QUICK TIPS FOR “KEEPING COOL”
A monthly e-zine on crisis management
brought to you by Judy Hoffman

THE GOLDEN HOUR HAS SHRUNK

Back in 1995, when I left my job as the spokesperson and Manager of Public Affairs for a chemical manufacturing company in order to start my own consulting business, I believed that asking a reporter for their deadline was a way of showing that I meant to be cooperative. When a reporter called to get the details of our most recent operational upset that caused a foul odor to be released to the atmosphere, I’d ask, “What is your deadline? 10 p.m.? OK, I will have a statement for you before I leave work at 5 p.m.” That could have been six hours from then. But if the incident occurred at 8 p.m. and they called me at home, I only had an hour or so to come up with an approved statement leaving them time to write and file the story. In media training parlance, that was called “The Golden Hour.”

Times Have Changed

If you are of my generation, you will remember the days when only secretaries had typewrters on their desks and managers and executives were thought not to be able to type! When we wanted to communicate with each other, we typed memos or made phone calls. (Some of the more sophisticated among us knew how to use the conference call feature.)

Just like the typewriter on a secretary’s desk, the concept of “The Golden Hour” is a thing of the past. Since I left full-time employment, we have seen a huge paradigm shift in the way work is done in the offices of the world. Managers and executives are typing into their laptops and communications can flow much more speedily. We have also seen a proliferation of media channels which demand much more timely response from those involved in a news story. TV stations can put breaking news on the air within minutes with live feeds from the site of incidents. There are radio stations which promote “all news all the time” in a 24/7 format. Traditional newspapers have taken to having on-line editions because waiting until the next morning’s paper comes out is just not acceptable when an industry close to someone’s home bursts into flames in the middle of the night and the smoke is hea

And now we have to contend with “bloggers.” Those are the many computer savvy people who have established web-logs where they can record their views on anything they choose. Sometimes they are clever and informative if you want to know something more about their hobby or special expertise. But sometimes they can be dangerous as when they comment on breaking news by giving their opinion and spread rumors that are not based on facts. The main thing you have to recognize is that they operate at the highest possible speed. A thought comes into their head, they input it on their PC, hit the “send” button, and it is off into cyberspace for the world to read.

A Book You Must Read

I’ve promised to keep my e-zines short, so I won’t go into any more detail here about this phenomenon. I just encourage you strongly to make it a New Year’s Resolution to purchase and read a fascinating book, “Now is Too Late-2: Survival in an Era of Instant News.” It is written by Gerald R. Baron. You can get a copy at www.nowistoolate2.com.

It will open your eyes to the era of the new “Golden 20-30 Minutes.” If you are thinking according to the old paradigm of having to draft a statement and then send it around to the required local and corporate people and legal advisors for approval and then distribute it to all of the media people and other important stakeholders, you are probably shaking your head and saying, “It can’t be done.”

The good news is that it actually can be done — and is being done successfully by a number of forward thinking organizations. The mechanism for getting it done is a web-based platform called the Public Information and Emergency Response (PIER) System that Gerald and his partner, Paul Grey, have developed over the past few years within their company, AudienceCentral. You can read more about it at www.audiencecentral.com. When Hurricane Katrina severely tested the communications systems of local, state, and federal governmental agencies and found most of them lacking, it was the U.S. Coast Guard that received high marks from the media and the public. They were credited with being able to provide the latest information in a timely manner, something that was critical to public safety. It was use of the PIER system that allowed them to do that.

In the interests of full disclosure, I need to tell you that if any of you reading this e-zine eventually become convinced that this type of state of-the-art system is something you need in order to protect your organization’s corporate reputation, I would receive a commission from AudienceCentral. That would be great for me — and for you and your organization as well! But even if you don’t go to that step, please believe me when I say you really need to read the book so you know what you are up against these days.

This is one New Year’s Resolution you will be glad you kept!

P. S. Gerald Baron has a fascinating blog himself which you might want to check out at www.crisisblogger.com.

Special Note: As this gets distributed to you, it is already 2007 so let me wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR. I hope it will be healthy and prosperous for you and filled with the good things of life — the love of family and friends, a challenging and fulfilling career, and a chance to make the world a little better place in a way that is important to you. One of my favorite quotes is, “I cannot do all the good the world needs. But I can do something good that will mean the world to one person.”

‘Til next month…KEEP COOL!

Copyright (C) 2006 JCH Enterprises