I used to work for an airline (Virgin Express, sold to SN Brussels Airlines in 2004) and one of the things we did on a regular basis, was do a dry-run of our crisis procedures. The scenarios themselves always tended to have some really unexpected turns in them, but the basic principles were always the same, like making sure you get the list of victims’ names first to their families, so they don’t have to hear from mainstream media that someone they know was in an airline accident. This is why I think it’s weird that most social media horror stories about companies not being able to respond during crises come from travel companies, like Air Canada, JetBlue, or Eurostar. All these companies probably rehearse their crisis communication procedures like we used to, but I think these horror stories illustrate that they haven’t been adapted yet to the speed of modern-day communication.

This is why you should update your crisis communication procedure if you have one, or create one if you’re without. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s better to decide who does what before a crisis happens.

Edelman Digital's David Armano (@armano) has some interesting thoughts about Social Media Scenario Planning and how to manage your inevitable social media crisis.

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