No One is Safe

It can happen to anyone. No one is safe. And when it does…you better be prepared to face it. I’m talking about crisis, man, crisis (sorry, Allen Iverson moment). No company or organization, big or small, can predict every crisis situation. That is why they need to be prepared. This is a major lesson that David Merman Scott talks about in his book “Real Time Marketing& PR.” I completely agree with him on this point. No matter how creative or thorough your crisis team may be, there will always be something that takes you by surprise. Life is full of curveballs.

So once again being the nice fellow I am, I’ve decided to provide some quality advice for handling crisis when a situation blindsides you.

1. Have an assigned team.

This prevents wasting time figuring out who’s in charge of what and who reports to whom. Every second counts in crisis situations.

2. Quickly gather facts and plan initial comments.

Knowledge is power. The more you know, the better you can provide answers. The initial statement is critical because it can set the tone for all the following statements.

3. Assign primary spokesperson.

Having one person being the “face” of the crisis makes things easier because the public can become familiar with seeing the same person for updates on the situation. This also goes back to who’s in charge of what.

4. DO NOT IGNORE THE SITUATION!

This should be a no brainer. I feel that this should be common knowledge; case in point, United Airlines.

5. Get information out quickly but don’t sacrifice accuracy.

A quick turnaround from the time you figure out the facts to the time you release them to the public is always encouraged. However, make sure the facts are as accurate as possible. Don’t rush information out only to have to turn around and say “Oops, we spoke to soon.”

6. Provide updates (when needed).

Some situations will require multiple statements. So be kind and don’t keep the public in the dark.

7. When responding, go to the media that broke the news and respond there first.

If someone on Facebook broke the news, respond on Facebook first. If Twitter is the source, tweet first; pretty self-explanatory.

I hope that crisis doesn’t happen to you or your company, but if you should suffer some misfortune I hope these tips will come in handy.

Just talking bout crisis man,

Jake

Riding the Healthy Bandwagon

Ohio Northern, like a lot of places around the country, has jumped on the health kick bandwagon. This can be seen when you walk into the dining hall (Mac) and notice the calorie counts next to the various food choices. That is one way to say “hey, we’re trying to be healthier.”

Another event in the new health kick effort is the Affinity Color Run. All the campus housing staffs at ONU have to do programs every month, and each month one staff does a huge campus-wide program. This month was the color run that the Affinity complex put on. Why is this a step in a healthy direction you might ask? Well, traditionally Affinity’s all-hall event (what we as Residence Life staff call the campus-wide programs) was a huge sundae bar. I would say a 5K is slightly healthier than loading up ice cream with a plethora of toppings.

You may also be wondering what a color run is? Basically it’s a 5K where runners get different color powder thrown on them as they reach various points in the race. I participated in Affinity's Color Run and it was really fun and I encourage everyone to try one out some time. I had a blast even though the power didn't stick as well as I was hoping. And even if you’re not a “runner” you can still participate and walk some if you want, but it’s definitely something you should experience.

I like what ONU is doing by making efforts towards a healthier campus. Obesity and health problems related to weight are a growing epidemic and everyone needs to make steps towards leading healthy lifestyles.

I’m going to go get this powder off me,

Jake

Social Media Can Make You Famous

People can use social media to do just about anything, even get on the Ellen. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard or see the new Internet sensation “Gangnam Style.” If you haven’t, follow the link and you’ll see. This new hit is on track to be the next “Call Me Maybe.” People are recreating this video right and left, even the United States Navy got in on the action and made a parody.

Mike Song and his mother Laura Song are dance instructors; Laura teaches line and Mike teaches hip-hop. This mother-son combo put their talents together and created their own Gangnam Style video and Ellen DeGeneres happened to see the parody. When Ellen saw it she wanted them to come on the show, and on the show the two went. Mike and Laura performed on Ellen and the crowd ate up seeing the mother and son dancing together.

Moral of the story, you can use social media to become famous; who would have thought? Mike and Laura made a video and it landed them on national television. Grant it Ellen isn’t Good Morning or America or The Today Show and Ellen as a slightly smaller audience, but still made it on national television just by using social media! Now, not every single person who makes a parody will make it big, but using social media can definitely increase your chances. Social media can make an impact on anyone’s life. All you have to do is use it and use it well.

Now go out and practice your dance moves,

Jake

United....United

The book I'm currently reading in social media is “Real-Time Marketing & PR” by David Meerman Scott. This is the second book we’ve read by Scott and it’s just as good. One of the best lessons I’ve taken away so far is the importance of responding/posting in “real-time.” Real-time means responding/posting in a timely fashion. If your company just came under fire for whatever reason, your company doesn’t have the luxury of taking its good old time and responding days, or even hours, later. Depending on the situation an immediate response might be necessary, and your company could suffer if you wait.

