United Airlines Kills Puppy & “Assumes Full Responsibility”
[By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications] Once again, United Airlines is tone-deaf when it comes to saying it’s sorry. Here’s the story, from the Washington Post: United Airlines said it will “assume full responsibility” for the death of a 10-month-old puppy that appeared to have suffocated after it was placed inside an overhead compartment on a three-hour flight […]
Bot or Not? The Answer Can Help Your Crisis Communications Response – and Protect Your Reputation.
[By Thom Fladung/Hennes Communications] Talk to a bot lately? If you’re on Twitter, chances are decent you have. Bots are automated accounts that have proliferated in social media networks, particularly Twitter and Instagram. They appear to be real people. “They come in all shapes and sizes, and they are borderline perfect,” a story in Forbes […]
Nobody Cares About Your Thoughts and Prayers
[by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] Don’t give me your phony grief. Don’t pawn off insincere, off-the-shelf template language just because you feel your organization must say something – anything – after a tragedy. Another school shooting? “Thoughts and prayers.” Environmental catastrophe? “Thoughts and prayers.” Industrial fatality? Well, you get it. And you’ve seen it recited […]
He Predicted The 2016 Fake News Crisis. Now He’s Worried About An Information Apocalypse.
From Buzzfeed: “What happens when anyone can make it appear as if anything has happened, regardless of whether or not it did?” technologist Aviv Ovadya warns. In mid-2016, Aviv Ovadya realized there was something fundamentally wrong with the internet — so wrong that he abandoned his work and sounded an alarm. A few weeks before the 2016 election, […]
What Women Can & Cannot Control About Their Leadership Presence
By Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D You may have a leadership title, or tremendous leadership potential, but that in itself doesn’t give you leadership presence. These are typical comments I hear when asked to coach an up-and-coming female whose career has stalled: “It isn’t that she couldn’t do the next job. It’s that no one on the […]
Tough Calls: Is Your Loyalty to the Person, Office or Organization?
A frequent concern at Hennes Communications before and during the work we do for clients is to make certain we understand who our client actually is. In most situations, it’s an institution, organization or company – not necessarily the individual who hired us or signed the engagement letter. Many of our readers must make that […]
The White House Flouts the First Rule of Crisis Communications: Get the Facts Out Fast
From The New York Times: WASHINGTON — By the time the furor over a presidential aide accused of spousal abuse reached a second week, the White House account of what happened became less clear, not more. The contradictions were multiplying. The daily news briefing was filled with caveats. “I can only give you the best […]
Preparing for Allegations of Sexual Misconduct
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications NOTE: While this article is aimed at school-related allegations of sexual misconduct, the lessons here are applicable to all market sectors. As we have seen on the national stage recently, there appears to be no statute of limitations when it comes to allegations of sexual misconduct. Thanks especially to the […]
The Art of the Public Apology
From Ashraf Rushdy: Just prior to his sentencing, former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar formally apologized to the more than 160 women whom he’d sexually abused. He joins a growing list. Over the past few months, many public personalities accused of sexual assault have apologized in public. Many of us at this point are wondering what these apologies mean. Indeed, like […]
The Sex-Abuse Victims America Ignored
The Penn State – Joe Paterno situation immediately grabbed public attention. But it took way too long for the Michigan State University gymnastics scandal to capture the country’s attention. Here’s why. From Alex Putterman, writing for The Atlantic: It was an arresting moment, even on a day full of them. The Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman […]