MEETINGS MEAN BUSINESS CRISIS PLAYBOOK · 2014-12-19 · I N F O R M A T I O N Playbook Objectives Meetings Mean Business Crisis Playbook | 4 Establish an industry crisis protocol

MEETINGS MEAN BUSINESS

CRISIS PLAYBOOKDeveloped 2014

INTRODUCTION

I N T R O D U C T I O N

C R I S I S

C L A S S I F I C A T I O N

& N O T I F I C A T I O N

R O L E S &

R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E SC R I S I S R E S P O N S E P O S T C R I S I S

I N T R O D U C T I O N P L A Y B O O K O B J E C T I V E S G U I D I N G P R I N C I P L E SQ U I C K R E F E R E N C E

I N F O R M A T I O N

Introduction

As we look to clarify MMB’s role in leading

rapid response and industry crisis

communications, the intention is not to

supersede the efforts of MMB coalition

partners. The goal is to develop a protocol, key

messages and designated messengers that

can serve as a frontline, go-to resource

immediately following breaking news or policy

actions that warrant immediate action.

Meetings Mean Business Crisis Playbook | 3

The Meetings Mean Business Crisis

Playbook creates a structure for the

industry to evaluate situations,

escalate a crisis and when

appropriate respond through a

unified vehicle. The playbook is not

intended to serve as a step-by-step

crisis plan, but rather a protocol that

identifies response mechanisms and

triggers for MMB to engage on

behalf of the industry.


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Playbook Objectives


Establish an industry crisis protocol.

Provide clear guidelines for classifying crisis situations.

Define roles and responsibilities in a crisis situation.

Create a step-by-step crisis response protocol for the industry.

Have ready-to-use response materials on hand.


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Guiding Principles

Honesty and

transparency

are

paramount.

Get the facts

first.

Communicate

timely and

accurately

across all

platforms.

Address key

stakeholders

directly.


1. 2. 3. 4.


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Quick Reference Information: U.S. Travel Association

U.S. Travel Association

Office Mobile

Nan Marchand Beauvois [email protected] 202.408.2147 202.716.3488

Chris Kennedy [email protected] 202.218.3603 202.465.6635

APCO

Office Mobile

Ryan Kuresman [email protected] 202.478.3545 202.730.6273

Mallory Ward [email protected] 202.446.1244 202.725.0475

Rachel Huxley-Cohen [email protected] 202.778.1064 978.578.4249


mailto:[email protected]






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Core Crisis Team

MMB

MemberName Email Office Mobile

AH&LA Kimberly Miles [email protected] 202.289.3117

ASAE John Graham [email protected] 202.626.2741

CIC Karen Kotowski [email protected] 571.527.3116 202.309.2504

DMAI Michael Gehrisch [email protected] 202.835.4219

IAEE David DuBois [email protected] 972.687.9204 817.709.1356

MPI Paul Van Deventer [email protected]

PCMA Debra Sexton [email protected]

Site Global Kevin Hinton [email protected] 312.673.4763 773.294.6363

U.S. Travel Jonathan Grella [email protected] 202.408.2153

Quick Reference Information: Core Crisis Team












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Crisis Working Group

MMB Member Name Email Office Mobile

AH&LA Kimberly Miles [email protected] 202.289.3117

ASAE Susan Robertson [email protected] 202.626.2860

CIC Karen Kotowski [email protected] 571.527.3116 202.309.2504

DMAI Karen Gonzales [email protected] 202.835.4215

IAEE David DuBois [email protected] 972.687.9204 817.709.1356

MPI Sonya Thorpe [email protected] 972.702.3098 972.375.6322

PCMA Carolyn Clark [email protected] 312.423.7271 773.620.3857

Site Global Kevin Hinton [email protected] 312.673.4763 773.294.6363

U.S. Travel Chris Kennedy [email protected] 202.218.3603 202.465.6635

Quick Reference Information: Crisis Working Group











CRISIS CLASSIFICATION &

NOTIFICATION


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I N C I D E N T C L A S S I F I C A T I O N S Y S T E M I N T E R N A L N O T I F I C A T I O N M M B E N G A G E M E N T

Does this have cross industry impact?

What parts of the industry are impacted?

What is the specific impact?

How threating is the potential impact?

How are key stakeholders impacted?

How quickly is the event expected to unfold?

What is the potential for escalation?

Assessing the Situation

Incident Classification System

CRISISUnexpected event that has major impact on the industry and

requires immediate response.

ISSUEOccurrence that could have major impact on the industry but

happens in the regular course of business and can be planned

for and potentially mitigated.

