Every day, it seems, another person’s reputation crashes. John Edwards. Kanye West. LeBron James. It’s almost become a spectator sport.

Most crisis and reputation management sessions focus on what happens from “the moment of impact” forward. But this presentation is different. In “Before the Crash,” we ask: (1) What caused the crash? (2) Should we have seen this coming? (3) How could this have been avoided?

We’re not talking about acts of God and nature, or anything that’s caused by market conditions or external factors. We’re talking about self-inflicted wounds. In all crisis case studies, there’s a common denominator that led to the crash. That’s the premise of this presentation.

Russ Florence serves as president and chief operating officer at Schnake Turnbo Frank | PR. His credentials include crisis communications, reputation management, media relations and strategic planning. As president and chief operating officer, Russ provides intensive client strategy and works closely with clients on media relations training and coaching. He has a background in all the areas that make a PR practitioner successful: he ran a print publication, worked in the nonprofit world and ran the communications department for a large corporation.