McVey Marketing Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been retained by Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., to consult with the school's leaders on the development of a new Strategic Plan for College Relations. President Gary McVey is working closely with officials in Carleton's External Relations and Admissions offices, as well as with other staff and faculty. The firm's consulting engagement with the College began a few months ago and is expected to be completed later this fall.

Carleton is a pre-eminent national liberal arts college with nearly 2,000 students from 33 countries who are enrolled in 37 majors and 15 concentrations. The College has a strong reputation for academic excellence and annually ranks among the nation's Top 10 liberal arts colleges, and as the top-ranked four-year liberal arts college in Minnesota.

St. Catherine University, which includes the nation's largest college for women, has hired McVey Marketing Inc. for a third consulting engagement. President Gary McVey will be conducting qualitative market research, formulating research-based key messages and developing strategic marketing recommendations to increase awareness and enrollment for one of the University's longest-standing programs.

Founded in 1905, St. Catherine University has campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The University enrolls more than 5,300 students in two-year, four-year and graduate degree programs.

McVey Marketing has completed two previous consulting engagements for St. Catherine, including when the school changed its name and status from a college to a university.

President Gary McVey recently announced that McVey Marketing Inc. will relocate its offices from Washington State to Minnesota, effective Jan. 1, 2012. The firm has operated from Poulsbo, Wash., near Seattle, for the past five years, working with clients in higher education, health care, natural resources, professional services and other sectors.

McVey lived and worked in Minnesota for nearly 25 years before relocating to the West Coast for family health reasons. McVey Marketing's largest clients are Minnesota-based organizations, and the move will help the firm provide even higher levels of personal service, as well as continue to grow.

"I'm looking forward to further growing my business in Minnesota, and working even more closely with colleagues and friends I've known for more than 20 years," McVey said. "On a personal level, the move will also make it easier for my wife to continue working for the Minnesota company she's been with for 21 years, and to be closer to her family."

McVey Marketing's e-mail address remains info@mcveymarketing.com, and its web URL remains mcveymarketing.com. The firm's new Minnesota number is (952) 405-8015, and its Washington-based number remains (360) 394-0074.

Lessons in Crisis Management

The recent crises involving Penn State University and the Presidential campaign of Herman Cain provide stark contrasts in crisis and reputation management. In response to the sexual abuse scandal involving the Penn State football program, the University's Board of Trustees acted quickly and decisively to launch a thorough investigation, and to terminate Coach Joe Paterno, the school's president, athletic director and others. Tough decisions, but necessary to protect the university's reputation, get to the bottom of what did (and didn't) happen, and to communicate to the alleged victims, their families and the larger community that the behavior will not be tolerated.

By contrast, Hermain Cain and his campaign staffers have been giving us a lesson in how not to respond to a crisis. They've been slow, vague, confusing and indecisive, All of which has served to keep the crisis at the top of the news longer, feed further speculation and do deeper damage to his reputation.

There are many things we can't control in the midst of a reputational crisis. But what we can control is how we and our organization respond. Do the right thing, and do it quickly. As a former mentor once told me: "When it comes to managing a crisis, you have two clear choices: Do you want to be hurt by a quick gash or a slow bleed? I'll take the quick gash any day."