Ex-Philadelphia Mayor Nutter, top panel to offer tips on crisis communications at Communicators Summit, Nov. 15

Crisis communications will be the topic of the next Communicators Summit, sponsored by the National Press Club's Communications and Marketing Committee, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:35 p.m. in the Conference Rooms.

Registration is required. Admission is $75 for the general public and $50 for National Press Club members. Please click here to register.

The summit is composed of three sessions. The first session will feature a conversation with Michael A. Nutter, former mayor of Philadelphia. During his time in office, was charged with leading the city through an economic recession, requiring him to make difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions. And in 2015, a tragic Amtrak derailment put Nutter at the forefront of crisis communications analysis.

Nutter will provide attendees with perspectives on his time in office, discussing lessons learned from the challenges he faced in providing transparent communications to the media and the public.

The session will be moderated by Lindsay Murphy, vice president, Racepoint Global and National Press Club Communications and Marketing Committee co-chair.

The second session will discuss best practices for communicating in times of crisis. A panel of expert communicators and seasoned journalists will discuss the challenges of internal and external communication in crisis situations, including best practices from varying perspectives.

Panelists include:

• Eric B. Dezenhall, crisis management consultant, author, and founder of Washington, D.C. –based public relations firm Dezenhall Resources.


• Ray Suarez, broadcast journalist and host of Inside Story on Al Jazeera.


• Gordon Lambourne, communications consultant, G5 Communications, LLC and former SVP, Global Public Relations for Marriott.


• Angela Greiling Keane, deputy tech editor, Politico Pro, and former National Press Club president.

The session will be moderated by Tom McMahon, Vice President Advocacy & Public Affairs, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and a member of National Press Club Board of Governors.

The luncheon session will examine what this year’s presidential election can teach us about crisis communications. From allegations of racism to email servers, from sexual harassment accusations to Wikileaks, this year's presidential election was a whirlwind of one crisis after another.

Among questions to be be addressed: How did the Trump campaign crisis response compare to Clinton's? Did social media play a role in minimizing or amplifying crisis situations? What key takeaways can communicators and journalists apply from the campaign trail in their day-to-day?

The session will be moderated by National Press Club President Thomas Burr.

Follow the conversation on Twitter at #NPClive.