– Print Version –

With all the chiming, ringing and beeping from various devices, it seems like the workday is destined to be interrupted. But for many professionals, being able to reach people quickly is vital to their jobs, and the same is true for their own accessibility. With an incredible array of wireless devices, you can e-mail in traffic, file a story remotely and call anyone from just about anywhere. Progress has one drawback, however, and that is interruption and distraction. How best to manage the wireless onslaught?

Communicators share their rules and scenarios for using the devices, and journalists uniformly applaud the advances wireless devices have given them. Human resources professionals reinforce smart usage, emphasizing it is in a candidate’s best interest to be heard clearly.

Meet a communicator who wishes more people would conduct public relations wirelessly, and see how much success she has already found with her favorite devices.

And finally, in our section dedicated to goings-on in New York, we share the second half of the outstanding articles that began in the last issue. Accessibility was a major concern after 9/11, and professionals from two companies in Lower Manhattan share special stories about how they continued to manage effective communications, and more. We are happy to have columns from OppenheimerFunds and Verizon Communications, leaders in two diverse industries equally important to customers, investors and the general public before, on and after 9/11.

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Click here for a printer-friendly version of the October 2002 Edition

ASK THE EXPERTS...

Public Relations and Investor Relations Professionals

“I’ve had a business cell phone for a while, but after 9/11, the company equipped me with a BlackBerry - it was one of the few communications channels that worked. I also have a PDA with wireless access.

“I find the BlackBerry really helps me. For example, I’ll use it to check my e-mail during my commute to work. It gives me an edge on the day, and it makes me more productive. Also, if I’m away from the office, I can access all my Outlook information on the BlackBerry - my e-mail, my calendar, my contacts’ information - so I don’t have to call in to find out phone numbers.

“The one problem with the BlackBerry is the teeny keyboard! E-mail responses sent from it can seem very terse, which could be taken as inattention and rudeness. No one’s ever complained, however. Also, when you send an e-mail from it, you have to be really careful that everything is spelled accurately, because you’re dealing with people who work with words for a living.

“Cell phones don’t really play a role with my work unless I’m in a time-sensitive situation. I’ll use it if I’m at an offsite meeting, or on the run, but I try to limit my business hours use of it. After hours it’s more important - we have offices all over the world, and our overseas affiliates can reach me more easily on my cell.”

– Melissa Gitter, First Vice President, Public Affairs,
TD Waterhouse & Co., New York, NY

“Right now, my cell phone is the only piece of wireless equipment I use for business. For the most part, I prefer to stay hardwired.

“Cell phones have their upsides and their downsides. The upside, of course, is accessibility. If news is breaking, cell phones let calls be made from anywhere.

“But I’m still finding that sound quality on cell phones is problematic. I counsel my clients not to be interviewed on a cell. There’s too much chance of not being clear – a source can legitimately be misquoted!

“Also, you don’t want all the information you give in an interview to be out there for everyone to hear. When I was a commuter, I was appalled at how many people did business on their cell phones. Someone can find out a lot of competitive information that way. Over the past year, it’s gone down, but people should still be aware.

“I found that once I was reachable by cell, I lost some freedom. I used to leave a message on my business voice mail saying that if a call was urgent, I could be reached on my cell phone. But a lot of people called my cell even if it wasn’t urgent.

“On the journalist side, I’m finding that more and more reporters are giving out cell numbers, and functioning on cell phones. Last year, the firm I worked for was doing a major feature with The American Lawyer. Their reporter was on the West Coast, and working with her on her cell phone made the process much easier.”

– Tom Mariam, President,
Mariam Communications, Rye Brook, NY

“It’s hard to imagine anyone practicing media relations these days without a cell phone. When a deadline hangs in the balance, reporters know that if they have to reach me they can, anytime.

“I prefer my landline when I’m at my desk, but if I’m away from it – on the road or out of the building – a cell phone is my best tool for keeping in touch. Off the record conversations, however, are probably better off held on a landline.

“Bottom line, though, what matters to journalists is not whether you’re using a cell phone or landline, but whether you are handling their inquiries promptly, whether you are a credible resource, or, if you’re pitching a story, whether you are providing them with ideas they can sell to their editors.”

