As Texas recovers from Winter Storm Uri, many across the country are asking, “what went wrong” in the Lone Star State. From a crisis communications perspective, many Texans were left in the dark by state-level leaders and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). With more than 4.5 million customers without power – and many more without access to clean water – could this have been prevented? 

Pinch-hitting for Hattie Horn this week, Dan Gold, an award-winning global MarComs strategist hailing from Canada, joins Austin Staton and Thomas Baen to dissect the crisis in Texas, and how Texans could have benefitted from effective crisis management. The Business Communicators offer their insights for a crisis comms playbook and give key takeaways that businesses can use to equip their teams in the event of a crisis.

Then, Facebook has taken a drastic approach in Australia to ban all news stories from its site, after a long-running battle over who should pay for news online. Rather than pay media companies in return for linking to their stories, as a forthcoming Australian law would require, the company opted to block all such links on its platform. What does this mean for free speech and access to information in Australia? Will it have longer-lasting implications globally?

The show closes with a new segment that focuses on writing prompts and extemporaneous speaking. This week’s: “Name something simple that brings you joy.” To our listeners: We want to hear from you. Tell us on social media what things in life bring you joy. We’ll share the best responses on next week’s episode of the podcast.

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather

Connect with The Business Communicators on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn, and find out more about our show at TheBusinessCommunicators.com. And, if you haven’t done so already, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave us a five-star review. Questions or comments? Send us an email to [email protected] or text “podcast” to (713) 360-0133.

IABC Houston Sponsors

• Diamond Partner: Pierpont Communications
• Chapter Partner: Mykrantz & Co

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