{"id":9233,"date":"2011-08-25T20:16:17","date_gmt":"2011-08-25T20:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicityhound.com\/blog\/?p=9233"},"modified":"2011-08-25T20:16:17","modified_gmt":"2011-08-25T20:16:17","slug":"prepare-your-pr-company-for-hurricanes-earthquakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/marketing\/public-relations\/prepare-your-pr-company-for-hurricanes-earthquakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Prepare your PR company for hurricanes, earthquakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"emergency<\/a>If you’re in the path of massive Hurricane Irene, and the home or office that houses your PR business is severely damaged or wiped out by the 115-mph winds and torrential rains, could you continue to conduct business?<\/p>\n

How to prepare for natural disasters is the stuff they teach in Crisis Communications 101. But many of us took that course ages ago<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As PR pros, some of us even teach it<\/strong>. And we’re apt to forget it when bad news happens to us.<\/p>\n

What better time than now for a refresher—just after an earthquake hit this week near Washington, D.C., and the Eastern Seaboard of the United States is bracing this weekend for Hurricane Irene and its life-threatening waves and winds?<\/p>\n

\"howardHoward Lewinter<\/a>, a business management specialist who works with CEOs, business owners and company presidents, says the time to prepare \u00a0is long before disaster strikes. Having an emergency plan<\/strong> and knowing exactly what to do when you’re in a crisis, will put you in a far better position than thinking on the fly, while the disaster—or hurricane—is swirling around you.<\/p>\n

“That’s because most people panic when something bad happens,” he said. “If you think clearly, you can probably solve the problem.”
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\nSafety First
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\n<\/strong>Most important is making \u00a0sure\u00a0you’re safe, he said. That includes heeding calls to evacuate, and doing it early enough so that you have time to leave the area that’s in danger. If you’re in a large metropolitan area\u00a0like New York City, know what to do<\/a> and review your city’s Hurricane\u00a0Evacuation Plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Make sure that you’ve brought enough food, water and ice,” Lewinter said.
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\nEmployees Next
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\n<\/strong>“Know the phone numbers of all of your employees, and keep them in a safe, secure offsite location,” he said.<\/p>\n

The list\u00a0should include their home addresses, home phone numbers, email addresses and a\u00a0friend or relatives to call\u00a0in case of an emergency.<\/p>\n

If you won’t be able to return to your office for days, or even weeks, how\u00a0will your employees be paid? Have a contingency plan for payroll.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How will you communicate with them during the disaster?\u00a0Create procedures for keeping them informed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Remember that you’ll have to make sure your cell phones are fully charged,” he said.\u00a0 “You can charge them in your car if you have a battery charger, or you can charge them from the USB port on your computer.”<\/p>\n

Have support systems, such as counselors, in place just in case employees may need them.\u00a0
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\nHave an Emergency Plan\u00a0\u00a0
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\n<\/strong>“If you can’t operate from your office because of a power outage, or flooding, or whatever\u00a0the damage happens to be,\u00a0\u00a0you’ll need to retrieve all your data. Back it up daily—not just on site but also to a secure location off-site.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

What if you’ve backed up your data offsite,\u00a0but your\u00a0office building was\u00a0demolished during an\u00a0earthquake, or it was so severely damaged by a hurricane that it will take months to repair?<\/p>\n

Have a contingency plan.\u00a0Call your insurance agent and ask if you’re fully protected under your current policy.\u00a0Do you have enough insurance protection?\u00a0Does your policy cover earthquake damage?\u00a0 Some policies don’t.<\/p>\n

Is there another office building you can use temporarily?\u00a0How much would it cost to relocate your business, or even to suspend it temporarily? Seek multiple opinions from the experts so you can make the right decision.<\/p>\n

Do you lease your office, or the building? If so, you must know what the\u00a0lease agreement says about emergencies and who is responsible for what, Lewinter cautions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Confused about something in the lease?\u00a0 Make\u00a0sure you understand anything that’s vague.\u00a0If necessary, get it in writing.<\/p>\n

