Client Case Studies

Change of Address

Controversy was baked into the professional sports team’s plan to move to a neighboring city. Its hometown loved the team, despite a championship drought stretching back to 1975. Winning approval across the bay would be a battle of its own. The initial waterfront proposal encountered fierce political resistance. A second site, beside a major university’s medical facilities, raised fears that event traffic would block hospital access. Political opposition and litigation threatened to undo years of planning.

The response was a coordinated campaign of public affairs, community engagement, media relations, and litigation communications. Executives prepared for hearings and interviews with specific answers to the concerns raised. Reporters received briefings as the plans evolved. Labor organizations and small businesses were enlisted to make the case for jobs and investment. Negotiated agreements on transportation and hospital access addressed the central objections. Communications kept pace with negotiations and court proceedings, explaining each change and answering new challenges.

The project secured unanimous commission and board approvals, then prevailed in environmental litigation and on appeal. The team built a privately financed, $1.3 billion arena. Small businesses, including local and minority-owned firms, received $250 million in construction contracts. A development contested at every stage became a permanent home for the franchise, with public plazas, shops, restaurants, and a year-round calendar of sports and entertainment.

The team has gone on to win four championships. Its new arena welcomed five million fans in its first five years.

A Crisis on Every Front

A major utility’s gas pipeline exploded, killing eight people and destroying 38 homes. In the years that followed, company equipment was implicated in catastrophic wildfires. Criminal proceedings and regulatory investigations put the company under sustained scrutiny while customers continued to depend on it for essential services. Decisions about safety, rates, and power shutoffs carried immediate consequences for households and businesses.

The response required engineers, lawyers, executives, and emergency managers to work from a shared understanding of the facts. Technical information was translated into clear explanations of what had happened, what remained under investigation, and what customers needed to know. Journalists received direct briefings, inaccurate reports were challenged, and field staff prepared to answer questions in affected communities.

As the cases advanced, the company had to address responsibility for past disasters while explaining steps intended to reduce future risk. The federal pipeline case ended in felony convictions for safety violations and obstruction. A separate wildfire prosecution led to a guilty plea to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The company eventually emerged from bankruptcy under a reorganization plan requiring changes to governance and oversight. Communications support continued through successive emergencies and years of overlapping crises, helping the company answer for past failures while it carried out the changes required for its recovery.

Inferno’s Aftermath

A warehouse fire killed 36 people during a music event, leaving a city to answer for the safety of buildings it was responsible for regulating. Families wanted to know how the tragedy had been allowed to happen. Public anger extended beyond the building’s owners to questions about inspections, enforcement, and the city’s responsibilities. Criminal investigations and civil litigation unfolded alongside international coverage, while residents of other informal living spaces feared displacement.

The response required close coordination among the mayor’s office, fire and police departments, city attorneys, and other agencies. Officials prepared for press conferences, interviews, and community meetings as investigators established the facts. Public explanations distinguished confirmed findings from questions still under review. Inaccurate accounts were corrected, and officials prepared to acknowledge plainly when answers were not yet available.

The city adopted new protocols to improve building safety while avoiding unnecessary displacement. Departments began sharing inspection data and coordinating enforcement. Property owners were given a process for correcting violations, and relocation assistance was available when residents could not safely remain. Nearly four years after the fire, settlements resolved the remaining civil claims against the city and brought its litigation to a close.

Higher Purpose, Higher Profile

An antipoverty nonprofit founder became chair of a host committee for an international sporting event. He would speak for an entire region while preserving the credibility of the nonprofit he had built. Critics questioned public costs and disruption. With more than 5,000 journalists attending the big event, local disputes could quickly become part of a much larger story.

A multiyear communications strategy connected the event to a clear civic purpose. The chair prepared for network interviews, editorial board meetings, and speeches, with the same attention given to difficult questions as to the event’s ambitions. Coordination among public officials, the league, sponsors, and community partners helped keep public statements consistent as the deadline approached.

The committee placed local philanthropy at the center of its public case. Funding commitments gave the chair something concrete to discuss with residents who might never attend the event itself. By the end of the project, more than $13 million had been raised for nonprofits and community initiatives. The event’s free fan festival saw 1.1 million visitors.

The chair had carried a demanding public assignment through to completion, with a record of local benefits that outlasted the event. Eight years later, he was elected mayor of the city.