With social media platforms giving everyone a voice to easily speak his or her mind to a large audience, the days where brands could simply stick their heads in the sand and hide from a crisis are long gone. No company is immune to problems, mistakes and critiques, and though larger brands get the most attention for their misfortunes, all companies should be prepared to address critics and crises. That’s where your crisis communications strategy comes in. While the crisis might be something as large as Target’s recent credit and…

1993. While the Dallas Cowboys were winning the Super Bowl, the California Milk Processor Board’s ad agency was coming up with “got milk?” and Jurassic Park and Mrs, Doubtfire were dominating the box office, Dan Dinsmore had big plans. With Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Nirvana playing in the background, he was getting to work making his biggest dream a reality. At age 22 and already less than content with his boring day job, he found himself in search of a way he could marry his passions for music,…

We have come a long way from faxing press releases and looking up reporters in Bacon’s Directories, a Webster’s Dictionary-esque book that was rarely up-to-date to provide any real value for the project at hand, or so my seasoned PR colleagues tell me. In today’s increasingly social and digital world we now have access to so many tools to improve the reach and impact of our message. This social revolution is opening the floodgates for communication professionals and businesses alike to share more with the right people and gain insights…