Crisis Communications & Marketing: Preparing to

Communicate in a Disaster

May 1, 2009

August 13, 2008

Riverwalk at Millennium

SITUATION

• Fire began at 4:30 p.m. at an adjacent construction site

• Spread to Riverwalk in under 15 minutes and escalated to an eight-alarm fire

• Community staff and firefighters went door-to-door evacuating residents and pets

• More than 300 firefighters responded and battled flames for six hours

SITUATION

• Two buildings (of four) ultimately destroyed – 189 units

• Media onsite BEFORE fire department• Most importantly, NO resident

injuries

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• 300+ residents permanently displaced • All residents temporarily displaced• 50+ Bozzuto volunteers immediately

responded • All residents placed in temporary housing

within four hours

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FIRST RESPONSE

• On site staff took immediate action to restore safety, protect employees and the public, limit damage and restore operations (no brainer).

• Notified appropriate company individuals.

FIRST RESPONSE

• Property staff determined press was present:– Took action to keep them off the site

and away from emergency, rescue and investigation operations.

AUDIENCES

• Crisis team agreed upon critical and ongoing messaging needs for each audience:– Displaced residents– Existing residents– Employees (including employee

volunteers)– Press– Clients– Industry

COMMUNICATION

• Existing & Displaced Residents– Email blasts (we had 93% of all resident emails)– Text messages– Websites

• Bozzuto.com (unique page linked from homepage)• RiverwalkApts.com• ConshyCares.blogspot.com

– Personal calls & meetings (mainly new housing-related)

– In-person meetings• Town hall-style meetings• Re-occupancy day

COMMUNICATION

• Riverwalk Tenants Network– Facebook group / support group – 143

members– Founder: public relations professional– Extremely well-organized; clear goals– In-person meetings with senior

executives– We assisted with their communication

COMMUNICATION

• Employees (including employee volunteers)– Lead volunteer coordinator– Email updates– Internal newsletter– Bozzuto.com

COMMUNICATION

• Press– Immediate statement via email, phone, website– Regular, proactive updates via email, phone, website– Limited community access; no access to resident

meeting– Responsiveness, accessibility, complete transparency– Continual contact with ownership to ensure consistency– Website updates

• Bozzuto.com• RiverwalkApts.com• ConshyCares.blogspot.com

COMMUNICATION

• Donations Program– Manage donations from community,

residents, employees– Identify displaced residents’ specific

needs– Communication– Coordination– Consider current residents

LESSONS LEARNED

• We Were Fortunate– Fire started offsite– Fire started while most residents were at work; no

injuries– Exceptional support from Red Cross / SPCA– Ownership paid for five nights’ hotel stay– Ownership required renter’s insurance– Management collected emails / cell phone #’s at lease

signing• This information was WEB-BASED (Yardi)

– Outpouring of support / donations from community

LESSONS LEARNED

While we were fortunate….

We had prepared for the worst. This ensured we were well-equipped to handle the crisis.

WAYS TO PREPARE?

• Collect emails / cell phone #’s at lease signing– This is the SITES’ responsibility; make sure they know

this– Ensure information is web-based

• Ensure web / IT team is ready to produce and update online crisis hub

• Make certain all social media pages are established and ready to be utilized during a crisis (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

• Establish solid news/blog/web monitoring vehicles– BurrellsLuce, Cision, Factiva

WAYS TO PREPARE?

• Educate site employees:

– Focus on Their Job: Refer all media inquiries to PR department/representative.

– Off-the-Record: A fantasy, so don’t do it. Tell them to be certain they’d be happy reading / seeing anything they say in the papers or on TV.

– No Comment: Discourage “no comment” as a response (it means “guilty as charged”).

WAYS TO PREPARE?

“It’s not the questions that get us in trouble; it’s the answers.”

– Former NBC Anchor Tom Brokaw

WAYS TO PREPARE?

• If pressed, encourage site staff to provide one of the following statements:

• “The accident is still under investigation. As soon as we have reliable information, we will make it available.”

• “We are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of individuals and to assist the rescue and investigating personnel.”

• “I am not yet aware of the specifics with respect to the situation and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.”

THE POSITIVES

• Immediately after the fire, a dozen residents chose to move to one of the two undamaged buildings.

• To date, approximately 25 residents who moved elsewhere have chosen to return to the community.

THE POSITIVES

THE POSITIVES

THE POSITIVES

CONTACT

Lauren McDonaldBozzuto Management Company

Office: 301-623-1579Cell: 240-429-8051

lmcdonald@bozzuto.com : LoMcD

: www.linkedin.com/in/lpmcdonald