'Enemy in the vines' Hamilton event
Melanie Palmer speaks at the event
Hamilton played proud host to this year’s PRINZ Supreme Award winners – Melanie Palmer and Andrea Brady - at the recent ‘Enemy in the vines’ event held at the beautiful University of Waikato.
This PRINZ event was an opportunity for Waikato members to network and compare notes. Melanie, who is ZESPRI’s communication manger, presented her winning case study on the simple and effective techniques on how to manage a crisis.
Click here to view photos and video from the event.
The key points were:
· A rehearsed plan is a must
· You need a reliable, well-balanced team
· Don’t hide information
· Communicate clearly, carefully and speedily.
The value of this approach was shown by the effective communication campaign to deal with the psa infection crisis which Melanie and her team conducted.
Melanie described how the crisis unfolded and how the team managed the information flow, intense media interest and ensured that all stakeholders were well informed. Monitoring of the international media was also crucial to dealing with any issues before they caused damage to the brand.
One of the methods used to keep everyone informed raised particular interest as social media were utilized in this campaign – videos were posted on YouTube to provide growers with more information and practical assistance. Journalists were allowed to interview growers if they wished, but they were given a lot of information first to ensure that that no sensationalist or ignorant questions would be asked.
In order to be able to react quickly in such a comprehensive way Melanie and her team had an A3 crisis management flow chart. This document caused great interest as the usual crisis management plans involve much more than that, and are possibly too complex to be practical. A simpler ‘chart on the wall’ helps the team to react much quicker and gives everyone clearly defined roles.
Melanie was an excellent presenter and held everyone’s interest with many questions at the end attesting to everyone’s engagement with the topic.
The networking afterwards allowed everyone to meet other professionals and discuss topics of interest, including the latest (sport associated) PR debacles.
The opening vote of thanks to Gordon Chesterman (PRINZ awards chief judge, 2008-2011) and Graeme Purches (immediate past PRINZ president, 2009-2011) for their contribution to PRINZ was followed by inspiring words from both. They set a very positive tone to the proceedings, encouraging new members such as myself to become more involved in PRINZ.
The next event in Hamilton is keenly awaited and we hope for more in the New Year!
- Monika Llewellyn, Opus Architecture
PRINZ member and event attendee
This PRINZ event was an opportunity for Waikato members to network and compare notes. Melanie, who is ZESPRI’s communication manger, presented her winning case study on the simple and effective techniques on how to manage a crisis.
Click here to view photos and video from the event.
The key points were:
· A rehearsed plan is a must
· You need a reliable, well-balanced team
· Don’t hide information
· Communicate clearly, carefully and speedily.
The value of this approach was shown by the effective communication campaign to deal with the psa infection crisis which Melanie and her team conducted.
Melanie described how the crisis unfolded and how the team managed the information flow, intense media interest and ensured that all stakeholders were well informed. Monitoring of the international media was also crucial to dealing with any issues before they caused damage to the brand.
One of the methods used to keep everyone informed raised particular interest as social media were utilized in this campaign – videos were posted on YouTube to provide growers with more information and practical assistance. Journalists were allowed to interview growers if they wished, but they were given a lot of information first to ensure that that no sensationalist or ignorant questions would be asked.
In order to be able to react quickly in such a comprehensive way Melanie and her team had an A3 crisis management flow chart. This document caused great interest as the usual crisis management plans involve much more than that, and are possibly too complex to be practical. A simpler ‘chart on the wall’ helps the team to react much quicker and gives everyone clearly defined roles.
Melanie was an excellent presenter and held everyone’s interest with many questions at the end attesting to everyone’s engagement with the topic.
The networking afterwards allowed everyone to meet other professionals and discuss topics of interest, including the latest (sport associated) PR debacles.
The opening vote of thanks to Gordon Chesterman (PRINZ awards chief judge, 2008-2011) and Graeme Purches (immediate past PRINZ president, 2009-2011) for their contribution to PRINZ was followed by inspiring words from both. They set a very positive tone to the proceedings, encouraging new members such as myself to become more involved in PRINZ.
The next event in Hamilton is keenly awaited and we hope for more in the New Year!
- Monika Llewellyn, Opus Architecture
PRINZ member and event attendee