The Blue Highway Beacon: Vol. III, NO. 2

New Faces, New Powers, and a New Pushpin on the Map

By Ian Christopher McCaleb, BHA/BHG Founder & Principal

One of the most dually satisfying and fear-inducing moments in the trajectory of a new, specialized enterprise like ours happens when the decision is made to strike out into a new U.S. metro market. Strategic, crisis and litigation communications and support services play well in places like Washington and London, where litigiousness and bad press are just as much a part of the landscape as vicious politics and restaurant reviews.

But Boston and greater New England? Great culture, great restaurants, lovely people (for the most part).

And, as an aside, I can say that authoritatively about the folks of New England, because a rather colorfully large swath of my childhood occurred there. The stories. Oh, the stories.

Boston, Concord, Providence, Worcester and similarly situated cities have not been known as hotbeds for highest-level communications, strategic advisory and intelligence services. But they should be – there’s far too much going on in all of these places for Blue Highway Advisory and Blue Highway Global to ignore.

So, in the course of the last few months, we have stealthily raised our own flag in the birthplace of the Sons of Liberty – Boston.

Please make the acquaintance of Rob Legare, Blue Highway’s recently minted, Boston-based Senior Litigation Communications Advisor, and our great New England standard-bearer.

Rob comes to Blue Highway from CBS News, where he served as the network’s Justice Department reporter and producer, managing coverage of the nation’s most high-profile national security and legal stories. Throughout his journalistic and broadcast careers, Rob broke stories that drove the news cycle and he served as editorial counsel to senior executives, CBS News anchors and correspondents.

A reporter by training with a producer’s instinct, and backed by experience throughout his career operating at the highest levels of media and news, Rob excels in devising proactive media strategies and providing vital counsel amidst the maelstrom of public-facing challenges. With a reputation for successfully translating complex legal, political and reputational issues into high-impact narratives for a national audience, Rob crafts clarity from the complex and anticipates potential risks, helping clients navigate pivotal moments with confidence and precision.

"I took note of Blue Highway's growth over the years from the outside,” Rob says.

And that he truly did. Rob was covering the Pras Michel trial for CBS when Blue Highway ran all PR and media operations for the Grammy-winning defendant as he faced the trial of his life. Rob’s coverage of the case was noticeably stellar.

"Coming from covering high-stakes legal cases and major political and corporate stories as a reporter, I knew I needed to work with an ambitious and creative group of people whose core objective is to solve problems well.

“Blue Highway's team of litigation and crisis experts is unrivaled in its depth of experience and track record of success under pressure.”

Rob has confidently, deliberately and meticulously set about making himself the name to reckon with in Boston-area law firm support.

Are you in metro Boston or greater New England, and do you need some immediate advice or assistance? If so, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Rob.

All Roads Lead to OSInt

Establishing a physical presence in a new locale is one thing, but very little of what Blue Highway achieves is, well… achievable… without the sort of expertise and capabilities that will further separate us from the pack of established firms and up-and-comers alike in the information propagation and management space.

As such, we’ve found ourselves one of the world’s kings of unimpeachable, Open Source-derived rapid research and early-warning capabilities.

Sam Huxley is now our US-based torquemada of Digital Reputation Management, Open-Source Intelligence (OSInt), Risk Monitoring and Digital Public Affairs.

Sam combines strategic communications expertise and technical capabilities with a forward-leading focus on human-checked, AI-driven analytics to create custom monitoring and assessment systems for clients navigating today's treacherous digital environment.

Sam helps corporate leadership teams build and protect their digital reputations while maintaining situational awareness of emerging threats and opportunities alike in complex stakeholder environments.

With more than 25 years of experience, Sam has developed digital reputation strategies and risk assessment frameworks for Fortune 50 corporations, technology companies and energy sector clients across international markets. He has designed real-time monitoring systems that provide early warning capabilities for leadership teams, and has led digital public affairs campaigns for organizations including Samsung, Saudi Aramco, HP and AT&T. His work has spanned complex geopolitical environments in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia. Past clients have included US and foreign government agencies, multinational corporations and emerging technology companies.

Sam previously chaired the Risk and Business Strategy Practice at LEVICK (where he and I toiled in the trenches together, getting to know each other as colleagues first, and fast friends ever since).

Before that, he served as Global Lead, Digital Crisis for FleishmanHillard, managing high-profile issues management efforts involving product recalls, data breaches and public health. Even earlier, he created the Strategy and Insights team at New Media Strategies, developing social media strategy products for NBC, Chrysler, Sony Pictures and Honda. He also served as Director for Creative Strategy at Young & Rubicam Brands Team Microsoft.

“I am very excited to join Blue Highway Advisory and Blue Highway Global to immediately leverage my expertise in AI to significantly expand our rapid research capabilities,” Sam states. “The opportunity to collaborate again with Ian McCaleb, whose insightful work I have long admired, is a major draw.

“Moreover, the sheer talent of the entire Blue Highway Advisory team constantly amazes me. The fascinating work I’m already engaged in is just the beginning, and I eagerly anticipate all that we will achieve together.”

Our rapid research capabilities are definitive for client decision-making, and I’d absolutely encourage you to reach out to Sam directly to test my premise.

And if you’re looking to maybe do some work with us in the fields we specialize in, please give us an immediate shout to me as well. We need more expertise as we grow.