Web Seminar and Consulting Assistance

Future Dates To Be Announced

Presenters: Tom Hayes, Vice President and Partner
Teresa Valerio-Parrot, Vice President of Media Relations and Crisis Communications

Our firm, the most experienced crisis communications company in higher education today, will walk you through the steps necessary to build an issues management team, design and implement an institutional crisis communications plan, and prepare your key communicators for hostile media encounters – while controlling the  message and flow of information in good times and bad.

Further, we will critique the Virginia Tech crisis response and demonstrate, with website screen shots and content analysis, the highs and lows that occurred when more than 200 TV satellite trucks descended on the campus last spring.

As an added feature, we will include one hour of highly-sought-after consulting time with Tom and Teresa after the seminar. Following the event, institutions will have the opportunity to submit one draft of their crisis plan. Tom and Teresa will personally review, edit and critique your plan and offer suggestions to enhance your planning efforts.

Key members of your institution’s communications team including board members, administrators, athletics, admissions, academic areas and anyone involved in internal and external outreach should attend.

During this seminar, you will:

• Learn how to design, implement and evaluate an institution-wide crisis communications plan, including the steps, benefits, obstacles, costs and timelines.
• Appreciate the vital importance of an issues management team—what is it, how it works and why putting this concept in practice is a must for your campus.
• Find out who you should include in your issues management efforts, starting at the top of your institution's organizational chart.
• Perfect your media relations skills through discussion of proven tips, tactics, and techniques for responding to reporters in times of crisis—and learn how to teach your senior staff those very same skills in good times.
• Gain a deep and insightful understanding of the lessons learned from the Virginia Tech communications response.
• Discover how best to test and fully evaluate the effectiveness of your crisis plan.

How do you participate?

• Register on the SimpsonScarborough website. You will receive an email message confirming your registration and payment options. Space is limited to 30 institutions and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Upon confirmation of registration, you will receive an email message containing instructions on how to logon to the online web conferencing system. With this system, you will be able to see the presentation onscreen and pose questions through a live chat feature.

Cost per institution:

The cost to attend this web seminar is $399 for a single connection and $299 for each additional connection. This price includes one hour of crisis plan consulting with Tom and Teresa in the 30 days following the seminar.

About the presenters:

Tom Hayes, is an internationally-recognized expert in integrated marketing, branding and research in higher education. He is one of the pioneers in the discipline, having founded and chaired some of the nation's most prestigious higher education conferences while consulting with colleges and universities worldwide. A professor of marketing at Xavier University and editor of the Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Dr. Hayes is an early advocate of indelibly linking academic strategic planning with institutional marketing and branding. He is a certified strategic planner who drives colleges and universities to develop actionable strategic plans that have competitive differentials, which become the foundation of all internal and external marketing communications. Dr. Hayes is a prolific writer and speaker, and he has two books -- Marketing Colleges and Universities: A Services Approach and 50 University Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them, (with Roy Adler, Ph.D.).

Teresa Valerio Parrot, Vice President of Mediat Relations and Crisis Communications, is the former assistant secretary of the board at the University of Colorado. While serving as an officer, she was involved at the highest levels of decision-making through the athletic and administrative scandal that eventually cost the jobs of the system president, Boulder campus chancellor, athletic director and men’s football coach. She is an expert on using marketing and the media to rebuild institutional images, reputations and brands.