Gary Blake, director of The Workshop, has developed writing, presentation, and interpersonal skills seminars for more than 250 organizations throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. These organizations include Allstate Insurance, Charles Schwab Inc., CNA, The American  Stock Exchange, CSX Transportation, Lever Brothers, Merrill Lynch,  Price Waterhouse, and Symbol Technologies.

Dr. Blake holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Communications from the University of Wisconsin as well as a doctorate from the City University of New York.

Dr. Blake has authored and co-authored eleven books. The Elements of Business Writing is in its 23rd printing and has 125,000 copies in print.

Among the seminars Blake has designed and presented are: 
Effective Business Writing, Effective Writing for Insurance Professionals, Technical Writing for Engineers, Technical Writing for Systems Professionals, and Grammar and Punctuation Refresher.

Christine Brazanskas

Christine Brazanskas has taught writing to college students and adjusters for over five years. She graduated from William Paterson University, NJ, in 1992 with a BA in English Literature and then from Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ, with a Masters of Arts in Teaching degree with a concentration in English Language Arts in 1995. In NJ, she taught developmental English and Composition courses at William Paterson University, Sussex Community College, and Bergen Community College where she was a full-time lecturer. She has also taught writing classes at Metropolitan State College, Arapahoe Community College, and Teiko Loretto Heights University in CO.

Christine was the writing instructor for GAB Robins North America, Inc. in their Professional Development Center. While at GAB Robins, she presented writing seminars to adjusters attending the GAB Robins classes, presented writing workshops to support staff in the home office, and provided writing guidance to adjusters in the field. In addition to training adjusters and support staff, Christine edited many of the company's technical materials written for adjuster training and marketing purposes and revised company form letters. She also wrote a correspondence course on communication for the company. Christine earned her Associate in Claims certification from the Insurance Institute of America in December 1999 and her Legal Principles Claims Specialist designation from the American Educational Institute in August 2000.