Crisis Response Project: Ready, Set, Plan
July 17 - 18, 2006
Kansas City, Missouri

WELCOME to the Crisis Response Project Home Page! 
The primary objective of this conference is to help prepare administrators and communicators for dealing with crisis situations in which effective communication is a necessity.  Sixty-eight communicators, administrators, Extension directors, and others with a vested interest in creating a functional risk and crisis response attended the workshop; applying knowledge gained during the two days, participants delivered mock press conferences based on a crisis created in a game and drafted a crisis communications plan for their individual institutions.

 

TOPICS

What is crisis communication?
Why should we develop a plan to deal with crisis communication? 
Day One, we discussed how to prepare for a crisis.  To practice how to react a crisis, the workshop participants played a game ; first, they had to allocate funds to various resources, followed by a potential crisis.  After this, they rolled die to ascertain whether or not they spent their money wisely.  If they did well, their results were better; however, if they did not allocate well, they had a crisis.  After this, each table had to give a press conference, and the spokesperson that dealt with with the problem in the best way won a prize.

Parts of crisis communication plan
What are the elements of a crisis communication plan?
Both days, a PowerPoint presentation was given, detailing each part of a crisis communications plan.  Day Two, participants joined other members from their institutions and developed a crisis plan to take back with them.

Works in Progress
On July 18, the conference participants worked with members of their home institutions who were also present, and drafted crisis communications plans.  Here are the drafts of those institutions:
Ohio State Plan
Mississippi State Plan
South Dakota State Plan
Purdue Plan
Virginia Tech Plan
Washington State Plan
University of Nebraska- Lincoln Plan
Iowa State Extension Plan
Montana State Plan
North Dakota State Plan
Alabama Extension and Experiment Station Plan
Pennsylvania State University Plan

RESOURCES USED

Best Practices Presentation
Binder Items
Plan Template

Please feel free to use this information in developing your own crisis communications plan.

PLANNING TEAM

Auburn University
Virginia Morgan, Ed.D, Co-leader, Extension Communications

Kansas State University
Kristina Boone, Ph.D, Professor and Head, Department of Communications

University of Missouri
Greg Horstmeier, News Director, Extension and Agricultural Information

University of Nebraska
Vicki Miller , research communications coordinator, Office of Research

North Dakota State University
Tim Sellnow, Ph.D, Professor of Communications
Steven Venette, Ph.D, Co-Director, Crisis Response Project
Becky Koch, Director of the Agricultural Communications Department

University of Oklahoma
Shari Veil, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication

SPONSORS

USDA-CSREES
Extension Disaster Education Network
K-State Research and Extension
National Center of Food Protection and Defense