Pamela Baggett-Wallis & Persuasion Communication: Crisis Management, Media Training & PR

Philanthropy: head of the class or dunce cap?

2008-05-13T00:08:00.004-05:00

Competing oil and gas drilling companies both promised a sizable donation to a school district, but only one followed through. Guess which one people are likely to sell drilling rights to?

Yup, it’s the one that followed through with a breathtakingly large donation, at least in the history of the school district. Fort Worth-based XTO donated a record-breaking $50,000 to the Carroll Education Foundation, an independent nonprofit that benefit the district. The single largest contribution to the group previously was $10,000.

There are several other reasons why this donation is interesting, as pointed out by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake, XTO's rival, has the mineral-rights lease to drill for natural gas under all 402 acres owned by the district itself. The XTO donation, which was made last week without fanfare, will make XTO the "presenting sponsor" at the foundation's only fundraiser this year.

The foundation had been talking with Chesapeake officials about a donation since December. Chesapeake even gave a verbal commitment in February, but despite numerous requests for a signed contract, the foundation still never got a dime.

This isn't the first donation race between these two.

Chesapeake announced in late March that it would donate $1 million to the United Way to establish the Barnett Shale Endowment Fund. Also that day, the YMCA rushed out a news release saying that XTO was donating $500,000 to help modernize and expand its workout space.

As memorable as the $1 million donation is, will it neutralize the negative feelings caused by Chesapeake reniging on a promised donation?

Philanthropy moves you to the head of the class, or earns a dunce cap

2008-05-12T14:52:00.003-05:00

Competing oil and gas drilling companies both promised a sizable donation to a school district, but only one followed through. Guess which one people are likely to sell drilling rights to?

Yup, it’s the one that followed through with a breathtakingly large donation, at least in the history of the school district. Fort Worth-based XTO donated a record-breaking $50,000 to the Carroll Education Foundation, an independent nonprofit that benefit the district. The single largest contribution to the group previously was $10,000.

There are several other reasons why this donation is interesting, as pointed out by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake, XTO's rival, has the mineral-rights lease to drill for natural gas under all 402 acres owned by the district itself. The XTO donation, which was made last week without fanfare, will make XTO the "presenting sponsor" at the foundation's only fundraiser this year.

The foundation had been talking with Chesapeake officials about a donation since December.
Chesapeake even gave a verbal commitment in February, but despite numerous requests for a signed contract, the foundation still never got anything.

This isn't the first donation race between these two.

Chesapeake announced in late March that it would donate $1 million to the United Way to establish the Barnett Shale Endowment Fund. Also that day, the YMCA rushed out a news release saying that XTO was donating $500,000 to help modernize and expand its workout space.

Not only did one company give a sizable donation, the other one reneged. Now, how do you feel about the two companies?

Philanthropy moves you to the head of the class, or earns a dunce cap

2008-05-12T13:46:00.004-05:00

Competing oil and gas drilling companies both promised a sizable donation to a school district, but only one followed through. Guess which one people are likely to sell drilling rights to?

Yup, it’s the one that followed through with a breathtakingly large donation, at least in the history of the school district. Fort Worth-based XTO donated a record-breaking $50,000 to the Carroll Education Foundation, an independent nonprofit that benefit the district. The single largest contribution to the group previously was $10,000.

There are several other reasons why this donation is interesting, as pointed out by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake, XTO's rival, has the mineral-rights lease to drill for natural gas under all 402 acres owned by the district itself. The XTO donation, which was made last week without fanfare, will make XTO the "presenting sponsor" at the foundation's only fundraiser this year.

The foundation had been talking with Chesapeake officials about a donation since December. Chesapeake even gave a verbal commitment in February, but despite numerous requests for a signed contract, the foundation still never got anything. Where'd I put that dunce cap?

This isn't the first donation race between these two.

Chesapeake announced in late March that it would donate $1 million to the United Way to establish the Barnett Shale Endowment Fund. Also that day, the YMCA rushed out a news release saying that XTO was donating $500,000 to help modernize and expand its workout space.

Not only did one company give a sizable donation, the other one reneged. I send a heartfelt "thank you" to both companies for so beautifully demonstrating the right and wrong methods to position your business in the community's mind. The Chesapeake brand definitely has lost some luster.

