By John Frank
PR Week
September 6, 2004

SAM SINGER – President; Singer Associates, San Francisco

Years in crisis work: 20

Crisis assignments: Jack in the Box Restaurants; defense team of investment banker Frank Quattrone; the break-up of the DeBartolo Corporation; sale of the San Francisco Chronicle to the Hearst Corporation

Philosophy: Singer feels the essence of good crisis communications involves being clear, concise, and direct. ‘That’s what will make the difference between it being catastrophic in a corporate-reputation sense or just a black eye,’ he says.

On the corporate side, Singer cites Dave Samson, GM of public affairs at ChevronTexaco, as one of the best corporate communicators in the business.