Fox News has received “hundreds of calls” from veterans across America just as mad at Spirit Airlines as Meekins.  Meekins even told Fox News that, “The response of most veterans is that they are going to boycott Spirit Airlines.”  He also told Fox News that the boycott could be an estimated 6 or 7 million people.  This rise of anger towards the Spirit Airlines has even set-off a facebook page “Boycott Spirit Airlines,” which has dramatically spiked with “likes” (more than 41,000 now) and people talking about the veteran and against Spirit Airlines.

With veterans across America furious with Spirit Airlines and multiple veteran groups such as AMVETS siding with Meekins, how can the company afford the negative media attention and even a possible boycott?  The answer, they can’t.  Spirit Airlines is now facing a serious crisis even though they’ve reversed their decision, but too late.  Spirit Airlines’ reputation is diminishing through traditional and social media which will cause the company to lose time, money, customers, and may even cost some their careers.  If there would happen to be a full scale boycott by the millions of veterans, the effect would be devastating towards Spirit Airlines because not only the veterans but the families of the veterans and friends would be boycotting as well, leaving the company with a terrible reputation and even less business.

The effectiveness and timeliness of the media is a true wonder of the world today.  However, in the case of Spirit Airlines, it can also be devastating for a company’s image.  The key to any crisis is to be prepared before it occurs so that when it does happen adversity can be turned into advantage, with sound decision-making! For more information, please contact the Fallston Group at info@FallstonGroup.com. The Fallston Group is a crisis management and communications firm.

• Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino crashing his motorcycle while riding with his girlfriend;
• The murder of University of Virginia lacrosse player Courtney Love by her boyfriend and men’s lacrosse player George Hughley;
• The child abuse charges being filed against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.

An event doesn’t have to be national news to initiate a crisis that could negatively impact the institution’s brand. Hazing, drug/alcohol abuse, campus crime, the improper use of school facilities…all are events that can escalate into a reputation-damaging crisis.

Many colleges and universities are now utilizing social media as a part of their marketing strategy, which brings an additional element into the crisis communications equation. Recently, the College Sports Information Directors of America commissioned a survey of the athletic departments to determine their position on the use of social media, especially during a crisis situation. The survey included 152 four-year institutions, the majority of which (38%) were schools with an enrollment of 1,000-4,999 students. Twenty-five percent of the schools have enrollments of more than 20,000 and 30% have enrollments of 5,000-19,999 students.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CRISIS HITS – THE RESULTS

More than half of the schools participating in the survey reported having had to initiate their crisis communications plans from one-to-three times within the previous 12 months. During the same period, 43% of the institutions had potential reputation-damaging stories discussed on social media sites and 6% reported having seven or more stories of this nature occur.

Are colleges and universities prepared to respond effectively when faced with an actual crisis event? Apparently not as only slightly more than 50% of the institutions in the survey reported having an active crisis communications plan in place. Of those schools with a crisis communications plan, only half included social media as an active part of the crisis response scenario. In addition, nearly 60% of the schools have no plan to monitor social media outlets as a part of their crisis communications strategy. This is despite the fact that 98% of the schools have an official athletic department page on Facebook and 96% have active Twitter accounts.

HOW TO PREPARE

It is not a question of whether a crisis will impact a college campus; it is a question of when. In order to effectively respond to a crisis and minimize the negative impact on an institution’s brand, there are steps that can be taken in advance which will lay the groundwork for success.

• Establish a crisis communications plan:  The plan should include the creation of a team within the institution to lead a crisis response;
• Include all aspects of electronic communications:  Have a plan to use the school’s existing website, create a “dark” web site which can be activated to respond to a crisis, include all of the institution’s social media accounts in the response plan;
• Actively monitor social media during the crisis:  Social media is a two-way form of communication. An element of the crisis plan must include being responsive to social media activity and taking advantage of the ability to communicate directly to stakeholders. Social media is, many times, the way students not only find out about, but follow a crisis. Clear, concise directives should be given during a critical time of need;
• Confirm the facts – In any crisis situation, effective communication must be accurate. Because social media is immediate, confirm all facts before any information is distributed via traditional or social media channels.

