Ono the Ostrich CRISIS MANAGER
The Internet Newsletter about Crisis Management 
 

"For Those Who Are Crisis Managers,
Whether They Want to be or Not"


ISSN:1528-3836
© 2017 Jonathan Bernstein

Let's Make 2018 the "Year of Preparedness"


Volume XVIII, Number 12

December 31, 2017    
Just a Thought  
"Private-sector preparedness is not a luxury; it is a cost of doing business in the post-9/11 world. It is ignored at a tremendous potential cost in lives, money and national security."

- The 9-11 Commission Report
From the Editor 
 
Some pain is inevitable. The unpredictable, unpreventable crisis. The emotional weight that comes with negative events. And, the financial and reputation consequences that accompany those situations.

The question that fact raises is this - Why take more pain than you absolutely have to? And the answer we've seen more and more over the past year is a simple yet oh-so-powerful, "Let's not".

2017 was a year full of painful reminders as to why we need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  It's been a slow shift, but more and more organizations are coming to us asking for ways to identify pain points, and to create solutions before the lives and livelihoods of stakeholders are at risk. 
 
Our world is only getting more complex, and our oft-used line, "Winging it is not a crisis management strategy" has aged frighteningly well. In the New Year let's resolve to prepare - prepare to protect our stakeholders, prepare to protect the public, and prepare to protect ourselves and our organizations from pain that we don't have to take. 
 
- EB 

P.S. Let's connect on LinkedIn! I love networking with readers and am always looking to make new connections.
Interested in reprinting BCM articles or blog posts?
We're happy to give permission for material to be reprinted in hard copy or online!

If you find something you would like to reprint, simply submit a request to jonathan@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.

 

Blogs
 
The Bernstein Crisis Management blog , along with our blog at the Free Management Library , features case studies, advice, and the latest news on techniques, threats, and the latest stories in crisis, PR, and reputation. 

Here, we share a look at some of the most popular posts from recent weeks:  

Why does crisis management strategy call for rapid removal of so many accused of sexual impropriety?  In a Weinstein world, pillars topple quickly explores the shift in handling these claims we've seen from Hollywood,  big business and more.

We compared and contrasted communication styles with a couple of posts, the first of which,  Protect Your Rep - Proactive Communication Done Right, looks at a great way to get ahead of potential stakeholder irritation.

We were much less impressed with Uber's communication about an issue that should have been handled with far more care. You can find the breakdown of what went wrong and how you can avoid the same mistake in Protect Your Rep - Uber Crisis Communications Done Wrong.

Providing excellent customer service is must for crisis management, and breakdowns in that area can spark anything from a reputation threat to negative national media coverage. In this post we explored  How your customer service can create (or prevent!) crises.


Do you have a topic you'd like to see featured in our blogs? Send an email to erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com and there's a good chance you'll be seeing it right here in the next issue!
Business Announcements 
(aka blatant self-promotion) 
  
What if you could quickly find out how your stakeholders perceive you during a breaking crisis?

Bernstein Crisis Management now uses online surveys and other tools to get immediate stakeholder perception feedback,  during a breaking crisis, with the option of continuing to monitor perception post-crisis.  


Are There Any Holes in Your Crisis Planning?

Your organization may well have crisis prevention and response-related plans in place - but are you sure they're going to cover all the bases? Bernstein Crisis Management's Crisis Document Audit is a low-cost, flat-rate service which will quickly provide you with a comprehensive analysis of your existing plans and recommendations for improvement.
 
Contact jonathan@bernsteincrisismanagement.com for more information.

We're Giving Away Keeping the Wolves at Bay and other crisis publications!

Keeping the Wolves at Bay, the widely used media-training manual published by Jonathan Bernstein, is available for free, as well as other useful publications.

To visit the download page, click here.
 
Social Media Crisis Training

A solid social media manager has quickly become a must-have for organizations of any size, and can make an immense difference by driving in customers and building your positive reputation online.

The problem is, the vast majority are simply not equipped to even identify building crises, much less take the steps necessary to cope with and mitigate the damage that can result.

That's where we come in.

Bernstein Crisis Management is now offering crisis management training for social media managers, both independent and in-house, as well as social media firms.

For an overview of our services, estimates, or more information, contact erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com
 

About Us

   

Jonathan Bernstein is both publisher of Crisis Manager and president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., a national crisis management public relations agency providing 24/7 access to crisis response professionals. The agency engages in the full spectrum of crisis management services: crisis prevention, response, planning & training. He has been in the public relations field since 1982, following five-year stints in both military intelligence and investigative reporting.

Write to Jonathan at:

Erik Bernstein is vice president of Bernstein Crisis Management, and editor of this newsletter. Spending the last decade hands-on with crisis and reputation management, he has developed proven methods to prevent, prepare for, and reduce damage taken from crisis situations. He's watched first-hand as the internet and social media changed how we communicate, and leverages that experience to the benefit of clients.

Write to Erik at: 



Legal Disclaimer (aka the small print)

All information contained herein is obtained by Jonathan Bernstein from sources believed by Jonathan Bernstein to be accurate and reliable. 

 

Because of the possibility of human and mechanical error as well as other factors, neither Jonathan Bernstein nor Bernstein Crisis Management is responsible for any errors or omissions. All information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Bernstein Crisis Management and Jonathan Bernstein make no representations and disclaim all express, implied, and statutory warranties of any kind to the user and/or any third party including, without limitation, warranties as to accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose.  

 

Unless due to willful tortuous misconduct or gross negligence, Jonathan Bernstein and Bernstein Crisis Management shall have no liability in tort, contract, or otherwise (and as permitted by law, product liability), to the user and/or any third party.  

 

Under no circumstance shall Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein be liable to the user and/or any third party for any lost profits or lost opportunity, indirect, special, consequential, incidental, or punitive damages whatsoever, even if Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein has been advised of the possibility of such damages.  

 

A service of this newsletter is to provide news summaries and/or snippets to readers. In such instances articles and/or snippets will be reprinted as they are received from the originating party or as they are displayed on the originating website or in the original article. As we do not write the news, we merely point readers to it, under no circumstance shall Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein be liable to the user and/or any third party for any lost profits or lost opportunity, indirect, special, consequential, incidental, or punitive damages whatsoever due to the distribution of said news articles or snippets that lead readers to a full article on a news service's website, even if Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Authors of the original news story and their publications shall be exclusively held liable. Any corrections to news stories are not mandatory and shall be printed at the discretion of the list moderator after evaluation on a case-by-case basis.

 

In This Issue
Just A Thought
Featured Blogs
Quick Links