Presidential tweets. Viral videos. Cyber thefts. Sexual misconduct. Brand misjudgments. Product failures. Corporate malfeasance. Extreme weather. Activist consumers. Political polarization: 2017 was an epic year for crises—and there were lots of lessons.
A common theme is that digital information and new technology is dramatically impacting the source of reputation threats and the speed by which issues emerge and accelerate into full blown crises.
Everyone is now on social media. We’ve all got smartphones with sophisticated video cameras.
It had become clear that previously published crisis management guides and teachings were of declining value in this new digital world. It was time to capture the new best practices.
Now, a new eBook from crisis management platform firm RockDove Solutions captures the lessons of the new crisis management zeitgeist.
The New Rules of Crisis Management – Issues and Crisis Planning & Response in the Digital Age—published by RockDove, with distribution from the Public Relations Society of America and edited by Ron Culp, Professional in Residence, Public Relations & Advertising at DePaul University in Chicago—contains contributions from six renowned crisis experts. More chapters will be added at regular intervals during 2018, with the next two to be published in April.
“Being in the business of crisis management has been especially fascinating for the past few years,” said Chris Britton, COO of RockDove Solutions, in a news release. “We decided it was time to ask our friends and experts in the crisis management field to tell us what has changed and what has not changed, what organizations need to know and what are the most important new ideas that must be built into crisis plans.”
The initial six contributions are:
- Editor Ron Culp, a renowned crisis counselor himself with long experience in both corporate and agency roles, talks about the changing crisis landscape.
- Ketchum’s experienced SVP of Crisis & Issues, James Donnelly, examines new approaches to crisis management.
- Director of Corporate Services for Navigant Consulting, Tim Blair, focuses in on the impact for professional services firms.
- Communications Advisor and Adjunct Instructor at Georgia State University, Necole Merritt, looks closely at the role of employees before, during and following a crisis.
- Experienced Litigator and Strategic Legal Consultant, Robert Windon, reviews the legal considerations in the digital age.
- Famed crisis expert, coach, trainer and author, Gerard Braud, takes a deep dive into the need for speed and how to be fast and effective in response to an emerging crisis.
“Even we were surprised at the passion among experts that it was time to capture the new crisis management best practices. Out of that enthusiasm grew the idea for this eBook. The concept of an eBook allows us to continually add new content as the world evolves and new concepts emerge,” Britton added.
“We thank our editor, the esteemed Ron Culp, for his great work in identifying themes and authors for the book,” he said. “We are also thankful for the distribution and professional development support, from the industry’s leading membership and professional development organization, The Public Relations Society of America, for its help in making the content accessible to thousands of professional communicators.”
