Lessons from the Battlefield

The latest issue of The Public Relations Strategist focuses on crisis managment. The entire issue looks at various crisis situations and how they were managed; the deadly campus shooting at Virginia Tech, Jet Blue's meltdown last February and others. The pub also revisits the Tylenol cyanide tampering deaths credited with the birth of crisis communications.

The lead article is about the campus shooting at Virginia Tech last April. Quick flashback, it was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. During the course of two shooting sprees over several hours, the gunman murdered 32 students and faculty members, and injured 25 others before he killed himself. The ensuing media onslaught was massive.

The mag published excerpts from an interview with Larry G. Hincker, associate vice president of the Office of University Relations. My favorite quote from Hincker is his reponse to the question: What have you learned about crisis communications?

"One of the first things you learn is, you have to have a plan in place. It doesn't matter whether it's sophisticated or simple - you've got to have one. Frankly, the simpler the plan, the better."

Everyone who has a stake in an organization's public relations efforts should read the article. If you think your little college or hospital or business doesn't really need a crisis communications plan... you are WRONG. I can't put it any more simpler than that.

Disaster can strike at any time. The most vital asset to any company or organization is its reputation. It's not money. It's not assets. It's what people think of you... your reputation. Reputation is your lifeblood. Without it you cannot survive. Building up a good and lasting reputation is extensive and time-consuming. You risk losing it rapidly, even overnight, because you haven't planned for a disaster striking your organization.

Viriginia Tech took a hit in the media because of the perception that officials didn't respond quickly enough in alerting students of the danger after the first shooting spree. But the university preserved its reputation by facing the questions and responding to the media.

Crisis communications 101 - tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth. Hincker was so successful that the encamped media gave him a standing ovation at the last of 10 press conferences.