Tag Archives: CG&A

25 Facts You May Not Know About CG&A Communications

  1. Always a Virtual Corporation – Since inception CG&A Communications has been a virtual corporation – a network of writers, graphic designers, web developers, translators – all working from their own home offices. When the company launched 25 years ago this business model was an oddity that had to be explained… now it’s the norm.
  2. The Business Name – We started as Chris George and Associates and a year later changed the firm’s name to CG&A Communications. Our distinctive “box” logo was first unveiled in 1995. 
  3. First Office Space – The first CG&A office was a second bedroom in a two-bedroom Ottawa apartment overlooking the canal. It was a total of 120 square feet, featuring a blue shag rug. There was a single desk top computer, printer and fax machine, a wall of bookshelves, filing cabinet and a futon for seating.  
  4. No Email to Start – In the beginning the primary mode of office-to-office communications was the fax machine. Email had just been introduced — we were early adopters connecting our freelance subcontractors to collaborate via email.
  5. Office Expenses – Through the years the company’s office expenses have changed. In the beginning, the biggest expenses were cross-City bicycle couriers, thermal-rolled fax paper, and postage for mailouts. Today, the biggest expense is cell phones!
  6. First Client – Gus Zygoumis, owner of Dustmoon Maintenance, gave CG&A their first contract in early 1994 to help with communications and administrative support.
  7. 60-Plus Clients – CG&A has worked for more than 60 clients in 25 years — corporations, small businesses, individual interest, national associations and small volunteer-run organizations, public institutions, government agencies and political initiatives.
  8. North American Service Area – Many CG&A clients are located in Ottawa and Toronto. Through the 25 years, CG&A has served clients in places like Niagara Falls, Hagersville, Mississauga and Halifax — from New Liskeard in northern Ontario through to San Mateo, California.
  9. Lasting Loyalties – Within CG&A’s core group of consultants is the same graphic artist and the same web developer for over 20 years ago. These talented individuals are not only good at what they do, they are great people.   
  10. Landing the Ottawa Airport – CG&A really took off in 1997 when the company defeated more than 120 PR firms in a RFP process for the newly privatized Ottawa International Airport. CG&A served as the public relations agency of record through the formative years of the airport’s growth, helping with its formal opening ceremony, the opening of the first US Preclearance Facility, and supporting the airport authority’s business networking in the National Capital Region.  
  11. Long Work Hours – Chris and Lisa George and their network provide personalized service that, at times, goes around the clock to meet deadlines. Often, at 9 a.m., they have already put in half-a-day preparing for their clients’ offices to open. On many occasions through the 90’s, Chris and Lisa have fallen asleep beside their computers and printers as they worked through nights to meet imposing deadlines.
  12. Long Commutes – In the early days, when it was important to be physically present in clients’ offices, Chris would regularly drive from Ottawa to Toronto for a day of meetings and then get in the car to return, all within a 20-hour period.
  13. Licked Lots of Envelopes – In promoting clients and positioning their interests, Chris and Lisa have managed countless mailouts. They have stuffed well over 30,000 envelopes for one client alone over a course of 8 years. Today, they manage even more mailouts, however, it is much easier emailing to lists rather than stuffing envelops.
  14. Most demanding client: Ottawa Transition Board – Chris George served as the lead counsel to the Ottawa Transition Board and managed the communications office team through the pivotal year of transition activities for the 13 municipalities in the National Capital Region. Results of the 14-months of tireless efforts was the amalgamation on January 1, 2001 of the region’s councils and administrations into the new City of Ottawa.
  15. Most rewarding client: MADD Canada – For 14 years, CG&A worked with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada managing their national public relations and government affairs programs. This service was very rewarding – helping the families of victims of impaired driving, promoting the organization and its awareness efforts, and launching a multifaceted advocacy program to advance new laws in Ottawa and in numerous provinces.
  16. A Career Accomplishment with Council of Ministers of Education, Canada – For 17 years and counting, CG&A has been the communications company of record to support the activities of provincial and territorial education ministers within the CMEC Copyright Consortium. In 2012, after more than a decade of work, the copyright landscape for the Canadian education sector shifted positively with the passage of a new copyright law and a Supreme Court decision, both validating the ministers’ copyright policy position.
  17. Favourite Meeting Place: Parliament Hill – It is difficult to tire of making the trek to a Member of Parliament’s office for a meeting.  There is something very special about being in a Hill office – something, because of the Centre Block’s renovations, will not happen again for 10 years!  
  18. Political Involvement – Through his career, Chris George has managed electoral campaigns at every level of government – for mayoralty provincial and federal candidates. Lisa George is no stranger to politics either as she has worked on projects in the offices of every level of government. Fortunately, since walking away from their Parliament Hill offices in 1993, neither have ever had to depend on politics for a livelihood. 
  19. The By George Journal – Since 1994, the company has published a newsletter / journal that features quotes, jokes, and political and wordsmith articles. From Fall 2008, CG&A has been producing the By George Journal – and today it is supplemented with both daily Facebook and Twitter social media. This on-line Journal was preceded by an e-newsletter, By George, and, earlier, by a print newsletter called The Parliamentary Monitor.
  20. Published Works – The company has produced a dozen publications through the years. There are still six works in print available as e-books, including the most recent Epic Political Jokes and Quotes. There have been two popular By George Treasury publications that have compiled the best of the By George Journal. Current publications can be found on the Journal’s e-bookshelf.
  21. Two Cross-Province Moves – Over a glass of wine with good friends, Chris and Lisa made the decision in 2002 to pack up home and business and move across the province to the Niagara Region. Eleven years later, over a glass of wine with good friends, they made the decision to move back across the province to the Ottawa area. (They are pleased to note that GG&A lost no clients as a result of the moves.)
  22. Office Location – CG&A currently operates from an addition in Chris and Lisa’s century home in Almonte, Ontario – a small Ottawa Valley town that is 40 minutes from Parliament Hill. Point of interest: the house was built in 1875 for the first school master of Almonte High School, and rumour has it that the inventor of basketball, James Naismith, was tutored on the front porch.
  23. Healthy Living – Lisa George has always been interested in healthy living and a healthy diet. In 2015, she spent a year studying holistic nutrition at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and now has her Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN) designation. 
  24. Volunteering – Chris George has been involved in numerous volunteer initiatives through the years, but the most memorable ones are the Niagara Child Advocacy Centre where he served as Board Chair, and the Canadian Anaphylaxis Initiative, where he was a founding director.
  25. Love Persists – Chris and Lisa are proud to say that after 25 years of working together, living together, and raising kids together their love persists. The two planned their business in Fall 1993 and it was less than two years later that they married. It was another five years before the birth of their first son. (In many ways, one could say, CG&A Communications has been a labour of love.) 

