By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on April 20, 2013
When signs of impending crisis appear, it’s no time for patchwork fixes Often, long before a major crisis strikes, there is some sort of indication that trouble’s brewing. In the case of the Texas fertilizer facility that exploded this week, a report from USAToday’s Chuck Raasch and Sharon Jayson indicates that the company may have […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on February 27, 2012
The following is a guest post from frequent contributor Rick Kelley, director of crisis communications for Triad Strategies. Ryan Braun: Victim or Villain? To many who have listened to the sports pundits hammering major league baseball player Ryan Braun for winning an appeal of his 50-game suspension “on a technicality” after failing a drug test […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on February 20, 2012
Can you survive a crisis? Every single business has potential problems, and the difference between whether they sink or swim in the aftermath of a crisis can often be determined in the critical 24 hour period right after it breaks. On March 1, Jonathan Bernstein will present, “Communicating in Crisis: The First 24 Hours,” a […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on February 8, 2012
Play your cards close until the time is right Veteran reporters are wily creatures, and when it comes to determining whether the juicy lead they’ve got about a breaking crisis at your company is legit, they can read volumes from a simple phone call. A recent Pro Sports Communications blog post by Martine Charles took […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on January 4, 2012
You can’t cover up, so just come clean Crisis management can be like presidential politics: If you don’t set the record straight immediately and honestly, you can be out of the running in a flash. Perception quickly becomes reality and the negative consequences snowball. Case in point: Herman Cain. By failing to address allegations of […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on December 31, 2011
Does the evolution of tech and communication mean our methods must drastically change? Social media has already changed how we do customer service, and the rise of prominent posters, or powerful groups (who hasn’t heard of the mommy bloggers?) continues to affect the ways we handle issues. With infamous moves ranging from the sensational, like […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on December 15, 2011
Know your plan and play your role Every company has a organizational chart – a ladder of power, but how this structure functions during a crisis must be clarified with all the stakeholders in the company; particularly the communications department. A crisis can hit at any time, and the company needs to determine secondary command […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on December 1, 2011
What NOT to do Just as with businesses, it’s smart for prominent individuals to set up regular searches for mentions of their name on the web. While Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s got this part right, assigning communication director Sherriene Jones-Sontag to monitor negative commentary on social media, more than a few things were lacking in […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on November 27, 2011
Say you’re sorry like you mean it It’s common to make mistakes. What’s far less common is an organization that knows how give a serious and genuine apology. Thankfully for these clueless companies, tech-based business consultant Anne Weiskopf published her “Six Keys to an Apology in Crisis Management” in a SpinSucks article: Address the issue […]
Jonathan L. Bernstein, founder and Chairman of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. has more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of crisis management – crisis response, vulnerability assessment, planning, training and simulations.[Read more ...]
Erik Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management. Erik started with BCM in 2009 as a writer and subsequently became social media manager for the consultancy itself as well as for a number of BCM clients before moving to the president position.
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