It's Not My Emergency Retired Crisis Manager's Brain Dump

I don’t know how I dodged the bullet as long as I did, but as a high visibility public servant I escaped public attacks on my character and professional reputation….until New Year’s Eve, when I learned someone had publicly attacked ...

Well, it has been three months since I retired from the public sector fishbowl.  Since I left, lots of folks still on the job ask me two questions:  1. How is the new job going?  and 2. Do you miss ...

Along with many Americans, I wondered what the NRA was going to say yesterday  in response to the Newtown massacre.  In what I thought was a shrewd move, the NRA was unusually quiet this week, including shutting down their social ...

Like everyone else I am devastated by today’s senseless slaughter of innocent school children and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut.  I read the news on Twitter, likely posted within minutes after the murderer killed himself.  Having watched similar news unfold on ...

This week a Facebook post landed in my Newsfeed; a poignant story of a fallen soldier’s return home. The story: Letter from an airline pilot: He writes: My lead flight attendant came to me and said, “We have an H.R. ...

“Ditch The Kit”.  For years, disaster prepper companies have hawked kits designed to help you “prepare” to survive for three days or more after a disaster.  For the past twenty years, I’ve looked on in amusement at the ads selling ...

Hurricane Sandy brought New York and New Jersey to their knees earlier this week. This anticipated “mega-storm” whupped butt on the “Big Apple” and surrounding cities.  As everyone starts picking up the pieces, stories of heroism and alturism are beginning ...

Sung to the tune of Here Comes Santa Claus. Yes, I know it is Halloween season, but I can’t get the tune out of my head. The only thing “Frankenstorm” Sandy will likely be delivering are huge lumps of soggy ...

Over the past couple of weeks the #SMEM Twitter world has been noodling with the question of the changing role of the Public Information Officer (PIO) in crisis.  Some even wondered aloud if this function is now obsolete with the ...

Last week a well-respected retired battalion chief from my department passed. He had been struggling with various medical issues , and after visiting him over the last month I know he is now in a much better place. His nickname ...