There are many more critical elements to an effective crisis communications plan. For more information about crisis and strategic communications, call the Fallston Group at 410.420.2001.  The Fallston Group is a crisis management and communications company. Send email inquiries to info@fallstongroup.com.

The Komen Foundation, known for its pink ribbons representing breast cancer survivors, raises much of its donations through local events such as the “Race for the Cure.”  According to Myers, race registrations for a Fort Worth, TX event are down 40%, donations at an event in Southwest Florida were down nearly 30% and an event in Louisiana saw a decline in donations of 27%. The story also featured a major donor from New York City who has stopped supporting the Foundation.

Not only is the Foundation taking a hit financially, the initial decision is also costing senior executive their jobs. The Chairman of the Board of Directors has resigned; he was replaced by a previous Chairman. In addition, three senior executives have also recently resigned citing their own “personal reasons.” All three are reported to have opposed the original decision to cease funding of Planned Parenthood by the Komen Foundation.  The Foundation’s Founder and CEO, Nancy Brinker, remains under pressure to resign.

When not handled properly, a crisis will cost an organization time, money and customers, as exemplified in the report.  For executives who are unable to effectively communicate during a time of crisis, it can cost them their job. Currently the CEO of the Foundation remains on the job, but her position is precarious, primarily due to a poor initial response and ultimate handling of the situation.

As the situation continues to unfold at the Susan G. Komen Foundation, remember this: “If you don’t tell your story, someone else will. And when someone else tells your story, it won’t be the story you want to be told.” For more information about crisis and strategic communications, call the Fallston Group at 410.420.2001.  Send email inquiries to info@fallstongroup.com. The Fallston Group is a crisis management and communications company.

Keslowski and his Twitter account became news during this year’s Daytona 500 when the race was stopped due to a fire on the race track. As crews worked to extinguish the flames and repair damage to the track, drivers were forced to wait and watch. Taking advantage of the unusual circumstance, Keselowski retrieved his phone from his car and began Tweeting messages and photos. During the two hours the race was suspended, he gained more than 130,000 new followers.

He later explained how the phone came to be in a car he regularly drives at more than 200 m.p.h. During the 2007 NASCAR season, Keselowski was involved in a serious accident and was taken by helicopter to a local hospital. Without a way to communicate with his family during the incident, he vowed not to let that happen again so he had his team to install a holder for a phone inside his race car.

After initially considering taking action against the driver, NASCAR officials quickly realized the opportunity that was literally “at hand.” Keselowski says, “NASCAR was 100 percent behind my actions. They know I didn’t put myself, or anyone else, in jeopardy by tweeting while the car was moving. Everyone at NASCAR gets what Twitter and social media mean to the fabric of popular culture these days.”

NASCAR benefited as Keselowski’s photo of the on-track fire was retweeted more than 5,000 times and his name was been mentioned more than 100,000 times on Twitter in the days after the race. He had been described as a “Twitter natural,” even before his prime-time tweets from Daytona. Last year he used the medium to break news of the condition of his injured ankle following a crash during testing outside of Atlanta. Prior to this year’s Daytona 500, Keselowski’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team ran a promotion that allowed thousands of his followers to get their Twitter handles on his truck for that series race at Daytona.

For more information about strategic and crisis communications, call the Fallston Group at 410.420.2001. The Fallston Group is a crisis management and communications company; send email inquiries to info@fallstongroup.com.

While the vast majority of colleges and universities (85%) report having a crisis communications plan in place, only 59% include utilizing social media as a part of those plans. That gap is a major point of exposure for institutions when immediate and effective communications are key to successfully navigating a very difficult issue.

100% of the institutions in the study had a Facebook page and more than 90% were also on Twitter and YouTube. However, only 26% of the institutions in the study required that individuals officially representing the school on that site to have any training and only 10% had an official social media presence relating to campus safety.

