George Mc Quade, a former Gas Company Media and Corporate Communications Mgr. will MC SCMBDC Awards Dinner in Beverly Hills.
It is like going back to the future for me, and I never underestimated the power of networking and public speaking. I have been asked to be master of ceremonies for the Southern California Minority Business Development Council at their 26th Annual Awards honoring President and CEO Michael W. Allman, Southern California Gas Company, a Sempra Energy Company.
Congratulations to Mr. Allman. To read more about him and his achievements visit: S.C.M.B.D.C. website: http://www.scmbdc.org/
October 1992 – 1995, I joined The Gas Company as media relations manager, later doing coporate communications. There I created the Employee Grapevine, a 3-5 minute dial-in voicemail newscast about events of the day or upcoming stuff. What was interesting is every day something new happened at The Gas Company. One day there was the first shooting of a female meter reader, the next day there was an armed robbery at a bill payment center, another day a vote on whether or not to do away with Disneyland night for Gas Co. employees vs. taking coffee stations out of the Gas Co. Tower. It was all about cutbacks and reducing costs, and downsizing.
The Gas Co. had to moved the phone line onto a new trunk, because during reorganization, The Grapevine overloaded the customer lkines, an it skyrocketed in calls from 50 per week to 375 per day, 18,500 in four weeks and without advertising.
So, it’s fun to return to your roots and see old friends and employees you worked for in years past. Ironically, after I left the gas company I later provided media relations for the S.C.M.B.D.C. and now I am the MC of an annual awards dinner we promoted more than a decade ago. So I feel like Michael J. Fox in “Back to the Future.”
I look forward to a fun evening. The event will be held at The Beverly Hills Hotel, located at 9641 Sunset Blvd. The reception begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m. You should never turn down a speaking engagement if it fits your schedule, because for a public relations specialist or anyone for that matter, it sharpens one’s speaking skills, presentation skills and helps brand your company and attract media to a nonprofit. They rarely get any media exposure without help. We do a lot of celebrity charity work, and often get brought in for social media. You feel good about helping others, and later they return the favor, but one should never expect it.
MIchael W. Allman,
Los Angeles, CA– Michael W. Allman, president and chief executive officer of Southern California Gas Company (The Gas Company), will receive Southern California Minority Business Development Council’s (SCMBDC) 2010 Leadership Award at its 26th Annual Leadership Award dinner on Friday, October 15. (http://www.scmbdc.org/)
The Gas Company’s business excellence and strong commitment to working with diverse suppliers and vendors make it an outstanding choice, and Michael Allman, as president and CEO, the ideal executive to honor as our 2010 Leadership Award recipient,” said to SCMBDC President John W. Murray, Jr., noting the company is a longtime corporate member of SCMBDC.
“Michael joins a prestigious group of prior recipients whose outstanding work make a substantial contribution to not only Southern California’s economy but also to diverse businesses, which are a cornerstone of our economy,” Murray added.
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Mc Quade is an award-winning broadcast journalist, who’s stints included covering the Charles Keating, Rodney King Officers Beating trials, LA riots for UPI, KNX, CBS, KFI, and entertainment news for ABC entertainment and KGIL Newstalk 1260 in SF Valley of LA. Later Mc Quade worked as a network correspondent for NBC Mutual, and writer for KNBC-TV, KTTV-TV and KCOP-TV. Additionally, Mc Quade still writes a monthly column on media, social media and media campaigns for O’Dwyer Publications, New York. He is founder of MAYO Communications, a full service Los Angeles based public relations agency with offices in San Diego, New York and Bern, Switzerland. MAYO Communications is a 100 percent Woman-Owned, Spanish-Owned business enterprises registered with Los Angeles County and the state of California. The firms clients include Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation(LAEDC); World Trade Center Los Angeles/Long Beach; PERI Software, Newark, NJ/LA; International Trade Education Programs,LA;Warrior Records, NY/LA; Hydra Executives Reality TV Show, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) and WW2- Reflections (film), Dublin, Ireland to name a few.
About SCMBDC
Southern California Minority Business Development Council is the premiere organization strengthening economic ties between large, public-, private- and foreign-owned corporations and minority men- and women-owned business enterprises. As the region’s leading minority business advocacy organization, SCMBDC represents the interests of more than 600,000 minority businesses in its 13-county service area in Southern California. The council offers nationally recognized certification to minority-owned businesses, strategic networking between corporate members and certified
firms, and education, information, and skills development to help minority businesses enhance their capacity. Headquartered in Los Angeles and one of 37 regional councils in the National Minority Supplier Development Council network, SCMBDC has made a positive impact in the minority business community since its founding in 1975. For more information, visit www.scmbdc.org.
