One method, three kinds of room

The pressure is different in each sector, but the sequence is not. A government answers to public records law and to a public meeting. A company answers to counsel, a board, and sometimes a regulator. A nonprofit answers to donors and to a mission. What does not change is the order: establish what is known, decide who speaks, and put the record in front of the people writing about you.

Start with the room you are standing in: crisis communications for cities and public agencies, corporate crisis communications for companies and their counsel, or nonprofit crisis communications for foundations and advocacy organizations.

Managing the crisis and managing the message are the same job

Separating them is how organizations lose control of both. Crisis management and crisis communications are one discipline in our hands, not two retainers. We are not only drafting the statement. We are in the room where the decisions get made: what is known, what is still being confirmed, who needs to hear it first, and what the organization does next.

When something goes wrong in public, the version of events written in the first few hours is the one everyone argues with for months afterward. That window is where we work.

Call before the morning you need us

The better we know an organization, the better prepared we are. If you do not have a crisis plan, we can build one with you. If you have one, we can be the number on its first page.

On-call crisis communications usually sits as a clause inside a broader communications contract rather than as a standalone procurement. That is worth knowing before you go looking for it as a line item.

Common questions

How fast does PCG respond to a crisis?

For clients on an on-call arrangement, we respond immediately and are on scene when the situation calls for it. In the City of North Miami Beach engagement of November 6, 2024, we were at City Hall within fifteen minutes of the City Manager’s call.

Do you handle crisis work outside of government?

Yes. We work crisis for corporations, nonprofits, condominium associations, advocacy organizations, and public figures, alongside our government practice.

Do we need a crisis plan before calling you?

No. If you do not have a plan we can build one with you, and if you already have one we can be the number on its first page. The better we know an organization before a crisis, the faster we are useful during one.