Nancy VanReece

Carpe Diem Management - Strategy and Waymaking

Madison, TN

IT STARTS WITH A PROMISE - AND ALWAYS HAS A STORY

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Filtering by Tag: crisis communication

Crisis Communication is just 6 degrees away

April 23, 2014  /  Hon. Nancy VanReece

kevin_bacon-220x300.jpeg

Crisis Communication for Our Time was the name of the session. --  I spent 90 minutes with an expert crisis consultant June 2012 at the League of American Orchestras Conference in Dallas where I was speaking on Social Media Strategy.  There were about a dozen people eager to hear about solid planning ideas "just in case something happens" or worse, "when it happens".

I was encouraged to hear James Lukaskewski champion activities such as preparation, candor, openness, responsiveness, truthfulness and transparency.  And most definitely, engagement.

However, I was in a The End of Business as Usual state of mind having started reading Brian Solis's new book for the 2nd time on the flight to Dallas from Nashville. (This time, I'm reading it on Kindle for iPad, I gave my hard copy away at the workshop I taught for Engage Kingsport.)

I know that it is an occupational hazard for me to immediately think, "How does a social engagement strategy affect and/or effect this".  I think of that about everything.  Heck, where I get my coffee, or if the ticket agent responds quickly is a place of public brand engagement.

@nashvillesymph nice :) Glad to have the a world class Symphony in town! — CREMA (@CREMACREMA) June 5, 2012

@nancyvanreece We're glad that you were able to get an earlier flight, Nancy. Thanks for flying us! — American Airlines (@AmericanAir) June 6, 2012

But wow, 90 minutes of this IRL workshop and the only time anything about social media was mentioned was a mumble from the corner. "yeah, good luck with that on Facebook at 3am."

It was interesting to me that this topic didn't come up.  I was in observation mode looking to ahead to my session on Friday morning discussing "social media as a groundbreaking approach to connecting with community" ( the ground was broken a long time ago, on a cave wall, but you get it.)

Jim spoke the truth about the importance of a communications team knowing what the questions are and preparing responses in advance, or further, to get the answers out before the questions are even asked!  However, their were questions in the room that fell silent.  What to do with the audience of audiences? How to give up control on the immediate emotional satisfaction that comes from random splurts of angst 140 characters long?

Jim indicated that his research showed 50% of the entire audience potential "doesn't care and will only care if their friend mentions it... " However, we know now that the likelihood of their friend mentioning it.  Heck, it may just take 6 shares to get to Kevin Bacon.

Shaping conversation in advance means answering questions in advance to remove volatile emotional responses to time of crisis. Stop conflict by waging peace in advance.

Do you have any tips or links about crisis communication on social platforms to share? Leave a comment below.

 

1 Comment
categories / social media, business
tags / six degrees, crisis communication, social media
“As a newly formed, public-facing enterprise, our organization benefited from Nancy’s deep understanding and valuable experience in Public Affairs. She established community relationships — public and private, near and far — that will prove critical to our company’s success.
She is a positive and dynamic contributor.
Nancy defined the important role of Vice President of Public Affairs and Business Development beyond the scope of our expectations and executed the complex nature of this dual role seamlessly and with utmost professionalism.”
— Fred Kennedy, Harken Hall
“What can Nancy NOT do? Seriously - she approaches any role, job, task, or initiative with integrity, authenticity, and passion. She’s not afraid of the hard work needed to get the job done and is quick to look for wins for all parties. She also shows up with her community. Nancy is not merely well connected; she’s deeply connected and brings that network to any opportunity that has a chance to make the world better. ”
— Sam Davidson, Co-Founder Batch USA, LLC
“I worked with Nancy for 4 years and I can attest that she is a life-long learner, leader, and relationship builder. Nancy has never met a stranger. I’ve probably sat in over 100 meetings with her and she’s always found something to connect with the person across the table- “a virtual connector of dots.” That takes both empathy and emotional intelligence. Nancy is thoughtful in her approach to everything she does which makes her excellent at business development. She is able to think strategically at ten-thousand feet while being detailed oriented in the execution of tasks. Ideas are nothing without execution and Nancy balances those effortlessly. Having Nancy is your corner is nothing short of incredible.”
— RYAN CARTER, FOUNDER/CEO PARCHUTE MEDIA, LLC
“Nancy did a spectacular job rebuilding MDSave’s social media presence. One heck of a turnaround job. She was creative, reliable and has a solid work ethic. She came to the table with fresh ideas, was always on time and always kept a great sense of humor.”
— Chad Blackburn Vice President Business Development MDSave,Inc.