Chris George provides reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS. Contact: ChrisG.George@gmail.com

Top 3 Facebook posts of 2018

This week, By George counted down the top 10 posts to be highlighted in 2018 on the By George Facebook Page. Here are the top three selected from last year:

#3

#2

The #1 By George Facebook post of 2018…

 

Chris George provides reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Answering That Question about What You Do

“So what is it that you do?”

How often do you get asked that question? Do you have a rehearsed answer that gets people attention? Or do you find yourself struggling each time to find the right expressions to explain what “you do”?

When someone asks what your organization does, do you have a concise explanation? What of your colleagues? Would their description of what your organization does be similar?

The best thing an individual or organization can do for themselves is to think through and develop a script to answer the most basic of human exchanges; particularly the obvious questions about one’s identity and purpose. Here’s our suggestion: take the time and craft an “elevator chat” script.

The elevator chat will serve you (and your colleagues) as a concise description of who you are, what you do and why it matters. It can be developed to sound informal; however, a good script will be precise and capture the essence and significance of your work. Because you take the time to refine the key message(s), this script will be clear and accurate.

An effective elevator chat will be intriguing and leave your audience curious and wanting to learn more of what you do.

In order to help you craft a sound and engaging elevator chat, here are four questions to prompt your creative process and hone your core message(s).

