This week at our PRSSA meeting, Mike Cristaldi spoke to us about what he does as the Director of Public Relations for the Minnesota Timberwolves. One of the major responsibilities of a PR team, especially in sports, is crisis communication. Whether it’s an arrest of a player, a league lockout or a coach’s resignation, the world of sports can be unpredictable, and it’s the job of Mike and his staff to figure out the best way to handle it and how to communicate with the public. Mike emphasized that the best way to address an issue is to “get in front of it.” The media and the public are going to have a field day with your team’s crisis no matter what, and the most important thing to remember is to just come out and handle it right away. Mike pointed out that your crisis can be contained to as little as one day, rather than being drawn out and escalated. If you avoid addressing the issue, it leaves the media and the public with the opportunity to continue bringing it up and speculating. The sooner you deal with a crisis and communicate your key messages, the sooner it will be over and done with, and suddenly, what seemed like the end of the world for your organization is now old news.
With social media sites such as Twitter, anyone can spread news–and fast. That’s why it’s even more important to handle a crisis as soon as possible. Twitter can also be a great tool for a PR team to confront issues and broadcast the team’s messages loud and clear, straight from the source.
-Brittney Klingl
