United’s PR Goes Down in Flames

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®




Just how sensitized are the members of your business that their actions can have dramatic, far-reaching ramifications? The world is too connected electronically, and just about anyone carries the technology that can put content on the global network.

Unbelievably, some frontlines people still don’t seem to learn from the well-publicized mistakes of others. Remember the now-ex Dallas cop who detained a pro football player and his wife outside a hospital where her mother was literally on death’s bed?

Now the story of a couple in San Francisco rushing to catch a United Airlines flight to Portland, OR, where the woman’s mother was near death. They had just received an urgent phone call asking them to get to the dying woman’s bedside. Unfortunately for them, the ticket agent they tried to deal with was unimpressed; it was more important for her to take her break. She would not give them tickets, despite the fact she apparently was the only available agent who could help and it was 30 minutes before the plane was scheduled to leave the gate.

Finally, another desk agent did get them tickets. They rushed to the gate and found the doors closed, although the plane had not yet pushed back. Another United agent was just as unimpressed as the ticket agent, telling the couple that they are forced to work long hours and need occasional breaks.

They missed the flight and had to wait three hours for the next one. They did reach the hospital before Melissa Evans’ mother died, but only by a short period of time. (Click on the video below to hear their full story in a Fox News interview.)

For its part, United issued the following statement:

"We are investigating the matter and apologize if he did not receive the service and compassion he deserved while booking a last minute flight. We are also giving him a goodwill gesture of compensation and hope to provide a better travel experience in the future."

The airline’s response is weak and ill-conceived. The compensation cannot make up for the time the couple lost being with Ms. Evans’ mother. United missed an important opportunity to provide a senior manager to talk to any media making a request. Obviously, the ticket agent made a serious mistake that was repeated and magnified by the gate agent. Mistakes can be forgiven when human beings are making a sincere apology in-person.

An impersonal statement like this costs United Airlines in image and, perhaps to some degree, business, too.

A New Media Darling?

“You have run out of our money!”

--Daniel Hannan, Member, European Parliament

By Eric M. Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

There’s a new political star on the international horizon. He’s only 37. He’s a Conservative Party Englishman who is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He’s very polished, very smooth. And, they’re already talking about him as a future, perhaps very near future, UK PM.

Perhaps you’ve heard about him. He’s already been nicknamed the “Shout heard around the world.” In an extemporaneous speech from the EP floor, Daniel Hannan dressed down the prime minister of England. His speech is all over the Internet.

Hannan is the youngest MEP ever elected to that legislative body. His verbal assault on Gordon Brown was startling and incredibly articulate, something other blogs are covering globally. Brown, by the way, was in the Parliament Hall at the time and Hannan's eyes rarely left the prime minister's.

Equally impressive is his presence and presentation in a Fox News interview. And this is where executives can observe and learn. With anchor Neil Cavuto in his New York Studio, Hannan was staring into a remote camera in France. He maintained constant eye contact with the camera, as if it were another human being. That’s no easy task.

His demeanor: brisk, crisp, comfortable and very confident. His command of the King’s English is impeccable. He knew exactly what he wanted to say about how his prime minister, and our president, are mishandling the world economic crisis by throwing money neither country has at the problem.

This post of a politician (something I almost always avoid) is the exception to my rule only because of what can be observed and copied from Hannan’s performance. He is so clear on and committed to his message, the technical obstacles of the interview fail to intimidate or create any inhibitions. It's also a classic example of knowing your agenda and being able to fit it into the line of questioning.

You can see a segment of the 14 minute interview right here:

TVA Management Took a Holiday

www.themediatrainers.com

While residents of Harriman, TN, spent the Christmas holiday digging out from several feet of coal ash and sludge, TVA’s senior management was on holiday and apparently unavailable.

Management’s absence once the media reached the scene and started feeding back startling pictures and in-depth stories left huge opportunities for dominant roles by environmental critics and angry, dislocated residents.

This was a lesson in how not to handle a crisis. Basic steps seemingly were either abandoned, or never even considered. They certainly have not been evident.

After a press conference by TVA CEO Tom Kilgore earlier in the week, the giant government-owned utility was represented in news stories by an apparently midlevel spokesmen and clean up crew members. Environmental critics and those living through this nightmare “own” media news stories. For instance, on the morning after Christmas story on NBC’s Today Show (click on video at bottom).

Did TVA establish a command center for regular media updates? Hard to say, but the evidence indicates the Authority did not. With a crisis this large, why wasn’t a senior management representative on scene throughout to provide updates? Did TVA recognize just how big a story this is, especially during a major holiday? As a significant coal consumer, and with a much more environmental-friendly Congress and administration braced to take control of Washington, what, if any, thought was given to the ramifications of this story and the need to maintain a primary role in news reports?

Residents swamped by the goo lost their Christmas and some even lost their homes. All are concerned about the long term environmental and health effects. Early assurances that tests indicate no threats are qualified and more tests are promised. When they hear about things like mercury and arsenic, they are alarmed. And the future threat this sludge has on the drinking water of tens of thousands still is unclear.

TVA's apologies and preliminary reports on tests of the sludge don't do much. Harriman residents and all TVA customers needed to see and hear from senior management on a regular basis, from the scene.

Meanwhile, the energy industry’s controversial case for coal as a fuel for electric generation has been dealt a serious blow. TVA’s low level and low key participation in this situation has handed new ammunition to the arguments of environmentalists opposed to coal in any form and might strengthen their case for a renewables-only portfolio.