Qantas crisis communications - how did they fare?

When flight QF30 made an emergency landing in Manila last week with a gaping hole in its hull, the Qantas Crisis Communications plan was dusted down and called into action. The response looked to be well managed and saw the airline projected in an overall positive way.

It hasn't taken long to find more in-depth analysis of Qantas performance last week. For an excellent review by Horizon, an Australian PR and communciations agency, click here

How we deal with stress in the workplace

Some people smoke, others turn to drink. Some will cry, some get angry. We all respond to stress in different ways, and a report by Siemens and the Stroke Association provides us with details of how the UK workforce is affected by stress and how people will react.

The report also attempts to identify the profiles of those most likely to feel stressed at work (beware the 20-something recruitment consultant from Northern Ireland!).

Read the report here and see whether you should be chain smoking or smashing the office furniture.

Summer Fridays - a warmly welcomed American trend

If you spend Fridays feeling trapped in the office, looking through the window at the world outside enjoying the warm and carefree summer days, this one's for you.

An increasing number of employers are offering Fridays off as a perk to their employees in the summer months. It is proving very popular among the workforce, and in these economically challenging times it can be a sensible incentive to offer staff, on what is typically the quietest day of the week.

Read the article in the Eagle Tribune here.

Awful names - a crisis from birth

You may have seen the recent story of Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii (yes that is her full name), the 9 year old girl from New Zealand. A judge made her a ward of court and ordered a name change, at the same time sharply criticising her parents' lack of thought for the consequences of naming their child in this way.

But strange names are not a new phenomenon, especially in the celebrity world. This entertaining article suggests rules for what is not advisable when naming your precious newborn.

Read the BBC H2g2 article here:

docleaf Briefs

BERLIN (AFP) - After her notorious backrub at the hands of US President George W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday she would be ready to work out any kinks in transatlantic ties with either of his potential successors.

At a news conference before her summer holiday, the 54-year-old Merkel chuckled at a tongue-in-cheek question as to whether she would allow herself to be massaged by the next US leader. "We'll see," she said. "I didn't have a say in the matter."

Ahead of a visit Thursday by presumptive Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, she said she would take a bipartisan view of the matter if it arose again. "In any case I won't stop anyone, regardless of who's elected," she quipped.

Bush, who is known to have a soft spot for the chancellor, gave Merkel an impulsive backrub at the G8 summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia two years ago. A five-second video and a frame-by-frame breakdown widely disseminated on the Internet showed Bush walking up behind Merkel and quickly rubbing her shoulders, leading her to hunch them and raise her hands while making a pained face that seems to dissolve in a smile as he walks away.

And finally...if you think your teenager causes you problems, read this and you might count yourself lucky..... A 16-year-old French girl suspected of holding up seven banks was formally charged with armed robbery on Friday, a prosecutor said. (Reuters, Paris)

The teen was arrested on Wednesday as she was fleeing the scene of an armed robbery at an HSBC bank branch in the suburb of Maisons-Alfort, south-east of Paris.

Investigators believe the girl played a crucial role in six previous bank robberies since the beginning of July, threatening staff with a gun to force them to open security doors to let in two or three masked accomplices. The hold-up gang made off with hundreds of thousands of euros after spraying tear gas into the banks to cover their escape.

The teen robber had no previous criminal record and her family was not known to police.