True Public Relations

Today I sat in on a video conference between SLAC and Fermilab's public relations teams. The groups meet every week to talk about lab issues in the media and collaborate often in trying to get their messages out to the public.

One issue that was discussed, and has been discussed before, is the recent failure of Fermilab's "triplets." These are very large, superconducting magnets that will focus the particle beams before they collide in the Large Hadron Collider being built at CERN in Geneva. The support structures of the magnet broke due to asymmetrical forces applied during a pressure test at CERN late in March.

The LHC was planned to be completed later this fall, but many, many different set-backs have caused the projected completion date to be pushed back to the spring of next year. Though the failure of "the triplets" is one of the set-backs, it is by no means the only thing delaying the project.

Fermilab has, and has always had, a policy of complete disclosure in all things related to their science, so they have made no attempts to hide or conceal any information about the test failure. It is partly because of this policy that they are worried CERN is placing un-due emphasis on their magnets' failure. So they're basically worried about shouldering an unfair amount of the blame for the LHC not being completed on time.

Long conversations have ensued about the topic. Various strategies discussed about how to handle the topic in the media and in relations with CERN. Nobody wants to be blamed, but nobody wants to sound whiney or like they're trying to weasel out of responsibility, but at the same time, don't want too much of the blame shifted to their facility.

It's an interesting problem, one that will play out over the next few months, and an insight into the political side of a public relations position. Crisis management, the yin to the yang of good writing…