Those are the basics I've relayed to folks over the years, but now we need to add one more:
You will not get in front of mis/dis-information. The bad actors will always be first & it is not your fault. Focus on the truth of your incident & develop trusted channels and community champions. 12/12
Related, get a thick skin. If you need affirmation, look to your mentors and loved ones. If you want legitimate critiques, go to people you trust.
Figure it out and put it all together. It's a continuous process of learning, adjusting, and summoning the courage to go to work. 11/
Understand people will probably talk about you: colleagues, team members, administrators, reporters, people in DC, & everyone else. Some may even say mean things. So what? They're not the ones talking to people under stress while trying to explain difficult concepts & manage emotions. 10/
You will make mistakes. Learn and move forward. Don't be afraid to fail and don't dwell on it when you do.
Know that experiences will change you, so be open to learning--and to questioning yourself. Then figure it out again and put it back together. It's a continuous process. 9/
Read. The better vocabulary you have the less reliant you will be on verbal constructs created by others.
Pay attention to the nonverbal. Communication is best when what you say lines up with what you do and it's even better when you are comfortable doing those two things together. 8/
Practice. When you're not on an incident, pay attention to the news and place yourself in those situations. You can even mentally rework previous incidents. The point is to always do mental reps. Practicing prepares you for your time and in our work, you can never predict when your time may come. 7/
Observe. Watch others. See what you like, see what you don't like, and see what you would change. It's OK to borrow from others but don't become another. Make it your own, use your own voice.
Never spin. You may choose to emphasize something, but never spin. 6/
Remember, you are not a news celebrity or a media personality. It's not about you. You merely represent everyone affected by and working on the incident. If people absorb the information but do not remember who you are, that's a good thing. 5/
Stay anchored in the reality of the incident and be true to that reality. Don't let others force you into an alternative reality or influence what you say or how you say it. You are there, you know best, and your allegiance is always to those affected by the incident. 4/
Trust your audience. Don't simplify or over-assure. Most will understand that a disaster comes with a lot of uncertainty.
Provide certainty when discussing uncertainty. State why things are uncertain and when you will know enough to understand the problem or make the decisions. 3/
Be humble. The ancient Greeks wrote a lot about hubris for a reason.
Be honest. Albert Einstein's quote applies to our work: “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” 2/
As we gear up for what may be an intense fire year, here's a thread of advice for PIOs and other crisis communicators out there, including ICs and agency administrators.
Be true to yourself. The easiest way to lose credibility is to pretend to be someone else. People will know it immediately. 1/
Thanks. Good stuff. Am I correct in assuming Repubs use these bills to push their desired changes and Dems tend to use budget deals to play defense? It's curious that there are not more Dem bills, but I guess it's not surprising.
Almost as horrifying is watching your state not take advantage of it. Here in OR, we should be throwing money at higher ed to pull in profs & students from stressed universities. We could build new public ivies out of Oregon & Oregon State and elevate regional schools, but no, we are happy at #46.
It also had an effect on my level of optimism about the future. I'm retired now, but still, countless federal employees, including many who work to preserve our public lands, fear encounters with folks who think like the bomber. There seem to be more of those types lately. We can do better. 4/4
After that day, I was not as accommodating regardless of my relationship with others in the conversation. That bombing changed how I thought about my career and changed how I thought about myself. It dramatically changed my life-family-job risk analysis. 3/
Prior to that date, I wouldn't say much when people made ignorant jokes about federal employees or went on an anti-government rant when I told them what I did for a living. I just smiled and moved the discussion along. 2/
On this day in 1995, the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed. 168 men, women, and children were murdered and hundreds more were injured. 1/
Some smart young woman who shares my name says a bunch of smart things about how we use the term resilience and think about it in regards to disasters. Could not be prouder of @phibi16.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxcf...
JFC. This is what the end of metered reservation systems, massive NPS defunding and layoffs is doing to park entrance wait times.
The orchard fans seem particularly loud this morning. On cool nights in the spring, they go off to stir the air and protect pear tree blossoms from frost damage. Unfortunately, they also wake the dog early and once I'm awake, I cannot unhear them. It's like having hovering helicopters next door.
Map of Oregon stating that 4.4 million migratory birds will be flying during the night on April 18. The graphic encourages reduction of light at night.
Lots of birds in the sky these nights. Turn off those porch lights and close the shades so they can see the stars.
Political cartoon showing a beaten down Forest Service employee upon a downcast horse looking over a landscape of oil wells and mining operations. In the bottom corner is a small sign that says, "Salt Lake HQ." The caption reads, "End of the Trail."
I enjoyed my time in green and every opportunity I had to work with them after I left the outfit. Such a gut punch to see the USFS needlessly destroyed like this. It also increases my worry that the new Wildland Fire Service is just going to be a privatization effort.
Pants also tell a story.
There is no justification for any water-intensive industry to be anywhere in Eastern Oregon or the inter-mountain west. Do people just not read John Wesley Powell anymore?
I've seen enough. Put AI and data centers on the trash heap.
My big takeaway from reporting this story is that it's not JUST about the Forest Service.
The closure of these stations threatens to upend a delicate system of mutually beneficial collaboration and resource sharing, and the impacts will ripple out far beyond the Forest Service itself.
Homes in my neighborhood go for $400k+, but I'd say the majority are investor-owned/rented out. Walking my dog last night, I saw a neighbor poring lawn mower gas into her car.
That seems like an important economic indicator.
Today, there were nine games where NBA teams scored over 130 points. All told, 13 teams scored at least 125 points. Even more amazing, Clint Capela had the first three-pointer of his 12-year career.
Ah, the last day of the regular season.
