Director of Communications and Philanthropy
Bordas & Bordas
United States
Carrie Scanlon is a Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and is Director of Communications and Philanthropy at Bordas & Bordas, a law firm in Wheeling, West Virgina. She is a visiting instructor of Integrated Marketing Communications at Wheeling Jesuit University.
She has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, public relations and sales. In previous appointments, she has been responsible for grass-roots public relations efforts as well as award-winning advertising campaigns, record-breaking special events and product launches.
A graduate of Bethany College with a degree in public relations, Carrie also holds a Master’s degree in Communication Theory and Research from West Virginia University and is in her doctoral studies in Communication Media and Instructional Technology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her doctoral work focuses on crisis communication and image repair strategies.
2013
Breakout session: Sink or Swim: A Crisis Communication Case Study on USA Swimming’s Response to Sexual Abuse Allegations Among Its Coaches
USA Swimming, the governing body of competitive swimming in the United States, gained media attention after allegations of sexual abuse among its coaches was brought to light once a lawsuit was filed against the organization in March 2010. This case explores Benoit’s (1997) Image Repair Theory in greater detail as well as the strategies employed by USA Swimming to repair their image with their multiple stakeholders. The timeline will be examined as well as an in-depth exploration of the events and key players which contributed to the crisis, along with the discussion surrounding the background of the organization pre-crisis, their initial crisis response and the impact of the image repair strategies on the organization.
Breakout session: A Fall From Grace: A Crisis Communication Case Study of Penn State’s Use of Social Media During the Jerry Sandusky Scandal*
In November 2011, allegations began of a sexual abuse scandal involving one of the football coaches at Penn State University. This presentation will focus on a case study surrounding the image repair strategies and explore how Facebook and Twitter were used to communicate these strategies in the weeks following the crisis. This case explores Benoit’s (1997) Image Repair Theory in greater detail as well as the strategies employed by Penn State to repair their image with their multiple stakeholders. Discussion surrounding the background of the University pre-crisis and their initial social media response will be addressed. The timeline will be examined as well as an in-depth exploration of the events and key players which contributed to the crisis.
*Carrie Scanlon and Colin Lawler co -authored this paper. Carrie Scanlon and Colin Lawler will co-present.