Nicky Hunter
LinkedIn and at conferences and in write-ups , the better it is .
“ I feel the protection of the public shouldn ’ t just be the responsibility of the Government or the security industry . The general public need to participate .”
Comms in chief
Communicating to the public and eventprofs about oncoming Protect Duty demonstrates that transparency and effective dialogue are key for making events safer . This is why crisis comms are likely to form such a critical part of Protect Duty legislation .
Nicky Hunter , PR and communications manager , ACC Liverpool , spoke about how developing communications plans in advance is not only ‘ nice-to-have ’ but is likely to become a matter of necessity in the coming months .
She said : “ The key to effective crisis communications is to be as fully prepared as possible . This includes developing a comprehensive media protocol plan which includes levels of alert and actions required by
Figen Murray
individuals ; all internal and external communications processes ; identifying roles , spokespeople and up-to-date contact details for all stakeholders ; identifying different audiences and the most effective way to communicate with each audience .”
But for Hunter it is not just about communicating to the relevant parties , it ’ s also about transparency in threat levels . She explainsed : “ Ensuring visitor and staff safety is very much a combined effort between event organisers and venues , as organisations will be required to consider all governmental and police information and guidance around the possibility of terrorist threats to public and staff . Event organisers will need to ensure a detailed security risk assessment has been conducted using available intelligence which would include the UK threat level at the time .”
The time is now
Protect Duty is going to bring changes to the way that we , in events , work , but that change needs to be all encompassing to events organisers , who are so used to having to pivot to new competencies .
For Bounds , the legislation is about awareness and openness . She said : “ The most important change that Protect Duty will bring is just to make us think more about our personal safety and the safety of those around us .
“ I also think that it ’ s going to bring to the forefront a subject that has very much been taboo . We have to talk about it in a very real and measured way in the same we would talk about anything else in terms of event planning .”
Whilst legislation may not be in force yet , the industry would do well to prepare for the impact Protect Duty will have on how they organise and operate events .
For Figen Murray , events planners cannot act soon enough . She said : “ Don ’ t wait for the Government to implement it , because we don ’ t exactly know what it looks like . But follow the simple suggestions we gave in the original brief to the Government and ask for staff training as part of your induction .
“ Maybe look inside and outside your building and do a risk assessment , but do it as though it was through the eyes of a terrorist . When you think and look around like a bad person , you will see things that you would normally not notice . Have a mindset of ‘ how can I get into this building ?’ versus the weak areas .” CN www . conference-news . co . uk