Virtually CRISIS Conference
We are now pleased to share the recordings of all the presentations and panel discussions.
Virtually CRISIS Conference Presenters & Panelists
Wednesday October 7, 2020
Dr. Mario Hardy
Dr. Timothy Coombs
Mr. Daryl Black
Mr. Billy Nolen
Dr. Chaseten Remillard
Dr. Vincent Covello
Dr. Deena Hinshaw
Dr. Chris MacLennan
Dr. Rob Britton
Ms. Emily O’Brien
Dr. Christiani Thompson
Thursday October 8, 2020
Ms. Amanda Coleman
Mr. Greg Solecki
Mr. Darren Butt
Mr. Shane Schreiber
Ms. Shawna Bruce
Mr. Josh Bowen
Mr. Bob Jensen
Dr. Chaseten Remillard
Dr. Sweta Chakraborty
Dr. Steve Joordens
Dr. Satymoorthy Kabilan
Mr. Zack Ziolkowski
Dr. Athena Madan & Research Team
RECORDINGS
Wednesday October 7, 2020
Dr. Mario Hardy
CEO, Pacific-Asia Travel Association
COVID 19 & The Future of Tourism
While the media are flooding us with statements and updates; the tourism sector is desperately looking for ways to reopen and manage a situation that is constantly evolving. The tourism sector will take years to recover; so how does an industry that contributes to more than 10% of global GDP get back on track?
Dr. Timothy Coombs
Professor, Texas A&M University
From Ordinary to the Extraordinary: Evidence-based Crisis Communication Advice
Crisis communication research can help the practice by identifying when particular crisis response strategies are effective and ineffective—offering tested advice to practitioners. Practitioners then interpret that advice through their own experiences. Dr. Coombs will highlight some of the best advice academic crisis communication research has to offer. He will cover the advice that seems to work in “ordinary” crises and what could help in extraordinary crises.
Mr. Daryl Black
Crisis Leadership Trainer & Coach
JUST Make a Decision Already! Decision-Making Concepts Proven to Work During Uncertain Times
Crisis leadership is about reacting quickly to the curves and hazards on the road and to do that means changing how leaders gather information, the level of information needed and ACT. It’s about ACTING, ASSESSING and ADJUSTING.
Mr. Billy Nolen
Vice President, Safety, Security & Quality at WestJet
WestJet’s Response to COVID-19
Mr. Billy Nolen shares some insights on WestJet’s response to COVID-19 and how the airline had to adjust to the new impacts of the pandemic while maintaining the priority of safety for crew and passengers.
Panel Discussion
Dr. Vincent Covello, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Dr. Chris MacLennan, Dr. Chaseten Remillard
Join world-leading risk communication expert, Dr. Vincent Covello in discussion with the Province of Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Global Affairs Canada Associate Deputy Minister, Dr. Chris MacLennan. Research and theory put into practice amidst success and challenges in managing and communication COVID-19.
Dr. Rob Britton
Former Director, American Airlines
Marketing Communications at American Airlines after the “9/11” Terrorist Attacks in 2001
In this session Rob reviews: Advertising, direct marketing, and media relations at American Airlines following the 9/11 attacks. Provide an assessment of our management of the crisis and provide a Fast forward to 2020: perspectives on COVID. There will be time for questions and discussions.
Ms. Emily O’Brien
Founder, ComeBack Snacks
Coming Back From Behind
Emily O’Brien is the founder of Comeback Snacks popcorn company. It all started when she went to prison. Before, Emily was an entrepreneur and social media professional, having created her own firm at a young age and enjoyed great success. Regrettably, addiction caused her to make some poor choices that culminated in a four-year jail term.
As her sentence began, Emily made it her mission to transform herself, get clean, and make a positive difference during her term. “I didn’t know how I’d make a difference at the time,” says Emily, “but I knew I would find something I cared about that would benefit from a purpose-driven facelift.”
Thus, Comeback Snacks (formerly known as Cons and Kernels)was born.
Upon her release, Emily made a decision to start a popcorn company that used high quality, health-conscious ingredients to create unique flavours inspired by the ones she found in prison. A fun, self-deprecating brand that would also help remove the stigma around people who had prior convictions and provide newly-released offenders with the chance at a fresh start through training, empowerment, and education.
Ms. Christiani Thompson
Professor & Researcher
Social Media and COVID-19
Christiani (Chris) Thompson will be presenting on behalf of Dr. Shandell Houlden.
