Monday March 9th, 2020. If only we had known that this would be the start of our last week in a “traditional” work environment. We made jokes over coffee about the increasing toilet paper shortage and casually discussed worst case Covid scenarios, never imagining how accurate they would become.
The week spiraled downhill quickly and on Friday March 13th, CRG closed its doors at the end of the day, officially shutdown along with schools and businesses throughout the Commonwealth.
Offices and stores may have closed, but business could not stop. Fortunately, CRG was no stranger to Zoom, having adopted virtual meetings nearly two years prior. Even more fortunately, CRG completed a near-complete cloud migration back in 2014. Our files and data along with client media asset libraries were safe, sound, and remotely accessible. Even video, with files too large for the cloud, was at the ready on a portable back-up.
Our team evaluated emerging technologies and adopted them early – and it paid off big time. We were ready for this.
Homebound, each member of the CRG team faced their own unique challenges. We had the basics, our applications, our files, our data, but those were just a few pieces of the puzzle. Everyone was in a different place, not only geographically, but personally and logistically.
However, we still came together, supporting each other in a new mode of flexibility. In every department we adapted and upgraded our workflows, processes, and workspaces. We worked to make it work.
Today, we continue to evolve, combining our traditional office culture with the best of what we’ve learned and put into practice during 2020.
Change is the business we’re in, with new ideas and products, market fluctuations and media shifts, economic ups and downs, and everything in between. After 30 years in business, Creative Resources Group had seen it all. Or so we thought.
In 2020, it seemed every day brought something different as CRG helped our clients navigate through uncharted waters.
Covid restrictions and guidelines were in constant flux. At the drop of a press release, websites, advertising messaging, digital, and other critical communications all needed to be updated – or overhauled – immediately.
Media shifted, and CRG raced to revise schedules, budgets, and marketing plans to take advantage of an explosion of captive at-home and online audiences for our clients.
In the production department, the show must go on! Following every safety guideline and requirement, CRG’s video production team traveled on location throughout the latter part of 2020. This included a rigorous schedule of 8 senior assisted living and skilled nuring/rehabilitation centers, some of which were treating active Covid patients at the time of production. Thanks to the strict adherance of safety and testing procedures by both crew and client, CRG is proud that our entire team remained (and still remains!) Covid-free.
No matter the challenge, no matter the change, no matter the deadline, Creative Resources Group was at the ready, grateful to work with our clients and provide the advertising, marketing, and communications services they needed, when they needed them most. As we said many a time during 2020, we’re all in this together!
Gratitude. Today, it has a whole new meaning and all of us have a whole new understanding. We are thankful for our clients, past and present, our partners, friends, family, and definitely for each other. We see how all of us are truly connected.
As the world changes again, some things return to “normal,” some new things remain, and some other things are gone, never to return. At CRG, we have learned, grown, and emerged stronger. This year, 2021, marks our 30th Anniversary. We are thankful to join together again, celebrate life, our relationships, and our accomplishments as we look forward to the future.
For additional information on Creative Resources Group, contact President/Creative Director Charlie Rasak.
Telephone: 508-830-0072
Email: cprasak@meetcrg.com