What to Do If Your Boss Asks You to Break the Rules
From the Harvard Business Review: All of us, at some point or another, are asked to break the rules at work. It may be a small action, like rounding up or down in an accounts ledger, or a small inaction, like looking the other way while others do so. It may be a one-time request, […]
5 Crisis Management Resolutions for 2016
[By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications] Unless your organization was incredibly lucky this past year, either something bad happened to you, or you – or someone associated with you – did something bad to someone else. Even though we work with clients in crisis virtually every day, we are constantly amazed by the never-ending variety of […]
Got Writer’s Block? 14 Writers Share How They Fight the Blank Screen
From Poynter: A few weeks ago I wrote about my bout with writer’s block, and how I needed a good “slap” to get over it. That got me thinking: how do other writers get over those moments (or hours) when the blank screen is so imposing? So I asked for advice from some very good […]
A Bad Review Is Forever: How to Counter Online Complaints
From the New York Times: For the California restaurateur Andrew Gruel, poor online reviews demand rapid responses. One of his new Slapfish restaurants, serving sustainable seafood, was hit this year with dozens of bad reviews that complained about its prices (too high) and portions (too small). So Mr. Gruel pulled out all the stops. He […]
Florida Bar Laughs Off Nonsensical ‘Bar Complaint’
From TechDirt.com: Remember Patrick Zarrelli? Of course you do. He’s the dude bro, who claimed to run a “reputation management” service, who was hired by an attorney named Gary Ostrow to “clean up” his Google mentions. At issue were a bunch of blog posts from blogging lawyers mocking Ostrow’s ridiculous press release. Zarrelli seemed to […]
3 Ghosts of Crises Past — and Lessons Left Behind
[By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications] Communications crises don’t take a holiday. We can’t predict what crises will break in the short time left in 2015, but is anyone willing to bet that there won’t be at least a few? And someone’s crisis probably will arrive at a profoundly inopportune time – say, the night of […]
Youthful Mistakes – and the Journalists Who Leap Upon Them
This is a memory I’ve successfully suppressed for years, but it came flooding back to me last week. When I was a college junior I submitted one of my short stories to the New Yorker. I don’t recall the specific story, but I remember it being well-received by my colleagues in our undergraduate workshop, which […]
7 Dos and Don’ts Following a Social Media Mishap
Social media is so powerful that a single post can make or break a brand’s reputation. This is why it’s important to think before you post, either as yourself or on your business’s behalf. Still, sometimes things don’t go as planned. What seemed like a good status may turn out to be offensive or insensitive […]
The New Normal: Amid a Crisis, Check Twitter
[By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications] The terrorist attacks in France were yet another reminder – as if we needed one – that when big stuff happens, more people are turning to one particular outlet for news and information: Twitter. That has to mean something to the folks charged with communicating during a crisis. The Harvard […]
Confessions of a TV News Executive, Part 2 – The Ambush Interview
[By Howard Fencl, APR] You’re grappling with serious challenges that threaten your organization, and perhaps your career. Someone leaks an internal e-mail to the media, and reporters have been leaving you voicemail messages all day asking for your comment on the issue. Your company’s unwritten policy is to ignore the media, and your general counsel […]