How do you feel about the two companies?

My first personal loss to a tornado

2008-05-11T13:19:00.003-05:00

I spent much of my childhood in the tornado alley of Texas, and I worked for FEMA helping with major tornado recovery. But today is my first personal loss.

I lost a relative overnight to the tornado outside Seneca, Missouri. She lived, as do many people in rural areas, in a mobile home. Yes, it had all the required tie-downs, but tie downs are no match for a tornado of any size.

She couldn't leave her home for safety in a "bar ditch" as we call those drop-offs alongside roadways. She was in her bed. Even so, she gets around on a motorized wheelchair and was on oxygen. Utimately, she made it to a ditch, but not under her own steam. She landed there, with her beloved husband still clinging to her, trying to protect her from injury. A neighbor came by and took them to the hospital, but she didn't make it.

My family grieves this Mother's Day, especially my 82-year-old cousin in Galena, Kansas, for whom my Missouri cousin was her closest relative. They kept each other company via daily email conversations. [Lot's of "cousins" in this blog, but I can't possibly explain the relationships--both women on are the Armitage side of my grandmother's family.]

I learned from my years working for FEMA that one can't measure how "bad" a disaster is, that if it affects you or your family, it's the worst. How true.

My Mother's Day advice: Pull your loved ones close, even by phone or email. Remember fondly those who are no longer with us, no matter their (or our) foibles. Love them for the good they represent. Reach out with your heart for those who are grieving today.

What’s in your go-kit?

2008-05-11T12:58:00.001-05:00

First of all, I hope you know what a go-kit is. Whether it’s a cardboard box or a crush-resistant, impact-resistant metal case, a go-kit is the container you can grab and run to the site of whatever disaster/crisis hits your company. When it hits the fan is too late to start pulling these items together.

Obviously a laptop computer is one item. Maybe even a satellite phone. Communication is what this is all about, so you need these mechanical tools. How a about a digital camera?

Depending on the size of the company and how many hats you wear, you also may need a company check book to compensate individuals either injured or who suffered property damage. And release forms for individuals who are ready to settle right then and there.

Other items that don’t fit into your go-kit but are equally important:
• “Stealth” Website ready to punch in the pertinent information for news media, general public and even your employees.
• Responsive communication tree both ‘up’ and ‘down’ the communication ladder. Watch for more on this issue in another blog.
• Trained spokesperson on the ground while main spokesperson is en route.
• Expert investigators, as necessary.
• Company or hired-gun defense lawyers to talk to the inevitable ant trail of plaintiff attorneys.

Oh, and for the go-kit, don’t forget a change of underwear!

By now, American Airlines should be handling it better

2008-04-09T11:12:00.004-05:00

For the second time in as many weeks most of the American Airlines fleet is grounded, stranding thousands of passengers. If the people at the top care one whit about their passengers, there’s scant evidence of it.

Before anyone says “they’re doing the best they can,” let me jump in and point out their “best” is quite an indictment of the airline and its crisis management planning—or lack thereof. As part of the booking process, American Airlines asks first for my cell phone number, then home, then work, AND my email address.

Riddle me this, Batman. Why do they request this information if they don’t plan to use it for notification of delays and cancellations? American Airlines should turn its booking agents into “cancellation” agents to notify people of the problems before they show up at the airport. Not workable? Well, FIND A WAY!

You may sense some antagonism from me here. Well, you’re absolutely correct. I had the unenviable experience of traveling with a handicapped child from Anchorage to Austin, with a three-day layover to visit family in Seattle. We arrived at SEATAC several hours early to reduce any stress. My husband and I both carry Treos so we can receive email and phone calls. The plane was grounded in Houston for mechanical problems, not an act of God. Hence, the airline had to get us home on their nickel.

Long lines formed at the check-in. They were explaining, one-by-one as people got to the front of the line, that the plane was cancelled and they were trying to book us on another flight. Then they told the entire group to go to another airline where we would be given seats. We troupe en masse to the other airline, which did not win any Brownie points either. The second airline told us that AA didn’t notify them and that we had go back to the AA counter. So we all troupe back over there, only to discover the three service lines were now down to one.

