Chapter Events

September 10, 2007

September Meeting

PRSA Idaho September Meeting Notice
Date: Monday, September 10 noon
Location: es/Drake - 350 N. 9th Str., Suite 404 boise idaho 83702
RSVP: Joanne Taylor jtaylor@esdrake.com phone: 342-0925

Price: $12 PRSA Idaho Members, $14 non-members.

Guest Speaker: Art Sasse
Topic: Crisis Planning

Description:
Crisis Planning might seem like an oxymoron, but that's exactly what today's communications environment demands.

In a crisis, speed kills, but so does death by a thousand keyboard cuts of the digital media.

We've sort of learned to live with the 24-hour non-stop news noise, but then you add the bloggers spin cycle along with the self-appointed news site clearing houses, mix in a little YouTube and some chat room buzz or become a bulletin board topic in a social network and the ability to manage information in a timely and effective manner becomes a near insurmountable challenge.

Art Sasse is a recovering television reporter who for the past decade, has learned by trial and error in various crisis situations how traditional and emerging media can either help, save or bury you, directing communications efforts for numerous political campaigns, non-profits and private sector clients across the country.

Most recently, as Vice President of Communications for the Portland Trail Blazers - he helped turned around the broken brand of a team living in crisis and chaos. When Art started two years ago the team's arena was in bankruptcy and the national media still referred to the organization as the Portland JAIL Blazers. The owner, despite his status as the world's 6th richest man, soon announced he needed public assistance to keep the team and then three months later he put the team up for sale, telling the media he was probably viewing his last game at the end of the 05-06 season. Three months later, the owner rejected all offers, pulling the team off the market and threatened bankruptcy for the entire organization while instituting massive budget cuts and employee lay-offs at the beginning of this year. During this past season, the team still managed 8 sell-outs (7 more than the previous two seasons combined) and doubled their fan favorability index, despite compiling the fifth worst record in the NBA. The strategic and crisis communications efforts along the way also seeded the ground for the buy-back of the arena at a greatly reduced price, two months BEFORE the team won the draft lottery.

If you come on Monday, Sept. 10, Art will tell you how the organization utilized emerging media to drive their own message, worked with existing digital media to create positive momentum, and how he earned the nick-name the "henchman" while aggressively blunting the traditional media's Blazer bashing. He's also back in the real world now, helping a local utility company and the Portland Public Schools (among others) learn from those lessons and more, so he promises relevant examples for the non-sports enthusiasts as well.

Please plan to join us and invite a guest!

-- Posted on Tuesday, August 28 2007

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