When PR is the problem.

I read with extreme disappointment over the weekend from Gerald Baron about FEMA's fake news conference last week, during which agency communications staffers posed as reporters during a press conference at which no reporters were in attendance. FEMA gave reporters 15 minutes notice before the conference began.

Tonight, CNN is reporting that Pat Philbin, about to become director of public affairs for FEMA, will not begin his new position. CNN cites an internal memo from FEMA chief David Paulison that lays into communications staff for going along with the plan and breaking most every rule of honest, transparent media relations.

Of course, not everyone on the FEMA PR staff is irresponsible. Their overall approach to communications during the California wildfires was spot on, and they've done a good job of taking incremental steps to win back trust. Unfortunately, a few people had to ruin the hard work of many to rebuild the agency's reputation with the public and the media.

The perception of public relations is bad enough and it's a shame our core issues come from within. How are we supposed to shed the stereotypes of our profession when those in the highest, most visible positions make conscious steps to reinforce them? We need to remember to be real people before we are influencers, marketers and communicators. And we need to stick to our core values - as Baron says - truth, honestly and building trust.

Red Cross: Integrating New Media Communication Strategy in Disaster Response

Aside from the usual fantastic work the Red Cross does with traditional communication strategy during a disaster, the PRSA Conference blog this morning noted how the Red Cross was reaching across the new media landscape to communicate about their disaster response for the California wildfires.

They have a dedicated wildfire-related blog, and will soon have live-blogging updates on their main site, Red Cross Chat, which includes pictures and video from the scene.

I also found it interesting that they are sending updates, facts and figures via Twitter. I first heard about Twitter on the Forward Podcast with Paull Young and, admittedly, I am not fully aware of Twitter's potential to reach a significant audience during a crisis; however, I'm looking forward to watching how they utilize it closely and using it as a case study in new media strategy during a disaster.

Our disaster public affairs volunteer team is gearing up here at Weber in Chicago as we approach the winter months. The number of house fires (which many people don't realize the Red Cross responds to on a daily basis) increase significantly in the colder months as more people heat their homes. Last season saw some of the coldest temperatures in the city, with roof collapses because of bursting pipes and fires from furnace-related incidents. Unfortunately, this year will be no exception, but we'll be ready to roll when the time comes.

And we're back.

So I had taken a long, unplanned hiatus from blogging, and now I know how incredibly difficult it is to keep up a blog while having a job, family obligations, vacation, wedding planning and the various other things that pop up in our every day lives. I just about decided to scrap the whole thing until I attended Eric Schwartzman's New Media Bootcamp at the PRSA Conference in Philadelphia this weekend. A lot of our counsel recently has centered around new media issues: internet rumors, activist web sites, blogging strategy, etc. Eric covered everything from podcasting and online newsrooms to RSS and SEO, and he hit a chord when he mentioned the principle of active participation. To be taken seriously in the blogosphere, or on Wiki, or on web forms, PR people need to (as Eric put it) "play in the sandbox". We need to engage. If we're going to give good counsel, we should be part of the online discussion and there is no reason that if we are able dedicate just a little bit of time to participating (blogging, podcasting or simply commenting on an interesting blog post) we should do so both for our benefit and our clients'.

I have a renewed commitment to post to this blog on regular intervals and to increase my participation in the "sandbox". I'm looking forward to getting back to the bread and butter of this site - Analyzing the who what and why of how various communication strategies work to build and break down reputation.