In the meantime, I called Southwest Airlines and booked seats for the three of us. But American Airlines doesn’t have a contract with Southwest and refused to pay for the tickets. Instead, American wanted us to stay overnight and hope to get on a seat the next morning. We took the Southwest flight.
Months and months later, with communication by snail mail since they do not have a customer service phone line, American magnanimously sent us tickets for future flights on American Airlines. Like I’d ever fly AA again! But here’s the kicker—they totally botched my son’s name, so it would have been another go-round to get that fixed.

I opted out. And that’s what thousands of passengers are likely to do.

Whew! I feel better now. That’s a three-year-old tale, and I’m still angry. How does an airline reclaim customers after events like that and these plane groundings? Two weeks ago, the grounding was taken with a grain of salt, although the airline screwed up by not contacting passengers. This time, the grounding was because the mechanics didn’t handle the first grounding successfully. Do you trust their air-worthiness now? Free advice: AA should invite some of the reporters who specialize in aviation to show them what the airline is doing to make their planes mechanically safe.

The only way American Airlines can reclaim passenger appreciation and confidence beyond mechanical issues is to totally retool their booking and cancellation process. How about having a back-up phone center on standby to call passengers and handle rebooking on the phone?

Why not call in off-duty staff to handle passengers who get stuck in the airport. To rent buses to take people to hotels? How about putting up big signs at entrances to airport terminals notifying passengers BEFORE they turn in rental cars or even get out of their cabs?

Oh, the infinite ways American Airlines, or any airline, could improve customer service!

As long as reporters can interview distressed mothers stuck in the airport without enough diapers, or even money, to take care of their children, the airlines will suffer continued passenger anger and rejection.

The airline that chooses to make some of these changes in how they handle cancellations and does a good job of publicizing the changes will be the last one left flying.

Media bullies gang up on Wal-Mart

2008-03-30T18:50:00.002-05:00

Poor Wal-Mart. They’re being flogged once again by a gaggle of superficial news media who portray the big box boys as blood-suckers.

Superficially, they look like horrid, insensitive bad guys. They’ve demanded that a brain-injured gold-star mother who received money in a settlement over her accident reimburse them for medical bills Wal-Mart insurance has paid.

I say “superficial” because if one looks deeper, the “bad guy” here is the attorney who represented the injured woman.

It’s called subrogation, and is not at all unusual. When an insurance company pays out money for a covered claim, that insurance company has the right to recover their expenses if the beneficiary receives money from another source for the same expenses. The woman’s attorney was negligent in not including subrogation costs in the settlement or jury finding.

But that seems to be a moot point since so many people love hating Wal-Mart.

What will it take for Wal-Mart to dig out of its PR hole? Once you’re branded a bad guy in the court of public opinion, it's a constant battle to change your image.

Do you have a crisis management plan to avoid falling into the hole with Wal-Mart?

How many mistakes can you find in this news story?

2008-03-20T18:41:00.003-05:00

I don't know whether this blog is about natural gas crisis management or the quality of the news story. I'm leaning to the latter.

If you're not familiar with the natural gas industry, you may not catch the errors. (Hint: carbon monoxide is the byproduct of the incomplete combustion of a fossil fuel. Carbon dioxide is what we exhale when we breathe.)

No matter your answer, one thing is certain: the gas company has a wonderful opportunity to help educate the reporter, and ultimately the general public/consumers. Let's hope they do.

BTW, check out Source Gas's Website--very user-friendly.

Bloggers have major influence

2008-03-16T18:30:00.002-05:00

Blue Daze obviously does not like gas pipelines. She took advantage of a distribution line explosion in far south Texas to promulgate fear.

A local firefighter said they were not sure exactly how this explosion happened but they are aware of similar explosion that happen across the United States. "They happen every now and then, they're pipelines and they're subject to wear and tear just like any other equipment that's out here."

Events like this make for great TV coverage, which is just natural. But where was the statement from the pipeline operator? Why didn't the company have a spokesperson on the spot? Or if that wasn't possible, they certainly could have conducted a phone interview.

The greater issue here, in addition to the local news coverage, is the widespread influence of bloggers like Blue Daze. The story appeared on more news sites than I could count, including one that caters to the paranoid.
If you care what the public thinks about your business, be certain you're monitoring blogs just as carefully as the traditional news media.

