HOW THESE NORTH BAY BUSINESSES GOT TOUGH LESSONS IN BEING PREPARED FOR A PR CRISIS

Panelists were, from left, Janet Connors, Summit State Bank senior vice president and senior relationship manager; Ken Fuhr, Clarity Media Group communication specialist; and Tiffani Montgomery, former national president of Active 20-30 in U.S. and Canada, and CEO of Tiffani Montgomery & Associates.

One of the best examples of a business handling a crisis with empathy goes back to 1982 when multiple people died from poisoning after taking Tylenol, recalled Ken Fuhr, communications specialist with Clarity Media Group, with offices in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"They (Tylenol) were basically victims of domestic terrorism,” Fuhr said. “They went to the families of all the victims and totally took care of them financially and emotionally and any other way they could think of doing it.”

Fuhr is a media trainer who has consulted with a variety of clients, including Facebook, Airbnb, C-suite executives, wineries and book authors. He discussed several elements that make a crisis newsworthy.