Here in San Diego, there’s a very popular annual county fair that draws about 40,000 visitors a day from early June until the 4th of July. It’s usually a big crowd pleaser.
Just recently, a two-year-old died because of exposure to E. coli that turns out was because they were visiting the fair’s petting zoo. Other kids were affected as well, so this they became a full-blown crisis at what could be argued as one, if not the, worst time; right at the tail end of the fair.
Give credit though goes to the fair officials for their response. Soon after the story broke, they issued a statement announcing how devastated they were at the news. They also collaborated well with county health officials to close the petting zoo, but also expressing high confidence that the fair overall is very safe. In fact, other animal exhibits and activities are going to go on as planned. Because of their quick Crisis PR actions, the San Diego County Fair organizers prevented an awful situation from becoming worse.