Reservoir of good will keeping Southwest Airlines afloat

2008-03-12T18:05:00.003-05:00

A devastating revelation that aircraft were not being inspected as mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration could permanently ground a lesser organization. But Southwest Airlines has a deep reservoir of good will and they took massive action on multiple fronts.

OK, I admit to being biased about Southwest. I’m a Texan with friends who started their careers with LUV. So I cringed with the announcement that the airline was flying in the face of FAA regulations. I held my breath, pondering what to say about this, waiting to see what they would say and do.

I’m gratified by their response. They grounded planes for inspections and put several staff on leave. Then the big wigs flew to DC to sit down with the FAA to work out the details of a massive fine and trace the problem back to the beginning point.

No whining. No excuses. Lots of action.

Sitting on the outside watching this process develop, I don’t know yet what grade to give Southwest. There are many details and actions yet to come. But I’m inclined to believe they will do the right thing. Maybe it’s that reservoir of good will they’ve built up over the decades.

Firefighters use incident to score political points

2008-03-09T16:13:00.002-05:00

Boston firefighters used an LNG incident in the harbor to score points against the city, in part to emphasize their ongoing contract negotiations. Did the firefighters blow the situation out of proportion, or do they have a valid point? Does it matter?

The Well, actually, it does matter. The damage has been done--the public is likely to be afraid of continued LNG transport by ship. If an organization wants to make an issue of it, they now have something to rally around. The city's response that it is "as prepared as possible" to mitigate the risks of LNG transport was not a reassuring statement. How prepared is it? What is the risk to property and life?

The firefighters want the LNG to be transported through existing pipelines from the port rather than up the river by boat. Would that be more or less safe?

So far the LNG distributor seems to be getting off light on this one. And the city, too. But they shouldn't count on it in the long run.

Click here for more natural-gas industry posts.

Ignored crisis is a missed opportunity

2007-10-22T12:37:00.000-05:00

Puppygate. Who hasn’t heard of the Ellen DeGeneris breakdown on live TV over the “recall” of a puppy adopted from an animal rescue organization? But who has heard from the rescue group? Talk about your missed opportunity!

Not only did the rescue group handle the situation badly in the first place, they missed a chance to go on national TV, on one of the highest-rated daytime shows, and explain how carefully they select adoptive homes for the animals.

Those of us with rescue dogs (I have three!) know the process and how much time and effort goes into matching foster dogs with forever families. It’s no less stringent than adopting a child. And that’s how most of the people running these rescue groups feel about their animals.

By not taking advantage of this opportunity, it gave every rescue group in the country a black eye. Has anyone seen a local piece in the news about this? Where some bright organization shined a positive light on their work?

The Utah mine saga

2007-08-18T22:11:00.000-05:00

I was surprised at a breakfast club meeting a few days after the Utah mine collapse to hear a friend condemn mine owner Bob Murray. I thought Mr. Murray handled his news conferences perfectly, but what do I know?

Mr. Murray, or his adivsors, managed this tragedy by the numbers:

1. Send the top guy out to speak.
2. Speak with knowledge.
3. Speak with true empathy.
4. Tell the truth as it was known at the time.

I'll stop here, because that's the point in time of my discussion with my friend Allan. I really wanted to know why he felt that way, because his opinion is what counts, not my "expert" opinion. I felt a learning opportunity coming on.

Allan thought Bob Murray was crude in his speech and was a defensive know-it-all.

Without a doubt, Mr. Murray is a man of the people. He grew up in the mines, not in a board room. So his speech pattern tended to the vernacular. That wasn't a turnoff for me. I appreciated his genuine approach. I was, however, a bit wary of his declaration that the collapse was caused by a "seismic event" rather than the "cut and retreat" mining method, even as geologists were insisting otherwise. Was he setting the stage to protect himself from lawsuits? Maybe. But I believe HE believed wholeheartedly what he was saying. Because he sounded so sincere, even to my cynical ear.

I'm from the south where we still say Ma'am and Sir, and refrain from calling someone by his or her first name until invited to do so. (Or at least my generation does. I'm still snatching baseball caps off my grandsons when we enter a building.)

There was also that testy interchange with Rep. Nancy Pelosi during a congressional hearing in which he pointed out the obvious, that Ms. Pelosi had never been in a mine. That doesn't make her ignorant of the facts, but it certainly gave a bit more credibility to Mr. Murray's testimony. And his combative personality was in full array. Mr. Murray's self-confident, take charge approach seemed more bullying in that exchange than it did at the mine.

