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Services

SAE Communications provides strategic and crisis communications services to local and state public agencies throughout California and the Western United States.

We have dedicated our firm to helping public agency managers succeed in communicating with a variety of audiences in a variety of settings. We hold in great esteem those who serve the public and are dedicated to helping agency leaders effectively target audiences, develop thoughtful messages, and deliver those messages using the right mix of communications tools.

For many clients, SAE functions as an on-call communications counselor. We are available to help with message development, media strategy, crisis response, sensitive writing assignments, public meeting preparation, executive coaching, and communications planning.

SAE is especially valuable when agencies are facing a fast-moving issue, public controversy, emergency incident, community concern, internal capacity challenge, or decision that requires clear and careful communication.

Our services include:

On-Call Communications Support

Recent SAE services have included:

  • On-call communications counsel for city managers, general managers, department heads, elected officials, and senior public agency staff

  • Crisis communications planning and response

  • Emergency public information planning
  • Public information, alert/warning, and Joint Information Center support
  • Media relations strategy and response
  • Message development and difficult question preparation
  • Public meeting and community engagement strategy
  • Website, FAQ, social media, talking points, and public statement development
  • Executive coaching and presentation preparation
  • Communications support for after-action reviews and lessons-learned reports
  • Communications staffing assessments and public information officer recruitment support

Why Public Agencies Call SAE

Through hundreds of projects for a wide variety of clients, we’ve earned a reputation for being an extremely responsive and adept strategic communications consulting firm. We are known for a core handful of attributes:

  • We operate as an extension of your agency’s staff rather than as outside experts who have “done it all before.” We recognize that your staff resources are often limited, and we synthesize your needs with solid communications principles to develop plans and recommendations tailored to your specific requirements.

  • We’re essentially apolitical; we only represent organizations and we do not run campaigns or ballot measures. That said, we do bring a great deal of political sensitivity and can suggest programs and responses that ensure your agency’s story is being told accurately and appropriately in as many channels as possible.

  • We have extensive experience serving inside local government as public communications staff. This background gives us a strong knowledge of internal issues, projects, and responses that are unique to local agencies.
  • Our firm enjoys low overhead and a small senior team. We don’t try to be all things to each client. We formed our firm to craft communications plans and crisis communications plans, provide strategic counsel, and train government leaders how to communicate effectively; that’s exactly what we do every day.
  • Perhaps most importantly, our clients find us to be enjoyable, casual, and even fun to work with. Creative, flexible, available, responsive, and resourceful are a few of the traits that clients have noted about SAE Communications.