For a university (or any organization) to respond to a situation that could negatively impact its reputation, the Fallston Group recommends the following:

• Immediately establish a social media monitoring system; if you don’t know what’s being said about you, you can’t respond effectively;
• Institute a social media policy; correctly used, social media can protect your brand and reputation;
• Establish a registration system for social media users; a centrally located database of “User IDs and Passwords” not only allows immediate access, but also prevents unauthorized use of your social media site;
• Identify a single department to serve as social media supervisor; this office should be the clearly identified center-point of all social media activity and provide guidance and consistency to other departments who actively maintain the social media sites.

The real-time nature of social media is a powerful tool many colleges and universities are overlooking.  A university’s social media site is the “go-to” place for information for students, faculty and the media…especially during a time of crisis. As such, it must be an integral part of any organization’s overall crisis communications plan.

For more information about strategic and crisis communications, call the Fallston Group at 410.420.2001.  Send email inquiries to info@fallstongroup.com. The Fallston Group is a crisis management and communications company.

In making its original announcement, the Komen Foundation failed to clearly and forthrightly articulate the reason for its decision. By not stating its position effectively regarding the investigation, the Foundation allowed others to seize control of the storyline. In fact, during initial national news reporting, Planned Parenthood was way out in front of the message curve and the Komen Foundation was nowhere to be heard. Regardless of whether you agree with the decision or not, the Foundation’s silence illustrates to the Fallston Group’s mantra – “If you don’t tell your story, someone else will. And when someone else tells your story it won’t be the story you want told.” Case and point!

In giving-up the story line, the Komen Foundation also gave up the ability to stand by its original decision. Consequently, the organization has announced the rescinding of its decision and is resuming its funding to Planned Parenthood. It has also had to clarify its interpretation of its own bylaws saying the disqualifier in the future will be “criminal investigations” as the current investigation of Planned Parenthood is being conducted by Congress.

It certainly seems that the Komen Foundation should’ve had a much better crisis communications strategy given the initial intent of their decision as they grossly underestimated the reaction of their stakeholder base. Planning is power; this decision barely got off the launch pad…for more information about strategic and crisis communications, contact the Fallston Group, a crisis management and communications company (info@fallstongroup.com).

According to various global news sources, the Costa Concordia capsized on January 13, 2012 when it hit rocks near Italy’s Tuscan coast. Of the 4200 passengers on board, 16 were found dead so far, 17 are still missing. In addition to the loss of life, massive fuel leakage and ship debris continue to threaten the area’s wildlife, waterways and coastline. While Captain Schettino claims to have tripped into a lifeboat during the accident, many doubt the story he told – the investigation continues.

Interestingly, “tripping into a lifeboat” is somewhat of a symbolic phrase as there are many who manage to save themselves, but not others, during times of crisis. The hallmarks of resilient leadership, as presented by Dr. George Everly in his book The Secrets of Resilient Leadership, include, in part:

• Operating with integrity
• Communicating effectively
• Engaging in decisive, optimistic leadership
• Taking responsibility

As we now collectively look-out over the bow, we see none of the above. Our hope is that leaders will learn from the Captain’s reported action and work to save those that depend on them in the future, whether they must be rescued from a sinking ship or partnership. To learn more about how to handle crisis-oriented issues, contact the Fallston Group, a crisis communications company.

As the tragic events unfolded, Virginia Tech students, faculty and employees received a series of messages from the VT Alert system. The system distributed four alerts via text, email, and to electronic message boards in classrooms and other campus buildings within the first 90 minutes of the initial incident. Virginia Tech officials continued to use the alert system to distribute additional messages, updating the events until police declared the campus “secure” at an afternoon news conference. This was not the case in 2007 when a gunman killed 33 students on the VT campus.

“It sounds like things moved very, very fast this time as opposed to the time before,” Andrew Goddard is quoted as saying. Goddard’s son was wounded in the 2007 attack and his daughter and nephew are currently students at Virginia Tech. “That doesn’t surprise me. Virginia Tech really did get the message that when bad things happen you have to act quickly.”

Universities are required under the Clery Act to provide warnings in a timely manner and to report the number of crimes on campus. Ironically, the most recent shooting occurred just as Virginia Tech was appealing a $55,000 fine levied by the U.S. Department of Education in relation to the 2007 incident.

