Protect yourself from social media attacks The ease of use and relative anonymity of Twitter has made it into the perfect engine for those with grievances, even unfounded ones, to bring their issues into the public spotlight and give someone’s name a quick run through the mud. This is probably …
University of Pennsylvania’s Crisis Management Fail
You can’t hide facts in the age of the ‘net When it became known that Dough Lynch, vice dean of the graduate school of education at the University of Pennsylvania, did not in fact have a doctorate as he claimed, the University slapped him with “sanctions”, but he kept his …
The Impact of Social Media in Today’s Crises
Today’s guest post comes to us from our colleague Melissa Agnes, who has made a name for herself guiding organizations through social media crisis management. Give it a read, and learn what you need to know about… The Impact of Social Media in Today’s Crises Social media has taken traditional …
Legal, Meet Social Media
It pays to have everyone on the same page when it comes to crisis management Crisis management professionals and legal teams have historically had a relationship full of clashes, with one wanting to communicate profusely and the other seeing new legal threats emerge with every spoken word. Now that social …
The Modern Smash N Grab
Crisis management for a thoroughly modern crime The corporate hack attacks perpetrated by the Anonymous collective are certainly not the first of their kind. However, the fact that the group gained access to unprecedented levels of information, penetrated top-tier government and corporate systems, and boldly claimed responsibility caught the attention …
The Ryan Braun Saga: Part Two
The following is a guest article from frequent contributor and director of crisis communications for Triad Strategies, Rick Kelly. If you missed Part One of this story, head here first. The Ryan Braun Saga: Part Two We who practice crisis communications for a living are intimately and sometimes painfully familiar …
Crisis Management at Claire’s
Don’t go corporate in a crisis The blog post came Wednesday. Tatty Devine, a handmade jewelry company in England, posted photos of its own designs next to designs sold at international affordable jewelry retailer Claire’s. The response was explosive. More than 200 people commented before Tatty Devine closed the comments, …
Get the Right Story Out
Does Inaccurate Information Require Crisis Management? If information is not accurate does a company still need to address it? The answer is a resounding “yes”. The days of ignoring something and hoping it goes away are long gone. Today, if an issue is ignored it is considered true until proven …
Loose Lips
Don’t sink your own ship! Never interrupt your elders. 60 Minutes last night aired an interview with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Correspondent Leslie Stahl was questioning the Congressman about the need for bi-partisan cooperation and said even Cantor’s hero, Ronald Reagan, compromised and raised taxes. At that point, Cantor’s …
Improve Your Credibility
Lose people’s trust, and you lose it all. Credibility is everything when it comes to business and reputation. If people can believe what you say about yourself or your product, then you’ll have an easy time selling. Start lying, however, and you throw that right in the garbage. If a …
FedEx Gets Crisis Management Right
High marks for reputation management via YouTube Early last month, FedEx came under fire when video of a deliveryman literally hurling a computer monitor over a customer’s fence went viral. Although the video drew millions of hits almost instantly, FedEx’s crisis management team wasn’t far behind. Taking the sage path …
Get Your Story Straight
Lying is a slippery slope Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray wrecked his state-owned Crown Victoria sedan on November 2nd. Initially Murray said he was driving within the speed limit and wearing a seat belt when he hit some black ice. According to the Boston Globe Murray said he was out …
Turn Bad Publicity Around
When life hands you lemons… Every business makes mistakes, and at some point or another the media’s going to pounce on one of yours. When this happens, it will be your reaction that determines whether your reputation bounces back or takes a pounding. In every case you should apologize and …
Train the Right People
Who needs media training? Everyone. While empowering employees to speak up in the midst of a media firestorm is the opposite of most large companies’ knee-jerk reaction — telling staff to zip their lips is a more likely standard response — more firms are coming around to this approach. “What’s …
News International Back in the Fire
Trouble isn’t over for Murdoch and Co. The downfall of The News of the World was one of the biggest crisis management mishaps this year, and thanks to emerging information we’re finding the entire circus may not be over yet. A quote, from the Guardian UK: Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch …