The I nstitute for Crisis Management AndSGMP Bluegrass Chapter Presents Crisis Prevention And Planning September 30, 2003

DEFINITION OF A CRISIS A significant disruption which triggers negative stakeholder reaction, impacting your event or event & budget Different Types of Crises Different Types of Crises Sudden Perceptual Sudden Perceptual Smoldering Bizarre Smoldering Bizarre Adverse Organization Impact Adverse Organization Impact Volunteers Operating expenses Volunteers Operating expenses Jobs Employee morale Jobs Employee morale reputation Competitive strength reputation Competitive strength Legal Action Consumer action Legal Action Consumer action Management Mistrust Management Mistrust

Hair Raising Headlines n Convention Guest Says Waiter Spit in his Soup n Key West tries to get the party restarted: Hurricane Wilma was devastating n Key West tries to get the party restarted: Hurricane Wilma was devastating n 33 Suffer Smoke Inhalation in Hotel Fire n Planners Waylaid by Strike n AAUP board votes to pull annual conference from hotel n Hyatt Boston lays off 100 housekeepers; Boycott Sought

Crisis Origins

Crisis Types

2008 Crisis Categories

What Kind of Crises Should You Plan For Most Involve People 1. Harassment 1. Harassment 2. Mismanagement 2. Mismanagement 3. Consumer Issues 3. Consumer Issues 4. HR/Sex Abuse 4. HR/Sex Abuse 5. Whistle Blower 5. Whistle Blower 6. Discrimination 6. Discrimination 7. Theft/Fraud 7. Theft/Fraud 8. Workplace Violence 8. Workplace Violence 9. Natural Disasters 9. Natural Disasters

Different Kinds of Crisis Plans Crisis Operations Plan Crisis Operations Plan n Crisis Communication Plan n Business Recovery Plan

Who’s On the Crisis Team Representatives from: n Event Planning n Legal n Event Production Team n Finance n Communications n IT n Security n Administration

The Goal n Keep event On Track n Get back to serving participants n No problem recruiting volunteer staff n Event staff still trusts leadership n Prevent lawsuits n Protect/Restore Reputation of organization

REALITIES OF A SUDDEN CRISIS Initial Chaos 1.Crisis timing invariably is awful 2.Human & hardware communication problems 3.News media pressure and rumors Inevitable Aftershocks 1.Discovery/Disclosure of other problems related to the crisis 2.Investigations by federal, state, local government officials 3.Lawsuits and financial penalties 4.lost business, management changes

ICM Approach To Managing Sudden Crises 1.Have a Crisis Plan That Can Be Implemented Quickly 2.Base Everything You Say on Factual, Confirmed Info 3.Notify Management and Communication People ASAP 4.Anticipate Media Reactions and Be Ready To Respond 5.Coordinate Communications With Government Agencies 6.Line Up Additional help for the First 48 Hours 7.Manage the Aftermath as Effectively As the Initial Crisis 8.Document Everything You Do During the Crisis * 9.Debrief Everyone on How the Crisis Was Managed

Don’t Manage Your Crisis In the Parking Lot or Lobby Create A Crisis Command CenterCreate A Crisis Command Center Identify a Back-Up Site Identify a Back-Up Site Create a Media CenterCreate a Media Center Select Back-Up Site Select Back-Up Site Create Guest/Family Holding AreaCreate Guest/Family Holding Area

Crisis Management 1 st Steps Activate the Crisis Team Activate the Crisis Team n Begin gathering information »Critical for both operational & communication decisions »Determine what you know & what you don’t know n Identify Key Audiences

Identify and Communicate with Key Audiences Select/Target/Focus Select/Target/Focus – Staff/Volunteers – Guests – Vendors – Agencies – Community

Crisis Management Next Steps Begin developing messages Begin developing messages n Set communication priorities n Anticipate n Do something n Document n Debrief & review –Learn from the experience

Realities of a Smoldering Crisis n Much more likely to occur and sometimes much more difficult to identify initially n Often a problem that management avoids, ignores or misunderstands in terms of its potential severity n Mismanagement or human error frequently involved

Don’t Forget Registration and Security Prepare & Train First Line Personnel n Registration staff n Volunteers n Security Staff

HOW THE MEDIA OPERATES What Happens When A Crisis Goes Public Goes Public n Media Onslaught Within Minutes n Instant Experts and Authorities n 24-Hour News Coverage n Pack Journalism Pressures

Give Your Organization a Crisis Preparedness Physical 1.What kind of management notification system do we have in place for responding to emergencies during non- business hours? How good is it? 2.What’s our event emergency response plan like and how sure are we that it will work in a crisis? Has it ever been used or tested? Updated? 3.Who would be our spokespersons and how good would they be in responding to a mob of reporters and TV cameras? 4.How much information would we be willing to give out? Who would decide what would be said? 5.How would we inform our staff, attendees and other key audiences and how long would it take? 6.What crises have our competitors had and how well would we have done if it had been us instead of them? 7.How well did we handle our most negative news event that went “public?” 8. What would we do differently if we had it to do all over again?