The bottom line is Carnival had the opportunity to do a lot more during the initial investigation.  They missed opportunities to try and rebuild their credibility, which quickly eroded when the poor decisions of the ship’s captain came to light.  As divers continue to search for bodies, Carnival is trying to move on and sell more cruises.  They have an opportunity to talk about policies and procedures on board all their vessels to reassure the general public that their ships are safe and secure.  Expect Carnival and the cruise ship industry as a whole to take a financial hit as potential passengers look elsewhere for vacations.  The long-term effect is up to Carnival.  How they handle these difficult weeks and months ahead will determine the future of the company and quite possibly the industry.

Think about it, if you were a passenger or you had a friend or family member on board, what would you want Carnival to do? What would you expect them to say? If you haven’t discussed your own corporate messaging strategy lately for everyday news or crisis communications, call TVG at 314-991-4641 or click here to send us an email.  We can help.

Then there is the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which by all accounts is a crisis on many levels. Many families lost loved ones and the environmental impact could well be worse than the Exxon Valdez oil spill decades ago. There is also the impact on businesses—such as the fishermen and shrimpers who depend on the Gulf for their livelihoods. It is a crisis; it just doesn’t seem like one for BP. At least that is the perception.

Click here to continue reading about BP’s handling of the recent oil spill in TVG’s recent Insight article.

The unexpected happens most every day and can easily turn into a crisis. Mark McGwire’s interview with Bob Costas certainly qualifies and can absolutely be used as a case study; one that is certainly going to unfold for months to come. In one painful, hour-long interview with the MLB Network, which has since been played by every media outlet in the western hemisphere, McGwire took a giant leap and admitted he used steroids and “health-enhancing drugs” over a ten-year period. Many in the sports and business world had suspected McGwire’s indiscretion, especially given his lack of testimony during the 2005 congressional hearings. This was the first proof.

What can we all learn from this crisis?

Check out my complete TVG Vision article to find out.

The experts at The Vandiver Group have developed a short threat assessment quiz to determine your risk for a crisis. Answers 10 simple questions and let TVG assess your threat level to see if you may need assistance with media and crisis communications. Remember, it’s all in the details.

Take the threat assessment test.

If you have any questions about crisis communications or preparation, contact Andy Likes at alikes@vandivergroup.com or Kelly Ferrara a kferrara@vandivergroup.com.

It was a tremendous opportunity to meet new people, see what they are doing for communications, learn a little and talk face to face. I can honestly say I would never have met some of the folks who attended the conference, if I had not been there in person.

In this communications age where we live and die by email and cell phones, it was very refreshing to have a one-on-one conversation that wasn’t over a conference call line. I met some very interesting people and learned that we may be able to partner with them on a project or two in the future.

Those simple conversations turned into new business opportunities. In this economy, what business couldn’t use a few new contacts?

I will likely be returning to the NAGC expo next year in Washington, DC. This time, I hope to present during one of the seminars. I encourage everyone to rethink their travel budget in 2009; it could net you some business that might otherwise have passed you by.

I recently attended the National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC) expo in Orlando. I tried something new at the TVG booth. I pulled out my iPhone and tweeted that I would be giving away a brick of St. Louis-based Bissingers chocolate to the first person who stopped by the TVG booth on the show floor.

Turns out my original tweet went a bit “viral.” Someone I’d never met before, Glenn Batuyong from the Unified Port of San Diego stopped by my booth after seeing my twitter post. He had not been following me, but saw the tweet on the NAGC twitter site, which picked up my post.

Glenn in turn tweeted about winning the chocolate and posted a picture of the chocolate, the flash drive he picked up with TVG information and our crisis communications brochure. You can see the picture at http://twitpic.com/3upu8.

One of Glenn’s followers, the Social Media Guide then retweeted about Glenn’s post. In the span of about three hours, my followers, NAGC followers, Glenn’s followers, the SMG followers, even TVG followers saw my original tweet and Glenn’s tweet. That adds up to nearly two thousand people. Not bad for a few minutes work in between conversations at the booth.

To quote from Glenn’s tweet, “Marketing over Twitter works!” I couldn’t agree more.

Follow Andy on Twitter: @TVGmediaguy

First and foremost, there is never enough information in a crisis. In this internet-age, 24-hour news cycle, where we don’t wait for the five o’clock news any longer, the more information we hear during a crisis, the better.

Case in point, Thursday, January 15th, a slow news day turned suddenly very busy when a US Airways jet ditched following take off from New York’s La Guardia Airport and landed in the Hudson River. Immediately dubbed “Miracle on the Hudson,” the pictures, rescues and stories have been etched into our memories. Why is that?

It was a compelling and improbable survival story. Plus, there was also no lack of information! All of the New York media had helicopters showing live video. All immediately reported there was a “double bird strike.” There were immediate graphics of the flight path of the jet. There were photographers capturing amazing pictures of passengers standing on the wings of the Airbus 320. And there were people talking to the media in droves. From the Mayor, EMS and NY Waterway officials holding news conferences to the passengers and breaking news sound bites, the media fed on every word and so did the public. It seems we couldn’t get enough.