  • 1. Answer the question “Why do I care?” Why should someone care and take notice of what you do? Talk about the significance of your work and/or organization – rather than its structure and your duties. In this way, you may establish an emotional connection between you and the person standing before you..
  • 2. Answer the question “What sets you apart?” You should highlight what makes you unique, distinctive – what sets you apart. It may be that you are the first or only one to be doing your work in the area – or perhaps you approach your work in a certain manner from others.
  • 3. Answer the basics. Include relevant details of the what? where? how? when? In order to showcase the explanation of the why? All details should accentuate the why? – the significance of your work.
  • 4. Anticipate the “So what?” question. Your chat should have a strong closing that provides the audience with a way to learn more, become involved, enter into a longer conversation. If you have made an emotional connection in the 30 – 40 seconds of your chat, there is a perfect opportunity to engage your enquirer in another level of discussion.

Have a business card to hand out; a website URL to share; a promise to follow-up in the days ahead. Be sure to follow-up with your enquirer. Take a few minutes each day to write thank you and follow-up notes.

So, the next time someone asks, “What is it that you do?” – there will be no grimacing, no fishing for the right phrase. Each elevator chat is an opportunity to share what is significant and, perhaps, to make a new connection.

(ed. – This is a repost, picked as one of our favourite three posts of 2011, taken from the earlier posts on the By George Journal.  The original post is here.)

Chris George, providing reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

The By George summertime e-newsletter…

Ahhh, summer! –  By George 
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Have you ever wondered why it is that children view summer days as long and, it seems, as we age they become shorter? Given our unforgivably harsh Canadian winters, our collective preoccupation is to make the most of this glorious season. So, the challenge is how to hang onto as much of a summer day as possible.
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This summer, consider consciously undertaking an “extra fun activity” each day. For each day in August, challenge yourself to add a summer diversion that you can enjoy with your family and friends. Plan something new or different, or make past summertime traditions a priority (whether you are vacationing or attempting to add it to your workday).
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Consider these activities for starters: go for a picnic, go for a bike/hike/paddle, prepare a favorite meal with your partner, start a weekly boardgame night, play a lawn game with your family, plan time with a friend on a porch or patio, pick berries, plan a weekend staycation, pitch a tent in your yard, toss a frisbee, play in a water hose with your children, take the family to a community event, go fishing, re-read a favourite book, complete the weekend paper’s crossword, listen to the Beach Boys, toast marshmallows over a campfire, host a barbeque cook-off, watch a sunset, walk a neighbourhood or trail you haven’t been to recently (and do it in a rain shower).
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Ahhh summer! Go ahead, I challenge you to make the most of it.  Cheers,
Chris
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Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

We’re announcing….

CG&A Communications and Wavelength Media have teamed up to provide clients with both the strategic counsel and creative materials necessary to meet their marketing and/or advocacy goals.

There has been a mind-meld and the results are exciting:

 Powerful websites, social media and marketing materials

Impactful branding and positioning initiatives

Provocative issue and advocacy campaigns

 

Wavelength Media is a media production company that creates everything from websites and printed material to the video and photography required to make it all interesting. They have been operating in Ottawa since 2005; see more of their media production talents at wavelengthmedia.ca

 

As you know, CG&A Communications is a public / government relations firm that specializes in advocacy campaigns, issue management, and writing services. We have been providing reliable counsel and effective advocacy since 1994; read more about our services at cgacommunications.com

 

By combining our efforts, we are able to offer clients planning and tactical counsel, wordsmith services, and all the creative materials necessary for success. From conception to completion, our team of expert communicators will support the effective implementation of promotional and advocacy initiatives.

 

Connect today and we will be pleased to discuss what we can do for you.

Chris George  |  613-983-0801  |  cgacomm@gmail.com

Graham Lindsey  |  613-454-5121  |  gl@grahamlindsey.com

 

Chris George provides reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Quotes to inspire, motivate and provoke

Many will know that By George Journal regularly tweet quotes to inspire, motivate and provoke. Here are some of our latest “favourite” bons mots!

