Ready to Engage

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response, reputation management Leave a Comment

As news headlines show us on an almost daily basis, many companies still neglect to prepare detailed and workable crisis plans, hindering their ability to react when disaster rears its ugly head. If your organization believes itself ready to actively engage in crisis management, go through this list of questions …

Social Solutions

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communication, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, reputation management, social media Leave a Comment

In recent years social media has played a huge role in disaster crisis management. From Katrina and Haiti to the BP spill, social media platforms are being put to work facilitating communication and tracking all kinds of information. Why are these platforms so attractive? This quote from a Computer World …

Twitter Delivers the News

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communication, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, reputation management, social media, Twitter

The Twitter stream alerted the news media to yesterday’s unfolding crisis at the Discovery building, reports Paul Farhi in today Washington Post.  In a piece that notes that “Tweet stream alerts news media to the unfolding crisis,” Farhi reports that “for the raw speed and real-time eyewitness accounts, it’s now …

Preparing for Disaster

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, disaster preparedness, disaster response

Donald Schmidt has 30 years of experience preparing for crises, and with Hurricane Earl still creating storms along the East coast we thought it was good timing to run an article by him regarding disaster preparedness in the latest Crisis Manager newsletter. A sampling: Hazard mitigation can substantially reduce the …

You Need Social Media

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, social media

Social media has become a “must have” in today’s business world, but fears about opening the floodgates for negative viral buzz still hold some back from participating. In an article for this week’s Crisis Manager newsletter, online marketing and branding expert Cindy Ratzlaff explains why staying out of the conversation …

New Crisis Manager

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, crisis manager, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, internet reputation management

This week’s Crisis Manager features articles from two authors new to the pages of our newsletter. First up is an article by online branding and marketing expert Cindy Ratzlaff, named one of the top 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter by Forbes, that explains how to defuse the fear …

Philippine Police Problems

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, reputation management

The Philippine police force is facing international criticism after their bungling of the recent hostage situation in Manila cost eight Hong Kong tourists their lives. Broadcast on nearly every major television network, the incident has destroyed any last remaining shreds of good reputation the force held on to and exposed …

Pirates Sink Their Own Ship

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, media training, reputation management

Sports teams are vulnerable to crises just like any other business, sometimes even more so because of the large sums of money and public interest involved. Fans of Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates have become accustomed to their team bringing up the rear, but careless handling of questions regarding team …

Crisis Management Through the Customer’s Eyes

Jonathan Bernstein crisis communications, crisis management, Crisis Prevention, crisis public relations, Crisis Response

I’m probably the last person you want to hear from now. I’m what you call a customer. Chances are, you don’t know me. You’re fast asleep when you fly over me on red-eyes. You profess undying love for me in company lore—and ignore me in practice. You’ve built a Byzantine …

Nobody is Immune

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention

Large or small, even the best managed businesses may be hit by an unexpected public relations crisis. These can be recalls of dangerous or contaminated products, a civil product liability law suit, or some other unforeseen disaster that may hurt sales, the bottom line, and reflect badly on a company’s …

Hurd Hurts HP

Jonathan Bernstein crisis management, Crisis Prevention, Crisis Response, reputation management

Hewlett-Packard’s crisis management team has been hard at work this week following the sudden resignation of CEO Mark Hurd. Leaving after revelations of an inappropriate relationship and improper use of company funds, the formerly revered Hurd will float out on a $12 million dollar golden parachute loaded with hundreds of …