Paddi LeShane, Co-Founder & CEO

I recently rewatched the movie BlackBerry—and I have to admit, it felt familiar in a way I didn’t expect. I was a BlackBerry loyalist… and in many ways, still am. In fact, I’ve kept my old device to this day.

It wasn’t just a phone. It was how I worked, how I communicated with family, friends, and business associates. I relied on it. The keyboard, the speed, the simplicity of email—it worked the way I worked. For a long time, there was no reason to consider anything else.

Then came the Apple iPhone and Android. At first, I didn’t buy into it. A finicky touchscreen? No keyboard? It felt inefficient—almost like a step backward. And I wasn’t alone. There was a real belief that BlackBerry Limited still had it right.

But across the U.S. market, the shift had already begun. In 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone, followed closely by Android. BlackBerry continued to grow for a time—benefiting from its strong foothold and broad adoption—but the ground was quietly moving beneath it. This wasn’t a sudden collapse. It was a slow drift.


In 2010, BlackBerry commanded roughly 43% of the U.S. market. By 2012, that number had dropped to about 25%. By 2016, it was under 5%. Today, it has effectively disappeared from the smartphone landscape.

Why? It wasn’t one big moment—it was a series of small ones.

People started doing more on their phones. “Apps” began to matter. The tools expanded. The experience—not just the function—became the point. And with that shift came an entirely new generation of users who expected something different.

That’s what the movie captures so well—and it’s where the real lesson sits.

Eventually, yes, even this loyal BlackBerry user made the move—not to Apple at first, but to Android. I was probably one of the last in the office to switch. Android felt like a better fit for me. But the bigger truth is this: I moved on. Not because BlackBerry stopped working, but because the world around it changed. BlackBerry didn’t collapse overnight. They stayed focused on what made them successful—security, reliability, and getting the job done. But they missed something more important: their customers were changing.

This wasn’t just disruption—it was replacement.

Entire categories can vanish when they fail to evolve with how people live and how expectations shift. Add to that the creative pull of new features—cameras, voice activation, constant connectivity, and an expanding digital marketplace—and the pace of change only accelerated.

And here’s what stuck with me. Loyal customers don’t leave all at once. They drift. A new habit here. A different expectation there. Until one day, they’re using something else.

From a business and communications standpoint, that’s the real risk. You can be very good at what you do—and still lose your place if you’re not paying attention to where people are going next. Generational change is alive and well. Expectations reset faster than ever, and the next wave of users rarely asks permission—they just move.

Organizations that aren’t listening, adapting, and willing to pivot don’t get a second look. Because in the end, it’s not about when the product stops working. It’s when it stops fitting.

And here’s the part I didn’t expect.

I was a very loyal Android user for years—I still miss it. But my team is all iPhone. Our admin team can triage anything on it in seconds. And apparently, even I know when to follow the experts.

So, in the interest of full disclosure—yes, this month I switched to an iPhone.

I drifted.

Dan Tapper, Senior Director



Greg Bordonaro is the editor of the Hartford Business Journal (HBJ). He joined the editorial team in May 2008 after graduating from the University of Connecticut with a degree in journalism and history. He also has an MBA from the University of Hartford.

You have been with the HBJ since 2008. What has changed, and how, in terms of business reporting and the media in general, since then?

A lot has changed. When I started in 2008, print still played a much larger role in how people consumed news, and digital was important but nowhere near as dominant as it is today. The speed of the news cycle has accelerated dramatically. Readers expect information immediately, and that fundamentally changes how a newsroom operates.


Today, we produce 10 to 12 daily stories, along with more in-depth enterprise and print coverage, and we publish multiple email newsletters each day to keep readers informed in real time. We’ve seen tremendous growth in our digital audience while maintaining a strong print readership, which I think speaks to the continued value of quality business journalism across platforms.


One of the biggest shifts has been our evolution from a Hartford-centric publication to a truly statewide business news organization. Our newsroom is larger than it’s been at any point since I joined HBJ, and we now have reporters positioned across Connecticut, including Stamford and eastern Connecticut, allowing us to cover the state’s economy much more comprehensively.

In your time at the HBJ, you have made the newspaper into the leading source of business news in the Hartford area. How have you been able to do that?

I think it starts with consistency and knowing your audience. Our readers are business decision-makers — executives, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, service providers — and they’re busy. They want useful information, not fluff. So we’ve tried to be disciplined about covering stories that matter to them: economic development, commercial real estate, healthcare, banking, energy, public policy, labor, higher education and entrepreneurship.

We’ve also focused heavily on original reporting. The real value is in reporting what’s happening behind the scenes, explaining why it matters and helping readers connect dots.

And frankly, it’s about building a strong newsroom culture. We’ve assembled reporters who understand their beats, ask the right questions and care about getting it right.

Your publication, both digital and print, is tailored more for a business-to-business audience. Does that present any unique challenges?

One challenge is assuming a certain level of sophistication from readers while still making stories accessible. Our audience includes CEOs, attorneys, developers and financial professionals, but also small business owners and people who may not live inside a specific industry every day.


So part of the job is translating complicated issues — tax policy, healthcare regulation, mergers and acquisitions, utility rate cases, real estate finance — into clear journalism without oversimplifying them.