  • “Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today.” – Mark Twain
  • “Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.” – Leonard Cohen
  • “The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.” – Albert Einstein
  • “You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” – Anon.
  • “It is never too late to become what you might have been.” – George Eliot
  • “Character is power.”- Booker T. Washington
  • “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein
  • “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” -Winston Churchill
  • “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” – John F. Kennedy
  • “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
  • “We all live in suspense, from day to day, from hour to hour, in other words, we are the hero of our own story.” – Mary McCarthy
  • “To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization.” – Arnold Toynbee
  • “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.” – Albert Schweitzer
  • “People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” – Abraham Lincoln

Follow us: https://twitter.com/ByGeorgeJournal

Chris George provides reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Top 3 By George Facebook posts of 2017

This week, By George counted down the top 10 posts to be highlighted in 2017 on the By George Facebook Page. Here are the top three selected from last year:

#3 

#2 

#1

Access the album with all top 10 By George Facebook posts – HERE.

Like what you see? Well, join us on Facebook to get daily posts of inspiration and motivation.

Chris George provides reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

 

 

 

 

CG&A COMMS entering its 25th year

We are pumped at CG&A COMMUNICATIONS as we start the first full work week of 2018. Our braintrust of public relations and government relations specialists is entering our 25th year of business

Not every business – certainly not a “virtual” PR/GR consultancy – can celebrate longevity, especially when there has been such fundamental changes to how business and people communicate in the last 25 years. In the early 90’s email was just being introduced into the work place and the buzz was something new called “the web”. The company’s greatest costs in the early days were Bell bills that covered long distance and fax expenses, and the trusty cross-City bike couriers who delivered and retrieved clients’ files in a timely fashion. So, looking back at the past 25 years of a small business specializing in communications is like travelling through a time warp!

 

Company President Chris George explains the firm’s success can be attributed to the professionalism and talent of its network of associates.  “We have come this far because of our personal attention to our clients’ needs. We have had great people along the way who have enriched our brand and reputation for reliable and quality services.”

 

“Looking at this 25th year, it’s great to have so many exciting initiatives before us and a few new projects on the horizon.”

 

On January 4, 2019, CG&A COMMUNICATIONS will mark its special anniversary — 25 years to the day the firm “opened its doors.”  George quipped on the next 12 months, “One can’t blame us for wanting a year-long celebration leading up to the 25-year anniversary. A career milestone like this certainly won’t come again in our lifetime!”

 

Chris George provides reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

Introducing Parliament Hill Sentinel

(With MPs returning to Ottawa on Monday, this services notice is being re-posted from earlier this month.)

 

CG&A COMMUNICATIONS is pleased to introduce the Parliament Hill Sentinel, an Ottawa monitoring and reporting service for emerging political and policy news from the Nation’s Capital.

 

This service will help to provide organizations or businesses with the necessary information required to make informed decisions. Subscribers to the service will have attentive eyes and ears in the corridors of Parliament and Ottawa’s bureaucratic offices towers.

 

With the service, CG&A COMMUNICATIONS’ senior advisors will monitor and report out on Ottawa activities, tracking up to 3 specific issues for each subscriber. Keep tabs on:

  • House of Commons and Senate debates
  • Parliamentary committees and MPs working groups
  • Federal departmental news and initiatives
  • Key MPs’, Senators’ and officials’ comments relating to your concerns
  • Monitoring media broadcasted from pertinent stakeholders and the Canadian and American news media
  • Providing Summary Overviews on breaking news

We deliver regular updates from Ottawa (average of 3 per week) with all the news and information required to stay abreast of emerging issues impacting your area of concern.

 

To see the full Parliament Hill Sentinel offer, click here.

 

Contact Chris George directly to learn more and to sign up with the Parliament Hill Sentinel.

 

Chris George, providing reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Top posts to inspire and motivate – By George

Through the last five years, on a routine basis, By George has posted on Facebook inspirational and motivational quotes to enliven our followers’ day. If you are one of our FB followers, you will know that this past next week we counted down the “Top 10 posts of 2016”.

If you have not already done so, you may wish to consider “liking” the By George Journal Facebook page.

To give you an idea of the-best-of-the-best quotes we have shared through the last five years, here are the number one quotes from the years 2012 through 2016.

