Developing an Effective Strategy for Online Crisis Communications
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Workshop Objectives

The increasingly dynamic and unpredictable global environment of today calls for better, more sophisticated crisis management skills and tools. This workshop is intended to equip participants with knowledge and techniques to use Internet as a powerful communication medium to reach target audiences during a crisis.

Through the case study, assignments and many illustrative examples from all over the world, participants will learn several innovative ways to plan, design and manage a comprehensive website that effectively meets the needs of various stakeholders in the crisis.

Who Should Attend

Anybody involved in the planning, development and design of crisis communication websites, especially:

• Corporate Communication Managers
• Public Relations Officers
• Project Managers
• Web Designers and Developers
• Information architects and copywriters

What You Will Gain

Through this comprehensive and practical workshop, participants will discover several innovative techniques they can confidently apply to own crisis management plans. These include:

• Persona-based user profiling and scenario building
• Managing multiple groups and various user touch-points involved in website development
• Creating ready-to-publish 'shadow websites' in anticipation of the crisis, and modulating website contents over the crisis life-cycle as user needs change
• Creating interactive information graphics
• Intelligently linking information
• Promoting user participation and feedback in order to share good information and prevent spreading of rumors

A FREE, take-home CD-ROM kit for every participant

The CD-ROM kit includes comprehensive notes on all the techniques learnt as well as pointers to advanced knowledge on the subject of crisis communication available on the web. Thus, participants can retain and reuse the knowledge gained and build on it in a self-paced manner in future.

Workshop Overview

1. Crisis communication and the role of Internet
Know how Internet can complement traditional media and what specific role it can play during a crisis

• What worldwide trends in media usage during crisis situations reveal
• The rationale behind people’s choice of specific media during a crisis
• Internet vs. traditional media - a comparative SWOT analysis
• What Internet can do best during a crisis

2. Essentials of an online crisis communication strategy
Learn how to create a user-centric online communication strategy

• User-centered crisis communication design process, goal-directed design
• Managing trade-offs in online communication – Time vs. information quality
• Synergizing your Internet communication with other customer touch-points
• Modulating website content over the crisis life-cycle

3. Managing trust issues; handling risks and threats of Internet
How to handle the challenges Internet poses as a disembedded medium

• Internet as a disembedded medium – consequences of low barrier to entry and global spread
• How rumors and hoaxes can impact crisis communication
• Ways to establishing credibility on your crisis communication website
• Internet as a solution to its own problems

4. Unleashing the amazing potential of Internet
Discover unique ways in which Internet can greatly enhance the quality of crisis communication

• Creating comprehensive content packages using ‘associative linking and grouping’
• Dynamic displays - using graphics and interactivity to make information come alive
• Participative design

5. Creating operationally-ready ‘shadow websites’
Find out how to roll-out a crisis communication website quickly by being prepared in advance

• Defining issues, assigning priorities, and creating consensus amidst limited resources
• Creating personas and usage scenarios
• The placeholder approach
• Usability testing