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Just a Thought
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"There are no corporate results that can justify dishonesty or deliberately generating discord."
-- Jacquelyn Lynn
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From the Editor
When I saw this issue's "Just a Thought" quote, from well-known writer and content specialist Jacquelyn Lynn, I immediately thought, "Apple." While Apple's products and public image are all about the desire to facilitate connections, helping people share, and improving our lives with technology, its behind-the scenes actions are quite the opposite. With court cases revealing the company has strayed far from the straight and narrow on repeated occasions, including deliberately deceiving customers about privacy controls and, most recently, masterminding a scheme to raise e-book prices and sink its competition, how long will it be until Apple realizes its current behavior, and the corporate culture that enables it, could very well lead to its downfall? Now, I'm not kidding myself here. We have at least three i-Products in my household, maybe more, and you can't walk down the street without seeing several in action. Being the sole purveyor of a product that leads the industry is, without question, a powerful buffer against reputation-induced damage, and Apple HQ won't be tumbling to the ground any time soon.
Thing is, when you play as deep into the grey area as Apple has, it's difficult to not go over the edge. Once the public takes notice of that -- and being found guilty of repeated ethical violations will eventually catch the attention of the general public -- your reputation begins to crumble.
At some point, even formerly loyal fans will have heard enough bad news that they won't hesitate to jump ship when the next big thing comes along. Considering the level of competition in the tech industry today, and the fact that Steve Jobs dreaming up a Hail Mary to save the day with sheer brilliance is no longer possible, Apple should take a long, hard look at how its ethics could undermine its operations.
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Thank you, and read on. |
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Gmail has rolled out a new inbox for its web-based email users that divides content into various tabs. You've (hopefully!) found our newsletter under your GMail "Promotions" tab, but if you would like to it to go to your "Primary" inbox next time, just drag and drop the email there, or click the star next to it, and you're all set.
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Blogs!
By Erik Bernstein
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In Crisis Management Quotables...on the Value of Friends, we take a quote from legendary basketball player Earvin "Magic" Johnson and use it to explain just how important having allies is when you run into trouble. The latest celeb to need Viral Video Crisis Management: Riley Cooper. The Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver was filmed shouting racial slurs at a Kenny Chesney concert, and team, fellow players, and the league were quick to punish. The increasingly uncivil behavior exhibited every day raises the question, Is Rude the New Norm? With studies showing the answer very well may be "yes," we offer some advice to set your operation apart from the rest. Reviewed: Chris Syme's "Practice Safe Social" - We rarely do book reviews, but when a real expert puts something out, it's usually worth a look. Using real-world examples and spicing up her content with plenty of pop culture references, Chris delivers with her latest work. A special post from Jonathan Bernstein, Yosemite Rim Fire Demonstrates Impact of a Disaster, looks at the valuable lessons in crisis preparedness we should all take from this nearly 200,000 acre blaze. Coming down from your pedestal can be difficult, and there may be no better example than Apple. In this post, we offer up Crisis Management Advice for Apple after its e-Book Injunction.The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's Crisis Management is Enhancing Consumer Safety every day. Using education and communication to prevent and detect crises, this organization is doing it right. Deleting posts once they've caught the public's attention is a MAJOR no-no. Dr. Phil Needs a Prescription for Social Media Crisis Management after posting a highly controversial question on Twitter, then deleting it once he drew the ire of stakeholders. Erik Bernstein is a freelance writer, editor of Crisis Manager, Social Media Manager for Bernstein Crisis Management, and self-pronounced one-man-band at Bernstein Social Media. |
| Apropos of Nothing |
Social Media Training
Want to get your feet wet with social media but don't know where to start? Maybe you have accounts, but aren't sure what to post, or how to reply?
Being active on social media is a must these days, but you have to do it right. Erik Bernstein, Bernstein Crisis Management's Social Media Manager, now offers social media training sessions in person or via Skype for groups and individuals.
For questions or pricing info, please email [email protected]
Bernsteins Available to Deliver Free Guest Lectures, Q&A Sessions
Jonathan alone, or the team of Jonathan and Erik Bernstein, are available at no charge to deliver guest lectures and host Q&A sessions with college classes via Skype or Google Hangout. Our latest presentation was to a graduate-level Healthcare Marketing course at Cal State Long Beach.