#1 in 2012

#1 in 2013

#1 in 2014

#1 in 2015

#1 in 2016

If you like these Facebook posts, you may also like the regular stream of tweets on our Twitter feed: @ByGeorgeJournal.

Chris George, providing reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

E-Book: Thoughts to Motivate and Inspire

A Day in the Life of Man is a source of personal energy

– a perfect gift for family, friends and co-workers

 

 

For Chris George, remarkable quotes and verse help to put life into perspective – the magic and mysteries of our world and of man are translated through poignant thought. So, it is his personal obsession to find the right phrase that spawned this collection of thought to motivate and inspire people through their daily routines, challenges and relationships.

 

A Day in the Life of Man – Sustenance for the Soul is a moving collection of verse, thoughts and quotes that takes the reader through an average day – from dawn to dusk. Page by page, as one experiences his day, the assortment of thoughts will encourage reflection and reawaken hope and draw energy from within.

 

“This book is for everyone who wants to make the most of themselves and of their day,” says Chris George. “The collection of thought teaches essential lessons of life, it provides support for the trials of the day, and it will offer comfort to a soul that is ever-stretching.”

 

“We live in a complicated world, with events that often make little sense and push us back into ourselves for answers. At the same time, we are social beings wanting to make connections and share life’s experiences. This book helps to draw lines of rationality, dot to dot,” says George.

 

A Day in the Life of Man – Sustenance for the Soul is released as an e-book, available as a pdf.  Your $5 payment can be made on-line through PayPal, accessed in Our E-Bookshelf.

 

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

Margaret Thatcher – on success

Margaret Thatcher’s musings have provided motivation for many around the world. Here’s a favourite on the topic of success:

 

What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.

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For more bons mots, click on the By George Journal tags of motivation and inspirational. Also, in Our E-Bookshelf, you can obtain Our 1000 FAV Quotes, a compilation of the best of the best FAV quotes.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

Our most beloved national symbol

After a month of deliberation on the symbols held dearest by Canadians, By George has determined “the most beloved national symbol.”  Through the last few days we have sought feedback from followers and had direct input from our own By George network and the remaining four top symbols have been ranked. So, here they are — in reverse order — with the last being our # 1.

It gives us great pride to announce the most beloved national symbol here this morning…

# 4 – The Beaver

beaverphoto

# 3 – Niagara Falls

Canuck_28

# 2 – Our maple leaf flag

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# 1 – Our national game – hockey

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For those interested in reviewing the By George contest and the Canadiana choices made through June, here are our posts:

Our search for “The Beloved Symbol of Canada”

Have your say on Canadiana

with a link to “The sweet 16” newsletter

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Happy Canada and have a great holiday weekend!

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

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With every drop of a puck, a Canadian’s heart skips a beat! Is there any doubt that it’s our national pride?!

hockeydavid01

 

 

Choose from our top 4 Canadiana

The By George month-long search for the greatest Canadiana symbol has come to a choice of four iconic symbols Canucks are all familiar with. You are encouraged to click into our By George Journal Facebook page to provide your opinion on the order of the following….

beaverphoto

The Beaver

canuck_25

The Canadian Flag

hockey

Hockey

Canuck_28

Niagara Falls

 

Click in here to have your say: By George Journal on Facebook

Our recent newsletter featured “the sweet 16” and you can read the newsletter here.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Have your say on Canadiana

canuck_30This month By George is in search of the greatest Canadiana symbol.  We have been presiding over head-to-head choices of 64 different symbols of national pride and, currently, we have narrowed the field to “the sweet 16” of Canada.  On our By George Facebook page, we invite our followers to comment on the selections. Certainly, we have had some lively debate; for example, when the Calgary Stampede was selected over the Bluenose. (Should there be a compelling argument or overwhelming outcry about the choice of one of the symbols, or the other, By George will reserve the right to reverse the decision and go with our readership’s favourite.)

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Our objective is to identify the single-most important symbol of national pride, the most beloved symbol of Canadiana.