Level 1Immediate; unexpected; threatens the industry and members ability to

operate

Level 2Potential material event for one or more members; time to prepare and plan

INCIDENT Expected or unexpected event that has limited impact on the

industry and could escalate to crisis if not handled

appropriately.

Level 3Impacts one member company; requires initial and/or long-term action

Questions to

Determine

Classification



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Spokespeople

Working Group

Core Crisis Team & Working Group

MMB(U.S. Travel & APCO)

Develop communications approach & messaging

Assess Situation

Evaluate, classify incident and engage crisis teams

Gather Information

Internal Notification


Situation Recognized


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MMB can support and/or drive crisis response depending on the situation. In assessing each specific

situation the core crisis team and working group should determine the appropriate structure.

MMB Engagement


MMB Response • Cross industry impact

• Multi-market media attention

• Benefit to having industry

voice own the issue

MMB + Member

Response • Significant impact to a

specific vertical

• Industry wide reputational

concerns

• MMB member considered

authoritative and/or trusted

voice on the issues

Member Response

(MMB Support)• Situation affects one sector -

specific to MMB coalition

member organization and/or

its member ship

• Minimal impact across

industry

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES


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W H O ’ S I N C H A R G E ? W H O D O E S W H A T ? W H O A P P R O V E S ?M M B M E M B E R S H I P

V E R T I C A L S

APCO will serve as the conduit– receiving intel from coalition members, evaluating

the appropriate level of MMB engagement and issuing the industry call-to-arms.

APCO and U.S. Travel will work with the core crisis team and working group to

assess each situation based on the specific circumstances and industry impact.

Who’s in Charge?


U.S. Travel Core Crisis Team APCO

AH&LAJohn Graham

ASAE

Karen Kotowski

CIC

Michael Gehrisch

DMAI

David DuBois

IAEE

Paul Van Deventer

MPI

Debra Sexton

PCMA

Kevin Hinton

Site


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V E R T I C A L S

APCO Point of contact for notification of crisis situation

U.S. Travel Convener of Core Crisis Team

Core Crisis Team Incident classification and MMB engagement level

Working Group Determine communications approach

Working Group Oversee development of communications materials

Core Crisis Team Designate spokesperson

Who Does What?



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V E R T I C A L S

Approval on Documents

Input on documents: Core Crisis Team

First sign-off: MMB Manager

Final sign-off MMB Co-Chairs

Approval to Act

Input on action decisions: Core Crisis Team

Final sign-off: MMB Co-Chairs

Who Approves?



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V E R T I C A L S

Professional Association

AHLA

ASAE

CIC

CLIA

DMAI

IAEE

MPI

PCMA

SISO

U.S. Travel

Destination Marketing

Organization / CVBs

Anaheim / Orange County

Dallas

Greater Phoenix

Las Vegas

Miami

Nashville

New Orleans

Orlando

NYC & Co

San Antonio

Hoteliers

Caesars Entertainment

Disney

Hilton Worldwide

Hyatt Corporation

Marriott International

MGM Resorts

Rosen Hotels & Resorts

Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Incentive Travel Maritz

Site Global

Suppliers Freeman

HelmsBriscoe

PSAV

MMB Membership Verticals


CRISIS RESPONSE


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C R I S I S C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

C H E C K L I S TS C E N A R I O P L A N N I N G

C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

A P P R O A C HC O R E M E S S A G I N G


M A T E R I A L SS P O K E S P E R S O N

S T A K E H O L D E R

C O M M U N I C A T I O N SM O N I T O R I N G

Crisis Communications Checklist


1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10

.

Review the

messaging platform

and recommend

changes to keep it

up-to-date and

relevant.

Designate a

spokesperson or

spokespersons.

Draft a brief

standby statement

for immediate use

with reporters.

Prioritize media and

determine the most

appropriate type of

follow-up.

Respond to

traditional and

social media

inquiries using the

approved standby

statement.

Review statements,

press releases and

other materials for

consistency.

If appropriate,

arrange interviews

with MMB

spokespeople.

If applicable,

provide reporters

with third-party

contact information.

Monitor initial

media reports and

provide updates in

real-time.

Follow-up with

reporters and

correct any

misrepresentations

and errors.


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Scenario Planning

Mapping out Scenarios • Identify all potential scenarios for the given

situation.

• Determine the relative likelihood and risk for

each scenario.

• Map out all scenarios using the Risk Matrix to

identify highest likelihood/highest risk

scenarios, which should be the focus of

planning.

Key Questions to Assess Risk • What are the various developments that could

happen next?

• How likely are those developments? What

may alter the likelihood?

• What is the potential impact of the scenario?

How damaging is it?



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Communications Approach

Approach Definition Considerations

Proactive / Preemptive

Be the first party to announce the situation through

a high visibility vehicle such as a press release.

