By Tom Mueller Business continuity planning has always been an important part of crisis planning, albeit not a very sexy one. The time and energy invested in BC planning was mostly about setting up alternative office space, work stations, phone lines – all tying back to the company’s main operating systems and network. It was
By Tom Mueller It seems that every town has at least one place where young couples go to get away from family and daily pressures so they can just enjoy each other’s company. In many communities, it’s a back road, park or other public area. I’ve experienced this first-hand in America, and witnessed it in
By Tom Mueller Remember that old Chinese proverb about a man with one watch knowing what time it is; a man with two watches never does? Traveling across multiple time zones sometimes makes me feel I’m living that proverb – especially since I stopped wearing a wristwatch in favor of modern electronics – Fitbits, iphones and
I didn’t really know, until I started shooting regularly and in competitive formats, that competition shooting is a lot like golf. Meaning, of course, that it can be highly frustrating as well as highly satisfying on any given day. The motivational theory of periodic reinforcement comes in to play in both sports, drawing people back
I never really thought of China as a funny place, but it seems my trips here serve as plucky comedic relief for the travel gods. The adventure I describe below – just the first leg on a 21-day trip – lasted 32 hours and included a plane, a train, multiple automobiles, a honeymooning couple, some helpful
This is the kind of place that could make you fall in love with the Mediterranean – the famous Capri Island. Never heard of Capri? Well, neither had I until we went there – about an hour boat ride from Naples, Italy. We went early – on an 8:35 a.m. jet-boat ferry – and ran smack
I’ve always been a bigger motorcycle kind of guy, favoring large bikes for my rides in the US and elsewhere. But I have to admit, there is some fun to be had riding a little Vespa scooter through the winding roads of Tuscany. This is one of those touristy excursions one can book while visiting
By Tom Mueller I returned to Azerbaijan recently after a bit more than 20 years away, and was excited to see how the country had changed as its fledgling oil industry has matured. I spent many weeks in Baku, the capital city, in 1993-95 as part of the energy industry’s entry to Azerbaijan following the
By Tom Mueller I’ve been watching the communications effort around the Refugio Oil Spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California over the past week and how the effort has evolved over time. Here’s my take on the first week’s response and communications effort. Plains All American Pipeline clearly had some crisis management plans in
By Tom Mueller For those who follow crisis management issues, here’s a quick look at crisis communications around the Delta Airlines plane crash in New York this week. As we have seen in many other incidents, social media lit up immediately after the incident. Passengers were tweeting and posting to Facebook from the plane. There
