About Messagesmith

Messagesmith is a strategic communications consultancy owned and operated by Rick Laubscher.  A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Rick focuses his business on working with selected global corporations to localize their outreach and build their reputations in Northern California.  Rick also provides high-level strategic communications counsel on national and international issues to his clients.

Messagesmith benefits from Rick’s extensive experience as a corporate communications executive, civic activist, and broadcast journalist.  In his civic life, Rick was the founding chair of the board of governors of The City Club of San Francisco, a 900-member inclusive business club quartered in the landmark Art Deco Stock Exchange Tower.  He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and has served in the past as a board member of SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research) and of San Francisco Beautiful.

Rick's primary non-profit passion is serving as president and board chair of Market Street Railway, Muni’s non-profit preservation partner.  This 1100-member organization acts as an advocacy and support group for Muni’s world-famous cable cars and its historic streetcars (the F-line) linking Fisherman’s Wharf, Downtown, and the Castro District, now the most popular line of its kind in America.  As chair of the Chamber of Commerce transportation committee in 1983, Rick conceived the Historic Trolley Festivals, sponsored by the Chamber and supported by then-Mayor Feinstein, that served as the successful proof of concept for the F-line.

Rick holds an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he finished first in his class and won the Pulitzer Fellowship.

Rick operates his business in the virtual world, almost entirely electronically.  He can be reached at rick@messagesmith.com or at 415.305.5242.