Violence striking the workplace is a nightmare scenario for any organization. Unfortunately, the ugly reality is that these things can and do happen, as has once again been made apparent by several recent workplace shootings, all occurring within one week of each other. A recent article from BusinessInsurance.com featured an …
Misbehaving on Allegiant Air
Anyone who has children knows they can be a handful, especially among the chaos of boarding an airplane, which causes stress to many adults. Apparently though, the folks at Allegiant Air are not too sympathetic. After an Arizona mom’s young children, with whom she was traveling alone, became restless and …
Maclaren Recall Crisis
Safe to say the management team at Maclaren is having a terrible week. On Monday its U.S. subsidiary issued a press release announcing a recall of every baby stroller it has sold in the United States in the past decade — which means about one million units. The purpose is …
Plug the Gaps
Often, when a crisis is thrust into the public eye, it causes others to take notice and think about their own crisis management plans. A recent article from the Cookeville Times website investigated the ways various organizations prepare for crises, as well as sharing this advice: In a speech to …
Taking an Advantage
Social media continues to create waves as more and more organizations and influential individuals climb on board. The advantages these platforms provide for crisis management are clear, as a recent blog post by social media consultant Richard Stacy explained: Social media allows you to communicate directly with the people you …
Big Mistake
Most hospitals strive to maintain a reputation of compassion and care, so when a purported billing department error at the UC Davis Medical Center caused a terse letter to be sent to the parents of a tragically deceased student, it hatched a crisis management nightmare. Another startling article from The …
Crossing the Line
While retail stores certainly have the right to detain suspected shoplifters, there is a line that can be crossed. According to a story posted on The Consumerist, a Michigan WalMart has been accused of not just crossing that line, but taking a flying leap over it. The details: In the …
Online Communications
Some of the most common crises that organizations find themselves facing involve reputation damage, and these days the origin of this damage is more than likely the Internet. In an interview for the Wildfire Marketing Group’s Thought Leader Thursday blog, reputation management consultant Andy Beal gave his take on why …
Important Crisis Manager Announcement
Crisis Manager Editor Jonathan Bernstein just sent this important notice to subscribers. Dear Crisis Manager Subscriber: I am moving my newsletter to a new email distribution service but along with that I have to ask you, on a one-time basis, to re-subscribe to the ezine. I apologize for the inconvenience …
Crisis Communication
Trouble can, will and does spring up at the most inopportune times. In a post on his blog, crisis and political pro Mike Love described one of the most important tasks in crisis communications:One of the core contributions that a Communications function can make to a business is to ensure …
Make the Connection
It is now commonplace, even expected, that businesses have corporate blogs, LinkedIn and FaceBook pages and Twitter accounts. The thing that can lead to crises is the fact that many of these businesses do not take care to ensure that the sought-after connection is being made between them and the …
Apologies vs. Litigation
Crisis managers have long known the benefits of saying, “I’m sorry,” but many other business circles are just now catching on. In a recent post on his blog, “Crisis Guru”, James Lukaszewski, crisis communications expert, broke down exactly how this practice is changing litigation: Many in the legal profession remain …
Obvious Necessity
Although it may seem an obvious necessity to readers of this blog, believe it or not there are still organizations out there operating without crisis management plans in place. An article recently posted on the AusBusiness Review did an excellent job of summing up the reasons no business should overlook …
The Spokesperson
As the person responsible for communicating your story to the public, media and your stakeholders, your organization’s spokesperson is critical to effective crisis management. An article for Crisis Response Communications, written by Bob Roemer, delves deeper into the role: Refusing to comment or merely issuing a written statement does not …
Clashing with the Media: Obama vs Fox News
When you are called in to perform crisis management for an organization, chances are the media will be involved. In a recent article, media/crisis management expert Rick Amme, President of Amme & Associates, shed some light on the reporter’s side of the issue, as well as what to do when …