"I came to Nancy because I wanted to build my brand through blogging/social media and had zero knowledge about how to do it. She was the perfect person for the job. Her blend of social media expertise and calm, positive demeanor was exactly what I needed. 

Consultant/coach/patient trainer, she helped me create a path to launching my blog and gave me skills along the way. She made me feel like what I wanted to achieve was possible, and then got me there. There is lots left to do, but I feel confident that we will partner to achieve the long term results I'm hoping for."

- Lisa Pote, Consultant

“Nancy VanReece is the real thing. She knows how to build an effective social media brand/platform. Even better, she makes this complex, arcane world accessible (and dare I say FUN) for her clients. She stands on the valuable ground where social media, branding and marketing intersect. I’m incredibly relieved to have her on my team!”
— Amy Lynch, Generational Edge
“What can be said about Nancy VanReece that you may not already know? There is a general consensus (and a look at her LinkedIn recommendations confirms this) regarding her wide-ranging talent for just about everything at which she tries her hand. As communications director at the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation (GBBF), I was responsible for helping to coordinate a statewide summit featuring thought leaders and communications experts in the non-profit arena. During the planning phase for the event, when charged with finding a presenter for the topic of social media engagement, I knew immediately that Nancy was the best possible choice. Nancy is on the cutting edge when it comes to helping organizations create comprehensive social media engagement strategies. Her presentation at the Tennessee Executive Residence was eloquent, sleek, articulate and – most significantly – effective. Our attendees left the summit invigorated with a real sense of how to implement Nancy’s ideas and reach more of their constituents in the ever-evolving ecosystem of social media platforms. I cannot recommend her highly enough, and I hope to work with her often in the future.”
— Kirk Graves, Communications Director, Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation
“Nancy has completely transformed our social media program, creating a viable and robust presence for us across a variety of platforms, from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to Google+ and Pinterest. She has played a critical role in upgrading and maintaining our website, and she piloted the launch of the Nashville Symphony’s mobile app, which today has been downloaded more than 5,000 times.

Nancy’s commitment to the job has been beyond compare, as she has spent countless evenings tethered to her iPad, monitoring and responding to the outpouring of feedback we receive through our social networks. Day in and day out, she has created, organized and posted dynamic content that represents the full breadth of who we are and what we do here at the Nashville Symphony — our concerts, our musicians, our education programs, you name it. We are a better institution for all of the incredible work that she has done, and she’ll be greatly missed.

In her own words: “I have enjoyed my nearly two years with the organization. Over 16,000 tweets and 2,200 Facebook posts later — totaling 204 million impressions — we have grown a great community on 11 platforms having 500+ conversations a week. I look forward to working with new clients as effectively!””
— Sr. Director of Marketing|Communications, Nashville Symphony
“Nancy put together a intensive 2 day workshop for Engage Kingsport and Kingsport Cultural Arts. The workshops gave individual artists the confidence and tools they need to enter the Social Media world as well as helped regional arts organizations refine and enhance their current social media strategies.”
— Bonnie Macdonald, Director, City of Kingsport Office of Cultural Arts
“Nancy was fun and informative. As the Luncheon Keynote Speaker for the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare, Nancy provided great insight to a representation of over 20 different social service agencies. Her presentation spoke to each agency and everyone left with a more forward thinking mindset of social media and how it can be most effective and beneficial in telling their agency’s story! We loved Nancy!”
— LaTamera Woodley, LAPSW