A Calgary’s Business sponsored feature
for Peak Communicators
Peak Communicators (Alberta) has a very simple but effective motto.
“We get you in the news or keep you out,” says Shael Gelfand, who has been the principal of the Calgary-based company since 2003.
“We are sort of a boutique agency. We rely on our expertise in the media, our media contacts, and we have a highly-skilled and experienced set of freelance providers, and our areas of specialty are media training and counsel, crisis communications, reputation management, and then we also do straight-up public relations campaigns to attract media and public attention.”
Gelfand knows the media industry like the back of his hand. He has vast expertise and knowledge about the media, having lived and breathed it for a number of years. Since leaving the media profession to start up his communications company, he has maintained his relationships and connections with journalists still working in the industry.
Shael Gelfand
Gelfand is a graduate of SAIT, with a diploma of Applied Arts in Broadcast Journalism, and also earned a bachelor of arts degree in History from the University of Calgary.
He was a broadcast journalist for many years at CTV affiliates in Lethbridge and Calgary, working in all capacities and covering some of the biggest stories locally, nationally and internationally. He was a reporter, a producer, a supervising producer and an assignment editor, working primarily on the news stories of the day.
“Dealing with the media is an art as well as a science and we walk our clients through that process to maximize their media opportunities,” says Gelfand.
As a broadcaster, he introduced many firsts to local news in Canada, including the first live satellite report and the first headline newscast. He has written and produced hundreds of stories and newscasts, and produced dozens of documentaries and public affairs specials for local, national and international broadcast.
Gelfand has also written, produced and directed dozens of corporate and client videos.
His areas of expertise include copywriting, crisis communications, media relations, media training, strategic plans and campaign management.
“We have a wide range of clients both big and small, and they would include publicly-traded companies, private companies, not-for-profit organizations, retailers, retail chains, government agencies and regulators, and some government departments,” says Gelfand.
He is also a well-respected and well-known personality in Calgary due to his unwavering support of the community in various volunteer capacities. He has helped numerous not-for-profits, including UNICEF, the Dragon Boat Foundation, HKCBA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Calgary Interfaith Food Bank, Boy Scouts of Canada, Royal Alberta United Services Institute and the Salvation Army.
He has also done work in politics and on campaigns.
Calgary-based Peak Communicators also has a strategic alliance with Vancouver-based Peak Communicators.
“We’re two separate companies but we are in constant regular communication and we share clients. We do work for the same clients together. And sometimes I’ll do work for their clients and they’ll do work for my clients,” says Gelfand.
Peak Communicators (Alberta) in Calgary can be contacted at http://peakco.com/peak
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