– Oscar Suris, Director, Corporate Communications,
AutoNation, Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, FL

“If cars were as unreliable as cell phones, we’d still be riding to work on horses. That being said, reporters are forgiving if calling them on a cell phone lets you reach them sooner. If a call to a reporter breaks up repeatedly there is annoyance, but I’ve never found a reporter who didn’t appreciate the attempt.

“Cell phone technology is getting better, but still can’t compare to the landline. I will do interviews on a digital cell phone without hesitation, as I am not overly concerned with security issues (the case was different for analog cell phones). But I would always try to move to an interview to a landline, if possible, for optimal sound quality. Also, if I’m on my cell phone, chances are I’m in the middle of something else. I prefer to give an interview my undivided attention.

“Overall, I’m probably on my cell phone about 10% of my time. I’m a classic user. Web browsing on a cell phone is awkward and of limited use.”

– Jeffrey J. Simek, Vice President/Executive Director, Public Affairs,
Medco Health Solutions, Inc., Franklin Lakes, NJ

“I leave my cell phone on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That enables me to maintain availability and I can do two or three jobs at once.

“About 80% of my work is done on a cell phone, and 20% on the landline. I find that, more often than not, reporters call me from their own cell phones. They care more that I’m calling them back than that I’m using a cell phone to return call.

“I also have a BlackBerry, which keeps my e-mail on my hip. It’s invaluable.”

– David C. Frail, Manager, Financial Communications,
General Electric Company, Fairfield, CT

“With my cell phone, I can stay connected during critical times. I use it in the car during my commute to get my morning and afternoon calls done. I use it to take care of voice mails as well. But I still find I’m using it less than I use my landline.

“I do get on conference calls with it. But I’ll only do on-the-record interviews. I’ll never use a cell phone to talk on background or say things I wouldn’t want others to hear.”

– Tyler Gronbach, Vice President, Corporate Communications,
Qwest Communications, Denver, CO

“A cell phone is my extended office. It increases the amount of working hours I have in my day. I’ll use it between meetings, and I will frequently arrange conference calls to increase the value of my drive time.

“The only time I prefer using a landline is during an interview, if clarity of communication becomes an issue.”

– Sally Fernandez, President,
The Fernandez Group, Tucson, AZ

Journalists

“I have a two-way pager, a Palm Pilot and a cell phone. I like having multiple redundancies. Sometimes I’m in a place where if two of the devices won’t work, chances are, the third will.

“I store all my interview notes on the Palm, which is really convenient. From October to January, I was working in San Francisco, and I didn’t need my files e-mailed to me. All my notes from my past stories were right on the Palm.

“I also have a collapsible keyboard, which I’ve been using with my Palm for the past three years to type up my notes. As long as there’s a flat surface, I can also take notes on it during an interview. It impresses people – gets that “oooh-ahhh” reaction – and it cuts out a step.

“I also sometimes use my Palm to send notes. A Microsoft licensing facility in Reno, NV had a post-9/11 anthrax scare. After the press conference at the state Capitol, I had to jump in a cab to go to a health board meeting. On the way there, I was scribbling notes into my Palm and sending them in chunks to the rewriter. The press conference started two hours late, so I sent updates via the Palm as well.”

– N’Gai Croal, General Editor – Technology,
Newsweek, New York, NY

“I would be concerned if wireless technology were to drive reporters to become nothing more than court reporters or stenographers, who just type in what is said. One of a reporter’s jobs is to add context and coherence. A whole story can wind up being “they are there,” rather than having the context a reporter’s mind can add.

“What I’m seeing with a lot of my students (I teach mass communications at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus) is that they first think of receiving and retrieving information electronically and wirelessly. You can see that’s the direction in which the industry’s heading. Not only are bosses going to have higher levels of impatience and speed, reporters themselves will be impatient with anything logy and luggy, like a book.

“In my day-to-day work, I’m not especially wireless. I’ve used my personal cell, but it’s not an ideal reporting tool. You might miss a key word, or get interrupted and not be able to reconnect.

“That being said, I’ve been impressed by what public relations people can orchestrate when acting remotely. It has opened up lots of opportunities for me that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”

– William Schmitt, Senior Editor,
Chemical Week, New York, NY

“I use my personal cell quite a bit for business, especially when I’m on a trip for the paper. And since 9/11, I’ve been carrying my cell with me at all times – which I didn’t do before.

