Be ready or you won’t like the results

By: Scott Stein, VP of Client Services, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

Having a thorough crisis communications plan for your business has always been important. In today’s 24 / 7 communications world, it’s even more important. You want to be prepared if something does happen.

What is needed in your crisis communication plan? Here are a few suggestions...

• Select a Crisis Communication Team. The team should include the company CEO, a VP, your PR person, senior management and the company attorney.
• Identify potential crises that could happen. Every day there are news stories about a business in crisis. Don’t be swayed by the “that could never happen here” attitude.
• Set up clear procedures and protocols to follow when a crisis occurs. Include a task & timeline that spells out specific duties and who should take care of those tasks.
• Select and train a spokesperson. Having the right person front and center is crucial. It may or may not be the company CEO. Be sure he or she is the right person in front of the microphones and cameras. Your CEO may also have higher priorities during the crisis.
• Set clear media policies and procedures and be sure everyone in the company knows what to do if the media contacts them.
• ID your target audiences and don’t forget to communicate to your internal audience.
• Draft sample news releases / media statements. When the crisis is taking place is no time to start writing a news release or media statement. Have some basic releases / statements prepared in advance that can be filled in with the specifics of the situation.
• Based on your target audiences, compile contact lists. Be sure to include media outlets, vendors, staff, regulators, local officials and others who may need to be contacted.

Once your crisis communication plan is developed, don’t let it sit on a shelf and gather dust. Review it, update it and practice it regularly so you’re ready to go if a crisis hits.

Photo and video technology, the good, the bad and the just plain dumb.

By: Cole Buergi, VP of Business Development, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

Camera and video technology has advanced incredibly and now, anyone with a smart phone, has the capability of taking photos and video on a moment’s notice.

It has led to some great, heartwarming events including soldiers returning to surprise their family members after a long deployment. We’ve also been able to see some very cute, cuddly animals doing silly things that just make us laugh. And, just recently, we had a chance to strengthen our faith in humanity as someone created a video for Facebook asking for help to fix his neighbor’s roof that was in disrepair. The video went viral and there was a huge outpouring of community support.

Technology can also bring to the forefront the bad things that happen in our society. Recent shootings caught on video are stirring a huge debate about gun control, law enforcement activities and seemingly emboldening criminals seeking greater notoriety for their misdeeds. For example, the recent murder of a TV news crew that was captured on video by the alleged murderer and posted to his Facebook page.

Of course, then there is the just plain dumb. For instance, the 23-year-old job applicant that sent nude selfies to the human resource manager that just offered him a job. Not surprisingly, the job offer was rescinded. And, then there are those who damage monuments and other treasured places, in an effort to get a photo of themselves climbing on or dangling from them. Finally, those folks that record themselves getting hurt doing incredibly risky stunts (that are sure to fail) just to get more followers on their page.

I support technological advances and appreciate the capabilities of my phone and what it has done to capture precious moments on photo or video. However, I do believe that many people have lost all sense of reality or common sense when it comes to this.

For instance, on a recent trip to New York, I saw a significant number of folks carrying selfie sticks and using them to take photos / video of themselves for no apparent reason. That, in itself, is no big deal (although I find it a bit annoying), but when you’re in a mob of people all flowing in one direction in Times Square, it’s maddening to have someone stop in front of you just to take a photo of themselves with no significant backdrop that we could see. In fact, one time the person’s backdrop was one of the hundreds of t-shirt shops lining Broadway. Of course, their selfishness created a log jam of people who had to stop and wait for this narcissist to finish taking the umpteenth picture of himself that day.

What are your thoughts? Has this photo / video craze gone too far? Have you ever experienced a time when you saw someone taking a selfie and just thought to yourself, “really?”

Big Announcement? Don’t Communicate Off the Cuff

By: Kristen Paquet, Sr. Account Executive, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

You have a big announcement to make. Maybe it’s launching a new product, offering a new service/program or expanding business operations. Before you start sharing all the details, it makes sense to have a plan in place that will not only ensure you are reaching your audiences, but getting the most out of the big news as well.

Here are some ideas to keep in mind when developing a communications plan: 

• Know who your audience is. As you develop your communication strategy, consider all of the audiences you need to reach. Media, stakeholders, community and employees are just some to consider. Once you have determined who you need to reach, you can develop a plan on how to reach them. Tactics might include social media, a news conference, internal newsletter, etc. 
• Know what you want to say and how you want to say it. What are the main ideas you need to get across to your audience? Develop talking points that address those areas clearly. Include those talking points when developing a speaking presentation, informational brochure, making updates to a website or participating in a media interview. 
• Say the same thing. No matter if it is just you or a group of people that will be speaking publicly, consistency is key. You need to be confident that what you are telling a reporter is the same information you are sharing during a speaking presentation to the community. This is why developing your message is so important; it helps drive home a consistent message from audience to audience. 
• Don’t let fear of negative comments drive your plan. Not everyone is going to agree with what you have to say. And although you should be prepared to deal with negative comments along the way, they should not drive your communications plan. Keep your goals and audience in mind and let that steer the way. Prepare for negative comments by thinking of some of the tough questions you could be asked and have responses ready.

A communications plan is the best tool you have to reach audiences with your message. What other tactics have you used when developing a plan? Please share!