The Institute for
Crisis Management
And
SGMP
Bluegrass Chapter
Presents
Crisis Prevention
And Planning
DEFINITION OF A CRISIS
A significant disruption which triggers
negative stakeholder reaction, impacting
your event or event & budget
Different Types of Crises
• Sudden
• Smoldering
• Perceptual
• Bizarre
Adverse Organization Impact
• Volunteers
• Operating expenses
• Jobs
• Employee morale
• reputation
• Competitive strength
• Legal Action
• Consumer action
• Management Mistrust
Hair Raising Headlines

Convention Guest Says Waiter Spit in his Soup

Key West tries to get the party restarted: Hurricane Wilma
was devastating

33 Suffer Smoke Inhalation in Hotel Fire

Planners Waylaid by Strike

AAUP board votes to pull annual conference from hotel

Hyatt Boston lays off 100 housekeepers; Boycott Sought
Crisis Origins
1999-2008
Crisis Types
1999-2008
2008 Crisis Categories
What Kind of Crises Should
You Plan For
Most Involve People
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Harassment
Mismanagement
Consumer Issues
HR/Sex Abuse
Whistle Blower
Discrimination
Theft/Fraud
Workplace Violence
Natural Disasters
Different Kinds of
Crisis Plans

Crisis Operations Plan

Crisis Communication
Plan

Business Recovery Plan
Who’s On the Crisis Team
Representatives from:








Event Planning
Legal
Event Production Team
Finance
Communications
IT
Security
Administration
The Goal

Keep event On Track

Get back to serving
participants

No problem recruiting
volunteer staff

Event staff still trusts
leadership

Prevent lawsuits

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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Have a Crisis Plan That Can Be Implemented Quickly
Base Everything You Say on Factual, Confirmed Info
Notify Management and Communication People ASAP
Anticipate Media Reactions and Be Ready To Respond
Coordinate Communications With Government
Agencies
Line Up Additional help for the First 48 Hours
Manage the Aftermath as Effectively As the Initial
Crisis
Document Everything You Do During the Crisis *
Debrief Everyone on How the Crisis Was Managed
Don’t Manage Your Crisis
In the Parking Lot or Lobby
• Create A Crisis
Command Center
Identify a Back-Up Site
• Create a Media
Center
Select Back-Up Site
• Create Guest/Family
Holding Area
Crisis Management 1st Steps

Activate the Crisis Team

Begin gathering information
» Critical for both operational &
communication decisions
» Determine what you know &
what you don’t know

Identify Key Audiences
Identify and Communicate
with Key Audiences
Select/Target/Focus
– Staff/Volunteers
– Guests
– Vendors
– Agencies
– Community
Crisis Management
Next Steps


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Begin developing messages
Set communication priorities
Anticipate
Do something
Document
Debrief & review
– Learn from the experience
Realities of a
Smoldering Crisis

Much more likely to occur and
sometimes much more difficult to
identify initially

Often a problem that management
avoids, ignores or misunderstands in
terms of its potential severity

Mismanagement or human error
frequently involved
Don’t Forget
Registration and Security



Prepare & Train
First Line
Personnel
Registration staff
Volunteers
Security Staff
HOW THE MEDIA OPERATES
What Happens When A Crisis
Goes Public

Media Onslaught Within Minutes

Instant Experts and Authorities

24-Hour News Coverage

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 nonbusiness 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?