Blogs for Corporate Crisis

Shel Holtz is moderating the discussion on the use of blogs (corporate and PR-driven blogs) for crisis communications within organizations.

A few pointers, which are fairly standard crisis communications guidelines:

1. Respond quickly, accurately, professionally and with care. 2. Treat perceptions as fact because in the eyes of the public, they are. 3. Acknowledge mistakes up front. I'd add: be human and professional when you do. 4. Take advantage of existing relationships.

Why blog in a crisis? There are many excellent reasons why a blog is useful when your company or client is facing a crisis situation:

1. You can provide a response instantly. 2. You can provide updates instantly. 3. A blog is a way to provide a human voice to the outside world. You can accommodate the publics' emotional response. 4. You can produce a record. 5. You can allocate a space on your blog that is ready to put an icon up with a statement, i.e., a place where people know where to go for a response or important instructions in time of a crisis. 6. If you communicate well and involve your audience, you can turn a crisis into a reputation opportunity. 7. Not every crisis affects the company directly. In the case of the wild fire in Carsen City, Nevada, companies were able to offer help or donate products on their blog.