8 minute read
5 in 5 Tips & tricks from industry experts
By the 2019-2020 Crisis Communication Ad Hoc Committee: Patti Pawlik-Perales, Alamo Height ISD, Chair; Ian Halperin, Wylie ISD; Tim Savoy, Hays CISD; Sylvia Rincon, Southside ISD; Melissa Tortorici, Texas City ISD; Kristin Zastoupil, Forney ISD; Monica Faulkenbery, APR, Northside ISD
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PRE-PLANNING
• Make a list of your audiences ahead of time. Break them into internal and external. How you respond to each will be different. • Work with district leadership to secure buy-in on plan in advance of crisis. • Consider having scripts prepared that only need name/location updates. • Consider using prepared holding statements before putting out misinformation in order to communicate as quickly as possible. • Activate your "dark" website page with updated information. • Have a recorded message Caller ID number for alerts to aid with the return calls following a Black Board or School Messenger robocall. ("We have activated our alert system. For additional information, please refer to our district website and social media accounts.'') • Have a firm framework procedure in place regarding the reporting and internal communication flow when a crisis occurs - emphasize time sensitivity. • Back-up plan for down communication. • Campuses/Departments have designated roles. • Make sure everyone understands their roles.
DURING THE CRISIS
• Understand the circumstances; define the problem. • Create a brief summary for yourself and your team that details just the facts that can be used for all communications (Staff, Parents, Media, Board, Staff answering calls, etc.). • Remember the three things people want to see from an organization in a crisis: authority, information and empathy. • Coordinate with police, fire and emergency personnel to release accurate information. • Own what you own, remember to address the response and what your district is doing.
• Remember to seek updates from your subject-matter experts every hour to keep community updated. • Communicate to your audiences (Employees & Board, Parents, Media) and keep the news media informed, as needed. (Media may follow your social media accounts to gather information and details.) Utilize your crisis communication team roster, key communicator lists and media contact sheets. • Anticipate needs: clerical support to answer phones. Utilize other staff members to monitor social media. Note trends, topics that may need to be addressed once things slow down. • Note all incoming calls, including a media log. • Identify press conference sites away from crisis location. • Remind team members of their assigned roles. • Expect chaos. Expect the unexpected. Stay calm. AFTER THE CRISIS TSPRA peers are ready to help! Call the TSPRA office at 512-474-9107 or email info@tspra.org • Provide a timetable for future plans when possible. • Debrief after to better prepare for the future. • Have a recorded message Caller ID number for alerts to aid with the return calls following a Black Board or School Messenger robocall. • Consider a universal statement or email letter so that you can save time not having to create a media statement vs. parent letter, etc. • Don't make promises/policy in crisis mode. Stay true to what makes your district special.
Top five tips that industry experts want you to know.
ELECTRONIC MEDIA PRODUCTION
Clif Cotton Assistant Communications Director, Digital Media Denton ISD
Be flexible: This is without a doubt the most important tip I can give. I have shot thousands of things during my career and I’ve never had one shoot go exactly the way I thought during my mental preparations. Often times, flexibility can lead to a much better end product than you thought when you left the office for the shoot. Go where the story takes you. Don’t take the story where you want it to go.
Use the right tool for the right job: We recently had a coach that was making a surprise announcement to his team. I knew it would make a great video, but I didn’t want to ruin the surprise by showing up with my big camera. I shot the video on my phone and this short little video has gotten more than eight million views across various platforms online. It was a great boost to the school community and our Athletic Department because it showed how much those kids and this coach mean to each other.
Keep the main thing the main thing: Ask yourself, “What am I trying to accomplish with this video or photo shoot?” Make sure you shoot video or pictures that tell that story the best. The Braswell video is an example of that. I knew the player reaction would be the best part of this video so I made sure to hold the reaction shot on them a little longer than normal. I wasn’t worried about capturing everything happening in that moment. I just want to make sure I captured what I thought were the most important things.
Know your limitations: Every project is not Saving Private Ryan. Sometimes getting a project turned quickly is the most important thing. Do the best you can in the time allotted.
Always remember the feels: You’re trying to get your audience to feel something in every video that you do. Remember what feeling you are trying to give the viewer and remember that when you’re shooting and writing.
ONE PERSON STAFF
Kristyn Hunt Cathey Media/Communications Specialist, Public Relations Port Arthur ISD
Create a Communications Plan: You need a document that lays out exactly your position and what you are responsible for doing. How does your position align with the district’s goals and mission? Make it clear to your supervisor that it is a fluid document. Take an account of the communication being sent out internally and externally. If it’s working, then keep it. If not, then don’t. Create a survey for your parents and staff. For example, Facebook is the #1 mode of communication preferred by our parents and we have less
than five percent that follow Twitter. Based on those results, we are eliminating Twitter and putting all of our focus on improving the content on Facebook. Evaluate the effectiveness of everything you create in your department. There is no need to give life to something that isn’t benefitting your stakeholders.
Develop a Communications Ambassador Program:
Reach out to your campus principals and ask them to recommend at least two people that will be responsible for taking photos, submitting articles, updating social media, etc. You will manage all of the social media in the district, but this will allow our campuses to feel some sort of ownership over the news coming from their campus.
It’s time for an internship program! Before I began working in the district, I was a full-time communications professor. What many of our students needed then and now were internship opportunities. Smaller cities typically don’t have as many options as a larger, metropolitan city would. You can use this to your advantage! Reach out to your local college/university and offer an internship to the communications, marketing or English departments. These students are sometimes more well-versed in technology than we are! They can take photos, edit videos, manage social media, copy edit articles and more and yes-this can all be done virtually!
Don’t reinvent the wheel. I burned out very early on in my position because I was creating many documents on my own. That is, until I became a member of TSPRA and NSPRA. Both organizations provide their members with access to their document vaults that are full of examples anyone can use. Create a Google Drive folder and save those documents so that you can be ready if and should you need them. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Someone else has done what you need to do. Use free apps like Canva, Hootsuite, etc. Free is always good!
You cannot do it all and that’s okay. I had to remind myself of this more and more since Hurricane Harvey in 2017. I was a mom of a six-month old when 90 percent of our city was devastated due to this catastrophic storm. Having to deal with the unknown on your job and at home is something I never thought I would ever encounter and yet; here we are! There is only much you can do in one day before it takes over your life. The 2020 TSPRA conference’s overarching theme was on finding that “work-life-balance.” Truth? I haven’t found it yet, and due to COVID, I don’t think others have either. But that’s okay. We cannot be good to our jobs if we aren’t good to ourselves. Set manageable goals. Take it day by day before building up to week by week. TSPRA afforded me the honor of meeting colleagues that are now my friends. I have a group that I chat with on a daily basis. We bounce personal and professional ideas off of each other. We hold each other accountable. Find that tribe. In the words of my dearly departed grandmother, Bessie Frances, “Remember-whatever you put on your plate, you have to eat.” If you can’t commit to doing it all, don’t put it on your calendar. You’ll be held accountable and there’s no one else to take the heat but YOU!
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Adam J. Bennett Brand Experience Manager Coppell ISD
Who is your audience? Who are you trying
to reach? For school districts, there are several audiences to consider — students, parents or guardians, employees and community or business partners. Larger districts may want to drill down the audience even further to reach specific demographics, i.e. gender, age, location, family income, etc. Knowing your audience is an important consideration as you determine what type of graphic you will create.
What story are you trying to tell? Think about creating an infotainment graphic. One that is informative and also entertaining. This may be the first impression the audience has of your organization. You want to draw the viewer’s attention and curiosity. You want to make sure the graphic entices them to want more. You also want the graphic to
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