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Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians’ and player Antonio Brown’s narratives clashed following a fiery exit by the wide receiver. Meanwhile, the first viral Instagram and Twitter posts of the year indicated brand and influencer willingness to push the envelope in 2022.

In popular language, limbo is an indeterminate place where one awaits a decision. It’s pleasant enough but devoid of bliss or pain. I don’t fully understand the religious form of limbo, but I’m very familiar with the PR version: It’s where measurement deniers go after a year-end performance evaluation that’s ambiguous, unfulfilling and offers no guidance. And yet, most communicators choose limbo over measurement.

Internal communication has become a critical part of how companies think about crisis. As we know, some of the best ways to limit damage from a crisis are planning and preparing. Thinking through potential crisis situations, creating a response plan and practicing regularly can help an organization reduce fallout from a crisis or reputation disaster, if not avoid it from happening in the first place.

In this month’s edition, we focus on RTO,  Bookcase Credibility, Zoombie and CBP.

We expected good things from 2021. Instead, it delivered large doses of frustrating virus protocols, political turmoil, mistrust, disinformation and reputation gaffes. Classic PR blunders generated headlines when leaders failed to learn from history. Here are a few cautionary tales as we look to 2022.

Communications continues to be an essential function, particularly as companies, organizations and individuals continue to wade through pandemic challenges. The PRNEWS editorial team highlights some innovations and predictions we predict will be important for 2022. 

The holidays arrived early for crisis communication fans. There was no shortage of stories to peruse. All featured ghosts of crises past, whose protagonists we’ve covered in Crisis Insider.

Some learnings emerged from our survey of nearly 300 communicators conducted in October and November 2021. The most newsworthy was what issues are concerning crisis pros. Besides COVID, they include: DEI, misinformation/disinformation, activism, cyber, natural disasters and employee/executive misconduct.

This month’s dialogue takes a slight variation from our usual route. We won’t explore an operational topic, such as ‘What to do during a crisis when your CEO goes off-script.’ Instead, as it’s nearly 2022, we’ve asked two crisis communicators to consider 2021 trends and discuss what they believe 2022 will bring. Our dialoguers are Sonia Diaz, SVP, Balsera Communications and president, Hispanic Public Relations Association USA (HPRA) and Jenelle Eli, senior director, media relations + international communications, American Red Cross.

A yearly tradition continues as veteran communicator Arthur Solomon offers headlines that contain lessons for PR pros, young and old.