Posts Tagged: Pr
Handling the bad news: Estero, Florida firefighters say chief ordered them to leave fire engine & serve alcohol, topless at private fundraiser. Fire commission extends stories life with vague answers.
Vague answers a week late won't get reporters off your back.
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Handling bad news: PA’s West Hazleton FD responds to hooker’s claim of ‘booty call’ at ‘Pat the firefighter’s house’ along with one planned for firehouse.
Fire department response to paper sets the right tone for bad situation involving deputy chief.
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Lesson from Weston: Stuff happens. Delaying addressing it with the press & public doesn’t make it any better or go away faster.
Consider the image of your department in the digital age as a neighborhood of lightweight constructed homes on a very windy day, with the houses built six feet apart, with no sprinkler systems and no real fire resistive barriers in the outside walls.
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Make fun of the fire chief’s helmet & he might just show up at your door. Charlotte chief visits radio station.
Chief's TV interview after four-alarm fire sparked comments by radio team.
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Dan Snyder, egoholics anonymous will see you now. Washington Redskins owner provides lessons in public relations for us all.
The Dan Snyder debacle is proof that having all of the money in the world doesn't mean you have a lick of sense when it comes to image & reputation management.
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Lessons from Detroit: The firing of Commissioner James Mack & his deputy are about the basics. Don’t let this happen to you. Do you have your own version of the ‘Dave Statter test’?
The commissioner failed the basics of handling bad news.
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A PIO Social Media Christmas
I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
What would the holiday be without a good old PIO, PR, social media take on what if the first Christmas happened in the era of Facebook, Foursquare…
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Overturned fire engine in Huntersville, North Carolina. Cornelius-Lemley Fire & Rescue rig rolls on icy roads. Chief handles the news head-on.
Chief takes control of the bad news.
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Even the Walls have Ears
In my regular PR and marketing job I have on staff a social media specialist who does an outstanding job of juggling those responsibilities with other daily work assignments.
As a fire PIO I am an office of one. A big problem for me is the ongoing desire to maintain and update Twitter, Facebook and YouTube but the reality is that extra time is not my friend.
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Responding to unfounded Complaints
We as PIO’s and PAO’s have to grit our teeth and bear it in how we answer members of the community and their perceived grievances. I know it can become tedious and time consuming but our jobs now dictates we cross every T and dot every I or else suffer the consequences of being smeared in the cyber world.
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Lessons from South Fulton: Avoid making a bad situation worse. Have a plan to respond when your reputation is on the line.
Have you thought about how your department would handle suddenly being under the national or international spotlight with its reputation at stake? Your initial response can be vital to how the story plays out.
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Yelling Down a Black Hole
In one of the more bizarre recent occurrences surrounding the amazing story of the 33 trapped Chilean miners it seems that need to express themselves clearly is towards the top of the agenda. It appears that PR types are yelling instructions down the shaft telling these guys the appropriate way to speak to the media upon rescue. If there ever was a way for the miners to get good nights sleep it would come as the result of some media consultant telling them what to say upon seeing the sunlight for the first time in months. Enough for anyone to go into a catatonic state!
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Press Releases are not dead in our neck of the woods
There is a certain group of trend arbiters around whom I envision being skinny, wearing all black, with black framed glasses who think that when they speak the entire work of public relations will turn on a dime to do their bidding.
Over the last several years I am becoming progressively irritated when PR pundits keep saying that the standard press release is dead. Maybe the body is cold from where they sit, but in our line of work the old tried and true, boring and predictable press release is our lifeline to the media.
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A Photo can Speak a Thousand Slanted Words
A couple of years ago one of the guys at the firehouse was showing me how to use Photoshop. I needed to learn some simple skills - specifically how to erase license plates from MVA photos I wanted to send to the press. As a result of boredom over the lesson the famed “sock on fire” trick photo shot was created.
It’s pretty funny when you look at some of the altered images people create with programs like Photoshop, but it is no laughing matter when the press or a news source uses these tools to create something that isn’t really there.
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Public Relations Funding sought for the Gulf
With the line getting longer for businesses, government entities and displaced workers seeking funds from BP and the federal government to assist in a crucial time of need, one does not exactly think of PR services as a fundable project – well think again.
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Press Kits that cost more then our Department Budgets
Kind of a strange post today that takes us to a world of public relations we never see. Last month I had a meeting with some of my staff to figure out ways to make our press presentation packages look better. We have outstanding brochures and flyers, but were lacking in ways to present customized materials.
Both in the Department, and in my regular job, budgets continue to get crunched so there is not much latitude to be creative if it increases cost. The big brainstorm was to get a machine that allows us to do spiral binding of presentation folders.
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While Nero Fiddled, Obama Practiced his Short Game
Suppose there was a on-going crisis in your community. Could your chief still go out of town to that fire service convention?
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Netcast Appearance and Banned for Life
I’m sitting in the airport setting sail for some business in south Texas. Two areas to cover while I wait for the flight.
First, I’m honored that my Brothers at Firefighter Netcast have asked me to be a guest on their program this Thursday, June 17th. John and Rhett will be interviewing me at 9:00pm EST.
To get the link to the broadcast visit http://www.firefighternetcast.com/ Call in and say hi!
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They Fuel the Fires, we put them out
Early on, when the game was relatively close and spirits were higher, the LeBron James rumor mill was the talk of the moment. Facing July 1 free agency everyone at the table had an opinion on whether LeBron will stay or go. With each opinion came a rumor about what someone told someone about LeBron’s status. Also with each rumor and opinion came blame. Who to scapegoat and take to task if LeBron seeks mega millions elsewhere.
As a PR guy this got me thinking. It’s not about just LeBron, it’s about sports in general. Each day is filled with stories in the paper and online, as well as sports radio and television, that are based on heated rumors and bashings about one team, coach, manager or athlete.
If these were stories about our fire departments, chiefs or firefighters we as PIO’s would be apoplectic! We would be in total crisis communications mode!! This would constitute one of the worst days of our careers.
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Adopt a Hydrant program flows
With all the snow in the northeast during this bitter winter a good old “Adopt a Hydrant” program was in order. I am happy to report that it was a big success, due in no small part to the new strength of the word “public” in public relations.
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