Crisis Communications. Rhonda Weldon, Director of Communications Robin Gerrow, AVP for Public Affairs The University of Texas at Austin

Transcription

1 Crisis Communications Rhonda Weldon, Director of Communications Robin Gerrow, AVP for Public Affairs The University of Texas at Austin

2 Background On September 28, 2010, math sophomore Colton Tooleyconceals an AK47 in his backpack and rides CapMetrobus to UT Austin Arrives on campus at 8:07 a.m.; changes into a black suit coat and black ski mask; begins walking down 21 st Street firing his weapon randomly Walks into Perry Castaneda Library, runs up stairs to the 6 th floor, shoots himself

3 Communications Timeline 8:12 a.m. First report of shooter (911 call) 8:13:21 a.m. All units dispatched to a possible shooter east bound on 21 st St. 8:16:31 a.m. First 3 units, arrive at door of PCL-one UTPD and two APD. 8:16:37 a.m. First reported that person has entered PCL 8:17a.m. 3 more UTPD officers enter PCL, all but one goes to the 6 th level, one officer was left to secure the lobby. 8:18 a.m. UTPD arrives and Incident Command (IC) center established 8:18 a.m. AVP for Campus Safety and Security contact PIO 8:19 a.m. Text alert issued 8:20 a.m. PIO takes press calls en route (in car) 8:20 a.m. University Command centers (EOC, Stark Library) opened 8:20a.m. 4 more UTPD officers enter PCL, go up to level 6. 8:22a.m. 3 more UTPD officers enter PCL, secure downstairs lobby area 8:22-8:25 a.m. Sixth floor PCL swept, Colton Tooley sbody is found, Law enforcement begin effort to rule out reports/descriptions of others

4 Communications Timeline 8:25 a.m. Campus siren sounded (Siren and loudspeaker announcements went every 10 minutes) 8:30 a.m. UTPD Facebookpost 8:35 a.m. Press briefing on scene 8:37 a.m. Campus-wide from VP for University Operations, who oversees UTPD, Emergency Web page posting 8:41 a.m. Second text alertissue, "be safe" Facebookposting, updated posting on UTPD Facebooksite and emergency Web page 8:44 a.m. Emergency page update 8:48 a.m. Emergency page update 8:50 a.m. Information displayed on campus television (cable) 9:00 a.m. Phone interviews with other markets, national outlets 9:05 a.m. Home page summary 9:07 a.m. Twitter update (Public Affairs and UTPD provided updates) 9:11 a.m. Facebook pages update

5 Communications Timeline 9:12 a.m. Emergency page update 9:15 a.m line activated 9:25 a.m. Home page update 9:27 a.m. Twitter update ~9:30 a.m. Press update 9:43 a.m. Emergency page update 9:43 a.m. Home page update 9:44 a.m. Facebook pages update 9:48 a.m. Home page update 9:52 a.m. from President Powers 10:08 a.m. Emergency page update 10:08 a.m. Twitter update 10:12 a.m. Twitter update 10:13 a.m. Facebook pages update 10:15 a.m. Press conference (UTPD Chief, APD Chief, Pres. Powers, Austin Mayor)

6 Communications Timeline 10:18 a.m. Third text alert** 11:00 a.m. Emergency page update 11:20 a.m. Emergency page update 11:25 a.m. Facebook pages update 11:48 a.m. Facebook pages update 12:01 p.m. Emergency page update 12:06 p.m. from President Powers 12:06 p.m. Facebook pages update 12:09 p.m. Emergency page update 12:10 p.m. Fourth text update 12:23 p.m. All-clear announcement over loudspeaker 12:25 p.m. President Powers cancels classes for the day 12:27 p.m. Emergency page update 12:46 p.m. Facebook page update ~1:00 p.m. Second press conference (UTPD Chief, APD Chief, Pres. Powers, Austin Mayor)

