Essentials of a Crisis Communications Plan & How to Conduct an Audit By Jessie Cheveldayoff Conducting an audit within your organization is a great way to discover areas that are in need of improvement. Oftentimes during day-to-day business, we forget to think about the “what-ifs.” Creating a crisis communications plan is an essential part of…

A bad situation turned worse: what can be learned from Boeing By Jessie Cheveldayoff On October 29, 2018, I think everyone was shocked when news broke of a Boeing 737 MAX crashing after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 passengers and crew. A few short months later in March 2019, another 737 MAX…

Preparedness Saves Lives: Six-Part Webinar Series October 29th – Crisis Prevention and Risk Management Crisis prevention is an essential aspect of business that is often ignored. People don’t like to think about the possibility of a crisis occurring, which leads to the idea being swept under the rug. The reality is, with every dollar spent…

The Purpose of Emergency Management Communications By Jessie Cheveldayoff It is generally understood that communicating in an open, honest, and productive manner is essential for almost all sectors. Within the working world, however, businesses and organizations often overestimate their level of preparedness, impact, and success of communications channels.  Organizations of all kinds should have versatile,…

Five Ways To Improve Your Crisis Response Right Now 1. Call a Surprise Drill Research has shown that individuals are more likely to prepare for risks if they believe them to be imminent. 2. Conduct a Channel Audit When examining where people go for information during a crisis, news/social first then government. 3. Test One…

Lessons Learned in Crisis Management: Maple Leaf Foods & Choosing Compassion Jessie Cheveldayoff While working in the emergency communications industry, it’s difficult to look past all of the scandals, lies, and even deaths. Crisis situations are often made worse due to poor decisions, lack of judgement, and, most importantly, lack of empathy. At the Crisis…

Should You Share ‘Worst Case’ Scenarios Publicly As An Advocacy Strategy? On Wednesday the City of Edmonton’s Mayor Iveson made a public announcement about the considerations being made in light of the pandemic. ‘Worst Case’ Scenario At first glance, it appears the only thing the news media heard was “Edmonton may park its buses and LRT for…

Transition Communications Planning For the ‘New Normal’ – Free Template If you’re not in a permanent WFH (working from home) situation then there’s a good chance you’ve already started resuming your trips to the office this week. Which means you’ve probably noticed that many others have as well. This is a clear sign that Canada is…

Is Your Organization Ready for Reopening? Strategies for Building Trust and Effective Communications During Reopening Phases Depending on where you are in the World, and what type of organization you run, the re-opening phase of the pandemic looks very different. COVID-19 has catapulted everyone into operating under the banner of a “new normal,” and this…

Preparedness Starts with Practice, Eight Steps to Exercise Design A major component of preparedness is practice. Trouble is, training is time-consuming and can be expensive. Many people either fail to practice at all, or they fail to design an effective training exercise. If you’re using the building block approach to training, you’ll know that there…

Registration is open: Secure your spot at the virtual Crisis Lab 4.0 Conference today! Get access to recorded conference sessions for a full year Registration is now open for the virtual Crisis Lab 4.0 Communications Conference! Times have changed quickly. But you still need connection and insights, and to be ready for what comes next as…

The Hilton Hotels credit card scandal: how to handle a data breach  Data breaches are a serious issue that many organizations have had to address. Most manage to prevent them, some end up in both a legal and reputational ‘hot water’. Like it or not, consumers have come to expect 100% protection of their privacy…

Welcome to May, otherwise known in 2020 as Jumanji level 5. As we head into the month six of the pandemic, I’m wondering where you’re at in terms of settling into the ‘new normal’ and what steps you’re taking to prepare for what’s to come. The standard Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Lifecycle consists of five…

The Four R’s of Emergency & Risk Communications Management Today, I thought we could discuss the four R’s that are essential to effective emergency & risk communications. If you remember these four steps, you can develop and empower any team to do their very best in both readiness and response state. 1. RESILIENCY – Many practitioners have…

Covid-19 Ready, How to Lead Your Organization Through a Pandemic Crisis The spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, has left organizations around the world scrambling to protect their businesses and the welfare of their employees. We have seen an uptick in organizations, not associated with the healthcare industry, trying to understand what their roles and…

#Cyberattacks – Communications Strategies for Recovery Ransomware, Data breaches and theft, and other forms of cybercrime continue to increase in frequency and severity. While organizations may make a best effort to avoid being the victim of such attacks, if it happens to you, the manner in which you communicate it to your stakeholders can greatly…

Diversity In Emergency & Crisis Communications Using different lenses for planning and response Preparedness in responding to a crisis is the duty of all organizations, across all sectors. Having the ability to immediately respond effectively and efficiently can make the difference between life and death and, reduce the time and severity of a crisis, as…

Dark Sites What are they, and why do you need them? As fast as it takes someone to snap a photo or video, and post it to social media, is how long it takes for an event to go viral. A dark website is a critical tool to have in your crisis communication toolbox to…

Grande Cache in Alberta, which touts itself as a mountain oasis surrounded by spectacular wilderness, has announced its intention to dissolve as an official municipality and fold into the surrounding Municipal District of Greenview. The reason for this decision is primarily sited because of the economic downturn in Alberta. Mayor Herb Castle noted that, “it’s…

The Importance of Establishing online Authority BEFORE an emergency In times of non-emergency and “normal” daily operations of your municipality, where do your audiences go for sources of truth? Do they check the website for updates, follow the police department’s Twitter account, or look to the Mayor’s Facebook page for all the latest? Perhaps it’s…

The Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016 was a tragedy that touched people across the globe. Heather Fagan, City of Orlando; Kena Lewis, Orlando Health; and, Michelle Guido, Orlando Police put together a timeline of events, communications actions taken short and long-term, and lessons learned. Download this presentation, provided courtesy of the Ottawa Police Department, here.

When Municipal Decisions Cause Major Public Backlash – A City of Vaughan Case Study The City of Vaughan recently faced significant backlash over their decisions to abruptly pull an event permit and instead of being praised for putting the safety of residents first, were criticized and accused of racism. Carnival Kingdom was to take place…