Crisis communications
Are you ready to communicate in a crisis?
T he meetings industry is a
broad beast of a sector, and throws up an array of daily challenges for event professionals. The potential for things to go wrong is a clear and present danger and, therefore, great store is rightly placed on safety and care. But what if things do go badly wrong and, regardless of where the fault lies, audiences and stakeholders will be expecting clear information, protection and explanations.
At International Confex in London earlier this year, Chris Lewis and Dominic Keogh from Crisis Communication Audits, led a session on this very topic and asked the question:‘ Are you ready to communicate in a crisis?’
A crisis at an event or conference can bring consequences that can seem overwhelming, creating chaos and damanging hard-won reputations. Lewis says preparation is the key to handling them professionally, yet far too few venues and event organisers are prepared.
There are three key questions to ask yourself, Lewis recommends, and if your answer is No to any of them, you just might need an audit of your procedures. These key questions are:
• Do you have an up-to-date crisis management plan?
• Do you know who you need to speak to in a crisis situation?
• Do you know how to reach them? Think it isn’ t likely to ever happen to you? Well how about these very real headlines. I’ m sure no one would like to be in the media firing line to face the clamour, specially if not equipped with the right information and techniques.
‘ Worker dies from fall at Conferemce Centre’’ Racist outburst appalls audience at event’‘ Fire at venue in London’‘ Buffet from hell: Salmonella cases at Spanish hotel’‘ Accountant’ s fraud cost hotel hundreds of thousands’ Keogh underlines the importance of preparing for a crisis now.“ You need a plan, training, rehearsal and updates are vital,” he says.
Lewis lays down some general principles of crisis manaement:- Care – Show that the organisation cares about the public’ s interest or problems, not just the company’ s position.
- Control – Respond quickly to maintain some control of the crisis development. Prepare for the worst-case scenario and constantly monitor the development of the situation and reaction.- Communication- Consolidate communication channels to ensure timely and accurate communication. Use one spokesperson to represent the company in a transparent and timely way. Lewis adds that guidelines for communication should be agreed before an event. So what is classified as a crisis? Lewis defines one as an emergency or serious situation which has prompted serious interest from the media and the organisation’ s main audiences.
In addition to our headlines above, real incidents exercising the crisis management skills of event planners have included cyber security attacks; accusations of sexual harassment at events; death of a speaker and corporate manslaughter charges due to equipment failure, to name a few.
Lewis urges the need for a recordkeeper in the team, in addition to spokesperson lead in any organisation, to record what happened, what decisions and actions were taken and when. He adds you should also think about:
• The impact of a venue or organisation being closed might have on communications. Out of hours, weekends?
• The impact of a crisis happening away from the office e. g. overseas venue or incentive trip.
• The impact of a crisis that happened a long time ago( e. g. historic allegations or reputational damage)
• What should be done in the event your databases are inaccessible( cyber attack)? Who has off-line or hard copies of data? n
n For more information a nd details of workshops, visit: www. crisiscommunicataionsaudits. co. uk
ISSUE 142 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 37