What To Do When Sh*t Hits the Fan

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a Cincinnati PRSA Young Pros panel discussion on Crisis Communication.



The Young Pros committee lined up two great speakers: Jill Isaacs-Dunne of Metro/SORTA and Maureen Richmond of First Group. Each speaker shared multiple stories, and provided valuable insights.

In my young career I have not handled any "crisis" situations, which is a big reason I wanted to attend. Jill and Maureen did a great job of explaining how and why they handled different crisis, in addition to discussing what they would have done differently.

I pulled away several insights I'd like to share with you today.

• Plan and Practice: Make sure your organization has a plan in place for crisis communication. This will be invaluable as crisis hits. Having a plan is great, but what happens if it is flawed? That is why it's important to stress the importance of practicing crisis situations to upper management.
• Gather Information: Information is your friend! Soak up and embrace the massive amounts of knowledge your internal assets already have.
• Honesty and Transparency: It's o.k. to say "I don't know" ~ Do not give an answer, if you are not positively sure about it. It is essential to deliver the right information during a crisis. Speculation will become rampant all by itself, don't add any fuel to the fire.
• Interesting Tip: Send out an "FAQ Sheet" to brand advocates (Followers/Fans) ~ This engages and empowers them to share the correct information with their networks. It is important to think about creating brand advocates whenever interacting in the social space, not only during a crisis. The beauty of social media is the ability to directly interact with individuals. Constantly building and developing strong relationships with consumers will ensure your brand has built in story-tellers to share your message.
  

Jill and Maureen were great about answering questions and giving us words of wisdom. They both reminded us that everyone has been there, don't be afraid to consult someone when crisis hits. Jill added, "Don't hesitate to call one of us, we'll talk about it over a beer, or better yet, we'll have a beer after it's all over!"

This obviously got everyone laughing, but comments like that from veteran pros reinforce my passion for public relations. Collaboration and a willingness to help one another is unparalleled in our field.

I would love to hear what other crisis communication tips you have to add!

Until next time, whether it's B2B or B2C, it's all Business to Person

You'll Always Remember Your First (#MediaDay)

I attended the Cincinnati PRSA's annual Media Day today, and in a word ~ AWESOME! Great speakers and thoughtful planning, combined with passionate professionals made for an amazing day of learning.

Instead of writing an entire recap of the event I'd like to use this post to share a few of my favorite quotes from the breakout sessions and panel discussions. The two breakout sessions I attended were "YouTwitFace" and "Build.Promote.Measure."

"Transparency is essential when participating in social media"
~ Chris Bergman

It really frustrates me when people don't get the importance of transparency. It's essential to develop and strengthen quality relationships.

On explaining how to use social media to clients ~ "Where are your people? Go and find them there ~ research before jumping in"
~ Heather Whaling

Important to remember this and help your clients understand this. "Listening #1, Engaging #2" needs to be THE MANTRA for the "social media professional"

"I love how precise your communication has to be with twitter"
~ Chris Bergman

This is one of my favorite parts about Twitter. Thanks to Twitter, I have become a more effective communicator ~ Most of the time you have to get rid of the garnish, and give people the meat

"We encourage employees to be clear, transparent, and honest"
~ Laura Merritt

Once again, love hearing importance of concise, transparent communication ~ With so much clutter out there, it's becoming mandatory

When considering social media channels ~ "Don't think broadcast channels, think engagement channels" ~ "Go deep, not broad"
~ Kevin Dugan

This last quote sums a lot of my feelings on social media ~ Engage (along with Listen) are the two most important words in my vocabulary when it comes to social media

These are some quick hits. Awesome quotes, from industry leaders get me excited about the profession I'm passionate about! I hope they get you fired up as well! If you were at Media Day, and attended the other sessions I'd love to hear some of your favorite quotes!

Thanks again to all the organizers ~ Special shout out to Ashley Walters and Lauren Doyle

This event, and speakers really emphasize, "whether is B2B or B2C, it's all Business to Consumer"