The Alliance Gardens are gorgeous this time of year – come by and see!
Alliance's Annual Pool Party on the Rivah!
JAMES RIVER, OF COURSE
L to R Standing: Geoff Zindren, Austin Smith, Lesley Moseley, Rob Jones,
Andy Poarch, Jan Girardi; Seated: Peter DuMont, Claire Bencks, Anne Poarch,
Liz Newsome, Kelly Fitzgerald & Hannah Lee in front.
A selfie to memorialize the day!


Anne Poarch (left) tries the heavenly Lee’s Fried Chicken.
Write like a 5th Grader
Remember that great book, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?” While it contained some timeless truths, turns out it was only partially correct!

Working in PR requires strong writing skills (among other talents 😊). Recently, I shared with the team some ‘tips’ that my younger son, Bolling, received from his 5 th grade teacher. This simple guidance covers all the essentials to write like a PR pro.

So, while most of us did learn important life lessons in kindergarten, like fairness and sharing, it turns out you have to wait a few more years, until 5 th grade, to learn how to be a great writer!

With special thanks to Dr. Dorothy Suskind, Bolling’s 5 th grade teacher at
St. Christopher’s School, here’s all you need to know to be a wonderful writer:

  • Show not tell (show us what it looked like).
  • Write tight (delete unnecessary words - you didn’t run really, really, really fast - you sprinted).
  • Write like you talk (make sure it flows - if it sounds awkward - fix it).
  • Less is more (two pages of strong writing beats the heck out of five pages of poor writing).
  • Develop characters with dialogue.
  • Keep the same tense.
  • Use spellcheck (this is not cheating, it is smart). Spellcheck does not identify homophones.
  • Use ending punctuation.
  • Punctuate dialogue correctly.
  • Use a comma when two complete sentences are joined by a coordinating conjunction.
  • Break your work into meaningful paragraphs.
  • White space is your friend. Readers do not want to be overwhelmed with a page full of little words (word placement matters).
  • Print your final piece out and read it on paper (touch each word as you read).
  • Ask your peers and teacher for response (What did you like? What should I do next? What questions do you have? What picture was created in your mind?).

-- Andy Poarch, COO
Rob Graduates from the FBI Citizen's Academy!
Our CEO Rob Jones completed the FBI Citizens Academy which was a great experience to learn more about the FBI and to get an inside, “under the hood,” looking at how the Agency operates. Lots of classroom time but some hands on experiences as well - including a first time chance to shoot with a Tommy Gun! 
 
Let Rob know if you have interest in applying for the next class or would like a speaker from the FBI to come to your group to speak on a variety of issues impacting our region.
Lesley Moseley
Vice President, Association Management
We welcomed  Lesley Moseley to the team in June! Lesley is a Vice President and leads our Association Management team.

Lesley was born and raised in Richmond. A graduate of James Madison University, she moved to Colorado to manage an inn for ski season, moved back to Richmond and started working for AGS Inc. in their medical sales division. From there, she worked for Century 21 for 15 years helping clients sell their homes and managing an office of 60 realtors. After the market crashed in 2008, Lesley decided to change gears again and went to work for Big River Advertising, starting as an assistant to the CFO and eventually becoming their Operations Director.

Lesley lives in the city and is very family/neighborhood oriented. She has a 14 year old black lab named Tia and when not at work, you can find her in her garden or at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. She also loves going to the beach and has never turned down an opportunity to travel.
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
Propane Days in D.C.  
Conner Miller (right) spent time in Washington D.C. in June on behalf of the  Virginia Propane Gas Association  to participate in Propane Days. This event is the prime opportunity to connect group members with elected officials in D.C.
Working Hard and Smart with the PR Team...

L to R: Rob Jones, Andy Poarch, Geoff Zindren and Peter DuMont - our fun loving PR Team – worked hard “planning, brainstorming, and socializing” with a few clients in D.C. over great meals in The District Wharf waterfront neighborhood! PR is a blast at Alliance Group!
ASSOCIATION MANAGMENT
VQHN 20th Anniversary and Touchpoint Healthcare Event at VMFA
It is hard to believe it's been 20 years since the Virginia Quality Healthcare Network was founded! What better way to celebrate this milestone than with an inaugural Touchpoint Healthcare Event at the beautiful Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond! Thank you to all our members and partners who supported us, especially our keynote speakers, Dr. Dan Carey, Secretary of Health and Human Resources and Dr. Karen Schulder Rheuban from the Center for Telehealth at the University of Virginia.
ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT
The Virginia Ag Expo 

The Ag Expo is hosted by the Virginia Grain Producers Association and the Virginia Soybean Association, in partnership with Virginia Cooperative Extension. Our thanks to all the sponsors who helped make this event possible, and to everyone that came out to the beautiful farm! It was an impressive event!

Association Management team,
(from left) Lesley Moseley, Liz Newsome and Conner Miller, had a great time representing the  Virginia Grain Producers Association  at the Virginia Ag Expo at  Charity Hill Farms & Beef LLC . 


Interns, Hannah Lee and Austin Smith, learned a lot of big event planning skills! It takes a lot of lists and lifting to make it happen and look so easy!
INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Summer Interns 2019
Hannah Lee is a rising senior at Virginia Commonwealth University with a major in public relations and a minor in business. She studied abroad in Florence, Italy from January until May of 2019. After working as the Public Relations Director of her sorority, Phi Mu, she is excited to learn more at the Alliance Group. She wants to be able to use her experience in social media, intercultural communication, and research in her work. Her hobbies include playing with her two labs, hanging out with friends, and spending time with family. 
Austin Smith is a native of the New River Valley. Born and raised in Blacksburg, Virginia, he graduated from Radford University with a BBA in Marketing in 2018. He is an expert at video games and plays on console with his friends (Xbox and Playstation) and board games. Austin is an admitted “geek” and enjoys anything and everything considered “geeky” but, most of all, he loves Marvel and DC comics/movies, anime, and Game of Thrones.

Claire Bencks was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. She attended Maggie Walker Governor’s School, where she first became interested in political science as a member of the We the People team. Claire graduated from Maggie Walker in 2018 and is currently attending William and Mary where she is majoring in Government. In her free time, Claire enjoys traveling, listening to true crime podcasts, and spending time with her two dogs, Izzy and Penny. 
Intern Takeover Day

This year’s interns finished up their “intern takeover day” blast on Facebook and took a picture to remember the day! August 8 th was Hannah and Claire’s last day.  They joined the team with gusto and we will miss them terribly! Austin will stay on for another semester to work with the PR team and make our social media shine.
Alliance Group | (804) 648-6299 | rob@alliancegroupltd.com
2201 West Main Street | Richmond, VA 23220