In The Beginning…
Our journey is unique and at times, as life would have it, unexpected.
We started originally as Marketing On Hold (MOH) in 1993 specializing in on hold music and messaging. MOH was our trade name solely owned by Marc A. Gallo, Communications Consultant, Inc., a PA corporation. The parent company had another business, CCI, which was in the wireless industry selling pagers, cellular phones and two-way radios.
In addition, our recording studio also produced songwriters and bands, like Alon and no1uno (no – one – u – know) who were published on the label, Great Egg Music.
Back then, voice talent had to come to our studio in Drexel Hill, PA to record copy for our clients. Today, due to broadband internet, our talent can record in their own studios, anywhere in the world and simply send us a link to download the files. Wow, how the industry has changed!
But business did not go very well for MOH in the 90’s. Hence, our efforts were predominantly in the wireless industry and we grew rapidly. Nevertheless, we never abandoned the on hold industry. We just considered it an ancillary business.
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!
Now, let’s flash forward to 2001. CCI, our wireless company, had been an award winning leader in the Delaware Valley as a Nextel dealer, now owned by Sprint. Due to a rash decision by Nextel’s legal department, they decided to immediately terminate our dealership because of so called improper marketing practices. Since Nextel generated nearly 85% of our revenue, we were forced to close our doors on October 26, 2001.
Shortly thereafter, arbitration commenced. During the pending litigation, we decided to revisit Marketing On Hold.
New Arrivals…and a real scare!
On a personal note, after Andrea and I tied the knot in 2002, she became pregnant in 2003 and gave birth to our two wonderful twin boys, Aidan and Ethan, on May 2, 2004.
Soon after birth, Ethan developed congestive heart failure due to a large hole in his heart. To make matters worse, he was born premature weighing less than 3 pounds which precluded him from receiving necessary heart surgery.
Due to the extraordinary work of the medical staff at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, PA, they were able to increase his weight to over 4 pounds, making him strong enough to tolerate heart surgery. This saved his life.
This critical operation was performed by the incredible and compassionate doctors and nurses at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. We’re deeply grateful for their great work!
Soon after the procedure, Ethan excelled along with his brother Aidan like any other normal, healthy boy.
As you can see splattered throughout our site, A&E have made quite an impact on our lives. Everyday is exhilarating and a never ending learning experience.
Now, Back to Business!
MOH, once just an ancillary business, was now our main focus and growing steadily. Meanwhile, we won the arbitration suit against Nextel for wrongful termination and was awarded fair compensation for the loss of our business, CCI.
But as luck would have it, we were confronted again with another legal challenge. This time it was Muzak, one of our competitors and now out of business, claiming trademark infringement for the wrongful use of Marketing On Hold and demanding a cease and desist within 60 days.
Apparently, they held the trademark for MOH, unbeknownst to us, and so we had to change our name. Fortunately, our attorney was able to reach an agreement that avoided litigation.
So after many hours of deliberation, we settled on Mind The Gap in early 2006. With a new brand, we also widened our creative offerings to include music production, composition and sound design for film and video.
Why Mind The Gap?
In the early 90’s, my band, BAG, had the opportunity to do a modest tour of England. So during our tour, we had the need to take the “tube” or what we call the subway to get to our gigs. As the train arrived, an Orwellian voice would announce, “Mind The Gap, Mind The Gap”, referring to the gap between the platform and the train upon boarding.
Though I appreciated the sonic experience at the time, I never thought I would consider it as a company name. So here we are…nearly 30 years later…minding the gap again.
Are you?