Crisis Communications Boot Camp 25

20-21 April, Chicago

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Crisis Communications Boot Camp 25

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

20-21 April, Chicago

About the Event

Reserve your spot today for the world’s leading training on crisis communications and reputation management!

Taking place from 20-21 April 2023 in Chicago, the 25th edition of the Crisis Communications Boot Camp will uncover how to reframe your crisis communications strategy for a polarized world. The Boot Camp will focus on the impact of the global political and societal turmoil on reputation management and will examine the stories behind the most-talked abut crises of the past years. 

Why attend:

  • Understand the top critical PR challenges for 2023 and beyond
  • Update your crisis plan and prepare for the unexpected
  • Take a proactive approach to crisis communications
  • Elevate your role as a reputation manager
  • Build strong partnerships with legal and HR before a crisis
  • Master the top communications challenges of cybersecurity
  • Respond to a crisis in a 24/7 social media news cycle
  • Test your existing crisis plan 

The Crisis Communications Boot Camp 25 also includes a full-day crisis communications tabletop to help you test your company’s crisis plan for a polarized world.

Interesting in attending with your colleagues? Contact us today for more info on our group discounts.

Facts & Figures

  • With 25 editions in the past five years, the Crisis Communications is the world's leading training on crisis and reputation management
  • Over 1000+ PR professionals have attended the Crisis Communications Boot Camps in Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Atlanta, Austin, Miami, Helsinki, Brussels, Zurich and London.
  • Past delegates at the Crisis Communications Boot Camps include senior PR professionals from: University of Missouri, Pierpont Communications, Inc., Feeding Tampa Bay, Tucker/Hall, Kappa Delta Sorority, University of Arkansas Libraries, NEP Group, CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Houston Airports, Spelman College, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Norwegian Cruise Line, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Hexagon, Queen's University Belfast, Hyatt Hotels, Bayer Crop Science North America, Prairie State Generating Company, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago,, Rush University (RUSH), Infinite Global, Edelman, US Postal Service, MEG Energy, City of Austin, Texas, Social Security Administration, Syracuse University, Epsilon, Mount Holyoke College, CCIA, JLL, CF Industries…

Speakers

Kathryn Kolaczek Alchemy Communications

Trent Flood Bank of America

Ivanka Djoleva-Minioti Mondelēz International

Jenny VanOss PwC

Juliette Alper McDonalds

Doug Duvall Amtrak

Sukhi Sahni Wells Fargo

Nelly Miles Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI)

Dustin Sternbeck City of Denton

Courtney Williams The Obama Foundation

Kristen Moss The Coca-Cola Company

Agenda

08.30

Registration and Morning Coffee

09.20  

When the Dust Settles: Repairing Reputation After a Crisis
After your crisis stops trending, there’s work to be done. We’ll go over some steps for gaining executive buy-in for a post-crisis course correction and demonstrating your organization is sticking to its public commitments.
Kristen Moss, VP, Strategic Communications, The Coca-Cola Company

10.00 

Leveraging Your Role as a Reputation Manager
In this session, you will learn the fundamentals of navigating uncharted waters and how to leverage the importance of reputation management with the C-Suite and internal stakeholders to elevate your role as a reputation manager. 
Doug Duvall, Assistant VP of Corporate Communications at Amtrak

10.40 

How a Lack of Diversity Can Fuel a Reputational Crisis
Diversity and inclusion for many organizations has been seen as a nice to have, but in today's new world, it is actually a must have. In this session Courtney will focus on the role of diversity, equity and inclusion in times of crisis, the risks from lack of diversity and inclusion in your organization, how to create an inclusive crisis plan and protect your reputation in a world where organizations are expected to align with the social and political values of their consumers.


Courtney Williams, Director of Communications, The Obama Foundation

11.20 

The Convergence of Public Affairs and Traditional Issues Management
With declining trust in government institutions, multiple stakeholders are looking to the business community to weigh in and take meaningful action on political agendas -- from ESG to PAC contributions to societal issues. This session will cover the current environment, scoping appropriate issues for your organization and scenario planning.
Jenny Vanoss, Director, Firmwide & Public Affairs, PwC

12.00

Lunch for Speakers and Delegates

13.00 

Establishing Relationships with Legal and HR Before a Crisis Arises
Before a crisis occurs, you should establish strong partnerships with your HR and legal departments. During this session, Trent will discuss how to incorporate the unique perspectives of both departments into your communications response strategy and establish the protocols necessary to move quickly and efficiently.
Trent Flood, APR, SVP, Communications Executive at Bank of America

