Here’s a good New Year’s Resolution for you.  Make it a point - as early in the year as possible - to check on the completeness and accuracy of your database of contacts within your major audinces.  If you needed to reach out quickly to your employees, customers, media contacts, retirees or alumni, close neighbors, Board members, local elected officials or others, would you be able to do so?

In times of crisis, when everything always moves way too fast, it will add greatly to your levels of confidence and competence if you are assured that you are able to communicate vital points to these various audiences through an organized system that is already in place and operating.  The type of technology you use — whether a computerized telephone system or a blast e-mail or fax or text message - depends on your organization’s capabilities and your audience’s preferred method of hearing from you.

University Examples

In mid-December I was invited to address the Annual CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) District V Conference in Chicago.  (Yes, I was happy to get back home to the 55 degrees in Raleigh from the 5 degrees of Chicago.  That was a minus 10 degrees with wind chill factored in!) I have often said that the principles of dealing with a crisis that attracts media attention apply across the board, no matter what industry you are in.  The conference sessions bore this out.  Those in my audience confirmed that what I talked about made perfect sense to them in their roles as communications professionals for their universities.  I also learned a great deal about how these principles apply in the arena of higher education.

Two conference sessions stand out in my mind.  In the first, we were privileged to hear from the communications professionals who had been at the very center of the tragedies that played out on the campuses of Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University where crazed gunmen took the lives of so many students/faculty members.  In the second, the Vice President of Communications at the University of Florida related what it was like to be the subject of an Internet crisis. A student who was heckling Senator John Kerry was subdued by campus security through the use of a taser gun.  His cry of “Don’t tase me, bro!” went from a small story locally in Tallahassee to a YouTube sensation with 1.6 million hits within six hours, which then spawned many more comments/interviews from the traditional media.

In all three instances, these speakers emphasized how vitally important it was for them to be able to communicate their messages - not filtered by the media - directly to the students, faculty/administration, huge body of alumni spread all around the country, donors, Board members, and others.  Once the “must air” messages were finalized, what a boon to be able to send those messages on their way through already established systems.  If they had to compile these databases during the crisis, the messages would have been delivered way too late to do them any good in terms of being able to shape the story and stay on top of the situation.

How Current Are Your Databases?

Phone numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses get changed frequently.  People move from one category to another (employees to retirees, new Board member elections, facility neighbors who move away or enter a neighborhood).  In a crisis, the more people who don’t receive your messages, the less effective your outreach and the more criticism you will receive about your ability to get the word to those who feel they have a right to know what is going on.  Technologically, certain systems become outdated and new capabilities come on the scene.

Let me suggest that you run a real-time test of your ability to reach your major audiences.  Ideally, you could do it as part of one of those realistic role-plays I am always encouraging my clients to conduct to test their ability to respond quickly and competently in a crisis.

If the difficult economic times we are in mean that you cannot conduct a full-blown media training this year (your initial or a refresher course), please make sure you at least:

(1)     read or re-read a good book on dealing with the media during a crisis*;
(2)     draft up a scenario of a crisis situation that would make your management team sweat a little**;
(3)     contact your key audiences with a “test” message; and
(4)     videotape a mock TV interview and re-play it so you can critique how you all handled it.

This is a useful way to spend one of your staff meetings.  I can almost guarantee you that you will find a number of things that
you need to fix before the day comes upon you when something bad happens!

* * *

SPECIAL NOTES:

*If you need a suggestion for a good book on the topic, let me unabashedly recommend the newly revised (2008) version of my own “Keeping Cool on the Hot Seat: Dealing Effectively with the Media in Times of Crisis.”  As my New Year’s gift to you, let me know by e-mail (instead of going through my website) that you would like a copy, and I will provide it to you for $10.95 plus $5.00 for shipping/handling - a discount off the list price of $19.95.

**If you need some suggestions for possible role-plays, contact me by e-mail or phone and I will send you some possibilities to consider.

Until next month…KEEP COOL!

Judy Hoffman
jchent@earthlink.net
1-800-848-3907 PIN 2145
www.judyhoffman.com