It wasn’t a good day for the PR department of one of the UK’s largest train line companies last month when their brand new train broke down on its first day.
Cue lengthy delays for passengers and a hot wait when the air conditioning unit failed.
Talk about going off the tracks!
With a government minister on board and the country’s media waiting on the platform, there was no chance of covering up the problems.
Passengers had already been active on social media, tweeting their frustrations.
Yes, in an age when the camera smartphone has turned everyone into a paparazzo, there’s no hiding place from a PR catastrophe.
If you’re one of the many PR professionals who turn to s1jobs when you want to move your career to the next level, you should never underestimate the importance of having a disaster plan.
There’s no point in waiting until things go wrong until you start thinking about how to deal with them.
Part of the job involves imagining every possible way an event can go pear-shaped and working out how you’ll deal with it.
From weather conditions that cause the last-minute cancellation of major events to lettering that falls off the stage during a political conference, there are plenty of ways for the best-planned activities to fall apart.
“My biggest challenge came when one of a party of journalists I was accompanying on a press trip to the US fell ill,” says Gail Connolly.
“We had to find ways of keeping the rest of the group happy while ensuring the ill journalist was properly cared for. I ended up staying in the States for two weeks once the rest of the group had gone home and having to organise last-minute travel on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth when doctors advised the journalist couldn’t fly.”
Now, says Gail, she doesn’t organise as much as a ribbon cutting without putting plans in place for every possible scenario.
“That trip taught me a very valuable lesson – PR isn’t just about projecting good news, it’s also about dealing with the tough stuff as well.
“For instance, I’m now very firm with clients that, if they mess up, they must be honest and straightforward with the public, explain the issues and have a clear vision of how it is being dealt with.
“Things will always go wrong but you can avoid a PR disaster by being open and upfront – and, of course, by being prepared.”
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