Dam Safety Presentation

• 1. Dam Safety in the News Be Ready for your Close-Up Dam Safety 07 September 11, 2007

2.

• Almost everyone has preconceptions and prejudices about journalists

3. 4. Strong Negative Feelings Typical

• Missed the point

• Got the facts wrong

• Had their idea of the story and fit me into it

• Focus on the negative

• Out to get you

5. Impact of Negative Feelings

• Can be defensive, suspicious

• Feel as though preparation doesnt matter

• Focus on the journalist rather than on the audience

6. Change the Mindset

• Old : Survive without embarrassing yourself

• New : Accomplish an objective

• • Increase awareness

• • Increase understanding

• • Get people to take action

7. Change the Mindset

• What would you want the headline to say?

• How would you want the news anchor to lead into the story?

• Write it down!

8. Crisis Communications Fundamentals For Dam Safety 07 Presented September 11, 2007 9. The Fundamentals

• The three components of crisis communications are crisis planning, response and recovery

10. Crisis Planning 11. Fundamentals: Definition of Crisis

• A crisis is an unexpected and uncontrolled event or series of events that disrupt normal operations for a prolonged period and cause unwanted public scrutiny

12. Fundamentals: Definition of Crisis

• A crisis always has victims, which can be either human or animal. If nobody was vicitimized, its not a crisis.

13. Developing a Crisis Plan that Works

• One of the first things you learn is you have to have a plan in place. It doesnt matter whether its sophisticated or simple youve got to have one. Frankly, the simpler the plan, the better.

• -Larry Hincker, Virginia Tech

14. Developing a Crisis Plan that Works

• Most plans I see are convoluted, unrealistic, out-of-date nightmares to interpret and never tested by a drill. Good plans point you in the right direction so you can act fast. If yours doesnt, throw it out and start over.

• -Richard Amme

15. Developing a Crisis Plan that Works

• Keep it simple

• Focus on functional aspects of response

• Build out crisis infrastructure

• Examine and mitigate vulnerabilities

16. Planning: Keep the Plan Simple

• The process of planning involves an objective inward-assessment

• • Examine operations and processes

• • Evaluate and catalogue assets

• Good plans can be hundreds of pages

• Better plans are just a few pages

17. Planning: Functional Aspects of Response

• Who is on the Response Team and who are their alternates?

• At what point do you activate the Crisis Response Team?

• How can they be reached 24x7?

• Who is spokesperson?

18. Prioritizing Target Audiences

• Insiders

• • Employees, suppliers, customers

• Government

• • Local, state and federal regulators and lawmakers

• Neighbors

• Media to reach community

19. Prioritize from the inside out

• • Employees

• • Shareholders

• • Suppliers, customers

• Government

• • Local, state and federal regulators and lawmakers

• Neighbors

• Media to reach community

20. Crisis Response 21. Specifics of Crisis Response

• Scheduling and adequate staffing cant be overlooked

• • 24x7 means 158 hours per week

• Be ready for a crush of calls from media, customers and others

• • Your infrastructure may not handle the volume, contributing to confusion and perceptions of poor response

22. In the Media Spotlight: The Critical 10 Minutes

• Today, everyone with a nice phone can be a journalist

• Video and photos can be posted on the Web within minutes

• Speculation has a life of its own, so stating facts can quell rumors

23. Guiding Principles of Crisis Response

• Quickly assess situation and lay out options

• Your first concern should be the health and safety of anyone involved

• Express concern and sympathy

24. Guiding Principles of Crisis Response

• If the case, emphasize that there will be a complete investigation and your organization will fully cooperate

• Stick to the facts

• • Focus on the 5 Ws

• Never guess or speculate about information you dont know

25. Guiding Principles of Crisis Response

• Understand that leadership may be part of problem

• Making a statement quickly can help define the story

• • You cant wait for comprehensive information

26. Crisis Response Realities

• In a crisis, confusion and inaccurate information dominate

• The media deals in black and white and simplicity, but a crisis is shades of gray and complexity

• Media will assess blame

• Media often gets information you dont have

27. Think Actions Over Words

• Look for opportunities to exhibit concern and control

• Resist blatant photo ops

• Document your organizations efforts, but resist the temptation to self-promote too soon

28. Crisis Recovery 29. Crisis Recovery: The Crisis Lifecycle Discovery True impact clear Personal stories On to the next story Duration Intensity 30. Crisis Recovery: The Crisis Lifecycle Discovery True impact clear Personal stories On to the next story Duration Intensity 31. Examples of Organizations that Recovered Quickly

• Southwest Airlines Plane skids off runway

• City of New York Terrorist attacks

• NASA Columbia disaster

• Johnson & Johnson Tylenol tampering

• Pepsi Syringe hoax

32. What They Had In Common

• Visible senior leadership

• Immediate expressions of concern and sympathy

• Rapid unequivocal action in the publics interest

33. Organizations that Failed to Recover Quickly

• Merck Product recall

• Exxon Environmental disaster

• Tobacco industry - Lawsuit

• Firestone Faulty product

34. What They Had In Common

• Leadership was late to show

• Slow to express concern or sympathy

• Slow to take definitive action

• Lied and/or stonewalled

35. Contact: Dan Keeney, APR DPK Public Relations [email_address] Dallas: 214-432-7556 Houston: 832-467-2904 www.dpkpr.com