Crisis Management Academy - California: Resilience in Action brought together global leaders in emergency management, incident response and legal crisis strategy to explore the evolving landscape of organizational resilience. Panelists and speakers drew from their experience with wildfires, Major League Baseball, cybersecurity breaches and other incidents to facilitate conversation about best practices for crisis response. We were honored to co-host this event with BDO USA.
Key takeaways from the afternoon of discussion are as follows:
Fireside Chat with Rick Crawford
- Govern via values, outcomes and unified command rather than procedural operations.
- The RRR framework—Recognize, Respond, Resolve—offers a disciplined arc for crisis leadership.
- Success depends on synchronized messaging and cross-functional alignment.
Wildfires: Lessons in Disaster Response
- Recognize early when an emergency is shifting into a full-scale crisis.
- Build relationships with key stakeholders before the dark-sky days.
- Recovery starts during the response, not after.
- Take care of your people and yourself, both during and after the crisis.
Entertainment Industry: Weathering the COVID Storm
- COVID forced creative problem solving in the entertainment industry that has had long-lasting impacts, including:
- Utilizing new technology (Zoom, online subscriptions)
- Remote entertainment options (virtual music events, virtual castings, remote and real-time editing)
Cyber Risk: Detection, Response and Recovery
- Detection: Ransomware is the most disruptive type of cyber loss at the moment, utilizing AI/deep fakes to threaten individuals. Hire specialized teams and implement training to recognize these threats.
- Response: Cyber risk protocol should be refreshed for current threats, including cyber communications plans (internal and external), financial/ledger code and automated billing, and compliance with insurance policy reporting/notice requirements.
- Recovery: Identify sources of recovery, including insurance policies.
Fireside Chat with Samuel G. Fogas
- Major league baseball crises can include an array of incidents: weather, fan safety, immigration and social media.
- Crisis response plan: Identify risks, involve the right departments, know who you are working with, create the plan, communicate the plan and execute the plan as a leader.
- Training: Conduct tabletop exercises, obtain certifications for your people, hire vendors who will conduct mock emergency scenarios and provide feedback.
