficient experience to make it happen," he said. "The one thing I'd say is to break through or crash early. The ones that are the saddest are the ones that limp along for 10 years, second-mortgaging their homes and losing their families." (News researcher Becky Ogburn contributed to this report.)

October 15, 2008 Durham, NC - Today, Campus Destinations, Inc. announced the re-launch of their website, campusdestinations.com. The website was re-designed to incorporate a more "web 2.0 feel," and provides users with expanded content and applications to further assist them in their daily tasks. The re-launch of the website signifies Campus Destinations' commitment to providing the easiest interface for students and campus communities across the country.

The majority of the re-design work was undertaken by Owen Wendland, Chief Technology Officer, with the help of Arup Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer. "The new design incorporates all the key features of our earlier site," said Wendland. "It then takes things one step further, making the site easier to use, while providing increased functionality and an improved aesthetic layout."

The re-designed website will be available to all current campuses where Campus Destinations has a presence, as well as all schools where Campus Destinations will expand operations in the future. Several new features, including the Textbooks tab, are integrated into the design to optimize the user experience.

The new Campus Destinations website will also have the flexibility to incorporate new features as they are developed. The Campus Destinations software team is currently in development of several applications that will further enhance the usability of the site.

"This is yet another major step in the process of creating the go-to site for today's college student," said Campus Destinations Vice President of Corporate Innovations, Pradyumna Nadakuduty. "We are excited to see the evolution of our site in tandem with our rapid expansion, as Campus Destinations looks for new ways to meet the needs of our users."

December 4, 2008 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced its expansion to Syracuse University, Haverford College and Bryn Mawr. Campus Destinations has signed over 40 affiliates during the latest phase of the expansion. The Campus Destinations Haverford and Bryn Mawr card will contain the same vendors as they are located in the same region. Kira Loretto, Managing Director of Haverford / Bryn Mawr, and Naresh Rammohan, Director of Syracuse, were responsible for setting up their respective campuses.

"We're extremely excited to have the Black Card at Haverford. This is something that will get students to get off campus and explore Haverford, PA," said Kira Loretto. "The Syracuse card is filled with extraordinary deals and we are thrilled to get started," said Naresh Rammohan.

This latest expansion falls in line with Campus Destinations continued strategy to expand to locations around the nation. It has continued to be rapidly successful and continues to sign top vendors around university communities.

"Our strategy of expansion should prove our model. We're very happy with Kira's and Naresh's work and think they have done an excellent job getting Campus Destinations off the ground - we hope that students will continue to enjoy Campus Destinations' services and support our site by registering on it," said Eric Stromberg, Vice President of Expansion.

The Black Card is available for $10.00 dollars on campus and can be found via Campus Destinations sales representatives. Additionally, consumers can buy the card online for a 10% discount. All cards purchased online will be personalized with their name and mailed to them within 48 hours. As always, every Black Card member is entitled to a 10% discount on flights on American Airlines, Campus Destinations' first national discount.

Haverford / Bryn Mawr Affiliates:
American Airlines
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Chipotle
Felicia's Pizza Kitchen
Fellini's Cafe Trattoria
Flavor
Hopes Cookies
Khajuraho India
Maia Market and Restaurant
Mikado
Milkboy Coffee Ardmore
Milkboy Coffee Bryn Mawr
Peace a Pizza Ardmore
Peace a Pizza Bryn Mawr
Primavera
Ruby's Diner (King of Prussia)
Ruby's Diner (Suburban Square)
Thai Pepper
Yang Ming

Syracuse Affiliates:
American Airlines
AppeThaizing
Augie's Pizza
Blue Star Taxi
Campus Copy Center
China Pavilion
Domino's Pizza (Harvard Place)
Fast Track Wireless (Genesee)
Franco's Pizzeria & Deli
Inside Restaurant
Insomnia Cookies
Kim Seoul Buffet
King David's Restaurant
Las Delicias
Maggie's Restaurant
Metro Lounge and Sushi
Mom's Diner
Munjed's Middle Eastern Cafe
Oishi Sushi
Point of View Optical
Recess Cafe
Samrat Indian Restaurant
Shirt World
Studio FX Salon & Tanning
Tony Christopher Hair Design
Vinny's Liquors and Wines
What the Crepe
ZJ's Pizza

December 31, 2007 Durham, NC - Campus Destinations, Inc. announced that it recently has been listed on http://www.killer-startups.com. Killer Start-ups, features up and coming websites and has chosen to profile Campus Destinations. An excerpt from their review can be found below: "Campus Destinations is the premier mapping and informational services company for college campuses. Campus Destinations mission is to save students time and money by eliminating inefficient ways of allocating their schedule and funds and creating an interactive portal that enables them to profit from the correction of this externality. Additionally, the company allows users to register on the site to rate local restaurants and share "cool-facts" about local destinations on campus. Only university affiliated users are allowed to register, but everyone is allowed to view. This credible reviewing source is an alternative to CitySearch and provides a detailed view of destinations from a university insider view. This is the first pedestrian "mapquest" software out. Future releases within the next couple months include, jogging and bike routes, safety vs. shortest distance routes and iPod releases. They have a software team working consistently to improve and correct services with a combination of AJAX, PHP, CSS, JavaScript and mySQL." Arup Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer, said "This is a great day for Campus Destinations, when we can be truly recognized by our peers as a Killer Start-Up. We hope for more positive press in the future as our user-base continues to expand - we will continue to offer new and improved services to those users" Campus Destinations continues to expand aggressively moving into 2008. The Company is currently accepting feedback and requests that users give it suggestions on where to expand in the future.