I just did a gut check with Allan to see whether his opinion has changed in the intervening week. Nope. He still thinks someone more polished, such as myself, should have been doing the speaking. Well, thanks, Allan, for the vote of confidence in me. It's great to have a friend and personal cheerleader!

But I disagree. Mr. Murray continued to give at least twice-daily news conferences and individual interviews. His attitude of concern for the miners and their families never wavered. Neither did his belief in seismic events. As time has passed it's obvious that all of this is taking a physical toll on the man. He's no spring chicken, yet there he was leading reporters into the mine so they could see for themselves what the rescuers were doing.

That one action may prove to be the most important thing he did. He put reporters in the middle of the story, not reporting on the periphery or having to "find" stories tell. The reporters obviously bonded with Mr. Murray.

When the time was right, Mr. Murray brought in outside experts to do the speaking. Perfect timing. Perfect chorus to what Mr. Murray had been saying.

The other praiseworthy action by Mr. Murray was that he always spoke to the families before the news media. He put them first. Putting the victims first is key. Thank you, Jim Lukaszewski, for pointing that out to me. (Any true student of crisis communications will want to Google Jim. He's one of the most prolific and pragmatic in the field.)

Tell me, y'all, what you think about all this. (Remember, I'm from the south, and there is no word that adequately substitutes for y'all.) Do you agree with Allan, or with me? Or parts of both?

Paying forward pays big dividends

2007-07-28T11:47:00.000-05:00

Two competing restaurants are offering a reward for finding a killer. It’s difficult to think of a better example of paying forward to develop a reservoir of good will.

Trudy's and Taco Shack are Austin, TX restaurants that have grown over the years to multiple locations, all within the city. They each have a business in the vicinity of a small park where a blind homeless man was murdered. And they each anted up funds to offer $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer.

Showing humanity above and beyond what typically is expected of a business is inspirational to the cynics of the world (I count myself as one of them) and raises the bar for corporate good citizenship. It also brings in customers who feel good about the eateries and adds a smile and bounce in the step of servers.

Even if, over the years, the public forgets about this positive action, news media in the future will uncover it when they do research on the companies should they experience a crisis down the road. When the companies speak, their voices will be heard and much more likely to be believed.

Thanks, y’all, for being good corporate citizens. I’m jazzed by the example you’ve set, and I even have a bit of bounce in MY step because of you.

Wizard of Oz: Number One no-no in crisis management

2007-07-15T12:53:00.000-05:00

In my list of issues I address in vulnerability audits I’ll have to add “officer stupidity.”

Hometown hero (I live in Austin) John Mackey, chairman and CEO of Whole Foods, was outed as rahodeb, author of years of anonymous blogging that included negative comments about competitors.

Not only was it stupid—exposing this company to public ridicule, FTC scrutiny, and undermining employee confidence—it was amazingly childish. It reminds me of passing notes in class in junior high school, hoping they weren’t intercepted by the teacher, but getting a thrill out of the very process.

One has to wonder whether the chairman of such major business doesn’t have something better to do with his time. I have enough trouble working for my clients and trying to find time for my own blog. I can only conclude that he is the master of delegation!

Now that it has hit the fan, Mackey chooses to address reporter, investor and employee questions via the Whole Foods blog. Who wrote that? His attorneys? That’s how it reads. And a very unsatisfactory read at that.

Hiding behind his blog, Mackey is mimicking the Wizard of Oz rather than addressing the public’s questions. We need to hear his voice and read his body language to judge sincerity. In the meantime, we’re left to imagine our own answers to the questions: The Number One no-no in crisis management is hiding from the public!

If you ignore it, does it exist?

2007-07-04T19:57:00.000-05:00

Evidently not, if you’re a county commissioner in Hidalgo County, Texas. Their levees aren’t up to snuff, and FEMA is meeting its responsibility by releasing new floodplain maps. The county is opposed because lenders could then insist their customers have flood insurance.

What am I missing here? The county is going to sue FEMA for putting out the flood maps that by law they are supposed to put out to inform people if they are in flood-prone areas so they can move, buy flood insurance or build mitigation devices so they won’t lose everything they have or die.