“Though 90% of my work-related calls are on landlines, I see that changing. Now that Regulation FD is in place, the analysts I deal with are on the road more, doing more in-person legwork. They’re more willing to give me their cell numbers, and it’s easier for me to reach them.

“I’ve also noticed that occasionally, I’ll send an e-mail and a source or a PR person on the road will pick it up.

“I hope we get to the point where we can be on the road, and can pull over and send stories wirelessly, right from our laptops. As for me, I might get a Palm, or a BlackBerry, at some point.”

– Richard Papiernik, Financial Editor,
Nation’s Restaurant News, New York, NY

“When I was out pounding the pavement as a beat reporter, I would have loved to have had a cell phone, but they weren’t big then. Right now, I use my cell phone primarily to pick up my messages when I’m on the train.

“About eight years ago, when I was at the National Law Journal, I was writing a Page 1 story about attorney hiring trends – at that time, law firms were hiring more first-year associates than ever. A pivotal source was only available on his cell phone, and he called me at 7 PM on the deadline day. I was relieved that he pulled over on the side of the road. 

“After 9/11, American Banker distributed cell phones on a temporary basis to all the newsroom reporters who lacked personal cells. Our offices are in Lower Manhattan, and we were in the same boat as thousands of businesses down here. We wouldn’t have been able to put out the newspaper without them.”

– Marian Raab, Special Projects Editor,
American Banker, New York, NY

“It’s taken for granted now that the good PR contacts, and the good sources, will give out their cell numbers and pagers. They get it. The bad ones give out their numbers, but they don’t turn their cells or pagers on!

“Just about all of our editorial people have their own cell phones. The company only provides cells to The Daily Deal’s editor in chief and the managing editor. I also have one, because I edit the Web site, but I have it for technical needs, and my phone is part of the technical staff’s Nextel network. (The other editors’ phones are not.)

“Cell phones are really good to have in the event the phone system goes down. For example, after 9/11, phone service was intermittent. The cell phones were the only way we were able to get work done during that time. In fact, I found out about the attack via my Nextel phone, and kept up with coverage of the attacks using its Web browser.”

– Tom Groppe, General Manager,
TheDeal.com, New York, NY

“When it comes to breaking news, it’s now down to the second. We’re not competing just with wire services any more: TV news programs, newspapers and magazines all have their own websites.

“One story where wireless technology did come in handy for us was at the ImClone trial. We keep a few BlackBerry units for reporters going out to cover stories. You can’t take cell phones into courtrooms, but you can take a BlackBerry. That’s how we were able to get the story out so fast when [former ImClone Systems Inc. chief executive] Sam Waksal pleaded not guilty in early August.

“We’re finding that some analysts have their own BlackBerry devices, so we know we can reach them by e-mail, even if they’re on the road. Most information is coming to us by e-mail anyway at this point – e-mail has almost completely supplanted the fax.

“Late last year, Reuters gave every newsroom reporter a cell phone, and we also keep some wireless-equipped laptops for reporters. However, the laptop connection is slow, and if the reporter’s not by a window when transmitting, the connection can go out. If reporters are going to use wireless equipment, I think it’s going to have to become more affordable and reliable.”

– Edward Tobin, Health Reporter,
Reuters News, New York, NY

SIDEBAR

Human Resources Professionals

For an overseas candidate, or a candidate who travels extensively for his or her current job, being accessible to a human resources recruiter by cell phone can make the hiring process a lot easier.

For some, the cell phone is the way to go, as the technology has advanced to the point where “it’s totally transparent to me,” says William Cogswell, employment manager at Biogen, Inc., a global biotechnology company in Cambridge, MA.

Cogswell does “an awful lot” of international recruiting, and the bulk of his recruiting calls are made to cell phones. His recruiting managers travel on the road quite a bit, and they too are primarily connected with him, and with their candidates, via cell.

But most human resources and hiring executives say they prefer to talk to their candidates on landlines. Part of the reason is that most HR pros do not get cell phones from their workplaces – if they use a cell, it’s usually their personal number, about which they’re understandably private. Even Cogswell does not get a cell phone from his employer – he uses a dedicated mobile phone of his choosing, for which the company reimburses him.

Also, many still assert that good, reliable cell phone service is not yet available, so they prefer a candidate does not use a cell phone as the primary means of contact unless absolutely necessary.

