Last summer, the American branch of Mensa faced one of the biggest crises in their history when news organizations latched onto the fact that the man responsible for a Washington, D.C. shooting had briefly been a member. An article was recently posted on the The Center for Association Leadership website that features a first hand account of the entire crisis management process right from its dramatic start:
At our office, it was a typical day. We were working through member and media relations, with preparation for our national convention mixed in. When the news originally broke, all anyone knew was the shooter’s age. We were listening to the story unfold when I received a voicemail from The Washington Post wanting to verify a member. The pieces clicked together, and, suddenly, I realized that we had a potential crisis on our hands.
The effectiveness of Mensa’s response speaks volumes for the power of prior planning. Within minutes of being connected to the story, they had put their crisis response plan into action and released statements to their members and the media which served to distance them from this story and the shooter. Within hours, the media began reporting that the man was not a Mensa member and had not been for many years – crisis averted.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/