Replies

MB's posts are not anti Terri.
He is schooled in PR.
What he is saying, sadly, is right on.
I am not a PR person, but have been well-trained in PR.
Many years ago, my having read one PR book helped save the public relations status with a Fortune 500 company when a corporate jet went down.
Company manuals stated that the first manager aware of a disaster, or problem, was to take over until the proper manager came on the scene, or checked in.

At 6:15 am on a Sunday am, I called our corporate hangar and told them I would not be making the 7am flight due to extreme sinus congestion, and they need not keep a plane waiting for me - I would fly commercial later in the day when I got my sinuses handled.

7:15am, the radio station I listened to cut in for a brief news alert - corporate jet crashed on takeoff, all feared dead. My heart sank into my stomach. I thought, "I hope I remember what my manual said about the first manager aware of a disaster." I called my hanger, and the hysterical administrative assistant answered, having just spoken to the tower. Our plane, MY BELOVED STAFF gone. I told her to close the hanger doors, turn off the lights, and asked if she thought she could get home all right. Fighting back tears, I quickly arranged for our security service to pick her and her car up and get her home.

On to dealing with the tower and the media: Got the tower to agree not to talk to the media and actually deny that anything had happened. Called 3 of the media and asked their assistance in contacting the rest of them to keep everything out of the media until we could contact next of kin. Incredibly helpful! Nothing was broadcast or published until we had figured out what "spin" to put on it.

That afternoon, execs from all departments and two international PR firms and I brainstormed on what the PR spin was to be. The CO was in the red at that time, and had many other major problems. I was "spelled" about 3pm, when a payroll representative brought me final paychecks and separate checks for 2x annual salary for my deceased people. Then a driver and I dutifully made the rounds of the homes of my staff to notify them of their demise, give them the bucks, tell them the company would pick up burial expenses. I am told I did a good job. I was in shock. My staff!

The point of this post, is we kept the fact that the crash out of the media for over 36 hours, and by the time anything was published, the company was shown in a good light - and this was the death of people!!!!!! Wind shear was the cause.

PR "spin" is incredibly important!