In a time of an unprecedented global pandemic, health-related crisis communication on digital channels needs to reach those who need it most. This presentation will examine people’s engagement with COVID 19 related information, including reasons they give for feeling that different sources of information are credible. It will look at social media habits that people use to access COVID-19 related health information, and it will show how content, relationships, and identity make up a complex web of influence for health-related message sharing.
Thursday October 8, 2020
Ms. Amanda Coleman
Senior Associate, Centre for Crisis & Risk Communications
Being Human in a Crisis
The most important part of communicating through a crisis is to remember the people, according to crisis communication consultant and author Amanda Coleman. In this session she will use personal experience to provide practical suggestions about building humanity and empathy into your planning, response and long-term recovery.
Panel Discussion
Mr. Greg Solecki, Mr. Shane Schreiber, Mr. Darren Butt, Ms. Shawna Bruce, Mr. Josh Bowen
Emergency Management & Public Information panel discussion,
Mr. Bob Jensen
Senior Managing Director at Strat3LLC
10 Critical Elements of a Crisis Communication System
We are all discovering how hard it can be to do everything virtually. In this session, Bob explores the “system” as opposed to just pieces of crisis communications like messaging or plans or equipment.
Dr. Chaseten Remillard
Professor & Researcher, Royal Roads Unviersity
Questions and Potential Solutions to Reaching Millennials and Generation Zers During a Pandemic
Getting the right message to the right people is critical in a crisis situation. In the early days of the pandemic, communication was critical in communicating the general risks and updating the public on proper protocols. After the initial lockdowns, and during reopening, numbers of infections increased in a younger demographic. How do we effectively communicate to younger people about the risk of CoVid-19? In this presentation, Dr. Chaseten Remillard discusses preliminary questions and potential solutions to reaching Millennials and Generation Zers during a pandemic, such as COVID-19.
Dr. Sweta Chakraborty
Risk & Behavioral Scientist
How Risk Perceptions Fuel Decision Making and Behavioral Outcomes for COVID-19 and Beyond
COVID-19 is a prime example of how our innate biases influence our perceptions of risk. Beyond COVID, there are looming global challenges ahead that we can only overcome if we make decisions informed by data and science. Unfortunately, there are a host of unrelated triggers that influence our risk perceptions, which then fuel our decisions and ultimately our behavioral outcomes. We CAN overcome the cognitive limitations of our brains, and it starts with understanding, admitting to, and gaining control of our innate biases.
Dr. Steve Joordens
University of Toronto, Scarborough
Thinking and Communicating During a Crises: Why It Can Be a Challenge, and Some Strategies to Meet that Challenge
At the outset of COVID Steve created a free online course entitled Mind Control: Managing You Anxiety During COVID. That course (available at Coursera.org) has, to date, had over 100,000 global students register. His talk highlights some of the main points from this course.
Dr. Satymoorthy Kabilan
Executive Partner, Gartner
Building Digital Resilience
Technology has radically altered the shape of many industries and our personal lives. It has also had a similar impact on crisis management and communication – you only need to look at the impact that social media has had in the last decade or so to see that. But the digital revolution has not only altered crisis communication – it has had significant impact on how we prepare for and manage modern emergencies. Digital technologies now play a fundamental role in enabling resilience. What can we learn from the impact of technology in recent emergencies and how can we leverage those lessons to increase our resilience to future emergencies from a digital perspective?
Mr. Zack Ziolkowski
Alberta Counsel
New Normal: Advocacy and Communication in the wake of social distancing
Advocacy and communication are such personal aspects of our world, and social distancing has removed the opportunity for in-person communications. In this session, Zack will discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a shift to a virtual advocacy strategy and how that has complicated traditional methods of government relations. He will cover widely available tools that can overcome new limitations and help you reach and activate your audience.
Dr. Athena Madan & Research Team
Royal Roads University
Crisis communications in humanitarian settings: Pitfalls, pressures, and innovations
This session highlights three examples from research and field experience about the following:
- Data collection techniques informing how refugees mobilise, access material resources, and navigate healthcare issues along their journeys
- Data mapping that illustrate and predict the disproportionate spread of COVID19 in racialised communities
- Non-traditional dissemination platforms and strategies that may assist political literacy and social cohesion in settings where the social fabric has been destroyed
Vignettes discussions identify:
- Common pitfalls in humanitarian intervention communications, so as to avoid perpetuating sociological inequities;
- How to prioritize ideological accountability in communication efforts;
- How increased representation of Global South actors and South‐South co‐operation can be maximized, and what impact that might have on response practices and discourses internationally.
