12Aug2014

Crisis in 100 words

From Accident to Zidane, a glossary to understand and effectively manage crisis communication in about a hundred words, by Vae Solis Corporate and the Government Information Service (GIS), published by the Documentation Française.
Every word counts in crisis situations; communication and information, thus become critical.
With the desire to avoid producing yet another essay on crisis communication theories and other processes, this glossary presents, on the contrary, 7 years of practice and experience in a nutshell. It is a practical guide to understand crisis phenomena and help those who will have to face them.
“Our role as consultants at Vae Solis Corporate is at the very heart of political and economical challenges but also in the public and media turmoil. This gives us a privileged position as observers and stakeholders” says Arnaud Dupui-Castérès, President of Vae Solis Corporate. “As there is no border between public and private fields in crisis situations, we thought it would be interesting to work with the Government Information Services in order to give a practical and empirical insight of crisis management. We wanted to be at the crossroad between experience feedbacks and the identification of new challenges”, he continues.
Through a hundred and a few words, it provides public and private actors key concepts to better analyze crisis situations, examples to further understand them, and, finally, methods to improve their practices.
“We wanted a hands-on guidebook tailored for communication specialists and crisis managers, also at ministerial level. Our approach to crisis communication is becoming a fully professional one. We intend to continue our work of pedagogy and help disseminate a public culture of risk and crisis management, enriched with the experience of the private sector“ Vincent Bernardi, Director of the GIS.

The authors, Corinne Dubos and Arnaud Dupui-Casteres are, respectively, Partner and President of Vae Solis Corporate, an information strategy and crisis communication consultancy firm. With a more than 10 years experience in the field, they advise and support companies and organizations on issues of protection or improvement of their corporate image and brand.