The shootings at Virginia Tech and the scandals at Penn State and Syracuse Universities  are high-profile cases where crisis communications skills continue to be required. In this case, Virginia Tech demonstrated its ability to act quickly, providing clear and effective communications to their communities. The failure of effective crisis communications strategies severely damaged the reputations of both Penn State and Syracuse.

School administrators who are not actively implementing, developing, or carefully reviewing  crisis communications plans for their campuses, are risking the reputation and goodwill of their institution; they may also be risking their job. This was the case at Penn State University where the Board of Trustees chose to remove President Graham Spanier from his position in part due to the failure of the University to effectively communicate from the beginning of the scandal. The fact is, with the proper planning and training, some of these crises may have been avoided.

For more information on the Fallston Group call 410.420.2001 or send email inquiries to info@fallstongroup.com. Fallston Group LLC, a crisis communications company.

Over the past few years, many in the world have been suffering with a poor economy which has placed a great deal of strain financially and economically on nearly everyone. Additionally, employment statistics remain grim with more and more businesses cutting jobs and laying people off. The two wars fronts, Iraq and Afghanistan, have taken its toll on the American tax payer. More and more people have reached or are nearing their breaking point and experts are predicting pockets of social unrest to be a common occurrence over the next few years. One can simply glance toward the Occupy Movement, as this gathering of protesters articulates a heightened level of negative pubic sentiment in many respects.

With an “on edge” society, one small event can trigger a mass reaction. The liability organizations face if one of these events occurs on their property or at their facility can be both financially and brand catastrophic. Organizations have found themselves tied-up in civil and/or criminal court for many years. So, before hosting an event where crowds of people will be gathering, take the extra steps to prepare and plan for crowd control. The small amount of preparation will not only reduce risk of injury and loss of life, it will reduce the legal exposure faced by many who simply don’t take the time to prepare to ensure the safety of all.

The Fallston Group offers consultation services for Crowd Management and Control Strategies. Additionally, we have professional affiliations and resources to manage your entire event safely; please contact us at 410-420-2001 for more information. Fallston Group LLC, a crisis management and communications company.

A decisive, swift and unexpected decision to suspend the football program is nearly the only option left for the Board of Trustees if it wants to send a clear message about its recognition of the seriousness of the situation and its commitment to aggressively addressing corrective measures. The football program is already on a path into the wilderness of college sports. Even without the eruption of the current scandal, finding a legitimate replacement for the legendary Joe Paterno would have been a serious challenge. Recruiting student-athletes to the school to play football will be an even greater challenge. Would a parent consider sending their child to a school in the midst of such a firestorm of controversy, especially one involving the sexual abuse of children?

If the University were to self-impose a suspension of the football program, it would simultaneously need to do everything in its power to support the current students and employees.  All scholarships would have to be honored. Student-athletes wishing to transfer to other universities would have to be given all appropriate and allowable assistance without penalty or sanction.  Employees of the football program would need to be offered other positions within the University or assisted in finding other employment.

Impossible you say, not so!  The NCAA imposed 1-year a suspension of the Southern Methodist University (SMU) football program in 1987.  The school declined to play in 1988 as well, even though the NCAA would have allowed an abbreviated football schedule that season.  The NCAA imposed what ultimately became a two-year penalty on SMU in the wake of its investigation into the payment of players to attend the school to play football from the late 1970’s through 1986. A serious infraction to be sure, but not one rising to the level of the alleged sexual abuse of children by a university employee and with the apparent knowledge of at least some of Mr. Sandusky’s superiors.

There are obviously contractual obligations to consider with employees, with the other schools of the Big 10 Conference, sponsors and many others associated with the University.  However, the outlook for the Penn State football is bleak; the wound to the program is already so deep it may be fatal in many eyes.  The suspension of Penn State football by the University is its only chance to truly begin the healing process. For more information on the Fallston Group call 410.420.2001.  Or send email inquiries to info@FallstonGroup.com, a crisis communications company.