CRPRA meets the 2nd Thursday of each month, September through May.

Mark your calendars!

 
        by Sher Jasperse

November 2009 Meeting recap: A Crash Course in Crisis Planning

Catie Kriewald, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the CR Chamber of Commerce - and a veteran of several hurricanes and one catastrophic flood - offered a boatload of advice on crisis planning at our November meeting. With effective planning, she advised, we can turn disastrous situations into positive outcomes for our organizations and clients. Among her suggestions:

Preparing for a crisis:

• Have a crisis management team in place.
• Develop a list of potential crises for your area and plan your response to each.
• Consider all potential audiences.
• Create a list of key personnel and define their roles in advance.
• Test your plan and update contact information and other details as needed.
• Develop trusted media relationships before a crisis strikes.

Key objectives:

• Maintain connectivity with stakeholders.
• Be readily accessible to the news media.
• Show empathy for people affected by the disaster.

A few other dos and don'ts:

• Anticipate questions and be prepared; create talking points.
• Don't admit fault or spread blame.
• Wait for the facts to unfold; don't speculate.
• Notify closely affected parties before they learn the details through the media.
• Be available for interviews.
• Have media kits (in print or on flash drive) updated for quick distribution.
• Tell the truth and be consistent with your story.
• Make referrals as appropriate to other sources of information.
• If you're lacking information, tell media exactly when you'll have it. Then deliver.
• Monitor news coverage and follow up after the immediate crisis.
  
  

CRPRA Member News!

Amber O'Connor, Marketing Director at Erb's Technology Solutions and a member of the CRPRA Steering Committee, was recently elected to the Professional Women's Network Board of Directors. She will start a 3-year term in January.

Amy Belice was recently a presenter at the Open Doors Open Minds conference, produced by the Grant Wood AEA to introduce middle school girls to technology careers. Also, The Iowa Ledger, designed by Amy Belice Graphic Design, was recently awarded a national Apex award for improvement in design.

Eric Wylie, of Wylie Creative Communications and a member of the CRPRA Steering Committee, recently presented to the Anamosa High School Web Design class. Wylie is registered as a presenter through The Workplace Learning Connection at Kirkwood Community College and talks with classes of various grade levels about voiceover, audio production, Web design and marketing/communications. In recent years he has been invited to work with students in the Anamosa, Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar and Prairie Community school districts.