 Our Company: HistoryThe Communications Workshop, LLC was originally founded in 1990 as Bassett Communications and later chartered in Nevada in 2003 as The Communications Workshop, a limited liability corporation. Steve Bassett, the company's president and chief executive officer, opened the company following 10 years as a full-time television and radio sportscaster and 11 years as a senior executive with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).
In 1996, the company assumed management of the United States Air Tour Association (USATA), an organization representing commercial air tour operators throughout the country. Along with his partner former Nevada Congressman James D. Santini, the management team has helped guide the air tour industry through the turbulent waters of increased regulatory actions by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Park Service (NPS), increased pressure from Congress, and the post-911 economic collapse of the industry. In 2003, the company added crisis management to it's stable of services building on the already successful crisis media management program Bassett developed and has taught since the company's inception in 1990. In 2005, Bassett unveiled "Did I Ever Tell You About The Time..." - a motivational speech for business groups, associations, athletes and students which recounts stories from his broadcasting days and how lessons learned in TV sportscasting apply to success in business and life. Bassett, who has announced sports events of one kind or another for each of the past four decades, continues to keep his hand in television broadcasting on a limited basis. In the 1990s, he served as sports anchor for Good Morning Washington on WJLA-TV/7 in Washington, DC. Since the early 90s he has served as the play-by-play announcer for high school football and basketball telecasts in Howard County, Maryland. Beginning in 2006, he will serve as the play-by-play voice for the DC Divas women's professional football team. Honor, integrity, and intelligent service have always been the hallmarks of the company and always will be. Steve Bassett, president & CEO, The Communications Workshop, LLC
Steve Bassett is president and CEO of The Communications Workshop, LLC. He is an instrument-rated pilot with more than 35 years of management, communications and aviation experience. He teaches disaster response and crisis management as well as communications training courses, oversees the company's video and DVD production initiatives, and is a motivational speaker. He holds National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) educational certificates in areas including transportation disaster response and assistance, accident investigations, on-scene family assistance operations, forensic operations, and personal effects recovery, and holds a variety of certificates from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in disaster response. Coping With Crisis 101 covers the significant areas of crisis management from developing an effective crisis management plan to disaster response to handling the news media in crisis situations. He served as president of the United States Air Tour Association (USATA), senior vice president of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), and executive vice president of Air Vegas Airlines. He also has appeared as a major market and network television sports broadcaster having announced sporting events including football, basketball, baseball, softball, hockey and lacrosse in each of the past four decades. The Communications Workshop, LLC is a North Laurel, MD-based firm specializing in crisis management, award-winning video productions, association management, public and media relations, and communications training. He opened the company in 1990 and has received six national awards for his corporate video productions. During his broadcasting career, he announced a variety of sports events for NBC Sports, reported for ABC Sports, served as sports director and sports anchor at ABC affiliates in Washington, DC and St. Louis, anchored television sportscasts at the NBC affiliates in Columbia, SC and Baltimore, MD, was play-by-play announcer for college basketball and football telecasts for the Universities of Maryland and Missouri, called basketball play-by-play on radio for George Washington University, served on the TV broadcast team for telecasts of University of South Carolina basketball, hosted radio sports talk programs in Washington, DC, and served on the television broadcast team for Washington Redskins pre-season football games in the nation's capital. He also called the first ever women's college basketball game to be broadcast on national television - Maryland and Immaculata College. He still does some sportscasting on a volunteer basis handling the play-by-play for televised high school sporting events in Howard County, Maryland as a public service to the county school system. He has written numerous papers on effective communications. He speaks frequently to a wide variety of business, association and academic groups in a presentation titled "Did I Ever Tell You About The Time . . . " sharing unique and laugh-out-loud funny stories from his days as a TV and radio sportscaster and their relationship to sound business and management practices. He is a decorated Vietnam combat veteran and served with the prestigious 4th Infantry Division Recon and Americal Division in South Vietnam from 1969-1970. As an Army Sergeant, Bassett received the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantry Badge (CIB), Air Medal, Cross of Gallantry and other commendations.
National Tour Association (NTA)
|