Click in here to have your say: By George Journal on Facebook

Our recent newsletter featured “the sweet 16” and you can read the newsletter here.

canuck_43   canuck_29   canuck_20   canuck_03

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

“The write stuff”

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Whether you need your brand promoted, an issue positioned, key messages polished, or interests advanced, we will provide you with “the write stuff.”

 

We offer an experienced and insightful writing service that produces effective copy to profile, raise awareness and build engagement for businesses, organizations, interest groups and individuals. Chris George leads a team of wordsmiths and public relations specialists who will provide:

  • A talented braintrust to write or copy-edit, and the experience to offer a second opinion or fresh perspective.
  • Reliable counsel and services that will produce clear and creative copy on deadline and on budget.
  • SM & PR strategies with engaging copy and tactical advice for social media feeds and in traditional media channels.

 

Our Writing Services

  • Persuasive PR content and wordsmith services to advance issues, enhance reputations, and to profile and position within the media, public or key stakeholders.
  • Ghostwriting and editing services to support an organization’s or corporate executive team, including writing for social media, presentations, internal memos and documents, correspondence, etc.
  • Social media content services to develop, implement and/or manage a social media strategy.

 

Our virtual assistants will provide executive services that can take care of all your communications and writing needs.

  • Writing
  • press releases & media backgrounders
  • brochures, newsletters, annual reports
  • internal memos & communiques
  • business letters & correspondence

 

  • Editing and Proofreading

 

  • Social Media Content (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)

 

  • Blog Posts
  • writing & copy-editing
  • research

 

  • PowerPoint Presentations

 

  • Internet Research

 

  • Media Monitoring

 

Use our Communications Concierge Service as you need it!

 

This is the easy, convenient way to ensure you have access to a wordsmith or communications specialists when you need them.

 

With Chris, you’re hiring an experienced communications aide, a can-do scribe and idea guy to be by your side. A Virtual Assistant will make you sound and look good!  Our service will relieve you of stressful frustration and anxiety over those looming deadlines. Your Virtual Assistant will save you time – and provide that extra to get the results you need.

 

Connect with us to learn more.

 

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

 

What makes for an exceptional writer?

typewriter3

Recently I was asked about the skill set required for writing and what makes for an exceptional writer. In the engrossing discussion that ensued a distinction was made between “writers” and “wordsmiths.”  For the purposes of dissecting this subject matter, the distinction could best be characterized as the line between writing for oneself as a personal pursuit and reflection and wordsmithing for/with someone else for a pay cheque.

 

Here are the key questions and answers from that exchange….

 

Q: What are the primary skills needed to be an excellent writer?

A:  To be an excellent writer, one needs:

  • a healthy mix of creativity and perceptiveness to capture and record the truths of our world in words
  • a masterful command of words:  possessing a good vocabulary and the sense to use the right word for the right reasons
  • the perseverance to revise and rewrite works until they are as they should be

 

Q:  What are the skills needed to be an excellent wordsmith (def’n: one who creates or re-drafts materials for commercial purposes)?

A: To be an excellent wordsmith, one needs:

  • a superior ability to frame ideas and issues in powerful and precise words
  • the nerve of a hard-nosed editor, who will focus on the appropriate style, proper grammar, use of language and words, and the necessary word counts
  • to be part- collaborator, part-facilitator to work with others and accommodate, reason and synthesize all input – and still produce a meaningful, effective piece

 

As both writers and wordsmiths at our firm, we find this type of discussion most intriguing for it cuts to the very core of what we do. It is also the essence of what is describes in our tag line, when we say we are “providing the write stuff.”

 

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Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

 

Ever wonder what we do?

typewriter3

Ever wonder what we do? How we help our clients? What is it that we do all day at CG&A COMMUNICATIONS?

Much of our day we’ll spend staring into a screen, with fingers effortlessly tapping the keyboard in the pursuit of the next perfect sentence or provocative image. It’s a day of creativity and an attention to details. Our goal is always to develop effective, evocative communications that achieve the desired results.

Whether you are mounting a PR campaign for your organization, need to win over a particular audience with your idea, or wish to leave a great impression at your up-coming meeting, your success will depend directly on the clarity of your thought and the persuasiveness of your presentation.