The lectures are fun for both us and students, and we're more than happy to allow recording for your future use. All you need at your end is a single computer with webcam and a strong broadband connection for us to appear in your classroom in real-time.
Contact us for more info!
Attention Corporate Boards of Directors (and those who serve them).
If you're connected with a corporate board of directors in some way and think that board would benefit from having a veteran crisis management pro amongst its membership, please contact me. -- Jonathan
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Business Announcements
(aka blatant self-promotion) Expanded Crisis Manager Bookstore We've recently expanded the Crisis Manager Bookstore to include offerings from esteemed colleagues like Melissa Agnes, Gerald Baron, Chris Syme and Jim Lukaszewski that cover topics from crisis communication and traditional PR to social media and cutting-edge crisis management. We'll be adding other authors we admire in the weeks ahead.
Visit the new Crisis Manager Bookstore to see all of the material available now!
Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training  Learn how to deal with traditional or social media during a crisis in this educational and entertaining guide from Crisis Manager publisher Jonathan Bernstein. $25 for the hard copy and $10 for the PDF. Head to the Crisis Manager Bookstore for more information and/or to purchase.
Manager's Guide to Crisis Management
Whether you're a seasoned manager, aspiring up-and-comer, or student of crisis management, Jonathan Bernstein's textbook, Manager's Guide to Crisis Management (McGraw-Hill, 2011) will put you in control of any situation.
Looking for a Turn-Key Social Media Solution? Missing out on all the promotional, SEO and reputation management advantages of being active on social media platforms? Hire someone to be your voice...like Erik Bernstein, editor of Crisis Manager. He's the one largely responsible for keeping the Bernstein Crisis Management website and social media accounts highly ranked and popular and can do the same for you, while creating a set of valuable social presences that can be turned over to your full control at any time More info:[email protected]. |
Guest AuthorsGuest authors are very welcome to submit material for "Crisis Manager." There is no fee paid, but most guest authors have reported receiving business inquiries as a result of appearing in this publication. Case histories, experience-based lessons, commentary on current news events and editorial opinion are all eligible for consideration. Submission is not a guarantee of acceptance. |
About Us
  Jonathan Bernstein is both publisher of Crisis Manager and president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., a national crisis management public relations agency providing 24/7 access to crisis response professionals. The agency engages in the full spectrum of crisis management services: crisis prevention, response, planning & training. He has been in the public relations field since 1982, following five-year stints in both military intelligence and investigative reporting. Write to Jonathan at: [email protected]. Erik Bernstein is editor of Crisis Manager and is also Social Media Manager for Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. Write to Erik at: [email protected]. |
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Legal Disclaimer (aka the small print)All information contained herein is obtained by Jonathan Bernstein from sources believed by Jonathan Bernstein to be accurate and reliable.
Because of the possibility of human and mechanical error as well as other factors, neither Jonathan Bernstein nor Bernstein Crisis Management is responsible for any errors or omissions. All information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Bernstein Crisis Management and Jonathan Bernstein make no representations and disclaim all express, implied, and statutory warranties of any kind to the user and/or any third party including, without limitation, warranties as to accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. Unless due to willful tortuous misconduct or gross negligence, Jonathan Bernstein and Bernstein Crisis Management shall have no liability in tort, contract, or otherwise (and as permitted by law, product liability), to the user and/or any third party. Under no circumstance shall Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein be liable to the user and/or any third party for any lost profits or lost opportunity, indirect, special, consequential, incidental, or punitive damages whatsoever, even if Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein has been advised of the possibility of such damages. A service of this newsletter is to provide news summaries and/or snippets to readers. In such instances articles and/or snippets will be reprinted as they are received from the originating party or as they are displayed on the originating website or in the original article. As we do not write the news, we merely point readers to it, under no circumstance shall Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein be liable to the user and/or any third party for any lost profits or lost opportunity, indirect, special, consequential, incidental, or punitive damages whatsoever due to the distribution of said news articles or snippets that lead readers to a full article on a news service's website, even if Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Authors of the original news story and their publications shall be exclusively held liable. Any corrections to news stories are not mandatory and shall be printed at the discretion of the list moderator after evaluation on a case-by-case basis. |
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