The Beginning:

John J. Garvey is passionate about digital platforms.

He recovered from a C grade in the Fortran computer programming language as a student at Marquette University to become a hardware installer and software programmer at Westfield State College as a first job. Everything he touched since that time has had a technical orientation.

John’s Public Relations roots are strong too. He held his first press conference in 1980 as the coordinator for the United States Youth games, a summer job. That success propelled him to a series of positions each with increased technical and PR responsibilities. He also served as a legislative aide in the State House in Boston. Like many entrepreneurs, John eventually was tempted by the aspiration and insecurity of going out on his own and started GCAi in 1991.

The Middle:

Fortuitously, email and the Internet was invented a few years later. John and his GCAi team started building websites in 1996. Back then, the company was known as  “Garvey Communication Associates Inc.” or just “Garvey” and had askmydog.com as a website URL (it’s a long story). John’s early projects included serving as a marketing consultant for a community bank and building a dot com bank called yourebank.com.

He has also served as political consultant, helped a number of community banks develop digital marketing campaigns and PR campaigns as well as worked on client projects in the healthcare, transportation, accounting, legal and the grocery industries.

This Is So Not The End:

Here’s the REALLY cool thing. After dragging them around on business trips to Boston and NYC, both of John and Sue Garvey’s kids spent time making the donuts at GCAi . Quinn Fiona Garvey pitched in initially on video and photography shoots. More recently, she has acted as a spokesmodel in videos for Peter Pan Bus Lines and television commercials for City Tire and Auto Centers. She now has her own group of luxury brand clients in LA and remains a producer/editor for GCAi. James J. Garvey continues to head up Digital Marketing efforts from GCAi’s West Coast office at The Motoring Club in Marina del Rey, CA.

Smarty Pants Stuff:

A graduate of Marquette University and American International College, where he earned a M.S. degree in Organizational Development, John is a prolific writer and an experienced strategic planner. He earned a Certificate in Reputation Management from the Public Relations Society of America and Certificate of Negotiation Training from Harvard University Law School’s Program on Negotiation.

John has guest lectured on Digital PR and Online Reputation Management at Marquette University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Springfield College. He was also a keynote speaker on “Managing the Media and Your Reputation in a Crisis” at the Massachusetts Bankers Association’s Executive Officers Conference.

Really Important Stuff:

He also is a board member of Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services, helps out as a volunteer for Wild Care Cape Cod and has served a judge and mentor for the global startup accelerator MassChallenge, a board member of Valley Venture Mentors, and a mentor for SparkHolyoke/EforAll. John also rides a lot of bikes.