There were network special reports, commercial free coverage on all the cable news channels and oh yes, the Internet. This was a success story because of the heroes on board the flight, the emergency workers on the ground and the leaders calling the shots, all in perfect concert all revealing key information about the incident. We would not have had this fortunate outcome without safety training for the pilot and the emergency operations training by all of the first responders in New York City.

This was a shining example of how everyone can lend a hand to save lives. Hopefully all companies, organizations and municipalities can learn from this incident, have a plan, execute a plan and show the world how to do crisis communications right!

I find when you limit yourself to the task at hand, you may not be as successful as you’d hoped. In this tough economic time, it would have been just as easy to stay home and do a conference call or webinar. However, there is no substitute for a face-to-face discussion or to see first hand some new product or service put to the test. Not only did I see some of TVG’s clients and meet new people, but I benefited from viewing some of the newest recycling products, technology and services, something that could help TVG clients now and in the future. Cutting back isn’t always the answer. Sometimes just by taking the extra step in business, one thing can lead to another.

That is where crisis and emergency risk communications become a vital part of your PR arsenal. Knowing what to say, when to say it and how you should deliver a message are vital to your company’s success. Hiding information, or even the mere perception by the public or the media that you are hiding information can, and likely will, damage your credibility. The most recent example: last fall when FEMA decided to hold a “press” conference where FEMA’s own staffers asked the questions and there were no press in sight. Still reeling from the outcry about FEMA’s handling of the Hurricane Katrina response, the fake “press” conference was another major chink in the agency’s already-thinning armor.

So what’s a company to do? The short answer is to get trained in media and crisis communications. I’m not talking about how to dress and comb your hair, although that is important—I’m talking about the prep work that companies need to weather a crisis. In a crisis it is all about communicating with your target audience(s) in a manner that is simple, timely, credible and effective.

At TVG, crisis communications is one of our core services under our practice area of reputation and image management. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has relied on TVG for the past six years to train their first responders to any type of crisis within our state on the process of response and how to quickly get correct and useful information to the public. TVG also helps clients who are already squarely in a crisis. Research shows that even companies who have a crisis plan, don’t have a crisis communications plan. Think about it. What do most company leaders spend the majority of their time doing when a crisis hits? Yes. They must communicate. Knowing what to say and when to say it can be the difference between positive and negative public perception.

We can help you anticipate your risks, develop appropriate communications plans, practice those plans and protect your image and reputation. Contact us at 314-991-4641 for more information, or click on this link for more of our thinking on managing a crisis and the core communications strategies you should put in place now.

Gone are the days of huge ad buys in newspapers and on network television. More and more, companies are dialing back those budgets in favor of hip, new social media concepts. Word of Mouth is a tried and true technique to gain customers, if it is done properly. At the 2008 Media Relations Summit this week in San Francisco, we seemed to coin a new phrase, “Word of Mouse.” These days, more people (customers) than ever are surfing the web. Customers are now on sites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. When you have an online WOM conversation, it is now global, rather than simply a recommendation among friends. Media relations strategies must change to help capture those conversations and guide them to your product or service. The strategy: speak directly and honestly to your customer and they can turn into your best evangelist. They will write online posts praising your brand or service. They will tell friends. Those friends will email and text their online groups and all of the sudden, you’ve created new brand champions you never dreamed you could reach.

But the new age of media relations in 2008 isn’t all online. We must manage some of the old with some of the new. Companies must be targeted when they contact the media. Simply blanketing a press release to 1000 of your closest friends (well at least you have their contact information) at local, regional and national media outlets won’t cut it anymore. It seems everyone in PR land has the same idea and music real ringtones | hotlink caller ringtones | nextel ringtones software | download free ringtones t mobile | 24 ctu ringtones | free composer ringtones | crazy frog ringtones | madonna ringtones | verizon wireless ringtones | free get ringtones | ringtones | free nokia ringtones | free cingular cell phone ringtones | free midi ringtones | cell cricket free phone ringtones | boost free mobile ringtones | boost free mobile ringtones | mp3 ringtones | totally free ringtones | caller ringtones | media types aren’t biting on blanket pitches. You must take the time to develop specific pitches to reporters (particularly national reporters – USA Today, Washington Post, NY Times). Find who has been writing about your field. What have they been saying and how can your pitch be adapted directly to the reporter; one on one. Reporters appreciate the individual attention. Targeting one reporter takes additional time and research, but it can pay off big when you land an above the fold story in a national paper.

If this all seems a little too much of a change, don’t worry. If I can trim my trees and shrubs and green up my grass, you too can grasp the changing landscape of media relations. TVG is current on all the latest techniques and industry advances. It’s the reason I go to this conference every year. We stay up on the latest information, so our clients can focus on more important things like running their businesses and dealing with all of the happy new customers they’ll soon see.

Contact us at tvg@vandivergroup.com or send comments to blog@vandivergroup.com.