Crisis. Something that seems to happen all the time across a variety of industries, yet so many companies fail to predict and prepare for them. 
Of course, you never know when a crisis is going to strike, but like Chief Storyteller Paul Furiga notes, “more than 95 percent of all crises can be predicted in advance.” This week’s Wrap takes a look at what makes crisis communication preparedness such an essential part of any PR strategy – certainly a plan won’t actually prevent the crisis from happening, but will help prepare you for the reaction and the aftermath.
Check out these articles for some real-life crisis communication scenarios in the sports industry to learn a few things that you may (or may not) want to keep in mind in your crisis communications plan.
Eight PR experts on how the NBA’s Adam Silver set a crisis-management standard
PRWeek
Eight crisis communications and reputation-management professionals weigh in on why they think NBA commissioner Adam Silver expertly handled the announcement to ban Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life.
Under Armour’s Olympic Experience Is Textbook Case For How to Handle Crisis
Advertising Age
Take a few lessons from Under Armour’s approach to crisis response to see a “textbook case” for what you should (and should not) do the next time crisis strikes.
Penn State’s recent post-Sandusky crisis handling sets poor example
WordWrite Storytelling Blog
The duration of a crisis situation depends on the severity of the original event. WordWriter Jeremy Church explains why crisis management is sometimes a marathon, not a sprint.
What’s your take on how recent crisis situations have been handled from a public relations standpoint? Please share your thoughts and comments below.
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Christy Goodman is senior account executive for WordWrite Communications. She can be reached at christy.goodman@wordwritepr.com and on Twitter @christylgoodman. 