Promptly communicate directly with stakeholders.

• If you do not make a public statement, how and when will the situation become public?

• Will you be able to drive the narrative?

• What are the benefits and risks of announcing the situation?

Responsive Respond to incoming stakeholder inquiries using

approved messaging.

• What is the perception if you do not make a direct public statement?

• How will your stakeholders respond to this?

• Is there a chance that the situation will remain unknown to most audiences if you do not make a public statement?

• What are the benefits and risks of not going public?

Selective

Act proactively with a select group of stakeholders

but do not make a widespread, high visibility

announcement.

• If you only communicate with select stakeholders, how likely is it that the information will become known to a larger audience anyway?

• What will be the perception of being selective in making the announcement?

• What are the benefits and risks?



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Core Messaging


Creating Personal

Connections

Personal relationships are

at the core of every

business decision and

face-to-face meetings

provide professionals with

that personal interaction,

which leads to deeper

relationships.

Driving Positive

Business Outcomes

Meetings and events

deliver profits, help win

new accounts, serve as

education platforms and

allow colleagues and

partners to come together

to innovate and achieve

results.

Building Strong

Communities

Outside of the results

driven by business

meetings, the events and

meetings industry creates

hundreds of thousands of

jobs, generates billions of

dollars of revenue and

supports communities

across the country.


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Draft all communication materials based on key messages.

Core documents to include:

• Press release and/or holding statement

• Coalition list

• MMB one-pager

• Email template

• Sample social media content

• Targeted media list

• MMB phone tree

Communication Materials



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MMB’s spokesperson should have

in-depth knowledge but be able to

speak in layman’s terms, have

experience with the media, possess

good judgment, be articulate and

confident and be available within the

reporters’ timeframe. Each situation

should be assessed to determine

the appropriate spokesperson.

Spokesperson


Key Questions

for Determining

Best

Spokesperson

• What MMB vertical does the issue fall under?

• Who is best equipped to speak to the specifics of

the situation? Who is best equipped to give a

general overview of the situation?

• What are the risks and benefits of offering the

spokesperson?

• Who puts the best “face” on the issue?

• Who is best able to articulate the industry’s core

values in the face of crisis?

• Who has availability for media interviews and

discussions with external audiences?

MMB Spokespeople Roger Dow – President & CEO, U.S. Travel

Nan Marchand – MMB Manager, U.S. Travel

Erik Hanson – Domestic Policy Director, U.S.

Travel

Larry Luteran – Senior Vice President Group

Sales and Industry Relations, Hilton Worldwide

David Peckinpaugh – President, Maritz Travel

Company and Experient

Key Questions for

Determining Best

Spokesperson


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Stakeholder CommunicationsIn addition to communicating with the media, crisis teams must

also ensure that all stakeholders are informed of a situation and

understand what specific action is being taken.


Leveraging Stakeholders In addition to communicating with your stakeholders about the incident, you can also engage

select stakeholders to serve as third-party advocates. Examples include academics, policy

groups, advocacy organizations, employee groups, customers, suppliers and other trade

associations. It’s important to be thoughtful in selecting third parties to amplify a message. Only

select individuals and groups whose messages clearly align with your position.

Steps to engage stakeholders • Reach out to gauge the level of interest and willingness to be contacted by the media or

other stakeholders.

• Brief interested parties on the issue.

• Refer media to third parties for comment.

• Ask third parties to engage.

Policymakers &

Elected Officials

Business

Leaders

Industry

Professionals

Media

Trade & Traditional

Effectively Communicating with

Stakeholders

All stakeholder communications should

contain three components:

1. Express concern about the crisis

and the people affected by it

2. Clearly state the actions being taken

to deal with the crisis

3. Put the crisis in context (e.g. scale,

rarity)


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Monitoring


Media and Social Media

Monitoring

Immediately initiate real-time

monitoring and determine

monitoring protocol:

• Keywords to include in search

• Timing of monitoring reports

• Distribution List

Stakeholder Reaction

Monitoring

Track key stakeholder reactions,

including:

• Comments made via phone call

or email feedback

• Comments made publicly via

quotes in news coverage or press

releases

• Comments made on social media

platforms

Note significant reactions (either positive or

negative)

Message and/or Strategy

Adjustment

Adjust messaging and/or strategy, if

needed, based on media coverage

and stakeholder reactions.

POST CRISIS


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• Short description of the issue and how it developed

• Overview of the response

• List of actions/decisions that achieved the intended result

• List of actions/decisions that did not achieve the intended result

• Recommendations for dealing with future events

Post Crisis


Within one week after the crisis has concluded, the Working Group should

generate a report to the Core Crisis Team that includes: