Disaster Response; the Public Info Officer’s Perspective (Part 1)

December 13, 2015 · by brandon brewer | in From the Field | tagged crisis, crisis communication, crude by rail, emergency communication, Environmental, Government Comms, Greatest Hits of 2015, incident communication, Joint Information, Joint Information Center, Operations, PIO, preparation | Leave a comment

Crude oil train accidents in North America have been making headlines the last few years and early this year I “debriefed” my public information officer friend, Thomas, after he returned from a deployment to one of these incidents. He and his crisis communication team had some challenges, to say the least. This piece comes in […]

Ten Years After: How Katrina Made Me a Better Crisis Responder

August 26, 2015 · by brandon brewer | in From the Field, Historical Cases | tagged Crisis Comms 101, Hurricane Katrina, Katrina 10th, Lesson Learned, Natural Disaster, The Fundamentals | 2 Comments

I’d love to change the world But, I don’t know what to do So, I’ll leave it up to you Note: This piece is the second of four we’ve put together for the 10-year anniversary of Katrina. Paul and I reported to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Public Information Assist Team the summer of 2005. Our team was in the disaster […]

6 Reasons New Orleans Loves the Coast Guard, 10 Years Later

August 25, 2015 · by Paul Rhynard | in From the Field, Historical Cases | tagged Government Comms, Hurricane Katrina, incident communication, Katrina 10th, Lesson Learned, Natural Disaster, Perception is Reality, Success Story | Leave a comment

Note: This was adapted from a piece published in March 2014, called “Silver Linings, Federal Response to Katrina,” and is the first of four pieces we’ve put together for the 10-year anniversary of Katrina. Brandon and I reported to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Public Information Assist Team the summer of 2005. Our team was in the disaster zone from […]

How to Open Your House

August 24, 2015 · by Mariana O'Leary | in From the Field, Lessons Learned | tagged community relations, crisis, crisis communication, effective communication, Government Comms

Think of what it would take to throw a large wedding, where the entire town is invited, in a short amount of time. You’ll need a team to divide and conquer the following:

The Better Way to Give Affected Masses Crisis Info

August 6, 2015 · by brandon brewer | in From the Field, Historical Cases | tagged community relations, effective communication, Lesson Learned, PR, Public Information, public meetings, Public Relations, reputation management, Risk Communication | 2 Comments

Here’s today’s public service announcement from me to you: if you have bad news or risk information to communicate to people affected by crisis, don’t ever (ever, ever, EVER) choose to hold a town hall meeting to do so. Some people look at me like I’m crazy when I say this – even veteran communicators – so […]