The inaugural episode of Hill & Knowlton Canada's bi-weekly podcast -- Connected Conversation -- hosted by Boyd Neil, features a discussion with Ilyse Smith, a senior vice president in H&K's Toronto office.
Having recently completed work on a pandemic communication manual for a large client, Ilyse talks about some of the principles underlying successful pandemic communication preparation . . . key among them remembering that the most important audiences in a pandemic for any organization will be its employees and customers. Providing information, direction -- and reassurance -- to these audiences should be a function of direct, un-intermediated communication: The media's attention, and their interest, will be elsewhere.
For organizations still putting together their pandemic communication plans, Ilyse suggests taking a look at the following websites:
- World Health Organization communication guidelines for outbreaks . . . here
- A good general resource from the Government of Canada. . . here
- A useful business continuity planning toolkit . . . here
- A perspective on pandemic communications by academic Peter Sandman . . . here
- Guidelines from the Pan-America Health Organization, a division of WHO . . . here
As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions for future podcast content.