I was interviewed yesterday about what type of crisis management strategies Assistant Coach G.A. Magnus and University of South Carolina should employ to rebound from Magnus July 26 arrest for public nuisance when caught urinating outside a bar at 1:30 a.m. in Greenville, SC. Click on link below to view segment.
WLTX-TV segment on Crisis Management for Mangus
On April 20th, land in the Gulf of Mexico was dramatically affected by a large oil spill off its coast. Recent reports state that millions of gallons of crude oil have been released into the water. Owned by BP, The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig located 50 miles offshore, was hit with an explosion. This tragedy has placed great strain on families closely impacted. With 11 of BP’s employees still missing, the area’s fishing industry hinde
red, and affected wildlife in the Gulf’s perimeters, people want answers and results.
The CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, quickly addressed the media stating, “We will absolutely be paying for the cleanup operation. There is no doubt about that. It’s our responsibility — we accept it fully.” If the CEO and employees of BP hadn’t made it clear they will pay for all damages, including those involving the family of the missing employees, President Obama reiterated the statement, claiming that BP is soley responsible and they will pay for the damages.
Officials released that due to the pipeline rupture, oil will continue to spill into the Gulf of Mexico for another week at least. BP has assured they are working as fast as possible to fix the rupture located 50,000 feet below sea level, but installation of a device to capture the oil will take some time.
The media has been buzzing for months about internships, debating whether or not they are “legal” or “unpaid labor”. Every company’s situation presents a different case, but what remains is the shear genius of the internship concept.
For years, my peers complained about how they simply did not have the time or motivation to indulge in an internship, but later stressed over their lack of experience as graduation and job searching approached. The interview process is nerve-wracking. And internships are time consuming. But the experience and the acquired knowledge are priceless.
I heard about the internship at Talk though another internship I had last semester. I knew immediately it was something I was interested in. And I was reminded of a quote by Rabindranath Tagore that goes “You cannot cross the sea, merely by starring into the water.” So I researched the company, talked to an advisor, and applied. In essence, I dove in.
I understood that I might have been rejected, but I know from experience all a company can do is say, “No,” and that is okay; it is part of the experience. Interning is a treasure, a gold mine for opportunities. An intern is able to gain experiences they are not able to receive in a classroom, like working in a business setting that applies to your specific degree. It is a unique opportunity for individual and team development, learning time management, confidence, and problem solving.
By interning for a company you are also given the opportunity to network. I am not sure if this word gives me butterflies because I am a Communication Studies Major or because I enjoy meeting people, but Networking, makes all the difference in the corporate world. (Like I said earlier, I heard about this internship though a previous internship.) My intern mentor told me the other day, “Even if the job’s not exactly what you want, apply anyway. If it’s at your dream company at least you’ll get your foot in the door.”
Sometimes, just having that “in” or connection will make all the difference in the world. And with the economic recession, the workforce is more competitive than ever. Having that experience in your field will give you that flair to stand out and the confidence to “dive in.”
Few things strike more fear into the heart of executives than an unexpected call from the media. Handled correctly, interviews can lead to free publicity that raises awareness of your firm and burnishes your reputation. But if you take that call without proper media training and preparation, you can quickly find yourself in a PR quagmire that could damage both your reputation and bottom line.
All business leaders and corporate spokespeople should receive media training. It will ensure that you are adequately prepared to best represent their company. Talk offers half-day and full-day training for both individuals and groups.
Here are some media training tips to get you started.
As you may or may not have heard, Yahoo’s “Hack Day” in Taiwan made headlines, but not for any innovative code. The event was supposed to be about developers designing Web apps in 24 hours, but it was the sideshow that caught the Web’s attention.
As an apparent “gift” to the developers, Yahoo hired lap dancers as entertainment. Certainly a large part of these events is to garner publicity, but the caveat that Yahoo seems to have overlooked is that said publicity should be positive!
Performing a Yahoo news search for “Yahoo Hack Day” almost exclusively returns articles penned by irate authors. The only exceptions were written before the actual event, or mentioned Hack Day as a side note. Chris Yeh, head of the Yahoo Developer Network, has issued an apology through the YDN blog, simply titled, “Sorry,” which acknowledges wrong-doing but offers little to better the situation. The first comment counters, “this is tradition as opposed to an aberration,” noting that Yahoo hired similar girls for last year’s Hack Day as well.
In Kara Swisher’s scathing analysis, she writes, “it is not clear why all the thumpa-thumpa music and dancing gals did not engender complaints last year.” This leads me to question how large a role did the groundswell play in making this a newsworthy story?
My takeaway? In today’s world, regardless of your immediate audience, you must always be aware that your actions are likely (definitely in Yahoo’s case) to be seen by global audiences. As a global company, Yahoo needed to recognize this, and act more appropriately. Let’s see what entertainment developers are welcomed with next year.
Quitting jobs in a dramatic over-the-top fashion is something many people fantasize about at one time or another. Most people realize the transient pleasure this may give them will more likely lead to more lasting problems.
One disgruntled Starcom employee however, apparently decided that speaking his mind was worth it, regardless of the consequences. While you will almost certainly sympathize with at least some of his note, perhaps most of it even, the point is that if you will ever be seeking employment again, it’s probably best not to burn those bridges.
