PR from the Beach

Earthquake changes communications landscape

If there is an organisation left in New Zealand that has, post-February 22 - failed to appreciate the power and potential of online and social media then seriously - we need to talk.

The ferocity and scale of the second Christchurch earthquake meant that organisations were forced to leave 'old' communications processes behind and venture in to uncharted waters as the urgent need to communicate outweighed entrenched opinions of how 'communication' should be undertaken. 

I take my hat off to all those involved in the post-quake communication, many of whom were having to deal with both the professional and personal aftermath of the quake. 

For some, that meant learning to use 140 characters or less while under great stress, for others, it was simply about saying 'I don't know - but I'm finding out'. 

I would particularly salute Christchurch City Council's communications team and the many volunteer techies who built valuable and vital web platforms - sometimes in hours - so that people could access information that helped them towards the basic necessities of life.

Lots of people will, in the months to come, pontificate on what was good and what was bad, the lessons to be learned and so on.  As for me, I think that unless you have lived through such an experience, you can't legislate one way or another. Those involved have done the best possible job in extreme circumstances with what was to hand. 

Post-quake communications will continue to be vital for the Canterbury region for many years ahead, long after the world at large has switched its gaze elsewhere.  Christchurch communicators - and all of us involved  in this line of work - are in this for the long haul. So Kia kaha. And well done.

Kia Kaha Christchurch

February has been bracketed by disaster. I started the month writing about Tropical Cyclone Yasi and I'm ending it with a post about the devastating earthquake that has shaken the beautiful city of Christchurch to its knees.

But amid the sorrow and tragic loss of life, the human spirit has shone through, not just in the bravery of those entering the crumbled buildings to rescue others, or the thousands of volunteers who have flocked to help, but in the day-to-day of things - a word of comfort, an act of concern, a smile amid the wreckage, a stranger opening a door to those displaced. New Zealand has shown itself to be a national family and the first line of our national anthem has been underlined by the actions of its citizens:

"God of nations at thy feet, in the bonds of love we meet'

Aroha - love - is much in evidence, demonstrated by the actions of many. Collective worry for the thousands affected continues to deepen as we try to work forward to improve their desperate situation. 

Up here in Auckland we have running water, flushing toilets, uncracked walls and roofs intact - but even so, the disaster has touched everyone. New Zealand is a small country and without exception, we all have a friend or a family member who is involved in some way.  We have all leapt into action, doing whatever we can to help ease the plight of those whose lives have been shattered by natural disaster for the second time in six months. Whatever we do doesn't seem to be enough - so we'll do more. And we'll keep doing more until it's fixed.

Tomorrow there will be two minutes of silence at 12.51pm.  There will be a sea of red and black as people wear the colours of Canterbury. There will be tears, resolve and determination. There are still the missing to find and, as has been said time and again, everything is being done to bring them home to their loved ones.

It was a savage and brutal earthquake. It ripped apart an already injured city, trying as it was to heal after the September 4 2010 earthquake.  There will be weeks ahead to look, explore and plan what comes next, how to rebuild and how, simply, to stay while the deep scars heal. But, for the moment, it is enough to say stay strong. It will get better, the arms of the nation are open to all - and everyone will do their best. Kia Kaha Christchurch

 

 

Top communications as Queensland braces for #TCYasi

As I write, Northern Queensland is braced to bear the worst tropical cyclone Australia has ever experienced. In 1974, Cyclone Tracy caused utter devastation in Darwin but was smaller than the system that is steaming into Townsville and environs at the moment.

What the outcome will be we have no idea and, at present, can only hope and pray that there is no loss of life and minimal injuries for the thousands taking shelter from what looks to be a truly catastrophic storm.

Throughout the preparations, @QPMedia, the Queensland Police media team have used every channel available to them to warn, cajole, encourage, advise and inform the people of North Queensland ahead of this disaster. Facebook pages, Twitter streams, live streaming, audio - everything has been pulled together to give maximum warning and information to those affected. And all this just weeks after floods ravaged the Sunshine State. The picture below, circulating on Twitter today, shows Tracy on the left and Yasi on the right.

Communicating in any disaster is a huge undertaking - to have to deal with two disasters in quick succession is beyond pretty much everyone's experience. I take my hat off to the Queensland Police communications team and also to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, who has also been superb in her clear, calm and uncompromising communications with the public.

Tropical Cyclone Yasi is due to hit land at around 10pm EST - about 1am NZT - and, like many others, I'll be praying that those in the shelters, still at home or trying to get out of the path of the storm are safe. I also hope that we will all be able to do something to sort out the inevitable aftermath that will have to be dealt with. 

In the meantime, safe passage to all involved and I would publicly pay my respects to those who have tried so hard to communicate the scope of the situation in such difficult circumstances.

