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Just a Thought
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"Attention
everyone who
has engaged in
shameful and
stupid
behavior in
the past and
has gotten
away with it
because no one
knew about it:
Welcome to the
Age of the
Internet."
-
Jonathan
Bernstein
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From
the Editor
The
Olympic Games are a
spectacle of the
highest order, and
as such never fail
to present a series
of lessons in
communications,
reputation, and
crisis management.
Those lessons are
starting off early
for organizers of
next summer's Games,
to be held in Rio De
Janiero, as a result
of an AP
investigation
that uncovered
dangerous levels of
viruses in the
waters olympians
will enter for
swimming and boating
competitions.
The cause? Massive
amounts of human
feces. So much
feces, in fact, that
some tests found up
to 1.7 million times
more virus material
than it would take
to close the beaches
in our home state of
California
immediately.
Competitors
currently practicing
in the region are
speaking out as
well, telling
reporters many of
them have repeatedly
fallen ill despite
taking every
precaution possible.
The International
Olympic committee is
turning a blind eye
to the problem, with
medical director Dr.
Richard Budgett
telling AP that, "the
IOC and Brazilian
authorities should
stick to their
program of testing
only for bacteria
to determine
whether the water
is safe for
athletes,"
despite widespread
agreement from
experts worldwide
that most illnesses
from water-based
activities are
related to viruses
rather than
bacteria.
Despite this mess,
the Rio Olympic
organizing
committee's page
still declares, "the
rehabilitation and
protection of the
area's
environment,
particularly its
bays and canals",
as one of the major
benefits of the
event.
The IOC and Rio
committee need to
take a lesson from
FIFA and (unlike
their water) be
transparent about
what's going on. The
truth will
come out
eventually either
way, but if it's
forced out by a
third party the
damage will be much
more significant and
lasting.
We'll be following
developments related
to the Olympics as
they pertain to all
things crisis and
sharing them in a
monthly post on the
Bernstein
Crisis Management
blog. Follow
along, and feel free
to send info our way
if you think it may
make for a good
topic to cover as we
continue our series
on Olympic crisis
management through
Summer 2016!
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Interested in
reprinting BCM
articles or blog
posts?
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We're
happy to give
permission for
material to be
reprinted in hard copy
or online!
If you find something
you would like to
reprint, simply submit
a request to jonathan@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
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Blogs!
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Do you
have a topic
you'd like to
see featured in
our blogs? Send
an email to erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com
and there's a
good chance
you'll be seeing
it right here in
the next issue!
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| Apropos of
Nothing |
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Make Some Easy
Money
Bernstein
Crisis Management
pays VERY generous
referral
commissions, a
nice chunk of the
first year's
business from any
referred client.
Avoid The
Apology
Clueless
advertising folks at
Anheuser-Busch
eliciting widespread
anger with a Bud
Lite commercial
featuring the
tagline "The perfect
beer for removing
'no' from your
vocabulary for the
night";
Sea
World launching its
disastrous
#askseaworld
campaign, not
thinking through how
that hashtag could
be comically and
sadly hijacked;
Starbucks
kicking off - and
then aborting - its
ill-considered "Race
Together" campaign;
or,
Trevor
Noah, Jon Stewart's
hand-picked
replacement on "The
Daily Show," coming
under fierce online
criticism for
anti-Semitic and
otherwise
insensitive tweets.
So many of
the damaging
crises we see
making headlines
and creating costs
every day could
have been
prevented if
someone first
asked, "What the
(expletive
deleted) could go
wrong with this
idea?" That's the
premise behind
Bernstein Crisis
Management's AvoidTheApology.com.
To learn more,
email erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
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.
For our
latest
presentation we
had the pleasure
of speaking with
Fred Muir's crisis
communications
class at USC's
Annenberg School
for Communication
and Journalism.
The
lectures are fun for
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)
Preparing
Candidates for
C-Suite Interviews
In
2014, a client
familiar with
Jonathan Bernstein's
media training
techniques suggested
that the same
methods would help
her husband, a
candidate for a
C-Suite position at
several companies,
be better focused
and prepared for his
interviews. She was
right and, as he
moved through the
interview process,
the candidate
received a number of
one-hour trianing
sessions by
Jonathan, via
webcam. That
candidate is now the
CFO of a $23 billion
company and is
available as a
confidential
reference.
Are
Your Social
Media Managers
Crisis Trained?
A solid social media
manager has quickly
become a must-have
for organizations of
any size, and can
make an immense
difference by
driving in customers
and building your
positive reputation
online.
The
problem is, the vast
majority are simply
not equipped to even
identify building
crises, much less
take the steps
necessary to cope
with and mitigate
the damage that can
result.
That's where we come
in.
Bernstein
Crisis Management is
now offering crisis
management training
for social media
managers, both
independent and
in-house, as well as
social media firms.
Traditional
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 now
offers social media
training sessions in
person or via Skype
for groups and
individuals.
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
hard copy, $10 for
PDF.
Head to the
Crisis Manager
Bookstore
for more
information and/or
to purchase.
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 will
put you in
control of any
situation.
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Guest
Authors
Guest 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.
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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: jonathan@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
Erik
Bernstein is vice
president of
Bernstein Crisis
Management. Erik
started with BCM
in 2009 as a
writer and
subsequently
became social
media manager for
the consultancy
itself as well as
for a number of
BCM clients before
moving to the VP
position.
Write to Erik at: erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
Bernstein
Crisis
Management,
Inc. is
located at 700
S. Myrtle
Ave., #404,
Monrovia, CA
91016.
Telephone: (626) 825-3838.
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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
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summaries and/or
snippets to
readers. In such
instances articles
and/or snippets
will be reprinted
as they are
received from the
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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
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even if Bernstein
Crisis Management
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Bernstein has been
advised of the
possibility of
such damages.
Authors of the
original news
story and their
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corrections to
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shall be printed
at the discretion
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