Photo Credit: Rebecca Sizemore, Director, Garrard County EMS being interviewed by Eric Singer, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL).
February 4-6, 2025
KYEM Emergency Operations Center, Frankfort, KY
Kentucky Emergency Management (KYEM) hosted a communication specialists workshop that was open to all Public Information Officers (PIO) and other communication professionals within an organization responsible for communicating with the public, press and media, and/or coordinating with other agency PIOs and leadership during an incident. The workshop was offered in partnership by KYEM, the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP), & Argonne National Laboratory (ANL).
Photo Credit: Emma A. Vandeveer, Communication & Community Outreach Deputy, Jefferson County PVA, being interviewed by Eric Singer, ANL.
“As the public information officer for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, I don’t do interviews, but I signed up for this training to help our Council Members present their best selves. We have 15 Council Members with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of media experience. This class will help me support the work of individual Council Members and the entire body of the Urban County Council in the development of consistent and effective messaging as well as comprehensive interview preparation.” Jillian Riseman – Public Information Officer, Office of the Urban County Council
The workshop was held at KYEM’s Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort, KY. Due to high demand for this training, two different iterations of the workshop was held. Both iterations included 12 hours of instructional content over 1 ½ days. Both iterations included three 4-hour blocks of training in three different subject areas: spokesperson, news conference, and social media.
SPOKESPERSON TRAINING FOR PIOS/PAOS (MR502)
The spokesperson session opened fast and hard with the instructors intent on teaching everyone how to work confidently and effectively during interactions with the news media before, during, and after an emergency event. Attendees were engaged in a variety of intense and fast-paced news interviews, including one-on-one, on-camera, and remote on-camera interviews. Students developed message maps during interview preparation to guide them. Instructors also demonstrated remote staging methodology.
Photo Credit: Sara Sgantas, Communications & Public Outreach Manager, Northern Kentucky Water District, being interviewed by Eric Singer, ANL.
“The media and news conference trainings are invaluable for their real-life application. The skills built will be extremely beneficial to both me and my organization when faced with these very scenarios. I learned so much from the instructors and from my fellow class attendees.” – Sara Sgantas, Communications & Public Outreach Manager, Northern Kentucky Water District
NEWS CONFERENCE LIVE/REMOTE STRATEGIES (MR504)
The class was divided into groups for the news conference session. Instructors gave the groups plenty of tips and tricks to attendees for how to make live and remote news conferences fresh, engaging, and visually appealing; then each group conducted an in-person news conference that include SMEs in separate locations. Instructors dedicated time teaching best practices for setting up indoor and outdoor news conferences and media briefings. Multiple cameras were set up and utilized. Attendees practiced facilitating remote news conferences with subject-matter experts (SMEs) at separate locations in a simulation using MS Teams.
“As an Emergency Management planner, interviews are not typically something in which I would participate. However, I feel these classes have prepared me to do so should the need arise.” – Denise Bell, Planner, Daviess County Emergency Management
SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING AND REPORTING (SMDC305)
The social media session opened with a basic discussion of the importance of social media monitoring, the key sources for information in an emergency, and steps for successful media monitoring. The instructor referenced and described many third-party tools and how they can be utilized for social media monitoring. He discussed both pay for use and free to the public tools. Attendees learned the difference between spot reports and end-of-shift reports and strategies for developing content for both. The session closed with a deep dive into how media monitoring strategies change over time. The instructor highlighted key uses of social media analytics and discussed ways to develop a social media report for leadership.
Photo Credit: Zackary A. Wilt, Director, Oldham County Emergency Management, being interviewed by Jeff Donaldson, ANL, filmed by Don Hanscom, ANL.
“Attending this training has provided useful information on effectively handling public communications through social media or live interviews. As emergency management, we work diligently to provide accurate and timely information that reaches our community in the most impactful way.” – Zackary Wilt, Director, Oldham County Emergency Management
Twenty-seven attendees from twenty-three different Kentucky organizations participated in the workshop, including the following:
• Daviess County Emergency Management
• Louisville Department of Codes and Regulations
• Garrard County EMS
• Jefferson County PVA
• Kenton County Public Library
• Kentucky Emergency Management (KYEM)
• Kentucky Fish and Wildlife
• Kentucky Office of Highway Safety (KOHS)
• Lewis County Emergency Management
• Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG)
• Lexington Police Department
• LFUCG Community Corrections
• Lincoln Trail Area Development District
• Louisville Metro Sewer District
• Louisville Zoo
• Northern Kentucky Water District
• Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods
• Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney
• Oldham County Emergency Management
• Owensboro Municipal Utilities
• Powell County EMA/CSEPP
• Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC)
• University of Kentucky (UK)
For more information, contact:
David Davis
CSEPP Public Information Officer
KY Division of Emergency Management
david.davis@ky-em.org
O: (502) 607-1049