Whew! Long sentence, but it really does all run together in my mind and in reality.

I saw this repeatedly in the years I worked for FEMA. Another example of trying to have it both ways is people who contest their property appraisals so their taxes will be lower then claim the appraisal was too low when they experience a natural disaster and want FEMA funds to help pay for their recovery.

Stand up, people! Crises happen. Turning your backs will change nothing, except to increase your risk. Something about this makes me want to slap faces!

And the little children shall lead the way.

2007-06-27T10:08:00.000-05:00

He’s not so little, but a Boulder high school junior who took on Fox’s Bill O’Reilly recently conducted his interview in the most professional and assertive manner I’ve ever seen! Check it out soon before the link “dies.”

Jesse Lange did it the right way.
1. He wore a suit and tie in counterpoint to the knit sport shirt worn by the teen presenting an opposing view.
2. He was respectful but firmly presented his point of view.
3. He was totally prepared with the exact words of an adult speaker at a high school meeting. The direct quotation disproved the contention that the speaker promoted drug use. Jesse held to his quotes in spite of what O’Reilly said.
4. Jesse then turned the tables, quoting from a section of O’Reilly’s book for kids. O’Reilly said Jesse was quoting him out of context. What fun!
5. The best part, in my opinion, was when O’Reilly called Jesse a pinhead. Jesse took the high road and ignored what could have been a rabbit trail that would take up precious seconds and eliminate the opportunity to address the real issue.
This young man has a terrific future ahead of him. Watch for his name in the next decade.
I highly recommend that you subscribe to www.Mediabistro.com. You’ll stay up to date on who’s working where and other behind-the-scenes media info.

Be first, but make it right!

2007-06-23T02:33:00.000-05:00

We all know he who gets the message out first wins. Everyone else must attack from below--not a favorable point for attackers. The same truism holds if you are trying to correct your own message.

Austin, Texas, which prides itself on being a blue county in a red state, a liberal bastion of tolerance and the live music capital of the world, took a huge hit this week. A news release from the police department characterized the beating death of a Hispanic man as being by a mob of black men attending a Junteenth celebration. Local,regional and national news media picked up the story immediately. Austin came off looking racist to the national media and locally, leaders in both the black and Hispanic communities tried to fend off potential trouble.
By Day 3, the Austin mayor and police held a news conference to try to change the words and impression from that news release. The local media picked it up, but the national media ignored the “misstatements” and “further investigation reveals” comments. The city has a black eye and race relations are tenuous.
I’m curious who put wrote the release based on what information and who approved it. But that’s just my curiosity. It won’t change a thing.
The lesson learned is to follow the advice of Texas hero Davy Crockett: “Be sure you’re right, then go ahead.”

How full is your reservoir?

2007-06-19T00:16:00.000-05:00

Your reservoir of good will, that is. The trust people have in you or your business or industry. When the inevitable crisis occurs, will you start with an ample supply of water to put out the fire, or will you be calling in neighboring fire departments?

Your reservoir of good will is much the same as your brand ID: what gut reactions do people have when your name is mentioned? If you’re one of the oil companies, that gut reaction calls for some Pepto-Bismol. Who, outside the industry, believes the oil companies are not artificially manipulating costs? Everyone loves to hate the oil industry right now, even Texans and Alaskans! (I speak from personal experience, here.)

How could that distrust, even hate, be changed? Well, Shell Oil is making every effort with town hall meetings across the country by an extraordinarily well prepared executive taking all comers in a calm, courteous manner. But, gee, wouldn’t it have been so much better to deflect most of that distrust and anger in the first place?

Quick, name a charity supported by the brand of gasoline you buy. No? Well, any brand, then. No, Venezuela’s CITGO donations to low-income northeasterners don't count.

No new oil refineries have been built in a decade because the oil companies say it is too expensive to build a refinery with the now-mandated pollution controls. Yet the Shell spokesman made it sound like the industry in general and his company in particular are caught in a financial squeeze between the cost of oil production and Uncle Sam. Do I believe that? Do you?

We’d both be more inclined to believe them if we had reason to feel warm and fuzzy about the oil companies in the first place. Admittedly an oil derrick or tank farm are unattractive poster children for the oil company cause. (Unless you grew up in West Texas and thought they were mighty pretty!)

