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….
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…
2017 has seen some historic storms in North America and South Asia. There’s been a significant increase in cyber-attacks on major businesses such as Equifax and Uber. In the UK the NHS was affected by the WannaCry attack which caused a massive disruption and embarrassment for the NHS. There were many more crises throughout the…
It’s been a busy year for crises for people and companies alike. Some of the largest, best-known brands found themselves under fire for months, many with a series of scandals that just kept coming. Some of these crises were caused directly by the caught-on-video bad behavior of key executives, such as Uber’s founder and former…
They’ve weathered the storms, but could their crises have been avoided altogether? What lessons can crisis communicators draw from the recent VW “dieselgate” crisis and United Airlines’ spate of public relations disasters, most notably its violent removal of a passenger from one of its planes? These are crises where company wrong-doing was evident, yet any…
Guest contributor: Jo Detavernier, SCMP, APR – VP and Partner with Swyft. When a crisis hits, the spokesperson or (in a larger organization), the Crisis Communications Team, sees itself under immense pressure to respond quickly to demands for information from media. The first hour of a crisis is often called the Golden Hour because you…
How will your organization handle social media during a crisis? David Kalson of PreparedEx recently presented, “The Internet, Social Media, and Crisis Communications”, at the International Crisis Management Conference in Boston this past April. During his presentation, he discussed the pros and cons of social media during a crisis. Negatives: Irate customers who may not…
The Crisis Management Team’s (CMT) role during a physical event may vary depending on the scale and complexity of the emergency. Knowing what to do during such events is essential. In the early stages of a physical event, the CMT needs to be organized. Making timely and accurate decisions due to the team being well…
At some point, nearly every organization will experience a crisis. For many, unfortunately, their crisis planning strategy is denial: “that will never happen to our company.” Except that it probably will. Sooner than you think. When all hell breaks loose, consider these “truths” of a crisis as you wade in to manage your organization’s reputation,…
Communicating during crises is important, especially in today’s world of fast-paced social media and mobile communications. Knowing what to say, and how to say it, is probably something that many organizations don’t practice enough. In this episode, we interview Erik Bernstein of Bernstein Crisis Management. During the podcast, we discuss several areas of corporate crisis…