Despite all this, cell phones in the hiring arena, especially internationally, are a given. Candidates “prefer the flexibility and confidentiality of dealing with us on a cell phone,” says Maura Kane, director of human resources for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Inc., White Plains, NY. But “if a candidate is going to use a cell phone, one would hope he or she is in a private area, isn’t distracted, and is easy to hear,” says Paul Marchand, director of corporate recruiting at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., New York.

Wisely, candidates who travel a lot “typically use their cells as their ‘home’ phones,” which makes it easier to touch base with them, Marchand says.

Candidates, he adds, should keep on top of cell phone voice mail, and make sure to pick it up and return the calls, as they should with any primary contact number.

Return to Ask The Experts

PROFILES

Corporate Communications

Marlene M. Somsak is the very model of the modern wireless executive. A business and general assignment reporter at the start of her career, she spent 13 years in corporate communications at Hewlett-Packard Company before joining Palm, Inc., two years ago. Last August, she was elevated to Vice President of Corporate Communications, and is in charge of all of Palm’s media, industry analyst, financial and executive communications.

Listening to Somsak talk about the role wireless communications plays in her daily work life is like stepping onto a zippy on-ramp that’s barreling into the future.

The three pieces that make up her on-the-go Command Central are her Palm i705 handheld personal digital assistant, her cell phone and her wireless laptop. Though her cell phone is a major player in her work life, enabling her to be able to keep in touch at all times, the true core piece is her handheld. With it, she can access and answer all of her corporate e-mail, update her corporate calendar, forward documents with attachments, get the latest stock prices, news headlines, and information on her stock portfolio, and even transport and forward PowerPoint^® documents for presentation.

Her laptop, which is equipped with a Wi-Fi card, enables her to tap into the fast-developing wireless wide area networks. This gives her even better remote access to the documents on her desktop, as well as access to the Internet “as if I were inside my office,” she says.

Somsak feels wireless technology truly enables the kind of timely, thorough service necessary today to be a strong and effective corporate communications executive. “If I can get back fastest to a reporter on deadline with a piece of information, I’m a much more effective competitive weapon for Palm,” she says. “It’s easy to get back to someone fast, but having accurate, insightful and quotable responses – that’s the ticket to doing your job well.”

One of her most frequent uses of her laptop’s wireless capability is in meetings where Internet cruising capability is important, such as during quarterly analyst calls. “Here’s where I can really be of service to reporters,” she says. “I leave a message on my voice mail telling them that e-mail is the best way to contact me during that hour. I’m certainly not going to pick up my cell phone! But that’s exactly the time when reporters on deadline will need to double-check a fact or get an important chart to run with a story.”

The handheld also lets her access and route information speedily when she is offsite. “Some reporters at a conference needed the text of a speech,” she says. “I had the text sent to me as an attachment, and then, while I was still at the conference, I was able to forward that e-mail, with the attachment, to the reporters who requested it.”

On the whole, it is unlikely that handhelds will replace laptops or desktops in the news business. “We’ll still need [the latter] to create lengthy documents and spreadsheets, or beautiful graphics,” Somsak says. But handhelds’ evolving capabilities are making them far more useful in situations where a laptop has been more de rigueur.

At a recent Comdex meeting, for example, Somsak watched a reporter type his stories on a handheld equipped with a peripheral collapsible keyboard, and then lift the antenna to file. His setup came in particularly handy when phone service in the pressroom went down. “That reporter was still doing his job. The rest were waiting for phones to be restored,” she says.

Wireless technology can also assist job-related situations that may not be strictly business. “During the Palm IPO road trips, one of the most appreciated functions on our handhelds was the Starbucks finder,” Somsak says. “Those trips are grueling, and we really needed our Starbucks breaks.”

Though wirelessness can, and does, add a great deal to a communications executive’s arsenal of tools, etiquette issues have emerged, and need to be addressed. With 24-7 access more and more a reality, “what’s missing is a sensible, Miss Manners approach to technology we can all adopt,” Somsak says.

For example, most people have realized it’s rude to let a cell phone ring in a restaurant, a movie, or a conference. But “it’s a relief to know a frantic colleague or family member can reach you in an emergency if the phone is on vibrate,” she says. Still, even though 24-7 reachability is great, “we do need to know our employers and friends will respect downtime,” she says.

