Sunday, March 29, 2009

Two

How do I sum up my years as a public relations major at Appalachian State? Like most college students, I've taken some classes that were a massive waste of time and some that really taught me a lot.

My favorite class in my major was Crisis Communications. I took it last summer with Dr. Terry Cole and it has been one of the most beneficial classes I've taken since I've been a student here. I did my individual project on the Sen. Larry Craig airport bathroom sex scandal. Through the research I did for the project I learned a lot about reputation management and what to do and what not to do during a crisis.

Reputation management seems to be one of the most important elements of public relations. If someone really knows how to be effective in PR they know how to manage a person's or company's reputation. It can keep an incident from turning into a crisis. Knowing a client inside-out from day one is so important. If you know the strengths and weaknesses of your client, then you know how to manage them; what assets to play up and what flaws minimize.

During the class we also had a group project where we had to develop a crisis management plan for a company. My group developed our plan for The Inn at Crestwood. The project became overwhelming when we began to develop a list of possible crises that could occur since the location consisted of an inn, restaurant and spa. It is in a remote location. It is an older building. It is spread out over multiple buildings. It was a lot to plan for. Things that you wouldn't normally consider a crisis were a pretty big deal and then creating the plan for managing the crisis was even more difficult. Where would people evacuate if necessary? Who would be contacted? Where should they meet? What do they need?

Most importantly, what do they say to the media? I came to learn throughout that summer session that, essentially, this is the most important part of crisis management. How are people going to think of you when this is all over? Lots of times things happen that you can't control but being prepared just in case and being prepared for all the "what if's" will help to rebuild a positive public image when all is said and done.

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