No crisis is static, especially when it primarily lives on social media. When we use Siege, our social media crisis training tool, to help clients prepare for how a crisis unfolds, we can create new challenges by injecting new events into the simulation. For example, what if you're a salad company training to prepare for a cyclospora outbreak? Siege allows you to inject a regulatory investigation - even a botched one - into the training. The events are AI-researched and gener

There is something different about watching your social media feed explode that you can't capture in a typical crisis training. The first time I experienced it was working for Governor Wolf. In 2015, Gov. Wolf announced that he would continue to accept Syrian refugees following a terrorist attack in Paris. Republicans in Pennsylvania and nationally made it a flashpoint issue, and almost immediately, the governor's social media feeds lit up. The comments, posts, and tags kept

Last week, I wrote about what organizations get wrong in the first 30 minutes of a crisis. Here's what they should do instead. 1. Activate Your Crisis PR Plan and Assess the Situation Is it a crisis or not? Hopefully, you've done the training and scenario planning to understand what is a crisis and what isn't. But the first thing you need to do is get your team together and decide whether to activate the crisis response plan. You can't afford to spend the first 30 minutes deb

Having a crisis communications plan is the first step, but it doesn't help if it's obsolete or gathering dust somewhere. Here are 4 signs your crisis communications plan is already outdated. 1. Your Crisis Communications Plan Doesn't Start With Social Media Your plan should start with social media. Earned media or traditional media can still drive a crisis, but if you don't center your crisis communications plan around social media, you're in trouble. Social media pours gasol

1. Nobody Can Find the Crisis Communications Plan They're rummaging through file cabinets, shared folders, and emails to find the crisis plan. If your organization has developed a crisis communications plan, it should include a clear process for where the plan is stored and how it's activated, including who receives it and when. 2. There Are 87 People on the Approval Chain There's usually a mix of butt covering and a sincere concern about getting the proper approvals, but too

Most crisis communications training happens on a whiteboard in a conference room. A facilitator steps up to the front of a room. They walk your team through a scenario. Someone reads a prepackaged statement out loud. It's a boring version of the old choose your own adventure books. You go back to your desks. And then a real crisis hits your organization and none of it feels like what you practiced. There's real pressure. Your social feed is moving faster than you can think.

Winging it without a crisis communications plan is risky but a lot of organizations do it anyway. We're all consumers of media. Have you seen the difference between an organization that's ready for a crisis and one that clearly isn't? It's not an accident. A lot of the times, we get called in after a crisis breaks. Something bad happens, someone Googles or ChatGPTs "crisis communications firm" and we pop up. We have experience with all sorts of situations, templates and

I saw this quote recently regarding health and exercise, but it really struck me that it also applies to communications.

With the recent election of President Trump, institutions of higher education need to prepare for possible shifts in federal policy. Schools should expect reduced student aid, the end of student debt forgiveness, and major structural changes at the U.S. Department of Education. Leaders need a clear view of their exposure. Fitler Square Strategies helps institutions assess these risks through political vulnerability audits. Vulnerability audits help institutions understand how

What happens when a business makes an unforced error on social media? They need to take their crisis PR response seriously.

This week, a minor controversy erupted here in Philadelphia when comments made by Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia disparaging...

I wrote this op-ed back in June, but Gov. Shapiro rebuilt I-95 too quickly and kept making the piece less relevant. There's been an...

Do you know you need a crisis communications plan, but the blank page keeps winning? A public relations firm with crisis experience helps break that block and gets your team ready for hard moments. Without preparation, a crisis will hurt your reputation fast. Negative stories pile up, press coverage turns rough, and social media problems spread. A crisis communications plan gives your team structure and helps you respond to issues that threaten your reputation. Why you need

Law firms face tough challenges when they manage litigation. The public response around a case shapes outcomes and reputations. You need a crisis communications partner who understands how fast situations escalate and how high the stakes are. Legal challenges bring reputational risk to your clients. While your firm manages the legal strategy, you need a partner to manage the public response. A legal dispute can turn into a crisis fast if you lack support from a team with cris

Fitler Square Strategies is a crisis communications firm that works with colleges and universities.

When do you need a crisis communications PR firm? If you've been thinking about hiring a public relations firm, here are some considerations

In Philadelphia earlier this month, a chemical spill threatened the city's water supply. The experience offered important lessons in...

What are some good rules for crisis communications? As an organization, mitigating risks to your reputation and operation is important.

Goals in a crisis communications plan need to be specific, measurable, actionable and time-limited.