Asbury Partners, an iStar Financial Company, and the Master Developer of the historic Asbury Park waterfront, has selected R&J Public Relations LLC, of Bridgewater, N.J., as its public relations agency of record.  Asbury Partners has partnered with R&J to promote the company’s commitment to seeing the redevelopment of Asbury Park through to its successful completion, for the short- and long-term benefit of the City.  R&J has been tasked with developing and executing an aggressive and strategic public and media relations campaign that, in its initial stages, will focus on promoting VIVE, a luxury beachfront townhome community that signifies the first step to restart development on Asbury Park’s waterfront.

Beginning with VIVE, which will feature 28 luxury townhomes designed to blend the finest traditions of the Jersey Shore with smart, contemporary urban living, Asbury Partners is dedicated to revitalizing Asbury Park and creating a unique residential and entertainment destination rooted in the City’s strong cultural and musical heritage.  In addition, Asbury Partners is also investing more than a half million dollars in street, landscape, and curbside improvements to enhance the waterfront district and give it the look and feel of a master planned community.

“We understand the challenges facing New Jersey’s residential real estate market and have a unique perspective of the market from the homebuyer’s standpoint,” said John Lonsdorf, President of R&J Public Relations.  “Our experience and understanding, and the relationships we’ve established within the industry, will allow us to elevate awareness of and increase demand for VIVE, and generate interest and support for the overall waterfront redevelopment project among investors, potential buyers and the Asbury Park community.”

About Asbury Partners

Asbury Partners, a wholly owned subsidiary of iStar Financial Inc., is fully committed to seeing the redevelopment of Asbury Park through to its successful completion, for the short- and long-term benefit of the City.  As the Master Developer of the historic Asbury Park waterfront, Asbury Partners seeks to work with City officials, business leaders and members of the community to attract best-in-class development partners to create a unique residential and entertainment destination based on the strong cultural and musical heritage of Asbury Park.

About iStar Financial

iStar is one of the largest investors in luxury condominium, multifamily and master-planned residential developments throughout the United States, having financed and invested $10 billion in residential projects since 1993.  iStar’s portfolio has included interests in over 18,000 condominium units in the nation’s top markets and 65,000 acres in master planned communities having the potential for an estimated 50,000 single family and multifamily units.

The Company’s unique, fully-integrated platform extends from property entitlement and development to construction, bridge and long-term financing through asset servicing and property and portfolio management.

Today, iStar Financial is a $7 billion finance and investment company focused on the real estate industry and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SFI”.   Additional information on iStar Financial is available on the Company’s website at www.istarfinancial.com.

So whether you’re packing up your dorm room and just starting your job search, or sitting in your cubicle or corner office, Mike’s advice is worth a read and shines some rays of much needed positivity on today’s job market.

Did Mike forget anything?  Share your tips here.

R&J President John Lonsdorf was called on to moderate a panel of national experts on hyperlocal marketing, including the President of the renowned AOL-owned Patch network, on March 28 at the Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ.  One of the hottest trends in marketing today, hyperlocal marketing allows companies to pinpoint geographic pockets – down to as small as a neighborhood – to deliver customized, laser-targeted messages.  The event was sponsored by the New Jersey Advertising Club.

I recently read an article that helped confirm my worst fears about coming generations.  They’re mistakenly under the impression that life’s completely up for their interpretation.  Don’t get me wrong, I certainly spent my fair share of time combing through the rhyming dictionary to beef up my epic poetry, measuring syllables to perfect the art of Haiku, and painting a plethora of little masterpieces my parents deemed true works of art.  But then I had an English professor who refused to join my fan club, and I shook the cold hand of Reality.

I remember being handed back papers, which I was sure intimated true philosophical gems, and staring down the barrel of editing marks.  I was brought up on charges of semicolon misuse, comma negligence and grammatical carelessness.  I spent a few nights coming up with what I thought a surefire defense; I would plead creativity.  But when I entered the classroom the next day, my professor found me guilty and sentenced me to the basics.  Looking back on my run-in with English language law, I attest that learning the basics only helped me in the end.

