Meet Bill Crane of CSI Crane, LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bill Crane.

Bill, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a native Atlantan, proud Georgian and southerner. Graduated from DeKalb County public schools and later the University of Georgia. I grew up in a newspaper family, which kept me very informed but also inordinately aware of politics and the importance of solid community leadership.

Began my career at WMAZ-TV 13 in Macon, Georgia during the 1980s, and though at that time I envisioned a career fully in broadcasting, life instead brought me several intriguing other opportunities, so I took Plan B. I worked in senior communications staff roles for Secretary of State and later U.S. Senator Max Cleland, Governor and later U.S. Senator Zell Miller, former U.S. Peace Corps Director and U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell, and on a host of political campaigns including the Mike Bowers for Governor campaign in 1998, and my first campaign was as a volunteer was Bob Bell for Governor in 1982.

After just over a decade in politics, I went to work for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce during Atlanta’s Olympic years, and later a global public relations firm, the GCI Group, based in New York, which gave me the opportunity to travel the world, often handling crisis communications assignments for some of the world’s most successful Fortune 1000 enterprises.

Along the way, my family grew to include two wonderful daughters, and now three grandchildren, who have become more and more the focus of my life.

In the summer of 2000, not long after the sudden passing of U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell, I was asked by the folks at 11Alive News to come in and contribute to a retrospective of his career. That morphed into an ongoing contributor role at 11Alive for 11 years as a political analyst and commentator. In 2006, I started doing the same for WSB Radio, and in 2009, I started my weekly syndicated column, “One Man’s Opinion,” named after a column of the same name which my grandfather, Bud Crane, wrote for 25 years. OMO is now available in roughly 90 outlets across Georgia as well as a Substack (offering free sign up), https://billcrane.substack.com/.

In late 2011, I joined the team at WSB-TV 2, Action News, returning to the station where I had worked as a teenager on a local kid’s talk show. As of 2026, I will be entering my 26th year providing political commentary and analysis to north Georgia, as well as making radio and print contributions across the state.

I founded my own corporate communications firm, CSI Crane, LLC in late 2009, and our offices are in Decatur. We specialize in media relations, crisis communications and assisting highly regulated enterprises in their messaging and thought leadership.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The recession of 2008, following the near collapse of the American real estate market and Wall Street, was a less than ideal time to start a business, but my second child was born in July 2007, and she had some not insignificant health challenges in addition to cognitive and developmental delays. My work and travel schedule at the time had me on the road 3-5 nights a week, and that wasn’t working for my family obligations…

So I left a very lucrative position with the GCI Group, which I also enjoyed, and hung out a shingle and began the work of building what has become a very successful agency, CSI Crane, LLC, working for my best boss to date (me), but going from managing teams and global accounts to handling every assignment and aspect that you can imagine of growing a small business. Though personally rewarding, the challenges of a startup can be both financially and personally draining. But we perservered.

And there have also been no shortage, in my 20s and 30s, of less than stellar choices which created personal and professional life curves. One of the benefits of aging, in addition to maturity and a little bit of wisdom, is the perspective and ability to view the landscape with some objectivity and not always only from your own point of view.

During the past year, I have also been on a cancer journey, and while I am currently Cancer Free, and continuing scans, bloodwork and the testing to assure that IF the disease returns, we catch it early, it has been a later in life wake up call to remind me that none of us are here forever, and perhaps to focus a bit more of whatever time I have left on the people and things in life which matter most, not simply the many obligations of business and a heady professional calendar.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
CSI Crane, LLC is a corporate communications firm. We have shifted a bit since our start in 2009, and now work with a number of municipal and county governments, occasionally state agencies and even individuals. We somehow formed a reputation for handling reputation management and crisis assignments.

In fact the latter is often how we get brought in, but I have been pleasantly surprised to find that the quality of that work and the results which follow have typically caused the firm to be hired and kept onboard as a vendor/partner on retainer. We have one client company in place since our founding and several others who have been with us for more than a decade.

Our work touches a broad range of disciplines from media relations and crisis communications to ghost writing and speeches to video production and creative/campaign execution. I never tire of reminding clients that their message and chosen platforms are different for different audiences. We can help them refine both, but they first have to know WHAT they want to say, their stories which need to be told, and who they want to prioritize sharing that information with.

Our work is never dull, constantly changing and almost always on a tight turn around and time table. Like the news business, it is very stimulating.

What does success mean to you?
For me, there is not ONE definition for success, but for my life, success is being able (through prior efforts and financial reward) to reach a point of being able to choose who you work for and the kind of work that you do. It is also having the time for family, close friends and your favorite things to do…

Being a millionaire who never takes the time to go to a tailgate or spend an afternoon hiking or playing with his children or grandchildren has no appeal to me. That sounds more like a very upscale prison.

Baked into that success would be happiness and contentment and a LOT of laughter. I have had the opportunity and pleasure to do a lot of very serious work for people and companies that cut a huge swath in our state and nation… But I have tried to do that work while not taking myself too seriously.

My parents and grandparents also set early examples in our family of the importance of giving back, which now translates into a lot of time, effort and financial support to several charities and nonprofits and serving on half a dozen nonprofit boards. But the rewards of that work are also two-way and very fulfilling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://csicrane.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/csicrane/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CommunicationsStrategyIntelligence/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-crane-31b8a7/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@onemansopinion9433
• Other: https://muckrack.com/bill-crane/articles

Image Credits
WSB-TV (formal headshot), Barclay Carson, Jack Dunham Productions, Barclay Carson, Chris Chandler of WSB Radio, Multi-Media (later Gannett) promotions, Barclay Carson Design and the Southeast NATAS Emmy Awards