From Jill Avery and Richard Edelman, writing for the Harvard Business School… As the COVID-19 virus pandemic began to sweep across the world, Doug McMillon and his team at Walmart watched in horror. Suddenly, they realized, tomorrow would be nothing like “business as usual” and everything in the company’s marketing plan, from retail execution to […]
Carol Kitchener writes: The first step to making a new professional connection can be a little awkward. Usually, you start by reaching out over email. You might agonize over the acceptable number of exclamation points — or double check the spelling of several words you have certainly spelled successfully many times before. You read the email at […]
From Dave Poston, writing in the North Carolina Lawyers Weekly: While attorneys have made great strides in recent years expanding remote worker policies and capabilities, as well as having a newfound commitment toward wellness, COVID-19 forced immediate implementation upon the legal industry. Timelines vary, but we could be in this situation for a few months […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
From Cleveland Magazine and it’s Community Leader publication, Northeast Ohio leaders discuss the right prescription for the region’s recovery. Those quoted in the article include Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic, president and CEO of the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic; David Gilbert, president and CEO of Destination Cleveland; Jon Park, founding CEO of Westfield Bank; Bill Koehler, CEO of Team NEO; Jon Pinney, managing […]
In this short Ashland University Professional Learning Podcast, Dr. David Silverberg interviews Thom Fladung, managing partner of Hennes Communications, one of the few firms in North America focused exclusively on crisis management and crisis communications. Fladung is also the former managing editor of The Plain Dealer and Detroit Free Press. To listen to Thom talk […]
From Michael Kling, writing for Glean. Public relations experts and other commentators point to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s COVID-19 communications as an example of how leaders should speak to the public during a crisis. Business leaders and PR professionals can examine Cuomo’s press conferences for several crisis communications lessons. While the New York governor […]