Hi everyone,
As I write my report, I am continuously reflecting on my placement at the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and trying to marry PR theory learnt at Curtin with industry reality.
One day of my placement really stuck in my mind when contemplating this and I thought it would be appropriate to share this with you all. Every time I have had to write a PR plan for a university assignment, I have dreaded getting to the crisis contingency section. However, this one day on my placement really brought to life the theory behind PR crisis contingency and transformed the in-class intangibility into reality.
During my placement in June, I attended 'Exercise Blue Alpha' at the British Police Headquarters in London with many senior management figures from not only the UKBA, but also the London Olympics Organising Committee and the British Metropolitan Police Force. The day was a crisis scenario testing day for the 2012 London Olympic Games. The exercise consisted of three hypothetical situations being presented to the group, who had to separate into groups to brainstorm the most effective solution to the crisis. One of the hypothetical situations, for example, was 'a fuel tanker truck has rolled on the main highway to the Olympics Stadium on the day of the 100m final. 4000 litres of crude oil is leaking from the truck onto the highway. There have been crashes however the number of fatalities is not know. Caught in the accident is a minibus carrying 100m finalist competitors as well as a car carrying a VIP dignitary and foreign media.'
In groups of ten, attendees were asked brainstormed the reaction to the crisis and how this would relate not only specifically to their department, but also have a significant knock on effect to other departments and the wider community remembering that the global spotlight was on London during the Games.
Groups worked together to discuss and analyse guidelines, departmental policies and emergency relief efforts in response to the crises.
There was a significant emphasis on PR however, with lines to the media and both internal and external communication emerging as a fundamental procedure that must be effectively dealt with in the event of a crisis. There were several communications specialists seating at each table and they often stood up to take the microphone to emphasis a point and the drive home how imperative interdepartmental communication is in times of a crisis. Until this discussion session, I had understood the theory behind this, but seeing a multitude of high powered PR and communication consultants addressing a senior management body in preparation for the 2010 Olympic Games really brought this to life.
Jess.
As I write my report, I am continuously reflecting on my placement at the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and trying to marry PR theory learnt at Curtin with industry reality.
One day of my placement really stuck in my mind when contemplating this and I thought it would be appropriate to share this with you all. Every time I have had to write a PR plan for a university assignment, I have dreaded getting to the crisis contingency section. However, this one day on my placement really brought to life the theory behind PR crisis contingency and transformed the in-class intangibility into reality.
During my placement in June, I attended 'Exercise Blue Alpha' at the British Police Headquarters in London with many senior management figures from not only the UKBA, but also the London Olympics Organising Committee and the British Metropolitan Police Force. The day was a crisis scenario testing day for the 2012 London Olympic Games. The exercise consisted of three hypothetical situations being presented to the group, who had to separate into groups to brainstorm the most effective solution to the crisis. One of the hypothetical situations, for example, was 'a fuel tanker truck has rolled on the main highway to the Olympics Stadium on the day of the 100m final. 4000 litres of crude oil is leaking from the truck onto the highway. There have been crashes however the number of fatalities is not know. Caught in the accident is a minibus carrying 100m finalist competitors as well as a car carrying a VIP dignitary and foreign media.'
In groups of ten, attendees were asked brainstormed the reaction to the crisis and how this would relate not only specifically to their department, but also have a significant knock on effect to other departments and the wider community remembering that the global spotlight was on London during the Games.
Groups worked together to discuss and analyse guidelines, departmental policies and emergency relief efforts in response to the crises.
There was a significant emphasis on PR however, with lines to the media and both internal and external communication emerging as a fundamental procedure that must be effectively dealt with in the event of a crisis. There were several communications specialists seating at each table and they often stood up to take the microphone to emphasis a point and the drive home how imperative interdepartmental communication is in times of a crisis. Until this discussion session, I had understood the theory behind this, but seeing a multitude of high powered PR and communication consultants addressing a senior management body in preparation for the 2010 Olympic Games really brought this to life.
Jess.
2 comments:
Wow! That is such a great experience. I completely agree that the theory with crisis management is sometimes so intangable that it is hard to get excited about it. But it sounds so interesting to actually be able to brainstorm and implement possible plans. Good Luck! Your placement sounds fantastic :D
Hey Jess:) You had an amazing experiment and as i was going through some blogs i saw that everyone was placed in areas that had less workload but you talking about brainstorming and implementing plans might have been quite time consuming.Just know that whatever you did it will develop you to a good critical thinker.All the best dear:)
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