Hennes Communications Crisis Planning Work Helps Win Two Silver Anvils at National Awards Event
Our firm was proud to be part of the communications team, led by one of our clients, Destination Cleveland, that accepted two Silver Anvil Awards last week in New York City in recognition of the work done to support the 2016 Republican National Convention (RNC), held here almost exactly one year ago. The two awards, […]
Crisis Leadership: Five Principles for Managing the Unexpected
From Deloitte and The Wall Street Journal: Domestic terrorism, cyberattacks, power outages, white collar crimes and other catastrophic events are just a few of the potential crises companies can face. While many companies have a crisis plan in place, they may not have actually tested their plans, or the plans may be inadequate. A Deloitte […]
Avoiding Social Media Turbulence and PR Disasters: Airline CEOs Speak Out on Crisis Communications
No one knows more about disaster and crisis communications than the airlines. That’s why we have little doubt in our minds that the CEO of United Airlines, in the immediate aftermath of Dr. Dao getting hauled off the plane by police officers a few months ago, was indeed given the right advice by his crisis/PR […]
Don’t Get Too Obsessed with Recent Airline Customer Service Incidents – There are Bigger Sharks in the Risk Waters
Chris Britton writes: Target is a great place to shop. I love going there, and I bet many of you do too. But I also find the company fascinating because over the past few years it has provided huge debating points for those of us who make a living managing issues and crises. Until United […]
Never Tell a Journalist It’s Not a Story
Is the CEO or P.R. person the best to face the cameras in a crisis? How do P.R. reps get into journalists’ good books? Daily Mirror editor Peter Willis gave the lowdown at a recent PRWeek’s Crisis Communications conference. Asked what advice he’d give a PR facing a journalist who is acting aggressively, Willis said: […]
In Its Response to Sex Abuse Allegation, Sidwell Friends Joins Other Private Schools in Pursuing Transparency
Unfortunately, one of the fastest growth areas of business – and amongst the saddest – are the calls we receive at Hennes Communications with allegations of sexual misconduct. For scores of years, the prevailing wisdom was ignore, obfuscate, transfer and protect privacy and reputations at all-costs. Like so many pendulums, times change, and it’s now […]
To Our Lawyer Friends – Who’s Really at Fault in Sea Lion Attack?
From CNN.com: Video has emerged of a little girl being dragged off a pier and into the water (a few weeks ago) by a sea lion in British Columbia. The girl’s family reportedly had been feeding the sea lion and whistling or holding their hands over the water, as if they were holding a treat. The video […]
A Lawyer, C.I.A. Analyst and a Crisis Management Specialist Walk Into a Bar…
[by Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications] Before James Comey headed up the F.B.I., he served as general counsel of Lockheed Martin Corporation. While at Lockheed, he spoke at the National Security Agency about how studying law is similar to the education intelligence analysts receive. “You read a case and decipher…relevant facts, the [outcome] of the case…you […]
Social Media Panic at Schools: Crisis Management during False Alarms
[by Howard Fencl] A photo of a bomb with today’s date is found in a high school restroom. The school is evacuated. Police are called. Students seeing police with guns drawn on the campus misconstrue the scene as an active shooter on the loose and again call police. They also post the misinformation on social […]
Why ‘Sorry” is Still the Hardest Word
From Michael M. Grynbaum at the New York Times: “I’m sorry.” Two simple words, not so simply said. On Wednesday, the public representatives of two embattled American institutions — United Airlines and the White House — found themselves on national television grappling with a delicate and increasingly common ritual of the corporate and political worlds: […]