CIG: Denver Public Relations, training, graphic design, research and proposal writing

Great Moments in CIG History - Chapter 5

For many Americans, 2009 might have seemed a bit like the Wild West, with cowboys and outlaws vying for the upper hand. Depending on your political persuasion, President Obama was either hero or villain – Wyatt Earp or Billy the Kid.

Desperados claimed victory with near double-digit unemployment rates, but the new sheriff in town helped the market find its bottom in March and spent the balance of the year regaining its losses.

Even with the economy struggling to turn the corner in fits and starts, CIG stayed busy. We were fortunate to continue our work for many of the clients we’d served over the years, and were even able to add a few more.

In a coup that fits nicely with our goal of “global domination,” we secured several projects with Newmont Mining Corporation – one of the largest mining companies in the world. In an interesting twist, it turns out that Newmont’s offices are in the Palazzo Verdi Office Tower in Greenwood Village – a structure built by our long-time clients and friends at Kiewit Building Group. The Newmont projects were a refreshing change that allowed us to learn about a new company and industry, as well as flex our creative muscles.

We were also asked to bring our facilitation experience to bear to assist HDR Engineering on the I-70 Mountain Corridor’s Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, or DPEIS (you know how we LOVE acronyms in transportation…). We brought together key stakeholders from all along the corridor – from Golden to Glenwood Springs to Gypsum – to provide input through Issue Task Forces. Having spent the past several years focused on transit at RTD FasTracks, we were excited to work with some of our old friends at CDOT with whom we’d worked on T-REX.

Finally, 2009 allowed me to put my money where my mouth was in terms of re-investing in the business. I challenged my team to improve their skills and prowess in all areas – particularly social media. Knowing that 100 percent of economic recessions eventually come to an end, we worked hard to get smarter about the social media phenomenon that is revolutionizing the way we all communicate and how we serve our clients. This investment has already paid off, with several clients jumping into the social media arena with our help and, subsequently, seeing a healthy return on their new communication investment.

As 2009 turned to 2010, we turned to the future and began to set our sights on new adventures, including a wonderful opportunity to serve a new client, Denver Water. We also started planning our fantastic five-year anniversary celebration, just around the corner on May 13. Watch this space in the coming week for at least two breaking news items – an announcement on how CIG is about to grow again, and (knowing our guests) an amusing story or two about shenanigans that are likely take place at our anniversary party.

Fair warning if you plan to attend – there will be cameras on-hand and we’re not afraid to live blog and tweet the event if necessary. Paraphrasing Billy the Kid’s (played by former Breakfast Club jock Emilio Estevez) famous line in the movie Young Guns: “We’ll make you famous.”

**I want to offer a personal note of thanks to every one of you who made these first five years possible. Thank you for your trust, your support, your confidence and your commitment to our mutual success. Without you, this amazing ride never would have been possible and, to you, I will remain eternally grateful.

Here’s to the next five years and beyond!

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