Now you may be thinking “duh, this is common sense” because that’s what I first thought. But you may be surprised by the fact that some companies don’t get this concept. The example Scott uses in his book is incident between United Airlines and Dave Carroll. To save some time, because no one wants to read a novel blog post, I’m going to sum up the scenario. Singer-songwriter Dave Carroll flew United Airlines and witnessed the baggage folks throw his guitar case, thus breaking his Taylor guitar. After nine months of red tape, hassle and no success in receiving proper compensation Dave wrote three songs about his experience. The first song "United Breaks Guitars" went viral and Dave became an internet sensation with news channels begging to get a hold of him. The owners of Taylor Guitars and Calton Cases jumped on the opportunity to work with Dave. United Airlines said nothing about what was going on while Dave, Taylor Guitars and Calton Cases blew up. United finally met with Dave on September 14, 2009; that was 10 weeks after Dave posted the first video on YouTube!

If you want more details you can Google the story. Taylor Guitars and Calton Cases took a real-time opportunity when they responded to Dave’s situation. Those companies gained fame from people completely outside their target audiences because they responded to an issue in a timely fashion. What I learned is that the faster you can respond the better. If your company is the one to blame for something that happened you can avoid a lot of headaches by responding in real-time. Also, if your company may in some way be able to make a connection to a situation, like Taylor Guitars and Calton Cases, you can really benefit from jumping on something as it’s happening. 

 You're welcome for getting that song stuck in your head,

Jake

Is it cold? Or is it just me?

It’s getting cold in Ada. There is a little over a week left in September and I’m already getting weather warnings about a frost advisory! It’s quite ridiculous if you ask me. Now generally I like the chilly weather. Jeans and long sleeves or a sweatshirt is a great combination. The chilly weather is a sign that football is beginning and the World Series is coming soon. I also don’t mind winter because I enjoy snowboarding and snow is required to partake is this winter recreation, so cold weather is necessary.

I digress. While I enjoy the chilly weather, the last week of September is not the time for Snow Miser to be making an appearance. Right now, as I’m typing this, it’s 46 degrees. It blows my mind that it’s this cold already, but I guess after the mild winter we had last year Mother Nature is going to come back a vengeance.

I figured I would post some cold weather tips for being a student at ONU.

1. Layers

I’m talking shirt(s), sweatshirt and coat here. The wind that blows through Ada can chill you to your core and the one of the best ways to combat this is layers. 

Side note; it's 44 degrees now.

2. A quality coat

Not just any coat will cut it on the Tundra at ONU; you need a high quality wind blocking article of clothing. Personally I use my Burton snowboarding coat and it works wonders. I know that quality coats can be a little pricey, but it’s completely worth it.

3. Always have gloves handy (get it, “handy”)

The weather can change in a heartbeat at ONU, so having a pair of gloves always available is huge. They don’t have to be big and bulky; they just have to block the wind for a little bit.

Now that you have these tips you can survive whatever Mother Nature throws at you.

Global warming my butt,

Jake 

Picture courtesy of Outdoor Mom 

http://bretton-woods-outdoor-mom.blogspot.com/2012/01/thank-goodness-for-snow-miser.html

New Uses for Facebook?

Some say that Facebook is slowly heading towards its end and that Twitter is taking over. While I personally prefer Twitter over Facebook, I still use Facebook a lot because of the variety of things it allows you to do. Between creating events, uploading albums of photos and commenting on just about anything, Facebook allows users to do things that Twitter can’t.

As I was flipping through the TV channels today (Sept. 21) I noticed something on the news. If you like to follow the news and see what’s going on in the world (or have ever had a class with Dr. Kathie Fleck), you heard about the hostage situation in Pittsburgh. But what caught my eye was the fact that you don’t see “hostage” and “Facebook” in the same sentence very often, if ever. So I went to Google to get some more information and found that the suspect has been posting on his Facebook throughout the situation. People responded to these posts with uplifting messages saying they were praying for him and encouraging him to cooperate with the police.

The suspect’s page was taken down because of the potential to harm negotiations, but the police said it was good that the suspect could see that people care for him.The suspect has also recently surrendered himself to authorities.

This made me think about how we use Facebook now and all the potential uses for it in the future. I feel that we are just tapping into the uses of Facebook and that this service will be around for a very long time. If I were a more creative person I would provide examples of potential uses but I’m not, so I will let you mull those ideas around yourself. I’m sure someone can think of something crazy and new.

Since social media is a forever-changing medium I feel there will always be new ways to use many of the different platforms. Whether it is communicating with a suspect in a hostage situation or whatever else you can think of; social media will always be around. And as long as Zuckerberg and his team keep Facebook fresh and relevant the service will stick around; it’s not going anywhere.

Writing this in real-time,

Jake