Social media crisis simulator allows PR agency to train clients in more timely and effective crisis management

DENVER, Dec. 14, 2011 – GroundFloor Media (GFM), a Denver-based public relations agency focusing on strategic communications, reputation and crisis management, digital communications and social media, today announced the launch of its Online War Room™, a proprietary tool allowing clients to mimic a wide range of online crisis and issues situations in real time, and test potential outcomes of crisis management actions. Using a secure, non-public interface, the Online War Room allows the GFM team to work closely with a client to create customized training sessions across multiple social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere.

“Today, a significant risk for companies is the potential impact to company and brand reputation when information from non-company sources is shared on social networks,” said Laura Love, founder and president of GroundFloor Media. “In the era of social media, not only do outside sources have public channels for sharing opinions or making claims about a company or brand, but they are able to do so without any obligation to ensure accuracy or balance in their comments. Factual or not, the information lives online in perpetuity and can have a material impact on a company’s business.”

GFM’s digital communications and social media teams developed this proprietary tool in-house to ensure the entire platform works on a closed network so the client can be assured the information used in training sessions will never be “live” or public. Much like a traditional tabletop crisis communication exercise, GFM works with organizations to identify potential, or even inevitable, crisis and issues management situations. Once several scenarios are identified, the digital communications team works behind the scenes to develop a variety of posts, comments, replies and content that could potentially be generated during a real crisis. The scenarios vary widely, ranging from disparaging claims made by disgruntled customers or employees to labor negotiations or “gorilla-style” attacks from competitors. The scenarios are then played out – in real time – with the client’s communications team managing the sensitive conversations and responses.

The GFM team then provides strategic counsel regarding how the client handled the situation and how effective the client’s social media response plan was during the simulation, as well as offering recommendations for handling similar situations in the future.

The Online War Room will serve a variety of purposes for any company including:

• Testing a company’s current social media crisis response plan and tactical decision making for effectiveness and thoroughness
• Measuring a company’s level of preparedness for online issues management
• Allowing organizations to be more confident entering the evolving social media space and effectively engaging with their audiences
• Preparing executive leadership and communications teams for a potentially controversial or contentious announcement

To learn more about GFM’s award-winning crisis communication and issues management practice and the Online War Room, visit our crisis communication and issues management blog or our Facebook and Twitter profiles.

About GroundFloor Media

Staffed entirely by seasoned industry pros, GroundFloor Media (GFM) is an award-winning public relations agency focusing on strategic communications, social media, reputation and crisis management and digital communications. Headquartered in Denver, GFM has nearly 30 team members across the country from Oahu, Hawaii, to Washington, D.C. Additionally, the agency has global reach across six continents through its membership in the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN). Ambitious brands like Qdoba Mexican Grill, Coors Brewing Company, Children’s Hospital Colorado, BNSF Railway, LiveWell Colorado, USA Swimming, Bellco Credit Union and Starbucks Coffee Company have collaborated with GFM for the past decade to deliver results-driven campaigns. For more information, call 303-865-8110, visit groundfloormedia.com or get to know the agency on Twitter or Facebook.