Funny? Sure. Treating your career like a joke? You decide.
Sometimes news is only news to a small group of people. In these situations, it can be difficult to get media to cover a story, even if it’s cool and newsworthy. That’s where crafty PR people come in. We’re trained to not just think outside of the box, but around it, on top of it, behind it and next to it. We leave no box unturned when it comes to getting our clients ink.
We handle publicity for Landfall, a private golfing community in Wilmington. Since a lot of their activities are for residents, members of the Country Club of Landfall, and guests only, it takes some creative thinking to get the media interested. On October 15, Landfall unveiled a new garden labyrinth and bronze sculpture in the memorial garden at Kenan Chapel. The Chapel and gardens are only open to the public during specific special events, so the majority of the news watchers or readers won’t have access to it, thereby limiting the chances of getting media attention.
Instead of simply pitching the dedication ceremony to local media and hoping for a slow news day, we researched the origin of labyrinths and the growing trend of building these maze-like paths in churches and at hospitals. Then we developed a pitch that positioned labyrinths – like the new one at Kenan Chapel at Landfall, as well as two others in town – as places for emotional, spiritual and physical healing. This out-of-the-box approach garnered coverage in the Star News and the upcoming issue of Focus on The Coast and on WWAY’s 5:30 newscast the day of the dedication.
A host of 5’ tall Pink Chicks and a number of local celebrities, including Mayor Bill Saffo and WECT-TV Anchor Frances Weller, will strut their stuff in front of The Forum Shops on Tuesday, October 6 to kick off the first annual Pink Chick Parade to raise funds and awareness for the Pink Ribbon Project. The Pink Chicks are 5’ tall pink cutouts that will parade in front of The Forum Shops in Military Cutoff Road throughout October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Pink Chicks can be purchased at any of The Forum Shops for $125 each — the cost of a mammogram administered by Pink Ribbon Project. Participants are encouraged to “Buy a Chick, Save a Life” to help Pink Ribbon administer more mammograms to uninsured women. The chicks can also be signed and customized in honor of or as a memorial to a loved one.
In addition to launching the Pink Chick Parade, David Swain and The Forum Shops are donating $10,000 to the Pink Ribbon Project. Since its inception in 1998, the Pink Ribbon Project, an initiative of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation, has raised more than $1 million to provide “Comfort Bags” to area women undergoing treatment and to administer mammograms to uninsured women through New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s Coastal Care Van.
Think back to a time before emails, text messages and Twitter posts. I used to pick up a pen and stationery to express a sentiment or share news with family, friends and business associates. Now, in my never-ending quest to save time, a quick email or posting does the job. I remember when I first moved away from home, I exchanged handwritten letters with family members and friends for years, before a cell phone, email and now Facebook gradually took their place.
Imagine my delight when I recently checked the mailbox and found a handwritten note from one of my cousins, including a recent photo of her daughter. What a nice feeling to know that someone was thinking of me, and actually took the time to put it into words on some very cute stationery! She’ll be receiving my response in short order.
This kind of personal touch is also effective in the business world. It’s always a nice surprise to receive a handwritten thank you note at work, instead of an everyday email message. Below are five reasons to send a handwritten note at work:
1. Follow-up with a new client
2. Thanks a vendor for a job well done
3. Congratulate a colleague on a promotion or success
4. Acknowledge that you’ve read about someone in the news (attach a clipping)
5. Thank a coworker for their extra effort
I’ve set a personal goal at work to write a handwritten note at least once each week. Let’s bring back this lost art.
While I am certainly no copywriting master like Debbie or Susan here, I do wield my force in search engine optimization and other online strategies. What I have been noticing, however, is probably what most of you in the copywriting or public relations industry are noticing (and where the money is going): SEO is a “new” copywriting tool.
All copy on the web should be written from an SEO standpoint.This means writing from the basis of keywords that will optimize your online exposure and narrow the focus of your message, making your work that much more effective.
A marriage between SEO and copywriting means more sales. If search engine optimization is the act of getting your information found by your customers based on the keywords your customers are already searching for, then using the very same words your customers found the content with to begin with should improve sales due to your copy resonating with the consumer. This, no doubt, provides the best use of the content, or copy, being created.
Use SEO methods in your copywriting to improve your content.
If you’re looking to do copywriting or press release writing, an understanding of search engine optimization is becoming more and more critical to the point where it’s beginning to be listed in job requirements. This makes perfect sense, since copy and content should have been created this way to begin with. And with the majority of content going digital, even the copy you’re writing for traditional outlets are finding their way to the internet.
Talk helps businesses in the Carolinas attract new customers, mitigate issues and increase profits.
| Why You Should Pay More Attention to Issues than Crises |
| Why Some Users are Shunning Facebook |
| Crisis Management at Gamecock Nation |
| June | Use Blogs to Grow Your Business |
| May | Avoid A Crisis by Planning for One |
| April | Get Online or Get Left Behind |
| Sept 24 | Local SEO |
| Oct 22 | Crisis Management |
| November 19 | Facebook 101 |
| Dec 17 | Twitter 101 |
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