One of my favorite George Carlin quotes is, “I never worry that ALL hell will break loose. My concerns is that a PART of hell will break loose. It’ll be much harder to detect.” I have always loved that quote because it’s true in the lives of crisis management professionals. Many times, we write…
Active shooter incidents are on the rise in US, and your organization is most definitely at risk. Quoting FBI statistics, the National Fire Protection Association reports that “an average of 6.4 active shooter events occurred annually in the U.S. from 2000 to 2006. From 2007 to 2013, that average more than doubled, to 16.4. From…
Lone-actor gun attacks against populated areas such as arenas and crowded places such as schools can challenge first responders and those organizations or educational institutions that are impacted. Now think about increasing the number of attackers and adding explosive devices, more weapons and other arms. Consider a Paris or Brussels style attack in the heart…
Simulated crisis tabletop exercises are like a flu shot: The vaccine won’t prevent the illness one-hundred percent of the time, but if you do get the flu, the vaccine will greatly reduce the illness’ severity and bring you back to health more quickly. The potential illness in your organization is, of course, a crisis….
This interview is with Chris Reagan the Chief Executive Officer at Cerastes Ltd out of the UK. Rob and Chris discuss preparing organizations to for physical and digital threats through better security practices, how hostiles prepare to attack and the surveillance methods they use.
An enterprise faces many threats to it’s existence. Some threats are external and can pose complex challenges, others are internal and come with their own set of unique issues. During any crisis, an organization has a responsibility to react. Some business do this well, others fail miserably. In this podcast we hear from Dermot McCarthy…
There are many challenges that businesses face when they want to operate in a new environment. Unfamiliar surroundings can be complex and may present risks that an organization doesn’t have in its normal environment. In episode 46, we interview Heyrick Bond-Gunning the CEO of S-RM a Business Intelligence, Cyber Security & Risk Management firm. Heyrick…
Crisis Management Teams Should Always Have a Toolkit That Supports Them During the Crisis. One of the questions that I get asked most often is “what are some of the most common mistakes you see as you visit various clients?” Other than companies not being committed to exercising (another article, another time) my biggest concern…
VW’s now infamous dieselgate crisis is far from over, and additional punishments and damages still await in the wings. But after months of PR efforts to regain the trust of customers, regulators and governments, more bad news for the company was revealed in late January. VW had also been sponsoring laboratory tests that forced lab…
How does your organization prepare for crises? Have you been through the planning process thoroughly? In this interview, we speak with WeWork’s crisis and emergency preparedness manager Michael Gladstone. He talks about the difference between planning in high threat places and those safer or less vulnerable environment. He also spoke about technology and how it’s…