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Notes on crisis communications from grads in the field

PHOTO: JOANNE RATAJCZAK

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

“This wasn’t a crisis of image or reputation. It was a crisis of life.”

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

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 But these everyday priorities are superseded when crises arise.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.”

30 RED 2016