Forty years is a long time to do anything. For a communications agency, it’s long enough to have worked in a world before the internet, before social media, before the entire infrastructure of how information moves changed underneath the industry’s feet more than once.
I joined R&J at the tail end of 1999, when the world was on the precipice of the Y2K transition and all the uncertainty that came with it was swirling. It was literally the dawn of a new century, and there was very real talk, in many circles, about the possibility that the whole world would be completely transformed in an instant at the stroke of midnight.
A recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision should prompt developers pursuing use variances in New Jersey to rethink how they prepare for local approvals. The ruling places greater emphasis on whether a project aligns with a municipality’s zoning plan before its public benefits are considered,
Here’s a practical question for communications people: When someone asks an AI system a question in your field, does the AI system know enough about you (or the brand you’re trying to build visibility for) to potentially include you in the answer?
Google made some pretty significant changes to the way it conducts search and presents users with results this week. As you may have guessed, AI is the driving force behind the changes. If you’re involved with or responsible for marketing communications at your organization, you need to pay attention to this.
When I look back at the mid-to-late 1990s, I see a defining stretch that set the trajectory for everything R&J Strategic Communications would become. We now refer to it as our Expansion & Specialization Era, a time when both our agency and the broader communications landscape were undergoing rapid, transformative change.
Google made some pretty significant changes to the way it conducts search and presents users with results this week. As you may have guessed, AI is the driving force behind the changes. If you’re involved with or responsible for marketing communications at your organization, you need to pay attention to this.
This story in today’s edition of The Record is an interesting microcosm of many of the biggest issues that communities throughout New Jersey, and the wider region, are grappling with right now. On the surface, it looks like a garden-variety story about a developer who wants to repurpose a vacant 44-acre office campus for a new use that better serves the needs of the community in changing times.
When I founded what would eventually become R&J Strategic Communications in 1986, the vision was straightforward: build a firm rooted in integrity, trusted relationships, and strategic thinking. In our earliest days, the company operated as Roberts & John Advertising and Public Relations, a small agency with a big belief that organizations deserved communications partners who cared as deeply about their mission and reputation as they did.
At 4 a.m. on a December morning in South Bend, Indiana, the St. Joseph County Council voted 7-2 to reject the massive data center project near the town of New Carlisle. Nearly 50 residents spoke during public comments that stretched from 11:30 p.m. until after 3 a.m., in a highly-organized, highly-visible and highly-effective effort.
