crisis communications

June 5, 2015

The Crisis Show Library on Audio Now Rolling Out

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Today we’re proud to begin the rollout of The Crisis Show Library on audio. It will consist of nearly all 100 episodes of The Crisis Show that began production in June 2012 and running through Spring 2015.

We are rolling out 20 of our favorite shows this weekend on a wide variety of topics: natural disasters/emergency management, social media crises, health crises, CEO leadership and workplace violence to name a few.

For the past three years, we’ve put much effort into making the show about crisis management education from many angles. And we’ve attracted some of the best minds in the business around the globe as guests — all who have given much of their time to deliver information viewers/listeners can use immediately. I thank them!

The show has mostly been broadcast live (with some pre-recorded the same day) to deliver up-to-date analysis of high profile crises: Newtown, CT school shooting, Superstorm Sandy, Australia brushfires, a Brazil nightclub tragedy, a horsemeat scandal that swept Europe, virus outbreaks on cruise ships, deadly tornadoes and earthquakes, the Boston Marathon bombing and major transportation disasters around the world.

We’ve covered CEOS, world leaders, college presidents and celebrities involved in recalls, scandals, crimes, natural/manmade disasters and reputation crises.

This Crisis Show was born on Google Hangouts on Air/YouTube and you can still watch the videos there. But having high resolution audio files that can be easily played in your car, tablets/iPads and mobile phones makes it more accessible than ever. (Note: My guitar hero Jimmy Page was NOT available to produce the audios but they still sound pretty darn good:))

Most episodes will cost $2.99 with a few at $3.99 because of their extra time/file size and additional guests. These include our special “Back to School” episodes and some “anniversary” editions that include mini All-Star teams of crisis management packed into extended shows.

If you ultimately purchased the entire library at say $299, that’s still cheaper than what you would pay today for a one or two hour webinar or seminar. So, in my humble opinion, every episode we make available is a fabulous value and costs less than most fancy coffees. Caffeine aside, this information WILL help you sleep at night because you will quickly gain confidence in your ability — and your staff’s ability — to manage a serious crisis that can ruin your organizations reputation.

We’re using a platform called Gumroad and hope you find it easy to use for purchasing and downloading your files from The Crisis Show Library. But if you have any issues with it, just email me: rich@richkleincrisis.com or TheCrisisShow@gmail.com. You can also DM me on Twitter via @RichKleinCrisis and @TheCrisisShow.

Thanks to everyone around the world who has watched and supported the show the past three years.

And thanks in advance to those ready to buy our audio episodes.

You will certainly learn much about what to do and say before, during and after a crisis to protect hard-earned reputation in front of your critical audiences.

PS…We don’t want to break the Internet by rolling out all episodes at once so please be patient as we spread these out over the coming week.

 

September 3, 2014

Sound Bite That Bit The President

Last week, President Obama was answering questions at a news conference. And one short sentence got him in big trouble in the court of public opinion. 

I wrote about this in a post on LinkedIn just now.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20140903040308-6790863-the-big-bad-soundbite-that-bit-the-president

 

June 23, 2014

5 Reasons Leaders Fail at Crisis Management

Here’s my recent post that first appeared on LinkedIn: 5 Reasons Leaders Fail at Crisis Management. 

Please feel free to add your comments below.

 

February 24, 2014

Quick Overview of The Crisis Management Advisor on Google Helpouts

This video will briefly explain how The Crisis Management Advisor works.

Here’s the link to The Crisis Management Advisor profile on Google Helpouts.

February 17, 2014

Get Your Crisis Management Tips in 15 Minutes

A few weeks ago we launched The Crisis Management Advisor on Google Helpouts. That means you can schedule, pay and immediately receive crisis management counsel in a confidential video call.

More recently, we added an introductory version of The Crisis Management Advisor for those who just want some basic crisis management / reputation tips. We call it Crisis Management 101: Quick Tips in 15 minutes. Right now, that costs just $10 – which is cheaper than two grande lattes anywhere in the world.

And, even if you don’t work with us, we highly recommend checking out the many great service providers with many talents who are now on Helpouts.

You can watch this video for more information about the format.

To learn more about Rich Klein Crisis Management, please visit http://www.richkleincrisis.com or visit us on Facebook and Twitter.

January 31, 2014

Risk & Insurance Magazine Article on Target Data Breach

I’m quoted extensively in this in-depth article from Risk & Insurance magazine about how Target responded to its recent data breach. A good read for the retail industry and beyond.

