As millennium celebrations move into full swing around the world on the eve of the year 2000, some public relations executives will avoid parties.
Instead, they will be on standby waiting to help extinguish Y2K fires that might be threatening to envelop their clients.
Forward-looking public relations companies in Hong Kong are putting in place crisis centres to help clients deal with any Y2K fallout that may occur in the months surrounding the actual changeover date.
John Zinkin, chairman of Burson-Marsteller's Asia marketing practice, said companies are still regarding the Y2K bug as a technology and operations problem. They are not really looking at its potential to hurt their public image if problems rear up.
'The millennium bug, or Y2K problem, is a technology issue that technology alone cannot solve. Emotionally charged and ripe with rumour, it poses a serious threat to corporate reputations,' he said.
Corporate reputations at risk include not just the computer vendors - the IBMs, Compaqs and Oracles of this world - whose products could fail on the date. They also include all manner of corporations and service providers, who could earn bad press if their computer systems fail and prevent them from providing regular services.