Also, with wireless e-mail access, catching up on one’s e-mail during a meeting can be particularly tempting. “But it’s rude!” Somsak says. “I know I’m there to listen and participate, not to catch up on my in-tray.”

Somsak does see the day coming when the majority of corporate communications work will be done wirelessly. Her reaction? “Bring it on – I can’t wait!” she says. “More and more, I’m leaving my laptop at home and traveling with my handheld.”

NEWS FROM THE CITY

9/11: The Lessons Learned

Robert Densen
Senior Vice President & Director of Corporate Affairs
OppenheimerFunds, Inc.

It is 7:30 PM on a Thursday night. I’m still at my desk writing this article; it’s due tomorrow. That is, I suppose, one of the unfortunate and under-reported ramifications of 9/11 – workloads double while workdays can only increase at the margin.

What I am about to write may seem mawkish or overly emotional but it is also true – those of us in the Towers on that awful day may never recollect the events with tranquility but I believe we have a special obligation to share, to reflect and to try to derive meaning. Let me attempt to do that from a communicator’s perspective.

One year later, there may not be a communications implication to 9/11 that’s gone unremarked on.  From where I sit, one of the essential truths of 9/11 is that the unprecedented and even unfathomable nature of the events of that day notwithstanding, 9/11 served to reinforce the basic precepts of effective crisis communications – responsiveness, flexibility, honesty, customer/employee focus, and effective use of technology.   As a communications practitioner, you defy them at your own risk. Steve Goldstein of Dow Jones & Co. and Frank Vaccaro of American Express did a great job in the August edition of Positioning Online demonstrating how those principles applied to 9/11.

Another unsurprising notion is this: preparation does matter – and not just as it relates to communications. For OppenheimerFunds, the World Trade Center bombing of 1993 was a wake-up call. In the months afterward, we conducted an extensive, enterprise-wide review and planning process. The result was a comprehensive contingency plan contemplating all aspects of our business. It included operating and information systems, facilities, technology, operating procedures, communications and, of course, our people. One of the scenarios contemplated by our plan was one in which we would not be able to return to the World Trade Center.

What the 1993 World Trade Center bombing was to OppenheimerFunds, I hope 9/11 is to Corporate America: a shot across the bow. The tragedy of 9/11 will be made greater still if Corporate America does not use it as an opportunity for learning. Unfortunately, in this new post-9/11 world, it is a lesson plan more than one of us will likely have to draw on.

How can I be helpful to my colleagues?  Another blow-by-blow, they-said, we-said account will probably not add to your learning; instead, let me share some observations:

As Woody Allen Once Said, 90% of Life Is Just Showing Up.  In a crisis of this magnitude – particularly one in which you lose your headquarters – it was critical simply to be there for the media.  By noon on September 11, we had a presence at our ad agency in SoHo and were handling media communications in conjunction with the communications team at our parent company, the MassMutual Financial Group.  Home and cell phone numbers were immediately and broadly re-disseminated to the media. More than 400 media inquiries from around the world were handled during the first week alone.  An open letter to the public appeared in national newspapers like The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Barron’s beginning on Friday.

It’s Not Enough to Claim Full Functionality; You Must Demonstrate It. Ads are helpful, but pronouncements of well being are not enough, particularly when people’s life savings are involved; you must demonstrate it. That’s why when the bond market opened on Thursday, September 13, we had national media at our fixed income trading facility. And when the stock market opened the following Monday, we had a New York Times reporter sit in with our leading domestic equity manager and a Wall Street Journal reporter with the head of our Global team.  We did everything we could in advance to ensure that our portfolio managers would be able to successfully trade when the markets re-opened, but there were no guarantees. We knew there was a chance that our systems might fail or that the markets might spiral out of control or that the reporters would not report fairly or in context.   On the other hand, we believed it to be the most tangible, timely and impactful way to demonstrate that we were back in business.

Being fully functional also means doing the little, workaday things too: from announcing the close of an acquisition to a product launch to participating in cancer walks. And there can be no diminution of performance.   We’re particularly proud that we were the first fund company to hold a national investment briefing in the wake of September 11 – a telephone conference call with the heads of our investment management teams in which 50 reporters from across the country participated.