January 30, 2014

Introducing The Crisis Management Advisor on Google Helpouts

I’m thrilled to be selected by Google this month as the first Crisis Management advisor on the new platform known as Helpouts. Helpouts allows me to counsel clients around the world with high resolution video that also allows us to share screens and collaborate. It’s been made so easy to make an online appointment and to pay for your time with me, either by the minute or by the session.

I look forward to meeting and advising individuals, companies and organizations facing crisis situations in 2014 and beyond using this great tool.

On the Helpout, I’ll quickly gauge the seriousness of your crisis, make recommendations and then get to work on the process of protecting your reputation.

That can take the form of creating sharp content that influences public opinion, helping to identify the right spokespeople, conducting media training for mock interviews and news conferences, teaching you how to deal with the media and how to use social media at all stages of a crisis (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and more).

Remember – a few hundred dollars spent on a Helpout could save millions of dollars of lost revenue due to a crisis situation that catches you and your organization off guard and that could destroy goodwill and hard-earned reputation.

January 26, 2014

Honesty Remains Lonely Word: Royal Caribbean, Michael’s Stores

When three hundred 600 of your passengers fall ill to a virus out on the ocean, it’s big news and a crisis. When millions of your customers have their data stolen because they shopped at your chain stores, it’s also big news and a crisis. So why did the leaders of Royal Caribbean and Michael’s Stores this weekend try so hard to bury the bad news and insulting the intelligence of their critical audiences and beyond?

Both these companies have active Twitter and Facebook pages. But 24+ hours into their respective crises, only customers are reporting the obvious news while the companies offer little insight into what happened. One big problem in these situations is that company executives limit release of their crisis statements to the media.

That’s a huge miscalculation because the media is rarely going to run the full statement.

To have the best chance at defending reputation, companies need to post their own statements on their websites ASAP with links going to their Twitter and Facebook pages as well. CEOs and company presidents might also consider creating short YouTube videos about the crisis to show real compassion.

In a crisis, do you really want everyone else to tell your story?

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I’ve written and lectured about this subject for more than two decades and remain baffled at this widespread disregard for honesty, ethics, social responsibility and their own corporate reputation. Is it the lawyers telling them to not say anything or is it their own decision-making? Or, do they foolishly not prepare for a crisis that happens over the weekend because no one is in their corporate offices?

Unless we are inside these (and other companies), we’ll never know. But it’s clear that withholding or burying critical information that customers need in a crisis is a great way to alienate loyal customers and impacts the ability to attract new ones.

I believe part of the problem is that many companies today are too worried about short term revenues, short term rises in stock prices and counting on short memories.

When they start focusing instead on long term reputation by dealing with a short term crisis head-on with transparency and compassion, they are more likely to be rewarded with repeat business by more loyal customers for decades.

Update: Michael’s finally put its CEO letter front and center on its website but didn’t mention it on its Facebook or Twitter pages.

Royal Caribbean finally acknowledged Sunday night on Twitter — for the first time — that there was a crisis. And here’s the statement that the company finally issued: It’s impersonal, shows no real concern for health of passengers and has no attribution.

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June 20, 2013

Simon Says: We Don’t Care About People & Abercrombie No Better At Roosevelt Field

Compassion. Humanity. How hard is that? Well, for Simon Malls, owners of Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City, Long Island, as well as Abercrombie & Fitch, guess they just can’t find the time to offer a statement of concern for the nine workers overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning this morning. Check out the tweets Simon/Roosevelt sent out a good three hours after the incident:

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And this tweet from Abercrombie at 12:30 pm EDT today (June 20):

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In today’s instant news cycle, it’s mandatory to post SOMETHING on social media — particularly your Twitter profile and Facebook page — in a crisis where people are hurt on or near your properties.

Instead of turning people off with “we’re open, come shop” the message should have been at least: “Our hearts and prayers go out to the workers injured today at our Roosevelt Field location. We’re working closely with authorities to investigate the cause.” (Simon Mall example).

Abercrombie could have said something similar.

Shame on Simon Malls and Abercrombie. Companies and organizations must put people first especially when lives are in danger.

Sometimes the problem lies at the top of the organization and other times it’s because companies employ junior social media people who have no clue about crisis situations or reputation management.

Either way, it’s an issue all companies must think about if they care at all about their long term reputation.