What are the kinds of stories you most enjoy seeing from your staff, and the kinds of stories you think your audience most enjoys reading?

The stories I enjoy most are the ones that tell readers something they didn’t already know. That can be enterprise reporting, but it can also be a smart daily story that advances the conversation. Maybe it’s a company quietly relocating headquarters, a major development project that’s stalled, an acquisition with broader implications, or a policy decision that could materially affect employers.


Our readers tend to respond well to stories with direct business impact — deals, expansion plans, executive moves, regulatory changes, workforce issues, healthcare costs, commercial real estate trends. They also care a lot about what’s next. Not just what happened, but what it means.


At the end of the day, business readers value information they can use.

Lastly, the HBJ has made it a priority to recognize and honor area business leaders, as well as up and coming leaders—this happens through the Power 50, various industry-focused lists that acknowledge top leaders, and 40 Under 40 which recognizes emerging talent. Why are these lists and these honors so important to the region?

Part of our mission is journalism, but part of it is also helping connect the business community. Businesses, institutions and the broader regional economy are shaped by people making decisions — whether that’s CEOs, founders, nonprofit leaders, healthcare executives, developers or emerging entrepreneurs. Programs like Power 50 and 40 Under 40 help spotlight influence, achievement and leadership trends across the region. 

Brian Flaherty, Executive Vice President

This is because when it comes to telling your story, in most cases, if you’ve said something once, most people haven’t heard it yet.

Audiences are busy. Reporters are juggling multiple stories. Stakeholders dip in and out of meetings, newsletters, and social feeds. Even the people paying attention are often catching only fragments of what you say. What can feel repetitive inside an organization often feels like the first mention to the outside world.

Effective messaging isn’t about saying something once and moving on. It’s about saying the same clear idea consistently across multiple places: the interview, the speech, the press release, the community meeting, the op-ed, and, yes, sometimes repeatedly in the same conversation.

This doesn’t mean you need to memorize a script and deliver word-for-word repetition. Nobody enjoys listening to a human photocopier. Adapt your language to the audience and the moment. And keep your core idea steady.

The strongest communicators know that consistency builds familiarity, familiarity builds understanding, and understanding—over time—builds trust.

There’s a reason political campaigns repeat the same themes relentlessly. There’s a reason major brands use the same slogans for years. Repetition builds recognition, and recognition matters.

A message repeated thoughtfully doesn’t sound repetitive. It sounds clear.

So if you hear yourself making the same point again and again, don’t panic. That might just mean your audience is finally beginning to remember it.

In communications, repetition is not redundancy. It’s reinforcement.

Randi Sussman, Senior Manager, Integrated Communications

We’ve talked about social media, particularly LinkedIn, in past issues of On Message, but it is worth stepping back and looking at social media from a broader perspective. Below are a few practical considerations organizations should keep in mind when using these platforms.

Most organizations put a lot of thought into the messages they share on social media, which is important. However, it is just as important not to overlook when and how often content is posted. Poor timing or posting too frequently can reduce impact and visibility.

Spacing posts is key. When content is published back-to-back, each post can compete with the next, limiting reach and engagement. Allowing time between posts allows each message to gain traction and reach different segments of your audience.

It is also important to understand your audience’s behavior. Posting when it is convenient internally does not always align with when your audience is most active. Most platforms offer scheduling tools, and communications professionals should take advantage of them to maintain consistency and improve timing.

Another factor to consider is how social media algorithms determine what content is seen. These platforms prioritize posts based on engagement and relevance, not just timing.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Early engagement matters
  Posts that generate interaction shortly after being published are more likely to be shown to a broader audience. This is why timing and initial visibility are so important.
• Engagement drives reach
  Likes are helpful, but comments and shares tend to carry more weight in extending a post’s visibility.
• Format plays a role
  Native content, such as text, images, or video, often performs better than posts that direct users off-platform.
• Activity signals relevance
  Accounts that post and engage regularly are more likely to maintain consistent visibility over time.

These are simple, but important considerations that can make a meaningful difference. Organizational social media should not be treated as an extension of personal posting habits. There should be a clear strategy behind every message an organization shares.

Anthony Siteman, SLPR Spring Intern (Quinnipiac University)

My internship at Sullivan & LeShane Public Relations gave me clarity about what I want to do. I came in with classroom PR experience and mock campaigns behind me, but I was still figuring out where to focus. Now I know.

Most of my work was research that fed directly into client strategy. I built Connecticut town profiles, compiled media lists, tracked awards clients could apply for, and identified press opportunities for clients like the YMCA of Greater Hartford. Different deliverables, same principle. The quality of the research shapes everything the team does next.

The town profiles taught me the most. Demographics, economic conditions, boards and commissions, school data, social media presence, housing, unemployment. Doing this town after town changes how you see public communication. You start to recognize what a healthy community looks like in the data and what raises questions. That's the foundation real PR strategy is built on.


Smaller projects like legislative testimony analysis reinforced the same lesson. You don't understand an issue until you read what people actually said about it.


That's the work I want to do. Public relations built on real research, where the goal is figuring out what different audiences need to hear and why they should believe it. Strong messaging starts with knowing exactly what you're up against.


SLPR gave me real work, honest feedback, and a sense of purpose I came in without. I'm taking all of it forward.