Howard Gross is an expert at explaining things.

A former journalist and video producer, Howard founded HG Communications in 1991 to help technology companies promote and market fundamentally new systems and services. Working with clients like Apple, IBM, Xerox, 3Com and BBN – the company that built and operated the prototype of the Internet – HGC focused on advancing, what were then, novel concepts like digital networks, hypertext, encryption, non-linear editing, speech recognition, wireless personal computing, groupware, e-commerce and the World Wide Web.

During that time, Howard was also a faculty member at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management and Technology, where he co-founded one of the  first MS/MBA programs in Corporate and Technical Communication. There, he developed and taught courses in technology applications and management, exploring how digital networks and interactive systems were driving the convergence of interpersonal, organizational and mass communication.

As the new technologies became mainstream, Howard realized he could extend his capabilities to other disciplines and joined the strategic communications firm of Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, initially to work on the AOL (subsequently AOL Time Warner) account. As Senior Vice President, he also worked with leading multinationals in information and communication technologies, media, health care, energy, pharmaceuticals and financial services, articulating complex issues and further promoting the use of digital media for corporate positioning, crisis communication, issues management, content marketing, public affairs, investor relations and corporate social responsibility.

Among Howard’s principal clients was The Nielsen Company, the worldwide market research firm for which he played key roles in resolving major crises and launching its cross-media measurement services. He also established Nielsen’s first corporate blog and co-founded it private social network, Hey Nielsen!. Joining the firm full time as Senior Director of Global Communications, Howard continued to support its television, Internet, mobile and social media operations by counseling senior management in positioning their digital and data services; and advised the international consumer division on the development of content marketing strategies – including print, video, digital and live presentations – with regard to issues such as China, emerging markets, immigration and protectionism, population and aging, urbanization, the “female economy’ and the global middle class.

Given the sweeping impact of these matters – now and into the future – Howard recognized another opportunity to serve an even wider array of businesses and organizations, and re-established HG Communications to help clients effectively advance their critical information and ideas.

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