Your work can only be as good as it can be communicated.  If you can’t express your thoughts and suggestions in a coherent manner, you won’t succeed in convincing others of the commendation you deserve.  Don’t think of writing as a boring, dreadful task whose only place is in academic institutions.  Think of writing as your chance to be heard and your means to being creative.  Take the time to learn the basics of language law so you can be sure your audience understands you and your messaging successfully carries the value you’re assigning it.  Words carry an important power and have the ability to earn you either a positive or negative name.  You want to ensure that you’re consistently using language to your advantage, not unwittingly using it to diminish your credibility.

I would have loved to continue living in a world that gushed over my haikus and extolled my epic poetry, but the truth is that pleading creativity will only advance you so far.  In order to succeed in a constantly communicating world, you need to be able to strategically position yourself in the conversation.

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“Leann has proven to be a very effective and thoughtful practitioner, and has grown within her position throughout the course of her year here at R&J,” said John Lonsdorf, President of R&J. “Her communication skills continue to impress, and she has shown herself to be more than just a terrific tactician, but also a strategic resource for her clients.  She has already effectively guided a number of important projects and initiatives through the agency, and we are supremely confident that her growth as a professional will continue.”

Moczydlowski, a South Plainfield, N.J. resident, graduated summa cum laude from Monmouth University in January 2011 with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in English and a minor in Public Relations.  A member of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, she received recognition upon graduation for having the highest GPA within her department.

Most recently, Rebecca Sypin and Jane Bingham, two women whose lives have been impacted by cancer, created a petition to encourage Mattel to create a “Beautiful and Bald Barbie” with whom children with cancer and hair loss illnesses could identify.  They also proposed that Mattel create accessories such as wigs, head wraps, scarves and hats for these dolls.  All of these accessories are items cancer survivors use to help cope with their illness.

Despite over 141,000 Facebook fans and over 400 articles written about the movement, Mattel has yet to address the issue publicly.  The only response these women received was a letter claiming that Mattel doesn’t accept ideas from outside sources. But this is one of those times when a rule should be broken.

I don’t know if the people over at Mattel have ever seen how cancer affects a person, let alone a child.  Let me tell you from experience, it sucks.  Hair falls out, tears are cried, “why me” questions are asked, and breaking points are reached.  My father passed away from bladder cancer in May 2011. My 5-year-old cousin was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a malignant round-cell tumor, last year and is currently in remission.  It’s an emotional roller coaster for the patient and the family alike.  No matter how you are involved, it’s one of life’s hardest experiences.

Cancer doesn’t discriminate.  It can and will attack any one – mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.  In this day and age, it’s very rare to meet a person who doesn’t know someone who has been affected by cancer, which is why it greatly surprises me that the people of Mattel can’t sympathize with this petition.

From a PR standpoint, Mattel is in trouble.  First of all, Mattel needs to address this issue publicly and quickly.  This isn’t one of those issues you can just sweep under the rug.  The news is out and someone needs to address it now.  What will Mattel do?  Will it continue following its rule on not letting outside sources submit ideas?  Will it work with girls who have cancer to design this new Barbie?  The issue needs to be addressed now before the public’s perception of the company becomes more negative.

Secondly, aren’t children Mattel’s target audience?  According to the National Cancer Institute, in the United States in 2007, approximately 10,400 children under the age of 15 were diagnosed with cancer.  Are those 10,400 children excluded from Mattel’s target audience?  Are Barbie and Ken immune to cancer?  Barbie can be a mermaid, but she can’t be bald?  This doesn’t make any sense to me.

Lastly, when it boils down to it, sometimes money isn’t everything.  In October 2011, Mattel reported a profit of $300.8 million, up from $283.3 million a year earlier.  In the long run, how much will it really cost Mattel to produce a limited edition Bald Barbie or Ken Doll?  The company manufactured much more controversial dolls such as Pregnant Midge (equipped with a baby in the Barbie’s stomach), Growing up Skipper (pull her arm and she hits puberty), Teen Talk (“math is tough!” is one of the lessons this doll teaches children) and Totally Tattoos Barbie (she comes with a tramp stamp in honor of Ken).  With money like that to spend, there’s no reason the company can’t afford to create these Bald Barbies and Kens and submit a large portion of the sales to a children’s cancer organization.

Mattel lost out on a great opportunity to show its customers just how important and relevant children with cancer are.  They are loving, feeling human beings – despite their cancer diagnosis.   And the overall societal lesson that Mattel could have taught would go a long way toward showing all children that the disease does not define the person.   Hopefully, the company will reconsider and do the right thing to help these children cope with what will be one of the most difficult times of their lives.