By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on April 19, 2013
Editor’s note: We don’t usually cross-post between our two blogs, but given recent events we feel it’s important for the following to reach as many eyes as possible. I know something about terrorists. From 1972-74 I was part of a US Army counterintelligence operation that successfully infiltrated a front group for what became known as […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on December 5, 2011
High marks for the automaker’s crisis management Late last month, General Motors sparked comparisons to Toyota’s recent troubles when it announced that small electrical fires had occurred in some Chevy Volts during the course of testing. Unlike Toyota, however, GM quickly got out in front of the story, as described in this quote from an […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on October 26, 2011
Fictional story stirs discussion “Margin Call” is a new film that aims to recreate the rapid fire nature of today’s crisis management. While it misses the mark in terms of reality, especially in the ethics department, it does open up avenues for discussion of real world crisis management. Forbes business writer Coeli Carr took this […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on September 16, 2011
Be prepared to solve crises By now it’s an accepted fact that organizations of all kinds need crisis management plans in place. Where some encounter trouble is the fact that you need to be ready and able to actually execute these plans. In a recent blog post on MeetContent.com, Georgy Cohen offered these bits of […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on September 9, 2011
A new type of crisis Flash mobs have recently gained national attention, not for the wacky dance craze that’s been spotlighted in commercials and movies, but for groups that are coming together to cause violence or disrupt services. Services like Twitter and Blackberry messenger have evolved to act as crisis management tools in times of […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on July 5, 2011
Rigid rules lead to viral video crisis Last month Delta Air Lines took a serious pounding to its already-tattered reputation when a YouTube video which featured shocked home bound soldiers commenting on the $200 fee they were charged for checking extra baggage (which contained government-issue weapons used to fight overseas, by the way) went viral. […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on May 26, 2011
CDC spreads message with unique announcement The Center for Disease Control’s “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse” campaign has been a major success, with its creatively designed badge (seen below) popping up on sites across the Web. Perhaps motivated by the fact that many members of the public pay little heed to standard preparedness advice involving crises […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on April 19, 2011
Tweets are forever, think twice (or more!) before you post Although the service is simple at it’s core, Twitter presents significant risk of crisis if not handled carefully. We’ve seen several recent examples of users inadvertently posting personal messages from corporate accounts, usually resulting in a quick apology (and, often, firing of the responsible party). […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on March 10, 2011
Be prepared for crises At the very core of crisis management is the fact that all businesses, no matter how well-managed, can and will be impacted by crises at some point. Because of this, it is crucial to put yourself in a position to both prevent and react to damaging situations before things get hot. […]
By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on February 20, 2011
Widespread use opens new crisis communications possibilities As a culture, we started becoming more aware of the power of social media during times of crisis, like when the Iran election in 2009 caused a furor, both on the ground and on Twitter. More recently, the Internet and social media played an important role in spreading […]
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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