Gary Burns is a native of Southern California, and after serving in the
U.S. Air Force, Gary went on to get his bachelors degree in Accounting at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California. He started out his professional career working for one of the “Big 4” accounting firms where he received his CPA license. After that, Gary went on to work for the second largest software company in the world where he was responsible for implementing financial software at some of the largest multi-national corporations and governments in the world.

Even though Gary found himself succeeding in his career as a business advisor to Fortune 500 companies, he had to admit that there was one area of his life where improvement was needed. That one area involved being a good father. No matter what your definition of a ”good father” is, you’d have to agree that if you’re calling your daughter on her 16th birthday from a hotel room in Haifa, Israel, you might have missed a special bonding moment that comes along once in a girl's life. What makes this act even more problematic was that Gary had wished his daughter happy birthday from Tokyo, Japan, on her 14th birthday and also happy birthday from London, England, when she turned fifteen.

That memorable day in Haifa caused Gary to realize that relationships with family members were truly more important than any kudos he might receive from his clients or employer. At that moment, Gary realized that things needed to change for the better and that the first change would be to start “dating” his older daughter Jessica once a month by going out alone with her to a restaurant and trying to get to know her better. Always looking for an opportunity to spice things up, Gary decided that he and Jessica would date their way through the alphabet. So, starting with the letter “A,” a date was arranged to go to Applebee’s for breakfast. With great anticipation, Gary and Jessica sat down in a booth. But after ordering their meals, they soon realized they had difficulty keeping a conversation going and that the long pauses of silence between them were painfully awkward.

When the next month rolled around, and it was time to go to a restaurant starting with the letter “B,” Gary realized that he needed to do something different from the previous month; otherwise it would end up being another disaster with prolonged moments of awkward silence. That’s when the idea hit him! Why not create a game that was not only fun to play, but would also promote stimulating conversation as well. So, when Gary and Jessica sat down the next month at Bon Ami Café things began to change. You see, he had made up a simple game called “COM-MU’-NI-CA’-TION.” The game contained 14 thin slips of paper upon which fourteen unique statements were written, such as: “I really like it when you and I _____. I say that because….” Throughout the meal they alternated unwrapping the 14 pieces of paper and answering the statements. An hour and a half later the final statement had been answered and the “date” was a complete success.

However, after this successful date, the 14 pieces of paper were put into a plastic baggy and placed in Gary’s journal where they lay dormant for 10 years. It wasn’t until he started taking his second daughter Sophie (who is 10 years younger than Jessica) out for their monthly "dates" that the game was resurrected.

During one of his monthly dates with Sophie, Gary brought out the “COM-MU’-NI-CA’-TION” game. During their breakfast at Rio Lobo restaurant, the waitress kept slowing down and looking at their table as she went by. Towards the end of the meal there were fourteen strips of paper strewn all over the table and the waitress couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer. As she handed over the bill she finally asked, “What are you guys doing?” So Gary explained the premise of the game and how it is played. Upon hearing this, the waitress spontaneously blurted out, “Wow, I wish my dad had played a game like that with me.” Then just as quickly, she said, “You really ought to market this game because every girl in America would want to play it.” Thus, the seed was planted and today the “COM-MU’-NI-CA’-TION” game is enjoyed by dads and daughters all across America.