Public Relations Crisis Communications Workflows with Gerald Baron

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In this exclusive interview on crisis management, PIER Systems Founder & CEO Gerald Baron explains the trends in online crisis communications, software public relations firms rely on, and the insatiable quest for speed in the media relations business.

PIER Systems is an on-demand information management software. PIER Systems differentiates its software by tailoring its offering to public relations and media relations crisis communications objectives.

PIER unifies innovative technology and tools in one web-based application to help organizations maintain business continuity while simplifying organizational communications.

PR Crisis Communications Workflow Tips

2:54 — Gerald Baron outlines his presentation on handling crisis communications with public relations software titled “Building Trust in a Threatening Media Environment,” delivered at the PRSA International Conference in Detroit.

3:42 — Gerald Brown on the disappearance of news cycles in a hyper-competitive environment based on immediacy. Gerald talks about a reporter who broke the news about Hurricane Ike, a Los Angeles Fire Department distributing fire safety information on Twitter, and what it all means for crisis communications.

4:49 — Gerald Baron on the impact of the news media and people’s insatiable quest for up-to-the-second information on the business of crisis communications, public relations, and media relations and the inherent risks associated with letting others tell your story for you.

5:43 — Gerald Baron shares his “Ps” of effective online communications: Policy, Plans, People, and Platforms. He also discusses why communicating with incredible speed and directly to constituents are critical to telling your story in a world without news cycles.

6:36 — Gerald Baron uses the Virginia Tech massacre as an example of why organizations need the ability to handle direct-to-the-public crisis communications with incredible speed and the role of public relations software in that process.

7:23 — Gerald Baron reveals the key features a public relations software package should have: a single online newsroom control platform, be entirely web-based, exist independently and outside of the organization’s IT infrastructure, and be entirely controlled by public relations professionals.

8:35 — Gerald Baron discusses the lessons he learned from the Virginia Tech Shootings, one of which is raised expectations for rapid communications directly from organizations. He says the VT shootings underscore that we no longer live in a world where people can depend on the media for urgent information during emergencies.

9:39 — Gerald Baron explains why stand-alone text notification systems not integrated into public relations software platforms are potentially dangerous to PR professionals because they attempt to substitute notifications for communications.

He says research from PIER Systems shows outbound notifications drive demand of inbound requests for additional information.

10:53 — Gerald Baron lists the additional modes of communications, like your website or online newsroom, RSS, and email, which are just as crucial as the instant notifications people now expect to receive from organizations during a catastrophe.

He paints a hypothetical crisis scenario where students get a text message to their phones about some disaster or emergency, jam up the phone lines in search of more information, and then go to the school’s website, which is hopefully built to handle vast numbers of simultaneous incoming requests.

He says the system breaks down when organizations deploy a notification system without fortifying their ability to respond to the increased incoming requests for additional information.

12:02 — Gerald Baron talks about the importance of integration when selecting public relations software to support external communications and the need for effectiveness and efficiency, particularly when staffing levels are being reduced and individuals are being asked to do more with less. He also discusses the cost benefits of an integrated public relations software platform.

15:49 — End