If your building is still intact, but you’re without Internet or telephone service, have a contingency plan for that, too.\u00a0Should your business have its own backup generator to produce electric power?\u00a0\u00a0Make that decision BEFORE a disaster, not after.
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\nTake Care of Your Customers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keep a current list of customers and all contact information—again, at an off-site location.<\/p>\n

“After a disaster, call or email them and let them know what’s happening,” Lewinter said. “Be as accommodating as possible so that\u00a0they can continue to do business with you\u00a0once your business has returned to normal.”<\/p>\n

And don’t forget your vendors such as\u00a0freelance writers and photographers, artists, printers,\u00a0and even ad agencies.\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
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\nTake an Inventory of What You Have<\/strong>
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\nLewinter\u00a0loves lists because they’re stress-reducers in times of emergency and they help you to think first,\u00a0panic later<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Create a list of equipment and services you need to run your business such as computers and furniture,” he said.\u00a0“Your insurance agent may ask for it. Your banker might, too, if you need\u00a0to borrow money. This list will also\u00a0give you an idea of what it will cost to keep the business going until\u00a0normal business resumes.\u00a0”<\/p>\n

Take photographs for insurance purposes.<\/p>\n

Have contact information for\u00a0utilities, all services you outsource,\u00a0and\u00a0emergency numbers you may need, like your insurance company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Keep a list of current PR projects and\u00a0delivery dates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Copy all important business papers and keep them in a fireproof filing cabinet, or offsite.\u00a0During a hurricane, important papers\u00a0should be stored in\u00a0an airtight, zip-lock bag, even if you’re taking them with you when you’re evacuating.\u00a0
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\nIf You Don’t Have Time for All This<\/strong>
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\nMany of the items on this list can take weeks to\u00a0accomplish.<\/p>\n

If the hurricane is just a few days or hours away,\u00a0where do you start? At the top of the list.<\/p>\n

Also see Ben Silverman’s excellent\u00a0Disaster Preparation Tips for PR Firms<\/a>. It’s as beneficial today as it was when he wrote it more than two years ago.\u00a0
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\nMy Own Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n

Use your company blog as your main communication tool. Most PR firms probably blog, but I’ll bet some sole practitioners don’t.\u00a0If you’re not blogging yet, you should be. See Time-saving Tips for Smart Business Blogging<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Make maximum use of all your social media sites. Keep your connections informed\u00a0on LinkedIn<\/a> and use the Q&A feature when you need help. People will come to the rescue. You can also seek help by asking questions on\u00a0Quora<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Use Twitter<\/a> to communicate with your followers, vendors, employees and customers.\u00a0Use\u00a0hash tags to make it easy for people to find updates about how the company is doing. Don’t forget Google+.<\/a><\/p>\n

Post\u00a0photos to sites like your Facebook page <\/a>and Flickr<\/a>\u00a0account.<\/p>\n

As you rebuild and get back on your feet, consider documenting your progess via videos and uploading them to YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And, finally, don’t forget to publicize your own story! You have loads of journalist\u00a0contacts and you know how to pitch the\u00a0media.<\/a> Use them.<\/p>\n

Write letters to the editor and op-eds, if appropriate. Comment at other blogs, too.<\/p>\n

Those are\u00a0our tips. Now what about\u00a0yours?<\/p>\n

What\u00a0have you done to\u00a0minimize the risk to your own\u00a0company from a natural disaster,\u00a0regardless of whether you specialize in PR? What tips can you add to this long list?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re in the path of massive Hurricane Irene, and the home or office that houses your PR business is severely damaged or wiped out by the 115-mph winds and torrential rains, could you continue to conduct business? How to prepare for natural disasters is the stuff they teach in Crisis Communications 101. But many\u2026 Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","iawp_total_views":5,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[168,641],"class_list":{"0":"post-9233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-public-relations","7":"tag-crisis-communications","8":"tag-flickr","9":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Joan Stewart","author_link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/author\/jstewart\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}