by RCG Chief Executive Officer Joel Rubin
When we read the January 4th issue of Inside Business, we saw the previous year pass before our eyes.
Of the magazine’s 15 top stories of 2015, we were involved in one way or another with seven.
(Inside Business lists each story one at a time on its website.)
#1 — Virginia Beach’s adoption of a series of agreements to allow construction of an 18,000-seat capacity arena near the Oceanfront. On behalf of developer ESG, we were involved practically from day one providing a host of services including:
- Message and strategy development
- Website development
- Media relations
- Video production
- Graphic design
- Crisis communications
- Community and government relations
#5 — “Banks”, specifically the acquisition of Monarch Bank by our longtime client TowneBank. RCG’s Ashley Martin is there all year for Towne, but we sprung into action to share the news, gathering the local media together for a hastily-called press conference in Suffolk just before Christmas. We expect to be further involved in 2016 as the consolidation plays out.
#6 — “Malls”, principally the controversial decision by Virginia Beach to veto the development of a new road to connect Northampton Boulevard motorists to the site of an outlet center proposed by Simon. For Simon, we:
- Developed a strategic communications plan
- Produced an educational video on the proposed roadway
- Provided media and community relations services
#8 — “Environment”, with a focus on the debate over drilling off the East Coast. I moderated two panel discussions on the issue, one on behalf of our client, Virginia Restaurant, Travel and Lodging Association. That led to a vote by that group against the concept, which delighted the city’s hotel and motel association and had a role in a subsequent decision by Virginia Beach City Council to rescind a 2010 resolution in favor of drilling.
#10 — “Portsmouth”, which was practically my second home in 2015. The city’s political and financial issues have impacted an RCG client and one of Portsmouth’s largest taxpayers, Wheelabrator Technologies. The company burns the region’s trash to create steam to heat buildings and drydocks at the adjacent Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the area’s fourth largest employer. Whether that continues, in other words how Southside Hampton Roads decides to manage solid waste disposal post 2018, will be one of the major stories of 2016. For Wheelabrator, RCG:
- Produced videos
- Conducted extensive community relations
- Wrote letters, releases and newsletters
- Developed creative strategies
- Built corporate partnerships
- “Badgered”, i.e. educated the news media and elected officials
#13 — “Protection”, and it included a profile of Virginia Beach-based Axis Global’s unique product that enables authorities to contain and capture an “active shooter.” The company demonstrated the technology during a drill at a subway station in New York City. RCG then helped the Axis team gain local publicity in Hampton Roads.
#14 — “Entrepreneurs”, a favorite subject of ours because that’s how we started in 1991. This year (2016) marks our 25th anniversary, and Danny Rubin and I are already devoting time to help Kempsville High School, Danny’s alma mater, prepare for the opening next fall of a Business and Entrepreneurial Academy. They are working with superintendent Aaron Spence, Academy director Meghan Timlin and others in the school system to promote the value of the new “school within a school” to the local business community.
And Danny will continue generating sales of the book he launched this past October that should be a bible for anyone starting a business or just looking for that first or next job. The book, Wait: How do I Write This E-Mail?, has templates to make that essential correspondence more readable and attention getting. You can find it on Amazon.
If you have an issue brewing in the new year, let Rubin Communications Group help you manage it. With us by your side, maybe you’ll make the top 15 in ’16.
Email danny at rubincommunications dot com with any inquiries.