No Two Crises Are Exactly Alike. It’s great to have plans and precepts, but you must be responsive to specific circumstances.  In this case, it was important to remember that we were in the midst of a national crisis with international implications; we were obligated to pick up the phone every where and every time it rang.  At the same time, while we lost space and possessions, we were an extraordinarily fortunate company: all 598 of our World Trade Center employees were safe. Our communications needed to be infused with twin senses of perspective and gratitude.

It was also important to remember that our employees had experienced a trauma of unprecedented proportions. While we experienced no employee casualties, the emotional injuries were significant and not always manifest. Without getting into details…we’ve spent lots of time and resources and imagination trying to help our employees regain a sense of equilibrium.

At Times Like These, There’s Nothing Like a Strong Brand/Great Reputation.  In PR Week’s 2001 post-September 11 CEO survey, the percent of CEOs describing its company reputation as its most precious asset actually dropped by 10+ percentage points.  Wrong direction.  A company’s brand/reputation is never more important than in times of crisis. It is a beacon through the confusion and dislocation.  Our brand/great public reputation is one of the reasons that despite being the only major fund company domiciled in the World Trade Center, we’ve had some of the strongest net flows in the industry post-September 11. That’s remarkable, if you think about it.

Contrary to Popular Belief, PR Practitioners Are People Too.  It’s hard to put a strong public face on the company if you’re less than your best.  Major crises of international proportions like September 11 are particularly tough on the media relations team.  They had to be there around the clock and never really had a chance early on to process what they’d experienced.

Post-September 11, we’ve redoubled our efforts to maintain a work environment in Corporate Affairs that recognizes and responds to the individual needs of each employee. We’ve made one-on-one counseling available to any employee in our department who needs it. We are flexible in terms of work – hours and arrangements. We share experiences, recognize accomplishments, celebrate milestones and complain as appropriate. We have lots of long, group lunches.  And within the constraints of an incredibly painful, dislocating experience, we try to have some laughs.

There Is No Substitute for Smart, Dedicated People with Shared Values and a Mutual Respect for Each Other. A crisis is not the time to find out how good your staff is. A large part of our ability to function so well in the aftermath of September 11 goes to the quality of our people and to the large measure of esprit de corps across functions.  In Corporate Affairs, we are committed to the company – and to each other. Whatever needs to get done, frequently irrespective of function, we get done. We share space as easily as we share ideas. And we have an abiding commitment to get this company back and beyond – and to share our learning along the way. 

A Company’s Values Put to the Test

Peter Thonis
Senior Vice President, External Communications
Verizon Communications Inc.

The terrorist attacks last September 11 confronted Verizon with the worst physical disaster in telecommunications’ more than 100-year history.  All three attacks – at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Western Pennsylvania – occurred in Verizon’s service territory. 

The portion of Verizon’s network that covered most of lower Manhattan, including the financial district, stopped functioning as a result of heavy damage to a major switching center at 140 West Street, adjacent to 7 World Trade Center, and to the underground telephone cables in the World Trade Center area.  The New York Stock Exchange, the worldwide symbol of American capitalism, had no telecommunications service and could not operate. More than 300,000 voice lines and 3.6 million data circuits were silenced.  Ten cellular telephone towers were destroyed.  More than 14,000 businesses and 20,000 residential customers were without phone service.

Although telecommunications service was not disrupted at the Pentagon or at the site of the third plane crash near Somerset, Pa., Verizon had to quickly install hundreds of additional telephone lines at both locations for emergency workers and government officials.

Tragically, three Verizon employees – two at the World Trade Center and one at the Pentagon – were among the victims who lost their lives in the attacks.

The Whole World Was Watching

The unprecedented dimensions of this crisis presented an extraordinary challenge to the Verizon Public Affairs and Corporate Communications team.  In addition, as one Verizon executive put it, “the whole world was watching” to see how Verizon would respond to the crisis.  We had to respond immediately, with no margin for error.

Within minutes after the airplane hit the second World Trade Center Tower, we mobilized and implemented a comprehensive external and internal crisis communications plan that involved all the groups in Public Affairs: Employee Communications, Executive Positioning, Media Relations and Verizon Foundation. 

The plan supported three key Verizon objectives:

• Care for our employees, 2,200 of whom worked in the World Trade Center area
• Help the thousands of our customers without telecommunications services
• Support our communities and the disaster relief efforts

In addition, we provided advice and counsel to the company’s senior leaders and thus played a major role in the decisions involving the recovery effort, including prioritizing the restoration of service.

