The Importance of Understanding and Fulfilling the Duty of Reasonable Care When Reopening School
From our good friend, David Wolowitz at McClane Middleton. While aimed primarily at independent schools, there are some good nuggets here for public schools. Independent schools planning to have students return to school before there is a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus are understandably concerned about potential liability if a returning student becomes severely ill […]
Making Customers, Clients, Patients & Diners Wear Face Masks
First, they said don’t wear masks. Then they said it was OK to wear masks. And now they’re telling us we must wear masks. In what felt like a matter of days, mask-wearing went from horribly selfish to ethically and in many cases legally obligatory. For many of our readers, there’s now a new problem […]
How Your COVID-19 Communications Can Prepare Your Company to Talk About Any Crisis
By Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications It may feel like ages ago now, but think back to when you first began to deal with how the COVID-19 pandemic would affect your business. You scrambled an internal team to communicate minute-by-minute changes about how the business would adapt. How your employees should work at home. How they […]
Returning to the Classroom: How to Communicate Your District’s Plan to Reopen
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications School districts across the county are about to turn the page on an historic chapter in American history. Students spent almost a third of the school year going to class at the kitchen table. Teachers learned to become adept purveyors of distance-learning. Parents quickly became tutors and taskmasters while balancing […]
Why People Feel Misinformed, Confused, and Terrified About the Pandemic
Two of the foremost experts in the field of risk communications, Peter Sandman and Jody Lanard, just wrote a paper for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. In it, the latest thinking and a great list of to-do’s – and not-to-do’s – for elected officials dealing with […]
Leadership in Action – Dr. Amy Acton, Director of Ohio’s Department of Health
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications Dr. Amy Acton is Director of the Ohio Department of Health. As such, she stands side-by-side with Ohio’s Governor Mike DeWine for the daily 2:00 briefing on COVID-19. Unlike so many politicians that bob, weave, waffle or try to simply command authority and obedience, Dr. Acton speaks of vulnerability and […]
Crisis Prep 101 for Attorneys
From Sterling Miller: As in-house counsel, you can sum up your priorities in two categories: “Maximize Value Creation” (e.g., M&A) and “Minimize Value Destruction” (e.g., defending “bet the company” litigation). Pretty much all legal work you or the department do will fall under the above. A “crisis” situation falls under potential value destruction and can […]
The National Security Agency’s Recommendations for Selecting and Safely Using Collaboration Services for Telework
For many, the NSA stands for No Such Agency. Actually, it refers to the National Security Agency, a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence. The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign and domestic intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, specializing […]
Leading in a Crisis: How to Successfully Communicate
From Government Technology: The current pandemic has provided many examples of effective and not-so-effective communications strategies. Here are four pitfalls to avoid, and five proven strategies to keep the public informed and engaged. WHY ‘MEANING-MAKING’ MATTERS In every crisis, it is essential that government and public-sector leaders provide a compelling story. A good crisis narrative […]
Risk Management Experts Discuss the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impacts on Risk Management, Resilience and Business Continuity
From ContinuityCentral.com: In an interview-style article, experts from the Institute of Operational Risk and Institute of Risk Management discuss COVID-19 and how the risk management profession is reacting. Participants: Carolyn Williams, CMIRM, Director of Corporate Relations, Institute of Risk Management and Dr Jimi Hinchliffe, SIRM, Chairman, England and Wales Chapter Institute of Operational Risk. Question: Is the coronavirus likely […]