I recently had the chance to “sit down”, in the Covid world, with Bob Sommer, a West board member. Bob is a leading advisor on government relations and public affairs. He advises now at Awsom Associates after having built and sold a national public relations firm and then serving in government and as a senior executive of an NHL franchise. Bob also teaches graduate-level public affairs and media relations courses at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.
Bob understands the importance of government and public relations and how the best ideas can quickly go awry without the right communications strategy. What began as a conversation more focused on PR and communications, transformed into a much broader discussion about the impacts of COVID-19 on business strategy and core communications practices.