You've got some good points there, and George is thinking about all those things. (It's not my place to say much more about that. There will always be more ideas than time or budget to put them into play.)
On the Chairman invitation, I wouldn't be insulted about it. We're all grownups, right? We all get things in the mail that try to stroke us; some of them just work better than others. I'd be more insulted about the C&C peeps who feel they have to point it out to everyone, like they're the only ones who noticed and the rest of us are all stupid or something.
The way I'd approach this is "George wants to tell you a little story, and we'd like for you to suspend your disbelief and enjoy it. Let EF make you feel special for a few minutes." Okay?