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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]