Providing clarity and effective advocacy is precisely the invaluable support CG&A COMMUNICATIONS can provide. To use a Canadian analogy: we’ll pack killer snowballs so you can toss ‘em.

We provide the communications support required to be successful in advancing your cause. We have a disciplined approach to our PR and issue management initiatives that has come with decades worth of public and government relations experience. At the core of everything we do is quality writing, copy-editing and content development.

Some communications consultants will shroud their work in a mystic creative process. As results-oriented communicators, we prefer to talk about our systematic approach to meeting defined objectives. Our discipline in achieving results is a stepped process:

  • Set clear objectives and plan of approach
  • Craft persuasive arguments and well developed materials
  • Plan a systematic implementation – eye to detail and info gathering
  • Execute consistent follow-through and persistent follow-up
  • Review and analyze results to develop next steps

To describe our approach in another way, you might say we’re part-chief-investigator-part-dream-weaver. I personally like to think of myself as an “amiable gadfly and seeker-of-all-things-that-can-make-a-good-story.” However, that title would likely raise more questions than it answers around a boardroom table… so, I will stick with the rather conservative albeit clumsy: PR/GR advocate, writer, copy-editor & content developer.

To read more background on myself and the company, here are a few interesting links:

About Chris George

The CG&A COMMUNICATIONS website

About our services

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a trusted executive assistant, a communications can-do guy, or a go-to-scribe? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

2016 By George editorial mission

Through the years By George Journal has offered ideas and background on effective PR and GR tactics as well as the craft of writing. This body of work is an extension of our company’s forte – delivering reliable, strategic advocacy advice and exceptional writing services.

And to add some levity to the Journal we pepper each month with remarkable quotes and humourous pieces for use in our readers’ workplace and social settings.

Each year, we take up an issue to feature in this space – last year it was federal politics and the election campaign, and in years prior we have featured everything from “the cost of big government” to “what is the essence of quality writing?”

cyborgs_pics_01For 2016, the By George Journal has set as its editorial mission an exploration of the changing dynamics of effective communications for organizations and groups who wish to have their issues heard. How do you best convey something relevant and memorable in our daily maelstrom of media images and information? Consider:

  • For decision-makers, our world is spinning much faster with the accelerated flow of information 24/7.
  • Social media is evolving and content developers and IT managers are taking the place of wordsmiths and researchers.
  • The interplay between making a favourable first impression and making your case has become a key focus for everything communicated.

All of these discussions are up for inspection through this year. We hope our readers may gain insight into what it means to communicate effectively in our super-charged, wired world. (Given our bent for words and wordsmithing, you might expect to hear a lament or two through the year.)

By George will be carrying this discussion to our Twitter and Facebook feeds as well, so we hope followers will consider joining the dialogue.

All the best through 2016! We wish you a prosperous year!

CG&A now in its 23rd year

CG&A_LOGO[1]Just where has the time gone? This month, Chris George and his network of associates at CG&A COMMUNICATIONS enter their 23rd year!

Over the last two decades, there has been a number of significant successes; and here are a few:

  • counseling provincial ministers of education for more than a decade and achieving the inclusion of significant education amendments in the passage of new copyright law
  • advocated for the passage of important federal impaired driving laws and various pieces of provincial legislation through 14 years of providing public policy and government relations counsel to MADD Canada
  • provided counsel and support to Board members of the Ottawa Transition Board, which managed the amalgamation of 12 municipalities into the new City of Ottawa
  • provided public/media relations (incl. on-line) services for MADD Canada, Commissionaires Ottawa, Hydro Ottawa, and West Lincoln Memorial Hospital
  • positioned newly privatized Ottawa International Airport in business community, and branded the airport’s opening and new U.S. pre-clearance facility
  • advocated for passage of Sabrina’s Law in Ontario, the first legislation in North America to address school anaphylaxis protocols
  • worked with MPs for passage of a unanimous House of Commons motion to raise awareness for anaphylaxis in the federal government

On the 20th anniversary milestone, CG&A COMM compiled an interesting set of facts about the enterprise and its accomplishments. There is a whole bunch to remember!