Over the shoulder graphic... Fair or not?

So I'm watching the local news tonight, and one of the stories was about a guy who went to his girlfriend's place of employment (a local fast food restaurant), held a gun to her head, then shot her in the shoulder area. She's in the hospital, expected to recover and he's in jail.

http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=13232314

My question: The over the shoulder graphic (or OTS to my old news producer bretheren) behind the anchor showed the logo of the fast food chain. Proper or not, to identify the restaurant chain?

MUST READ article in The Strategist magazine: The Tony Hayward Effect

If any of you found the summer issue of PRSA's The Public Relations Strategist on your desk like I did last week, you've got to pick it up and take a peek inside. Almost the entire issue was dedicated to critiquing BP's crisis response to the Gulf oil spill. There was an article I loved, called "The Tony Hayward Effect." I know a lot of us automatically use our CEO as our official spokesperson during a crisis, but should we?

The author of this article didn't necessarily think so. His rationale?

• If the CEO doesn't have strong verbal skills, then he or she shouldn't be the spokesperson (seems like a common sense decision to make!)
• The CEO should be in the crisis command center, actually managing the crisis team and the company (another, duh!)
• If the CEO mispeaks, there is no higher ranking official to come behind him or her to rectify the situation. At least if a lower ranking official mispeaks, a CEO can come from behind and help make amends.

So what do all of you think? Are we taking the wrong approach to crises, by automatically putting our CEOs out front every time? Is it doing more harm than good? The author of this article believes a well-trained PR person should take the lead while the crisis managment team moves into place. After the team is in place, then a subject matter expert should take the spokesperson role, allowing the CEO and other executives to effectively manage the crisis. They say to let a CEO take the lead in a short lived crisis, but he or she should only pop up when truly needed in a longer crisis. A higher priority should be for the CEO to oversee the crisis team and manage the parts of the company that are still up and running.

I have to admit, it would be tough to expect someone to manage a crisis the size of BP's this past summer, while also giving constant updates to media. No doubt, that's what probably led to Hayward's very public blunders, such as the infamous "I'd like my life back" comment.

The magazine also offered some worthwhile tips to give any executive who is acting as a spokesperson in a crisis... hopefully these are all practices we knowledgable and wise PR already employ.... hopefully! lol...

1. Don't talk to the media... talk to the media's audience! Remember, the press is just a vehicle to get your message to the actual public. Drop the industry jargon, speak simply and be inclusive to your audience.
2. Think about the bottome line. (I love this one!) If you could attach a dollar to every word you say, would you make money or lose money? Hmmm... touche!
3. Talk the way reporters write. Start with the headline, follow with a great quote, then add facts sparingly. It's worthwhile to remind everyone that a full TV package is only a minute-twenty seconds and VOs and VO/SOTs are much, much shorter.
4. Know your personality types. Analytical types give too many figures and stats, introverts may be too shy, and emotional types might get off topic. Adjust accordingly for each situation.
5. Practice, practice, practice! Even if you only get a few minutes before the interview.
   

And lucky for us... A spokesperson from BP will be appearing at the PRSA Tulsa Chapter's annual professional development conference, coming up Oct. 14th at OU-Tulsa. To check out the agenda, or to register, just click here: http://bit.ly/b04KEy

Be sure to think up some really good questions for our speaker! Hope to see you all there!

Gearing up for Tulsa PRSA's professional development seminar Oct. 14th!

In only THREE weeks, our local PRSA chapter will hold its annual professional development seminar!

Lots of exciting changes this year. For the first time we're holding the event at OU-Tulsa! Tracy Kennedy, Glenda Silvey and Karen Mulkey in OU-Tulsa's communications department are all faithful PRSA members, so a HUGE thanks to them for helping us get the event moved to Founder's Hall on their campus.

In fact, fellow PRSA board member Aimee Mehl and I did a site visit with Tracy today and the facility is just gorgeous. Not only is it beautiful, it's so high tech! I was blown away! There is wireless Internet in the Perkins Auditorium and in all the breakout rooms, as well as outlets at each desk, so you can fire up your laptop and plug in other devices during the conference.

Check out the picture Aimee took of Founder's Hall!

If you're interested in our agenda and all the fabulous speakers we have, you can do so at http://www.prsatulsa.com/. Register for the event there too!

I just hit the 10,000 mark in my email inbox!

Wow... can we hire someone to just come in and clean up my inbox? I've been getting messages for approximately four years now telling me my inbox is full. Uh, then cut me off, IT gods!

Ahhh... my first post

I wish I had something really witty, creative and cool to say here, since it is my first post after all... but who am I kidding? It took me so long to figure out this blog business that I'm just going to go pour myself a glass of wine and watch a re-run of Jersey Shore. Nothing like Jersey Shore to make me feel intellectually superior. Looking forward to many witty, creative and cool posts in the future! G'nite!