13.40 

Taking a Proactive Approach to Crisis Communications: Expecting the Unexpected
The last three years have shown us that a crisis can strike at any time. News is now traveling faster than ever and the potential for your organization to be impacted by controversial issues has grown exponentially. At the same time, organizations are facing pressure from customers and employees to comment on challenging topics. In a world where reputations can be shattered in a second, proactive preparation leads to smarter crisis communications.  
In this session Sukhi will cover how communicators can leverage a proactive approach to counter a potential crisis leveraging the iPESO model.
Sukhi Sahni, Senior Vice President, Head of Brand Communications at Wells Fargo

14.20 

How to Thoughtfully Communicate  Organizational Restructuring as a Result of M&A
Good communication is absolutely critical in the planning and implementation organizational restructuring. While no one wants to be the bearer of bad news, the past couple of years have shown that large organizations need to be very nimble, flexible and adaptable through change.
In this session Ivanka will share with you how to communicate these changes effectively with empathy and support, both internally and externally. She will also share how to draft the right messaging. how to effectively handle questions from your stakeholders, including employees and media  and protect your reputation in a fast changing global environment. 
Ivanka Djoleva-Minioti, Senior Director, Global Internal Communications at Mondelēz

15.00

Networking Break

15.20 

Case Study: When Your Investigation Becomes an International Crisis
Critical incidents create challenges for law enforcement agencies. But more than the details of the event or the people involved in it, the public backlash or snippets of the incident going viral are what agencies’ worst nightmares are made of.  With this in mind, the importance of the PIO’s job is highlighted more than ever. In this session, Nelly Miles will walk us through an event she and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) had to deal with and what she did to minimize the social media outrage that resulted from it.
Nelly Miles, Public & Governmental Affairs Director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI)

16.00

Why Internal Communications are Key During a Crisis
Having a solid internal communications strategy is essential for success, especially during times of constant crises. If we've learned anything as PR professionals in the past three years it's that effective internal communications doesn’t just empower employees to accomplish outstanding results but more importantly, it ensures that your organization can withstand change and unexpected crisis. In this session Dustin will share with you how to successfully manage internal comms to prepare your teams for major crisis and how to keep your team productive during a crisis.
Dustin Sternbeck, Director Of Communications, Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia 

16.40

Best Practices for Communicating During a Cyber Security Incident
For 83 percent of companies, it’s not if a data breach will happen, but when. And while a data security incident can cost organizations millions of dollars, it can also have costly reputational repercussions, eroding trust with shareholders, customers and the public if not communicated properly. Global crisis communications manager at McDonald’s Corporation, Juliette Alper, will discuss best practices for communicating through a cyber security incident. Juliette previously worked as a member of Edelman Chicago’s Crisis and Risk Management team, where she counseled dozens of companies through data security issues.


Juliette Alper, Manager, Global Crisis Communications at McDonalds

17.20

End of Day One

09.00

Morning Coffee

10.00-16.00 

Interactive Crisis Simulation Workshop with Kathryn Kolaczek: Crisis Planning for a Polarized World
Attending this highly interactive crisis workshop will help you stress test your crisis plan on the most pressing PR challenges in 2023 and beyond, including: cancel culture, taking a stand amid political and societal turmoil, communicating layoffs and inauthenticity.
The workshop includes an opportunity to work with your fellow delegates through challenging but very engaging crisis scenarios, harnessing social media, media interviews and a sensitive press conference.
You will return to work with:
- Ten top crisis communications tips for a polarized world
- An action plan to improve executive readiness for crisis communications
-  A heightened awareness of how to communicate in an increasingly aggressive environment
At the end of this workshop you will:
- Understand the relationship between advance preparation and speed in crisis communications
- Be equipped to review your organisation’s tone, language and style on social media in a crisis
- Be familiar with aggressive question types in crisis media interviews and how to deal with them
- Be ready to review your organisation’s crisis communications plan in the light of the workshop

Our partners

Venue

Catalyst Ranch, Chicago, USA

Address: 656 W Randolph St Ste 4E, Chicago, IL 60661, United States

Catalyst Ranch in Chicago is a unique meetings and events venue designed for companies to go offsite for thinking, planning, developing, creating new products, solutions, and innovative ideas. The Ranch was named the “Best Conference Venue” by Illinois Meetings & Events in 2012 and 2013 and the Professional Convention Management Association’s Convene Magazine “Best in Show” for Small Meetings 2014. The design inspires play for grown up companies with today's big challenges. Play is the first step toward creativity. Toys, games, color, texture, natural light, comfortable seating, and space to roam all contribute to the stimulate creativity and communication. For groups of 3 to 120, it's a wondrous environment that can be configured to meet your needs. Imagination, environment, creativity, innovation.