Final Exam Essay Question Crisis Communication Plan

Crisis Communication Plan

The very first thing I would do is put a statement on our webpage letting people know about the tornado and that we are doing everything to make sure people visiting Fort Worth are safe. I would continue to update the page on whether or not we are open for business. There would only be one person dealing with the media. All employees would be clearly aware of our plan so there is no confusion. I would then start calling the area hotels, restaurants, conference areas and shops to assess the damage and determine if we should still hold meetings here or if we should try to reschedule.
If Fort Worth is closed for business I would call the next closest city that is able to hold conferences and see if they can help us and take in some of our guests. I would contact the businesses and groups in town and help them find places to stay if necessary. I would then call people due in town for the following week or month, depending on damage and cleanup time, and fill them in on what has happened and let them know their options of either coming in and staying or going somewhere else or rescheduling.
If Fort Worth remained open for business I would make sure everyone (the media, guests and people coming in) knew that we are open for business. I would show on my website areas that are damaged and have pictures of the places that aren’t. A map would be put up on the website and given to visitors when they arrive locating the streets that have the most damage. This will make their stay easier. After all is said and done, I would reevaluate my plan and see if there was anything else I could have done differently for the next time something like this was to happen. I would also see if maybe other cities would make a commitment to work with us when disaster strikes and vice versa. We would each step in and help each other by opening up conference rooms and hotels so the visitors didn’t have such a hassle. We would make sure we have a proactive plan for the future.

Final Blog Assignment

The Texas Youth Commision, TYC, fired their director of juvenile corrections, Lydia Baird, for failing to take appropriate actions against a school superintendent accused of sexually abusing inmates. The Dallas Morning News, The Denton Record Chronicle, and The Austin Chronicle have all reported wrong doing at the TYC. This is not the first time Lydia Baird had a chance to address a sexual abuse issue with this superintendent. It has been a reoccuring issue and she had many chances to address the issue. The TYC posted only four press releases on their website. The latest one was announcing an abuse hotline made available for people to call to report any problems. The first released since Lydia was demoted in January was posted March 1, 2007. It was released to employees making them aware of problems at the TYC and that they will see things written in newspapers and need to stay dedicated to their work. Another was released the same day to the public announcing the new executive director and his background inofrmation. The TYC then released to the press a time when the TYC was holding a board meeting and when the new director would be available for comments. I believe that the TYC did a bad job dealing with this issue. The board meeting should have been held last year. Not two months after the fact. It had been going on for too long to continue to aviod. There was definitely a lack of response to this issue. As soon as it came out, the TYC should have posted an immediate response on their website. The only thing posted was a number to the abuse hot line which makes it look like there is a huge demand for this hot line. To me it makes matters worse. They should have posted a response and a solution to the problem and then had the hot line posted.

Grassroots or Astroturf

The Rainforest Action Network is a grassroots organization that is made up of 36 staff members in San Francisco, CA and in Tokyo, Japan, plus thousands of volunteer scientists, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens around the world. They have an annual budget of slightly more than $3 million, RAN has helped convince dozens of corporations—including Home Depot, Citigroup, Boise Cascade, and Goldman Sachs—to change their practices, congratulating them when they do so. They have helped to protect millions of acres of forests in Canada, Indonesia, Brazil, Chile and beyond.
Their Campaigns Include:
Global Finance – Works to bring social and environmental accountability to all aspects of global financial business practices.

Old Growth – Works to preserve the Earth's remaining ancient forests by driving old growth wood products out of the marketplace and by promoting the use of sustainable alternatives.

Freedom from Oil – Works to end America’s oil dependence, reduce oil related conflicts, and stop global climate change by convincing the auto industry to dramatically improve fuel efficiency and eliminate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.

Their programs are:

The 12-Step Program – From extraction to pollution, our oil addiction is a common thread in all of our campaigns. We need to get off this toxic chemical today, and RAN has put together a 12-Step program to do it.

