An interesting, and silly, lawsuit has been filed against Twitter by Texas-based emergency alert provider TechRadium. Their complaint? They say the widespread use of the service by governments and organizations as an emergency notification system violates their patents. The worst part? It appears that none of their patents have even …
Effective crisis management starts long before an incident ever occurs. The world is an unpredictable place, and the best way to mount a rapid, convincing response is to be prepared beforehand. In his piece, published in the most recent Crisis Manager newsletter, PR vet George Hayward gives some important steps …
Social media has exploded onto the scene, bringing promises of more interaction with, and among, customers. This platform, which appears to be a marketers dream, has also shown itself to be dangerous, most recently causing trouble for corporate giants Johnson & Johnson and Pepsi. In her guest article from the …
As I’ve stated in previous articles, product recalls have the potential for crises for which many companies remain unprepared. They are nearly guaranteed to produce an initial barrage of criticism that, if not properly handled, can snowball into something much worse. A recent interview from ReliablePlant.com has more on this …
Although it’s always entertaining to bash poor crisis management, especially when it results in loads of negative media coverage, there is quite a lot of quality work being done every day. One such example is RadioShack’s handling of the mounting negative buzz on Twitter and various blogs after they unveiled …
We’ve uploaded a new edition of the Crisis Manager newsletter to our website, and, as always, it’s stuffed with information you really can’t afford to miss! In this issue our first guest, University of South Carolina Professor Karen Mallia, offers up a powerful review of two recent advertising campaigns torn …
In an identity theft scam, a fraudster, often posing as a trusted government, financial or business institution or official, tries to trick a victim into revealing personal and financial information, such as credit card numbers and passwords, bank account numbers and passwords, Social Security numbers and more. Generally, identity thieves …
When it was revealed that Tennessee Senator Paul Stanley was having an affair with his 22-year-old intern, it started a chain of events that ended with his reputation and career being destroyed. The fact that he was known for vocally citing his belief in abstinence outside marriage, as well as …
Considering every player on the 2003 MLB steroid investigation list was informed of their positive test results, it’s obvious that David “Big Papi” Ortiz, of the Boston Red Sox, was well aware of the skeletons in his closet. Knowing this, it would have been a smart crisis prevention move for …
The corporation has significant duty-of-care responsibilities to ensure all their international travelers are prepared and have adequate support if they have an incident while abroad. Issues multiply when an international health incident occurs — from coordinating an evacuation of a critically-injured engineer from a work site in Angola to helping …
The advent of blazing-fast social media communication has forced crisis management to speed up tremendously just to keep pace. In a recent blog post, Nick Vehr, founder of Vehr Communications, makes this when commenting on an article about US Airway’s crisis response to Flight 1549 landing in the Hudson River …
Twitter has been a fantastic crisis management tool for businesses, allowing them to provide one-on-one communication and service to more customers than ever before. For some reason, when Chicago-based Horizon Group Management LLC aka Horizon Realty Group came across the following complaint in a tweet (casually made in response to …
Summer is thunderstorm season, and thunderstorms bring lightning, heavy rainfall, hail, and tornadoes. Resulting fatalities, property damage, and losses from business interruption are significant. Natural hazards can’t be prevented, but emergency management can protect life, mitigation can reduce property damage, and business continuity planning can speed recovery and reduce operational …
Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with others. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value …
Answering the needs of officials and organizations around the world for early detection of H1N1 cases, Extech Instruments has recently released their IR200 Non-contact Infrared Forehead Thermometer. Designed for fast, simple and accurate fever screenings, those being screened do not have to remove glasses or safety masks and need only …