Would you join 'National Naked Scanner Opt-Out Day'? TSA faces People's Revolt

Today, Wednesday 24 November, has been dubbed 'National Naked Scanner Opt-Out Day' in the USA in protest at the new full-body scanning devices now installed at airports across the country. Travellers crossing the States on one of the busiest travel dates of the year - tomorrow being Thanksgiving - are being urged to refuse the scanner and opt instead for the even less pleasant invasive pat down.

Essentially, the public's agreement for the intense security measures employed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is being withdrawn and the issue is leading, slowly but surely, to a withdrawal on the part of the public of the TSA's 'licence to operate' - in short, it is a real public relations crisis.

Having been travelling the last few weeks, crossing the USA, UK, Europe and finally Hong Kong, the issue of airport security and the way in which it is handled has been much on my mind.  Although I had my share of adventures, I did not experience anything like the search suffered by the six-year-old boy in the YouTube video below.  Social media is being used as the catalyst to encourage people in the USA to take part in the 'opt-out'. How effective it will be, I really don't know - fear plays a part for travellers who are loathe to do anything that might draw attention to themselves, not because they are plotting some ghastly event, but simply because they don't want to undergo the humiliation, rudeness and downright nastiness displayed by some of those responsible for 'heightened security'. It is interesting to see that the 'fear' barrier so cleverly and effectively erected by the powers-that-be since 2001 is now being dismantled as people lose patience with a system that tags them as 'suspects' and subjects them to humiliating and very personal scrutiny just for heading off to visit Grandma.

What has happened, I believe, is that the balance has been lost.  Security in Auckland is tight but polite. We understand the need for vigilance but nobody is treated like a criminal just because they are travelling - something which is, unfortunately, often the case at USA airports. In Hong Kong, Zurich and Geneva again, security was tight, but passengers were treated with courtesy and responded with cooperation, a match which, if anything, speeds up the whole process.

Somewhere along the line, the powers-that-be in the USA have got so absorbed with the implementation of security measures, they have forgotten the purpose - to catch the baddies, not harass the travellers. Even Hilary Clinton has been added to the list of those unhappy with the process. The sad fact is the real 'baddies' will find ways through even the most ingenious and stringent security measures as they have proved in the past. Meanwhile the rest of us suffer indignities, delays and humiliation or, as is the case with the organisers of Opt-Out day, work out a way to redress the balance and have their voices heard.

 

Can you deal with a crisis? Now's your chance to test your mettle

One thing that all PR and communications practitioners should have a go at - before it happens - is handling a crisis. A plan is all well and good, but until disaster actually strikes, you have no idea how you, as a person, will respond to the demands that crisis communication brings.

I was delighted to see that PRINZ is staging a crisis communications exercise on November 9 in Auckland. The simulation will put participants through the mill and they can see how they will cope as the 'crisis' unfolds and gain some direct experience as to the things we all need to learn in order to successfully tackle such situations.

It's all well and good thinking 'oh, I'll be fine' - but believe me until you are in a 'live' situation, the pressure, reaction speeds, decision making and leadership skills required in a crisis communications setting cannot be adequately imagined. Although a simulation isn't the absolute 'real thing', it is an incredibly valuable experience.  Every practitioner will handle at least one crisis in their career, so it is worth making sure you are equipped to deal with the one you're likely to get.

There have been several major events around the world this year - some man made, some sparked by nature. The common denominator among all of them is the need for fast, expert and appropriate leadership and communication.  I'd would recommend that if you are in Auckland, have never experienced a crisis, or it's been a while since the last one you handled, then November's simulation should be a firm date in your diary.

If there was such a thing as compulsory training in public relations and communications management, then this would be the one session I believe everyone should take, no matter how junior or senior they might be.

BP Crisis Plan Fail - would yours be any better?

I wasn't surprised to read the Associated Press story that seemed to imply that the BP Crisis Plan - all 582 pages of it, with 52 of them site-specific to Deepwater Horizon - had been gathering dust in a draw somewhere.  One of the go-to experts named in the plan died in 2005, links to resources were null and void and all in all, the plans approved by the Federal Government as recently as last year were, to say the very least, wanting.

I have heard no mention of the Transocean plan, the company that owns the Deepwater Horizon rig, who are continually conspicuous by their absence or indeed, America's Halliburton company, also missing in action and which was working down there prior to the explosion that killed 11 people. It seems that BP, however ill-prepared, is happy to take the blame for this one, even though they are not the only players involved.

The trouble with 582 page reports is that nobody ever really reads them properly. Nor would it seem in this case, do they check the detail, for if they did, surely someone would have picked up that at least one of their experts would not be available in a crisis? Or that the risks had been seriously underestimated? Or how hard it would be to 'fix' problems so far underwater? Or the impact on the environment? The list here really is endless.

