Sometimes it feels like a freight train. The onslaught of information that you’re supposed to pay attention to on a daily basis is overwhelming. Now on top of managing your agency relationships, employee communication and even worrying about local media, you’re supposed to know if you’re on YouTube or someone is tweeting about you (and what the heck is tweeting, anyway?).

Don’t get derailed. A few very simple tips can make sure you’re aware of what people are saying online or off.

First of all, some stats for you (in case you’re unconvinced).

• By 2010, Gen Y (age 14 – 25) will outnumber baby boomers and 96% of them have joined a social network like MySpace or Facebook.
• 13 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute and more than 100 million videos are viewed every day.
• You can find 3.6 billion photos (or one for every two people on the planet) on Flickr.
• A single search for the phrase wildland firefighting on YouTube returned more than 500 videos.

People are “googling” you – yes, even contracting officers. Do you know what’s being said about you and your company? Protecting your reputation is more important than ever.

1. Set up a Google Alert for your company name, variations on that name (misspellings or nicknames), your personal name as the company leader and anything else you can think of related to your company. Send the alerts straight to your email. No more random searches, Google will send any news to you. Google Alerts will pick up “old” media (like newspapers and TV news stories) and “new” media like videos and blogs. Go to www.google.com/alerts
2. Make a plan for how to respond. It’s important to think in advance about what you’ll do if an employee posts an inappropriate video or how you’ll share a positive story about your company. Both sides of the coin can help you prevent reputation damage and build credibility.
3. Create a policy for your employees. It doesn’t have to be heavy-handed, but helping your crews understand why they don’t want to post videos of them goofing around on the fire line for the world to see can save a lot of heartache and hassle later. Develop a one-page policy and spending a few minutes on it in training will let employees know you’re watching and that can make a tremendous difference. If you’re not sure how to do this, ask for help.
4. Have a presence. If you have an account on Facebook and MySpace (don’t laugh!), you’ll have a better understanding how your people are communicating with each other and with the world. You don’t have to be your employees’ “friend” – in fact, better to not be in many cases – just have a general idea of how it works and how to find information. Bonus tip: you can use MySpace and Facebook to find out much more about potential employees than they’ll ever put on an application.
5. Create some good stuff. Monitoring your reputation is not just about knowing about the bad stuff, it’s also about putting out some good stuff. Never in history has it been so easy to tell your story through tools like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and YouTube. Not sure where to start? Look to NWSA. You don’t have to do this on your own.

Stay on track and keep your ear to the ground. Just paying attention is the first step to solidifying your good reputation. Questions? Just ask.

Habetler’s company Dynamic Communication Strategies (also known as DCS Consulting) will be taken over by long-time associate Kelli Matthews. Matthews has assisted Habetler on four fatality incidents in the industry and assisted in developing public relations strategies, crisis plans and websites to help companies navigate through a difficult time with their reputation intact. Matthews will retain the company name.

“Kelli Matthews has provided invaluable assistance in my response to fatality incidents such as First Strike Environmental and Grayback Forestry, as well as, GH Ranch and Diamond Fire,” said Habetler. “She is a talented communicator with the media and has a very good understanding of the industry and its challenges. I feel very confident that she will provide excellent support to the wildland firefighting companies.”

Matthews brings a decade of strategic communication experience, including managing high-level media contacts, building relationships with key stakeholders and planning for crises. She holds a master’s degree from the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon.

Habetler says that making the decision to leave this important work was a difficult one. “How do you stop responding to that phone call where the person on the other end has just lost firefighters or experienced other kinds of catastrophe?” she said. “There is nothing like the feeling that you are truly helping a company get through the worst experience imaginable. I feel a deep connection to every company I have worked with and thank them for their trust in me.”

Habetler said that finding someone with Matthews’ talent and experience helped her make that difficult decision to step away.
“Not everyone can do this work. You have to care but be able to be on your game when media are swooping down on you. She can do that and much more.”

You can contact Kelli at kelli@dcsconsulting.biz or 541.579.5888