Hennes Communications

The Bottomless News Hole and You

By Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications It’s everywhere. You check your Twitter feed. Read a news website or the daily paper. Turn on Nightly News or NPR. It’s an unrelenting and punishing tidal wave of political news pounding us over and over again.…

Will Legal Sports Betting Be The Next Communications Challenge for Businesses? Bet On It

By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications On January 1, sports gambling became legal in Ohio. The ringing of virtual cash registers has been deafening. Ohio led the nation on opening weekend, with 11.3 million online sports wagering transactions – 2…

Oscar Ceremony Team on High Alert With a Crisis Communications Plan for This Sunday’s Broadcast

By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications The Academy Awards ceremony is one of the most high-profile events in the entertainment industry, drawing millions of viewers from around the world. With a large audience and so many moving parts, it’s no…

How to Communicate Before, During and After Layoffs

With all the news of economic turmoil and layoffs at major companies in the news lately, it’s hard not to think of how these job cuts were communicated to employees. According to recent reports, Google employees were told via email, with some getting…

When Crisis Threatens an Influencer-Deal Partnership

By Eric Yaverbaum for O’Dwyer’s 2022 brought no shortage of high-profile crises for brands and celebrities alike. Under Elon Musk’s thumb, Twitter has been marred by continual controversy, including imposter Twitter accounts buying verified status…

Companies Aren’t Prepared for Today’s Crisis Landscape

By Dave Fleet for PR Daily Businesses are navigating an unprecedented set of business and societal challenges. From the lingering impacts of the global pandemic to supply chain disruptions, the rippling effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the…

Elon Musk Has Broken Disaster-Response Twitter

By Juliette Kayyem for The Atlantic For years, Twitter was at its best when bad things happened. Before Elon Musk bought it last fall, before it was overrun with scammy ads, before it amplified fake personas, and before its engineers were told to get…

How Companies Can Find Their Authentic Voice Amid Crisis

By Kristi Knight for Ragan A few short years ago, sending a corporate communication to our employees about personal and political issues such as women’s reproductive rights, gun control, police violence, or other culturally and emotionally charged…

Speak First or Forever Lose your Crisis Message

By Katie Paine for PRNEWS Anyone who has studied crisis communications knows, “he/she who speaks first owns the narrative.” Once bad news breaks, whether it is a self-inflicted crisis, accident or natural disaster, there’s a sequence that all crises…

3 Traits Successful Entrepreneurs Rely On During Times of Crisis

By Nick Sonnenberg for Inc. It’s no secret that we’re currently facing the possibility of an economic downturn. And the reality is that business leaders need to be resilient if they want to make it through unscathed. There are plenty of ways to…

U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center Issues Report

By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications CAUTION: This information is issued on a need to know basis. We hope you agree that you indeed need to know. Situational awareness refers to the ability to perceive, comprehend, and anticipate critical…

PR Crisis Response is Much More Than Trusting Yourself, But It Begins There

By Seth Arenstein for PRNEWS Editor’s Note: One of the memorable lines in the new “Top Gun: Maverick” film is a variation on Nike’s “Just Do It.” In the film, pilots are reminded their training is excellent, rely on it, trust yourself. “Don’t think,…

Exclusive: Academy of Motion Pictures CEO Says New ‘Crisis Team’ Will Handle Future Fiascos Like the ‘Slap’

By Eliana Dockterman for TIME Since taking over the position of CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last July, Bill Kramer has spent a lot of time putting out fires. In the past two years, the Oscars ratings sank to their lowest in…

Workers Fault Their Company’s Internal Comms

By Steve Barnes for O’Dwyers Most company leaders feel that they’re doing a good job when it comes to internal comms, according to communications management platform Axios HQ. Employees, however, aren’t quite so sure. Out of the more than 1,000…

When an Employee Threatens your Company’s Reputation

By David Ball for O’Dwyer’s As business culture changes as a result of both the pandemic and generational shifts, employees can easily act in ways that, while acceptable some years back, are wholly unacceptable today. When that happens, the C-suite…

How to…Cope with the Press

By Charles Gary for Police Mag Less than a month into her job as director of public information, Capt. Nancy Demme of the Montgomery County (Md.) Police Department was looking forward to attending a media training program in neighboring Arlington.…

When ‘Correct’ Writing Looks Wrong, What’s a PR Writer to Do?

By Paul Stregevsky for PRNEWS While shopping, a sign jolted me. Its grammar was so jarring, I read it twice: “We require that all supplements are third-party tested to contain what they claim.” Shouldn’t it read “that all supplements be tested?”…

Considerations Before Trying to Squash the Negative Story

It’s about to happen. You hear a story will run that says unfavorable things about your company. Or, perhaps it’s a story that might lead to negative financial ramifications for your client’s organization. Perhaps, you think, as a PR pro you are paid…

Who had the Meth in their Underwear? The Crucial Need for Clarity in Communications

by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications Headlines tell your story. Well, good headlines do. Sometimes, because of the arcane vagaries of the English language, a headline can convey eye-opening meanings you never intended. There’s a classic example in…

Mastering the Zoom Apology

By Bruce Hennes & Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications A CEO, executive director, bar association president or other business executive has to apologize or speak about something very important. The stakes are high – and the apology is going to have to…