7 Preparation and Practice Emergency Plan Crisis communications plan National Incident Management system (NIMS) and (Incident Command System)ICS training U.S. Department of Homeland Security Public Information Officer every day not just when REALLY bad things happen Active shooter training (police and their partners, faculty, staff, and students); tabletop crisis scenarios with university administrators ( First five things ) Message templates for every scenario (web and 132 character for text alerts)

8 Array of Communications Channels Siren (Dispatch controls) Text Messaging (Dispatch controls) Internet Web Postings Public Media Social Media Office Phones Phone Line Cable TVs / Flat Screens Pagers AtHoc Public Safety Patrol Car Announcements

9 Depth of Personnel University Operations: 2 communicators, 1 admin, 1 social media/web Public Affairs: VP for Public Affairs, AVP for Public Affairs, 1 social media/web, communicators for the colleges Student Affairs Point of Contact Texas Parent Association Point of Contact ITS Point of Contact (1-800 number)

10 Leveraging relationships God bless football games and Texas Relays Multi agency EOC opportunities UTPD Unique PIO relationship Local Media If your reputation is good to start... Interdepartmental (monthly meetings of Campus Safety and Security team)

11 Lessons Learned Technology will fail (and some tech support won t be available until the all clear is given) You will be out of the office when this happens Your back up will be out sick Reporters will sneak into the perimeter Students, parents, spectators, etc. will post their version of what s happening to social media You will not CONTROL anything but you will manage it if you re prepared

12 Plans, preparation, practice Best Practices Immediate, timely communications First priority is safety, then reputation management Provide guidance and empower staff to act Your messages and actions in the aftermath are just as important (maybe more so) as what you do in the first 30 minutes. Mental health and counseling services References to the suspect Returning to normal operations

13 Web and Social Media Channels

14 CHA NN E L 9 / / 2 8 UT home page (unique) Emergency page (unique) 114, , ,456 UT Austin +1, new UTPD 469 9,707 Be Safe, Texas

15 Emergency Preparedness Page 166,456 pageviews

16 News Page: Emergency Alert

17 News Page: Emergency Alert 84,218 pageviews 69,865 unique pageviews 102 comments From my kid who is a UT alumni and works at the Blanton, he was totally impressed with the warnings that were put out to include, sirens, and blocking off the campus. He called us right away to let us know he was okay. From a parent standpoint, thank you for prompt response to a tragic affair. I echo the sentiments of other parents of UT students in saying a big Thank You to the University staff and UT police and other law enforcement for their swift action and especially for keeping everyone informed. My daughter was in Gregory at the time. We're all rattled but OK.

18 Know: Emergency Alert

19 Know: Emergency Alert 54,020 pageviews 44,579 unique pageviews 85 comments I am truly grateful to the University management and staff for their excellent emergency communications and procedures; and to both the UTPD and APD for their courageous and professional management of today s situation. Again I am grateful to you all. Gun debate comments Thank you comments

20 News: Campus shooting follow-up

21 News: Campus shooting follow-up 49,711 pageviews 46,839 unique pageviews 130 comments I am a graduate student at UT. The University runs practice sirens every month so we know what they are when they go off during an event like today. They also sent texts messages and alerts that instructed us what to do. Myself, I was on the bus into campus and it turned around and wouldn't let us off anywhere near UT. You will never be able to prevent this from happening 100%, but as a student I feel that the University and law enforcement took every reasonable action to keep me safe and most importantly kept me informed so I could keep myself safe.

22 September 28 1,000+ new Facebook fans 600+ new Twitter followers UT Social Media

23 UTPD Facebookpage

24 UTPD Facebookpage September likes September 28 9,707 September 29 10,313 likes

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26 Empower staff Have redundancies Share credentials More lessons learned Divide and conquer Consider a lite mode Update status continuously, even if there is no change

27 Make sure your Facebook and Twitter accounts follow and friend each other In an emergency, turn off unmoderated comments Expect extreme reactions Flag inappropriate behavior For moderated comments, get to them as soon as possible, but remember they are not the top priority