This Halloween season, we attended the PR Club of New England‘s annual “PR Nightmares” panel, where seasoned communications professionals shared their most spine-tingling crisis management stories. While the situations were frightening for the PR pros who managed them, for event attendees, the lessons were invaluable.
Moderator:
Joe Chambers, CK Communications Group
Panelists:
John Guilfoil, Founder, John Guilfoil Public Relations
Ashley McCown, Co-Founder, Helene + Ashley
Adam Ritchie, Founder, Adam Ritchie Brand Direction
Crises Come Without Warning
The panelists emphasized that PR nightmares come in all shapes and sizes, from unexpected injuries during product demonstrations to institutional scandals that require months of strategic communications work. The common thread? How you respond in those critical first moments can make or break the outcome.
One particularly compelling case study involved a major institutional crisis for a local well-known college that required building trust with multiple audiences simultaneously – students, parents, donors, board members, and the media – all while navigating complex confidentiality requirements. The solution? Creating a strategic approach with consistent but tailored messaging across every touchpoint, from donor relations to social media. When it comes to messaging, one size does not fit all.
The Evolution of Crisis Communications
A recurring theme throughout the evening was how dramatically the crisis communications landscape has shifted with social media. As one panelist noted, “Twitter was excellent for PR people…blow by blow, play by play, thread by thread, live tweet.” Real-time monitoring and responses were easier and efficient, particularly for first responder crisis management, but now with the increase of AI and the downfall of X (formerly Twitter) as a reputable site for minute-by-minute news, the challenge isn’t just the volume of voices. The challenge today is in the speed of misinformation, the difficulty of verification, and the absence of a single “lever to pull” when things spiral. Today’s communications professionals must be prepared to monitor multiple platforms while maintaining relationships with traditional media outlets during a crisis situation.
Key Takeaways for Communications Professionals
- Build Trust Before You Need It: The panelists universally agreed that the relationships and trust you build during business-as-usual periods become your lifeline during crises. When disaster strikes with a long-term client, existing trust in your judgment and strategic counsel becomes invaluable when stakes are highest and emotions are running hot.
This applies to both client relationships and media relationships. One panelist noted the importance of always calling reporters back, even when you can’t help them immediately. It helps you build a reputation as a straight shooter who will always let them know where things stand. That credibility becomes currency when you need to work through a sensitive story together.
- Know When to Loosen Your Grip: Sometimes the best crisis response means accepting you can’t control everything. One panelist described jumping onto a “moving train” of a crisis already in progress, with protesters, media coverage, and a campus forum already scheduled, and making the strategic decision to let certain elements unfold rather than trying to suppress them.
In that particular case, the campus crisis had been building for a week before the PR pro got a call at 10 PM on a Sunday night asking for the agency’s help (talk about Sunday scaries). At that point, the leadership had already decided to hold a forum with students. Media were already invited. The auditorium held 1,100 people and 1,200 showed up. It was supposed to last two hours and it went for four. The panelist’s instinct was to try to control the situation, but if she had attempted to shut down media access doing so would have become part of the story itself. Sometimes the most strategic move is to let go of the steering wheel and ride it out.
- Protect Your Reputation by Protecting Theirs – Ethically: Every panelist emphasized, there’s a critical distinction between spinning a narrative and lying. You have to tell your client’s story in the most compelling, strategic way possible without misrepresenting the truth. As one put it: “Any of us dealing with influencers or reporters on that client’s behalf, that’s our reputation. So we’re not going to lie or cover that up because we’re also trying to have trusted relationships with the media and others.” But that doesn’t mean you can’t be intentional about framing and messaging. The key is operating from a place of honesty while being your client’s strongest advocate.
One panelist shared a story about having a client with a water purification system that was so effective that they believed they could make water used to cool down power plants clean enough to be used for resort pools. The problem was the Fukushima nuclear leak that killed many people and animals happened the week the client wanted to launch in the U.S. If they had used renderings of people frolicking in what was once nuclear cooling water at that time it would have been incredibly tone deaf and detrimental to their reputation. The panelist’s agency steered them to talking about how they had “technology that could avoid the next Fukushima” by making it possible to have plants located more inland and thus less vulnerable to the coastal storms that caused the Fukushima disaster. The new approach was a big hit. Same product, same facts, completely different narrative that served both the client’s goals and the public interest.
The Silver Lining
While the evening was filled with cautionary tales of PR nightmares, it also reminded us why we love this work. Crisis communications requires quick thinking, strong ethical standards, relationship management, and the ability to see the bigger picture while managing minute-by-minute developments.
And perhaps most importantly: even in the scariest situations, with the right strategy and authentic communication, organizations can rebuild trust and come out stronger on the other side. Also, perspective is important. As far as crises are concerned, communications crises are rarely life or death.
Happy Halloween from the Teak team.
