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What you missed at the November 2006 meeting:
Dave Byron says, "the Time to Prepare
for PR Crisis is Now."
 Your
agency’s CEO is arrested. Your office overlooks a required advertisement
that jeopardizes an election. A thousand reporters show up in the middle
of a natural disaster.
Crisis is inevitable in public relations.
The time to prepare is now! Advance planning, including a detailed,
written plan, is critical in crisis communications, said Dave Byron,
APR, longtime community information director for Volusia County
government. In the midst of an emergency, there’s no time to hunt down
phone numbers or look for biographies and maps.
Byron presented, “Crisis Communication – Is Your Organization Prepared?”
at the Nov. 14 meeting of the Volusia County Chapter of the Florida
Public Relations Association. He shared a list of rules to follow when
crisis hits:
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1) Consult your plan, meet quickly with those in charge and get the
facts together.
2) Name a spokesperson. This should be the best communicator – not
necessarily the CEO.
3) Rehearse for interviews, anticipating all questions.
4) Respond proactively as quickly as possible.
5) Be open and honest. Provide a package that documents what
occurred. Don’t hide anything or spin the facts.
6) Admit mistakes and apologize; humanize the problem; globalize the
problem (put it into perspective). |
7) Explain in detail how the problem occurred.
8) State a corrective course of action.
9) Post materials on your Web site.
10) Restore credibility and reputation when the crisis is over.
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All businesses, non-profit agencies and
governments should have a crisis communication plan, approved by the
head of the
organization, in place at all times, Byron said. Information that should
be covered includes contact information for key people, biographies on
key people, facility fact sheets for major buildings, a biography about
the company/agency, locator maps and personnel assignments. The plan
should include a checklist of items that might be needed to handle press
inquiries during an emergency – and where to find those items quickly.
Byron is one of the top crisis communication experts in the region,
handling anything from hurricanes to the local 2000 Presidential ballot
recount that played a large part in the election result.
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FPRA Volusia/Flagler Chapter
P.O. Box 9748
Daytona Beach, FL 32120
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