Tragedy for the Scouts
This has been a tough week for the Boy Scouts, especially those who paid a great deal to attend the National Jamboree now going on at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. The jamboree began with the tragic deaths of four scout leaders from Alaska, who were electrocuted while erecting a tent near live power lines. Then, during an unusual heat wave that sent temperatures soaring to near 100 degrees, hundreds of scouts, parents and guests fell ill while waiting in a sweltering field for a visit from President Bush.
Equally unfortunate have been comments made during these tragic events. A scouting spokesman was quoted as insinuating that the men who died during the tent-raising were responsible for their fates by not following established regulations. True or not, the comments came across as insensitive following so closely on the heels of the accident and were followed within days by clarifications from scouting headquarters.
Then, when the opening arena show featuring the President was canceled after the hapless young scouts baked for hours in the summer heat, the announcer revealed that the decision had been made earlier to postpone the scheduled entertainment until the following evening. Unbeknownst to the crowd, only the President was scheduled to speak that evening, and now a quickly-advancing line of thunderstorms necessitated canceling even that appearance.
The same spokesman later said it was not practical to cancel the opening event in expectation of the extreme heat, and yet, that is exactly what was apparently done as far as the entertainment part of the program and was ultimately done with the President's appearance as well.
There are two lessons in all this to those wishing to avoid such public relations fiascos. One is to use Murphy's Law in planning out the smallest details, so that such mishaps do not occur in the first place, admittedly easier said than done when dealing with a makeshift city of more than 40,000 scouts. But the second lesson is equally important. Once a tragedy occurs, do not try to level blame. Commit only to doing everything possible to make sure such a tragedy never occurs again, and then redouble your efforts to make that pledge a reality.
As so many of us learn the hard way, it's all in the details and the planning.
Questions or comments? We'd like to hear them! We will take a break next week. Look for our next entry on August 14th.
Equally unfortunate have been comments made during these tragic events. A scouting spokesman was quoted as insinuating that the men who died during the tent-raising were responsible for their fates by not following established regulations. True or not, the comments came across as insensitive following so closely on the heels of the accident and were followed within days by clarifications from scouting headquarters.
Then, when the opening arena show featuring the President was canceled after the hapless young scouts baked for hours in the summer heat, the announcer revealed that the decision had been made earlier to postpone the scheduled entertainment until the following evening. Unbeknownst to the crowd, only the President was scheduled to speak that evening, and now a quickly-advancing line of thunderstorms necessitated canceling even that appearance.
The same spokesman later said it was not practical to cancel the opening event in expectation of the extreme heat, and yet, that is exactly what was apparently done as far as the entertainment part of the program and was ultimately done with the President's appearance as well.
There are two lessons in all this to those wishing to avoid such public relations fiascos. One is to use Murphy's Law in planning out the smallest details, so that such mishaps do not occur in the first place, admittedly easier said than done when dealing with a makeshift city of more than 40,000 scouts. But the second lesson is equally important. Once a tragedy occurs, do not try to level blame. Commit only to doing everything possible to make sure such a tragedy never occurs again, and then redouble your efforts to make that pledge a reality.
As so many of us learn the hard way, it's all in the details and the planning.
Questions or comments? We'd like to hear them! We will take a break next week. Look for our next entry on August 14th.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home