The point here is that all businesses, associations and governmental agencies must be known for the good they do before the public questions the bad. Your crisis management plan should begin with a detailed public relations plan to create the ties between your organization and your public. Your “brand” should be thought of fondly or at least neutrally by your customers. It’s a long process of walking your talk to create that warm, fuzzy feeling, but it’s miles shorter if you begin the journey before a crisis requires you to climb out of a very deep hole before beginning your hike.

What do you have in your reservoir?

EAPs Can Avert Crises

2007-06-11T22:04:00.000-05:00

Think you have to fire that valuable employee because s/he has become too difficult to work with? Think employee assistance program instead.

When a formerly favored employee becomes unreliable, testy and/or poorly groomed, s/he likely is going through a personal crisis that’s translating into an office crisis. While personnel laws prohibit your asking personal questions about causes, you can point out the deficiency. But rather than just hoping this behavior will change, refer the employee to an assistance program that will address mental wellness.

You don’t have an employee assistance program? OK. Surely you are foresighted enough to have mental health parity in your insurance plan. No? It costs too much, you say? How much is it going to cost to fire, hire and retrain a new person? How much has that employee cost you before you’re forced to speak to him or her about the problem?

The touchstone of crisis management is avoiding it in the first place. Make it possible for employees (and yourself) to access mental health services. The mind and body are not separate any more than the heart and lungs. One cannot be healthy and productive without the other.

Crisis management is an investment that always pays for itself.

We haven’t had any problems yet.

2007-06-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

YET!!!!
The most used word to avoid crisis planning and the most predictive word to prove the need for crisis planning.

As a crisis manager, “yet” is the most frustrating word I hear. It reminds me of the statistic about burglar alarms. People don’t install them or use them until their home is broken into. (A confession here: We became lax about using our home alarm and, sure enough, were broken into in the middle of the night as we slept. You can believe we’re fanatical about using it now!)

So, back to my future clients. Please don’t wait till you experience officer or employee malfeasance, a disastrous accident, or even a natural disaster to call me. Let’s work together now to plan for the “yet.”

How to clean your boots when you’ve stepped in it.

2007-06-07T18:24:00.000-05:00

(In response to friends, here's a bit of advice I wrote last year.)
When you step in stuff, you don’t leave it on your boots in hopes they will clean themselves. The recent flap about VP Cheney’s handling, or NOT handling, the hunting incident in South Texas is a textbook example of poor crisis management.Here’s what Texas mothers tell their kids, or at least what I told mine:

* You’re going to make mistakes along the way, but when you do, I better hear about it from you before I hear about it from my bridge club. That means the veep should have been the first to inform the public.

* Only 2-year-olds turn their back on you with the thought that if they can’t see you, you can’t see them. Cheney is considerably older than 2, and everyone can see him. The most interesting point that he overlooked, however, and hasn’t been reported by any of the news media that I’ve seen to date, is Texas law about mandatory reporting of gunshot wounds. Physicians must report ALL gunshot wounds to local law enforcement. I think Cheney thought he’d be able to fly under the radar, except for that pesky law.

* Don’t try to wiggle out of the truth by just telling me part of it—I can see through you. Sending the ranch owner out, a day late, to speak to a friendly reporter only made the public want to know what the rest of the story was.

* You’ll be grounded if you don’t mind me! Since Cheney usually is in an undisclosed location anyway, this one doesn’t have much bite for him. He only appears before friendly audiences, anyway.

* If you lie to me, I won’t be able to trust you again for very long time! This speaks for itself.

* You just proved to me that you’re not responsible enough for (whatever perk the child, usually a teen, wants). In another country, the vice president could have been stoned to death, because he built a nice pile of rocks for other to throw at him.

* No, “everyone’s mother lets them do it” won’t work with me, young man! This family has rules and standards and I don’t care what other parents supposedly do. Did he really think “stonewalling” would work?

* Just dry up those tears—they don’t work on me. Going to friendly Fox for an interview and displaying emotion in his voice was all well and good. But he made it all about him (It was the worst day of my life) rather than about the man he shot.

* You’re a day late and a dollar short! In this case, four days too late.