Rainforests in the Classroom – Our Rainforests in the Classroom program educates and inspires students to take an active role in protecting the Earth.

Protect-an-Acre – Protect-an-Acre is a small grants program which contributes directly to forest communities struggling to protect their rainforest homelands and the natural-resource base on which these communities rely.

Class

My press release and biographies

DENTON- March 6, 2007- The University of North Texas will be hosting the 2007 Waterways Conference March 13-16. Robert F Kennedy Jr. will be speaking at the University of North Texas on issues concerning water management March 14 at eight p.m. It will be part of Waterways 2007, which is a conference that is designed to raise awareness of water basin issues. Waterways 2007 brings together scientists, philosophers, politicians, artists, managers and specialists from the public and private sector, encouraging dialogues about crucial water issues across traditional boundaries.

The Philosophy of Water Project is organizing the conference along with other organizations. The main focus of the 2007 Conference is the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basin.

The Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basin system is one of the most fertile river basins in the world and carries the most water in the world after the Amazon and Congo River basins.

There will be featured speakers for each day of the conference. In addition, Waterways will have performing and visual art focusing on water.

For more information go to www.water.unt.edu

About Waterways

WaterWays 2007 is the second biennial Water Conference at the University of North Texas organized by the Philosophy of Water Project (www.water.unt.edu) in collaboration with other Departments. As a Confluence of Art, Science, Policy and Philosophy, it brings together scientists, philosophers, politicians, artists, managers and specialists from both the public and private sector, encouraging dialogues about crucial water issues across traditional boundaries. Its goal is to raise awareness of water basin issues. The focus of WaterWays 2007 is river basins, specifically the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin.

WaterWays 2007 is sponsored by the Dixon Water Foundation through the Philosophy of Water Project. Generous assistance has been provided by the Department of Environmental Journalism, the Elm Fork Education Center, the School of Visual Arts, the Institute of Applied Sciences, and the Department of Philosophy & Religion Studies at the University of North Texas-Denton.

For More Info
Call 940-565-2266

Robeert F. Kennedy Jr.
He is the son of late senator Robert F. Kennedy. He has a reputation as a defender for the environment. He was named one of Time magazine's “Heroes for the Planet” for his success helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. The group's achievement helped spawn more than 130 Waterkeeper organizations across the globe. Mr. Kennedy serves as Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and President of Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of Ring of Fire on Air America Radio. He has worked on environmental issues and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands. He is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City's water supply. He helped lead the fight to turn back the anti-environmental legislation during the 104th Congress. Some of Mr. Kennedy's published books are the New York Times’ bestseller Crimes Against Nature (2004), St. Francis of Assisi: A Life of Joy (2005), The Riverkeepers (1997), and Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr: A BiographyHarvard University. He studied at the London School of Economics and received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. Following graduation he attended Pace University School of Law, where he was awarded a Masters Degree in Environmental Law. (1977).

Ramaswamy R Iyer
In May 1990, joined the faculty of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, as Research Professor, and worked on a project (in collaboration with institutions in Bangladesh and Nepal) on cooperation by India, Nepal and Bangladesh in the utilization of the waters of the Eastern Himalayan Rivers for the benefit of all three countries.(1990-1999) He was closely involved in the non‑official consultations prior to the inter-governmental negotiations which culminated in the Indo‑Bangladesh Treaty on the sharing of the waters of the Ganga (12 December 1996); now continuing as Honorary Research Professor, CPR. He has held a number of civil service positions in various Central Government Offices and Ministries, culminating in the position of Secretary to the Government of India.

Lead For Waterways

These are my notes for my news release for the Waterways Project.

Lead- UNT will host the 2007 WaterWays project March 13-16. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be a guest speaker along with other speakers from all over. Waterways is a water conference that brings together scientists, philosophers, politicians, artists, managers and specialists from both the public and private sectors. It encourages dialogues about water issues and its goal is to raise awareness of water basin issues.


Robert F. Kennedy J. was named one of Time magazine's "Heroes of the Planet" for his success helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River.