By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications New coronavirus headlines, tweets and Facebook posts are piling up by the moment: first U.S. death, new cases of unknown origin, updated travel advisories, outbreaks in new areas. This is how news of a virus spreads in the communications ecosystem in 2020, and it’s understandable if you’re wrestling with how […]
By Stephanie York, JD, Vice President, Hennes Communications Q: Why should a local school system (K-12) reach out to a crisis communications firm? A: Quick – What’s the single highest priority for a public, private, independent or parochial school? It’s not education. It’s safety. And just one part of that safety net is making sure the […]
This article is written by attorney David Wolowitz, co-chair of the Education Law Group of McLane Middleton, P.A., with offices in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. While written for Wolowitz’ independent schools, it’s equally applicable to public, parochial and charter schools. Strong digital use policies, trainings and behavioral standards can protect schools from these emerging […]
From Anthony Spota, writing for Fair Observer: In an era when 280 characters can spur the demise or salvation of entire companies, so-called crisis communications has become an increasingly important and technically complex profession. Today’s successful specialists in this craft must be knowledgeable about a variety of topics including public relations, psychology, data science and […]
When it comes to corporate risk and resilience, one of the gurus in the industry is our friend and colleague, Richard Levick, who recently gazed into his risk-ridden crystal ball. Richard believes that 2020 will bring precedent-shattering cyber breaches, radical revisions to enterprise risk management, a public relations backlash to the #MeToo movement, litigation funding […]
By Thom Fladung/ Hennes Communications How fast is social media at reporting on events – including events that your organization might consider a crisis? Faster than you. Consider a situation involving a school in Westfield, N.Y., that we stumbled upon. Here’s the first paragraph of a story from the Westfield Republican: “Parents need to realize […]
By Bruce Hennes/Hennes Communications With no barriers to entry, every public relations firm in the U.S. now appears to offer “crisis communications.” They don’t. At least, all of those who claim to don’t. Crisis work requires a different – and often counterintuitive – skill set from the traditional practice of public relations. It’s also an art […]
From Gail Baker, writing in Higher Education Today, a quick primer in crisis management, suitable for any organization, company or government agency. The day starts like any other. Need to handle a complicated personnel issue, post an enrollment update, and answer budget questions. As you prepare to leave for a meeting, there’s a call from […]
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you know we’re constantly encouraging you to have a crisis management/crisis communications plan in-place before something happens. We are also constantly reminding you understand that you only have minutes to respond to a crisis situation; to train and test your team; to […]
[By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications] David Wolowitz is an attorney with McLane Middleton, a law firm in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He is also one of the country’s most in-demand experts on sexual misconduct, with a focus on independent schools. We first met David a number of years ago when we served on a panel together. […]