* You know EXACTLY what I expect of you! I expect him to follow his friend to the hospital, meet the media after seeing that his friend was going to be OK, and saying how terrible he felt about his carelessness that caused his friend’s injury, instead of allowing speculation that it was the friend’s fault for getting in the way. Any bird hunter knows the safety rules, and Cheney is an old bird, hunter that is.

* Don’t bring those s*#^^* boots back in this house. Clean your boots immediately before the stink sets in and can’t be eliminated.

They MUST Blame Someone

2007-04-17T22:17:00.000-05:00

It only took a few hours for the news media to start attacking the Virginia Tech administration for the delay in warning people about the shooter. My years working for FEMA (back when FEMA worked) taught me that people absolutely must have someone to blame, even for “acts of God” or serious lapses in personal responsibility.

I submit that blaming the administration for the delay is a rabbit trail. To find blame, look in the mirror.

Too many of us deny the reality of mental illness. We treat it as a character flaw, a lack of self control. When mental illness is recognized, finding treatment is a monumental challenge. Health insurance companies say that mandating parity in mental health and physical health coverage prices people out of insurance. "Taxpayers" won't "waste" money on Medicaid, so doctors can't afford to take on Medicaid patients. Hospitals resent mentally ill individuals who show up in their ERs. Well, how much money do you think mental illness costs? Lost work produtivity. Family violence. Police time. Jails. Courts. Prisons. We pay for mental illness, one way or another. Why not pay before it causes so much havoc?

This is my personal crusade: putting mental illness into the “mother’s handbook.” We know how to recognize and treat chicken pox, dislocated soccer toes and migraine headaches. Why don’t we include mental illness in our handbook? I remember when it just wasn’t done to admit there was cancer in the family. That’s where we are with mental illness now.

Mental illness is painful—just as painful as a broken leg or laceration. Would we deny the existence of those maladies? No! Why not? Just because we can see it and we “know” about it?

Until we as a society diagnose, fund and treat mental illness, tragedies such as the Virginia Tech massacre will continue to happen. The first rule of crisis management: The best crisis management is crisis avoidance!

Imus is Not the Only Villain

2007-04-12T00:31:00.001-05:00

As a feminist, my first reaction to the Imus incident was anger. Then as a crisis manager I pondered how to advise him on handling the situation. Watching his endless pandering to self-appointed “leaders” got old quickly. Even worse was the continuous loop replaying of his unspeakable screw-up. The mistakes just go on and on.

First, Imus and his producer got carried away with their bad behavior. Then they didn’t take it seriously enough and let too much pressure build up before beginning the groveling. News stations endlessly repeated the very words they condemned. Imus made the de rigueur appearance to grovel on the Rev. Al Sharpton’s show, but it was apparent there was no forgiveness there. The National Association of Black Journalists, who should be defending the First Amendment, called for Imus’ resignation. We met some of the young women Imus insulted and learned what extraordinarily admirable people they and their coach are. As offensive as Imus’ words are, they are by no means the worst thing he ever said. Besides, they could be “opinion” and therefore not illegal.

Can we all agree that what Imus said was intolerable? Can we agree that he does lots of good things with his money? Can we agree that powerful individuals we admire considered it a coup to be on his show? And can we agree that the true villains are those who listened to his show and gave the advertisers a reason to pay him big bucks?

So, get angry at Imus if you will. But take a look at the bigger problem of runaway radio opinion shows, and in particular, the people who listen to them. As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Through all of this, I detect something really wonderful. The pendulum is swinging away from juvenile, even vicious public commentary. It’s not funny any more to take verbal swings at women or minorities. Good manners may actually be making a comeback!

Communications by Committee Creates a Crisis

2007-03-04T14:15:00.000-06:00

I think I’ve discovered the ultimate communications crisis: devising, much less executing, a communications plan for a large, disparate association of organizations with one common goal but many different motivations.

Can you imagine a baseball team with no coach? Or the universal image of herding cats? That’s what I’m dealing with as the PR counsel for one of the member organizations. Their main mode of internal communications is a series of e-mails that reveal their SAT test scores on reading comprehension. The secondary mode is a series of irregularly called and irregularly attended meetings. AARRRRRRGGGGHHH!

These people, for the most part, are totally confident they know what’s important and are not listening to their communications people who are trying to work together in spite of their clients.

What would you do with such egos? How would you herd these cats?