As this environmental, social and economic disaster has unfolded, it has been obvious to everyone that someone, somewhere, who should have been responsible for crisis planning has failed in their duty, from the response to repair and re-engineering, to communication and culpability.  Equally, some blame must lie with the departments that passed the plans as acceptable - or perhaps the size of the report put them off a thorough read.

Any practitioner worth their salt knows that you must run a crisis plan regularly, that you audit-check contacts and details with a pedantic frequency and, at the risk assessment level, ongoing evaluation should inform your plan and the varying degrees of risk faced by your organisation, the community and your stakeholders.  How a company like BP, involved in one of the most risk-laden and dangerous businesses on earth could have a plan with apparently so many errors included defies belief.

AP quote BP's spokesman Daren Beaudo as saying: "...the response plans will be reviewed "so that we can determine what worked well and what needs improvement."

"Thus far we have implemented the largest spill response in history and many, many elements of it have worked well. However, we are greatly disappointed that oil has made landfall and impacted shorelines and marshes. The situation we are dealing with is clearly complex, unprecedented and will offer us much to learn from."

I would suggest that they will be learning for years. I also wonder if anywhere else in the BP universe other crisis plans are being checked and overhauled. If I was there today, I would be getting people on to that double-quick-smart. Sadly though, I fear that they are probably oblivious to the need to do this.

I also hope that any practitioner out there  who has not created and run their crisis plan gets on to it today and, if there is an ancient plan festering in a draw somewhere, get it out, review it, check it, run it and practice it like a fire drill so you can test if it works, hunt down where the flaws lie and what you need to do as an organisation to make it work.  Accidents happen but incompetency is avoidable.  Good issues management reduces risk, but sometimes things go wrong, which is why a crisis plan is essential.  A good crisis plan should reduce or eliminate the danger to and affect of any incident on the public, the environment and the organisation and lead to swift recovery for all involved. It should be accessible, understood by everyone and practiced often. BP did not have a good crisis plan. I hope you do.

CEO Fail: Hayward 'wants life back' yet could have fixed BP in 2006

Like many, I have watched in horror at the unfolding BP disaster. The loss of life, the environmental damage, the illnesses reported among the clean-up workers - it really is unbelievable. From a professional perspective, I am staggered at the way the crisis has been handled by the company, epitomised by Tony Hayward's latest throw away comment 'I want my life back', documented in the video above.

A couple of years ago, as he was rising to the challenge of leading BP, Hayward commented at a town hall meeting in Houston, in the wake of a Texas refinery blast that killed 15 and injured 170 people: "We have a leadership style that is too directive and doesn't listen sufficiently well".

Indeed. And although at that time he was heir-apparent to the BP CEO's throne it would seem that after a couple of years at the helm, very little has changed. And this to me is his biggest failure in this crisis. He recognised the shortcomings of the organisation, but failed to fix it. That was his opportunity to avoid the crisis he is in the midst of right now.  Change the organisation. Improve practices. Keep your people and those around them safe. Make sure that the communication processes and the relationships you need to manage a crisis are in place, long before you need them. This is not just about 'making a crisis plan. A real crisis plan involves isolating and identifying what is wrong with your organisation - and fixing it, before it blows a hole in your company and the innocent lives of others. To acknowledge deficiencies and fail to act on them, well that's just negligence.

You can't be aware of, and say this : ""We have a management style that has made a virtue out of doing more for less. The mantra of more-for-less says that we can get 100 percent of the task completed with 90 percent of the resources. Which in some senses is okay and might work, but it needs to be deployed with great judgment and wisdom. When it isn't, you run into trouble."

"The frontline operations teams, I think, have lived too long in the world of making do and patching up this quarter for the next quarter...rather than really thinking about how we are going to maintain a piece of equipment for the next 30 or 40 years."

...and expect everything to be ok with no action required. Yet those are Tony Hayward's words from December 11 2006.

I see they have drafted in Cheney's old press spokesperson, Anne Womack-Koln 'to deal with the media'. All a bit late for that I'd say. In today's world, it is the CEO's responsibility to front up to all stakeholders, not just the media. The actions of the company prior to the disaster are paramount and the actions of BP prior to this event are wanting to say the least.

Tony Hayward is not one of life's natural communicators and whoever is advising him through this crisis would seem to be seriously lacking the abilities needed in this situation. Putting aside his lack of any obvious support, he is supposedly a CEO, which infers the ability to lead, change, act and resolve. Unfortunately, the problems apparently inherent within the company are as widespread as the surface oil slathering its way up the coast. Both require drastic action and the scars from both will remain for years ahead. Somehow, I don't think Hayward will ever get his wish.