Obstacles to Implementation

However, to implement the crisis communications plan, we had to overcome several obstacles.

For example, within an hour after the attacks, I and other team members at corporate headquarters were ordered to leave our offices on the 32^nd floor as a safety precaution.  Nearly all other employees in the building were sent home.   But, confronted with a stream of calls from the media that was quickly becoming a torrent, we had no time to move to another building.  So we quickly set up temporary quarters on the fourth floor of the headquarters building and continued working.

Because our entire public affairs team is spread out across the United States, we had to find a way to remain in close touch with one another to keep abreast of developments and ensure that everyone was delivering the same key messages.  The solution: a conference call line that remained open 24 hours a day; a daily series of key talk points; and twice-a-day team strategy sessions.

The service disruption in lower Manhattan made it difficult to obtain enough lines for the dial-in news briefings that we held during the first week after the attacks, so we used two separate numbers for calls from the United States and a third number for international calls.  The news briefings were also broadcast over Verizon’s Web site and tape-recorded and then played over a toll-free number for 24 hours.

Internally, we kept employees up to date on the company’s plans to restore service and provide assistance to Verizon’s more than 200,000 employees.  We wrote and distributed 34 e-mail messages, each reaching 131,000 employees.  Nine fax updates were transmitted to 109 fax hubs capable of reaching thousands of employees throughout the company.  Toll-free numbers were set up for employees without access to e-mail.

An internal Web portal was set up to provide additional information. Flyers were hand-delivered to employees working in the affected areas.  Senior managers personally visited those areas to meet with employees, and Verizon provided counselors to help employees cope with their shock and grief.

Several closed-circuit TV broadcasts and frequent voice mail messages from Ivan Seidenberg, then Verizon’s president and co-CEO and now CEO, also provided employees with the latest information and a sense of the company’s priorities.

Externally, we repeatedly emphasized to the media how the company was assisting customers by: establishing a special call center for large business customers; deploying thousands of cell phones and temporary phone lines; and providing free calls on curbside pay-phones in New York City.

We placed public service ads in newspapers and arranged for senior executives to talk before key audiences and with the media one-on-one and in multiple news conferences to keep the world abreast of the status of restoring service.  We conducted more than 1,000 interviews last September, resulting in more than 660 news stories quoting Verizon representatives. 

Results Speak for Themselves

The media coverage was overwhelmingly positive, and the company was particularly gratified by the praise employees received from elected officials, federal and state regulators, business leaders and journalists for restoring service to the stock exchange just six days after the attacks.

To help raise funds for disaster relief and community support, Verizon Foundation, the company’s philanthropic arm, quickly mobilized a series of initiatives – including a 3-to-1 employee gift-matching program – that ultimately raised more than $16 million.

Another major initiative was participating in the national fund-raising telethon, “America: A Tribute to Heroes.”  Thousands of Verizon volunteers at company call centers across the country manned the phones for the telethon.  

After the crisis subsided, recognition dinners and other events were held to thank employees.  A commemorative publication and video were distributed, and senior executives visited employees across the country.

Status Report a Year Later

Looking back a year later at the tragedy of September 11, we’ve come a long way. 

Verizon has completely restored service to the lower Manhattan area, and the enormous job of repairing the interior and exterior damage to our 140 West Street building is now about 75 percent complete.  The telephone cables that hung out of the building’s windows to provide temporary service to customers have been replaced by permanent underground facilities.

At the Pentagon, Verizon technicians have replaced nearly all of the 3,791 damaged lines and installed 926 additional lines.

We are proud of all that we were able to accomplish, although our pride is tempered by the grief and anger everyone feels over the senseless, tragic loss of so many lives.

We’ve also learned a valuable lesson about how to handle a crisis: Let the actions of your company speak for themselves.  There is no need to seek accolades if you are doing the right thing.

With that as our guiding principle, Verizon’s recovery efforts have become an integral part of a larger story that will be written about and remembered for years to come.  It is the story of how New York City’s resilient, determined residents, workers and businesses all united, performed extraordinary and, in some cases, heroic acts and refused to be defeated by terrorism.

© 2004 Heyman Associates, Inc.