Monthly Archives: April 2009

Obama: Crisis Manager

Published on 30th April 2009 by . Leave a Comment

The President of the United States is the most prominent crisis manager in the world. His entire job revolves around crisis management, reputation management, and communications on a scale few can truly understand. A recent CNBC story gives our newest President high marks.

“I think he understands communications better than any president I’ve seen,” adds legendary public relations executive Howard Rubenstein. “He understands the media, that you can tell your story through the media. Also, Obama is at home in talking to the public.

Observers and analysts say Obama has been in virtual campaign mode since his short vacation after the election, with a daily dose of public appearances and speeches both in and out of Washington. The President has also continued to utilize the extensive web-based community he built during his candidacy to support the man and his mission.

Like him or not, there’s no denying the man is an expert at public speaking and communicating in general. Follow the link for the whole story with even more expert opinions, including a couple of tidbits from yours truly!

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

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Flow of Information

Published on 28th April 2009 by . Leave a Comment

For effective crisis management, information needs to flow quickly to your target audiences. This past week communicators have done, by and large, a good job of using the various media channels available, especially social media.

Relying on crisis communication protocols, the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, health care communicators, and school officials are talking about swine flu in a tempered, matter-of-fact way. Using various avenues, including social media, they’re letting people know the latest facts about the situation — and working to dispel rumors and falsities at every turn.

This story from Ragan Communication’s Jessica Levo studies crisis prevention and crisis response strategies used by various companies nationwide. While the methods mentioned are commendable, an incident command system (such as MissionMode) could help communicators get the word out to, and collaborate with, all their contacts even more effectively.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

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Communicating about Swine Flu

Published on 27th April 2009 by . 2 Comments. Click to add yours.

I’d like to let all of my readers know that I’ll one of the speakers at a Ragan Communications webinar entitled, “Communicating the Swine Flu Crisis to Employees and Stakeholders.” The primary goal will be to educate communicators who are charged with handling this crisis. All aspects of crisis management will be covered, with special attention paid to internal and external communications.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

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Swine Flu Resource

Published on 27th April 2009 by . Leave a Comment

Worldwide health care provider International SOS has created a web site solely to communicate important info about recent the swine flu outbreaks. The site should be of great use to anyone involved in creating crisis management plans as it has all the current news and recommendations regarding the new outbreak.

International SOS doesn’t just talk the talk either, they’ve formed crisis prevention and crisis response teams with more than 1,500 members to evaluate and aid if needed. It never hurts to be over-prepared; what’s your plan?

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com

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Excellent Report on Swine Flu

Published on 26th April 2009 by . Leave a Comment

A 17-page “Disease Briefing on the 2009 H1N1 (Swine-) Flu Outbreak in Humans” was published yesterday, April 25 by Gunnar J. Kueppner, Region 9 President, International Association of Emergency Managers. The report is copyrighted by Gunnar, who was kind enough to allow me to make it available for download.

The best form of crisis management is crisis prevention. There is no cause for panic, but there is definitely need for focused concern and action.

JB

Jonathan Bernstein
President
Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc.

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