Seneca College - RED 2016 - 30

Notes on crisis
communications from
grads in the field

Five communications professionals
share their experiences conveying news
when the stakes are highest

Robin Smith, Jordan Redshaw
and Russell Baker
Press secretaries, Regional
Municipality of Wood Buffalo
Brad Ross
Executive Director, Corporate Communications
Toronto Transit Commission

This wasn't a
crisis of image or
reputation. It was
a crisis of life.

30 RED

2016

Harrison Ruess
Senior Strategic Communications Advisor
Leader of the Official Opposition

ASK ANY COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONAL about the importance of crisis communications and they will tell you
it is vital to maintaining an organization's brand and
reputation when problems arise.

Four graduates of Seneca's Corporate Communication program and a Broadcasting-Radio & Television
grad have found themselves responsible for crisis
communications with organizations across different
sectors.
As Harrison Ruess, Senior Strategic Communications Advisor for the Leader of the Official Opposition
points out, in this digital age, everyone is a communicator. Providing newsworthy content is no longer the
exclusive domain of journalists. Citizens with cellphones and a social media channel now share the playing field. Someone is always listening, and within 140
characters or a five-second video, you could find yourself facing a crisis.
Public relations and communications are often
associated with organizational reputation and managing relationships with a strategic mindset. But these
everyday priorities are superseded when crises arise.
This was the reality faced by three Seneca
graduates, Robin Smith, Jordan Redshaw and Russell
Baker. All three were Press secretaries at the Regional
Municipality of Wood Buffalo, when Fort McMurray
was sieged with wildfire.
Fortunately, they had experienced a mock crisis
drill a month before the fires started and were as well
prepared as they could be to fulfill their obligations.
Yet how do you truly prepare for the evacuation of
88,000 people?
"It's the school of hard knocks at this point," says
Robin. "This wasn't a crisis of image or reputation.
It was a crisis of life."

PHOTO: JOANNE RATAJCZAK

Brad Ross, TTC's Executive
Director, Corporate Communication, is responsible
for informing nearly two
million stakeholders and
14,000 employees.

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