Crisis averted!
Dealing with a realistic crisis in ADandPRLab- Crisis Simulation Training.
Thanks to Ms Mania Xenou and Ms Betty Tsakarestou, this was a very interesting semester.
During our ADandPRLab sessions, which were conducted at the OTE Academy, we had the opportunity to experience the learning of how to deal with a possible crisis that an organization or a business might face.
As far as it concerned the Crisis Management Lab, we got more familiar with the way a team cooperates during a crisis and which are the roles that each person has to take over in order for the problem to be solved. As a crisis can be described a bomb threat, an allergy that affected a consumer, a harmful material found in a product, a crisis that includes employees from the business itself, an earthquake or a fire inside the building, or even a death that threats the reputation as well as the long-term existence of an organization. The list is big and the protocol much detailed.
Each crisis has a number of stages, such as the special situation-early warning, the incident and the crisis itself. During our sessions, we learned, among other things, more about the Issues Matrix and about the different roles a crisis team is consisted of. More specifically, these roles include the spokesperson, the head manager, the coordinator and the secretary.
Moreover, we got the chance to experience every aspect of a crisis and not only the way an organization deals with it. We learned how The Media acts in a possible crisis, what its approach looks like, which are its goals and how the Media covers the whole process. Each part in a crisis should not be underestimated as the Media itself is the “window” to the world and to society, in general.
Ιn addition, we learned about the state mechanism and the role it plays in a crisis. Last but not least, the most important thing that we learned was how to “ask why” in every situation that is crucial and of course how to act and deal with the problem and its core in the best possible way.
However, we all very well know that “Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think”.
Our Crisis Lab believing strongly in this idea, put us in a realistic situation where we had to deal with a crisis being one of the three basic pillars:
The Company
The Ministry
The Media
On Tuesday the 21st of January, we received the scenario.
General Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA), arrived in Athens on Tuesday, to hold talks with Greek officials ahead of a conference in Berlin on the Libyan crisis, Milli Gazete said.
An international conference on war-torn Libya is set to take place in Berlin on January 19. Germany is seeking to bring together the main players in war-torn Libya in an attempt to reach a political solution to the conflict.
The Berlin Conference on Libya, at the invitation of German Chancellor Merkel, has gathered the Governments of Algeria, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, the Republic of the Congo, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and High Representatives of the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, and the League of Arab States.
The commander is followed by a trustworthy, Libyan military unit who stay at a prestigious hotel in Athens. Their stay is highly confidential and this is the reason the Ministry chose a hotel with such a reputation.
Every team had to start dealing with the situation effective immediately. In order to make this article easy on the eyes we chose to present each day of this week with the course of action each team followed.
(As you will notice, every member of the team experienced this case study closely, so the first plural person is regularly used.)
Tuesday, January 21st
The Media
As soon as we received the first mail with information, we decided to form our media corporation. Our chosen name was the Transparent and it contained a printed newspaper, a website, all social media platforms and a web TV channel.
Website
https://twitter.com/TheTransparent9?lang=en
Afterwards our team had to distribute the different roles each of us would carry.
So it came down to this:
Our media team ( The Transparent-newspaper) consisted of nine members.
· Fotis Aggelis had the role of our chief editor which means that every idea for an article publication had to be checked by him and he was responsible for our news feed.
· Maria Hanioti and Antzela Gkolikai took over the management of our social media pages on Facebook and Twitter keeping our readers up to date 24/7.
· Christina Panagakou, Christiana Bramo, Sofia Pavlidou and Eleni Pouliou put in the work and as soon as informed about the latest news on the issue from our reporters wrote articles analyzing the situation and informing the readers.
· Eleni Vlahou and Nikos Panagiotopoulos, our reporters, were responsible for the communication with the officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the PR agents of the hotel company. They were also responsible for constantly “digging” and trying to learn new information and keep all the team up to speed on the issue.
Afterwards we created our site and our social media platforms where we constantly uploaded content.
We were already informed about the arrival of General Haftar in our country.
On Tuesday 21/01, however, something unexpexted happened. We received information that one of the Libyan officials that stayed in IBIKON hotel reported unwell most likely due to food poisoning. We acted immediately to cross-check the information, contacting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who were the most competent to answer about the incident.
This mail was sent from our reporter at 19:50. We didn’t receive an answer but we still wanted to dig deeper and learn more about the incident so we reached to the Hotel Company. One of our reporters contacted them at 22:17.
At 12:57 we received an answer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that confirmed the sickness and assured us that hotel’s doctor was already there and was checking on the patient.
So, after all we managed to detect two clues through our reporting. The first one was the confirmation of the patient and the second one was that he was checked by a doctor of the hotel. These led us to the conclusion that we have to keep on reporting on the issue cause we didn’t receive many information about the kind of the sickness and we weren’t reassured about the general mention of the doctor. The Ministry didn’t issue the press release on time so we assumed there’s a problem going on and there’s not good management of it. In addition we had a sense that rumors of the issue will spread the next day.
The Ministry
During that same period as Halifa arrival, 10 close colleagues from his group arrived. The group is staying at the IBIKON hotel in a special section so they can maintain their privacy. The hotel has metal detectors and top safety measures. The group doesn’t come out of the special section they are staying in and only eats at the hotel restaurant.
On Tuesday 21/1 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a phone call from the group that says that Mohammed Tarif is sick with stomach pain since last night. The hotel doctor that examined him said that it is most likely food poisoning. Further tests were performed in order to confirm the diagnosis. The group ate dinner in their special section in the hotel they are staying and the food was prepared in the hotel restaurant. The food was brought to them by the best servers the restaurant had.
The Hotel
As the corporate team, we were representing IBIKON HOTEL part of the IBIKON GROUP that is the 2nd leading Hotel group worldwide. Exceptional is the restaurant that operates inside the hotel with great quality of supplies and the best workforce in the industry. The team consisted of: Eleni Georgiou, our Communication Manager, Tsiligianni Labrini, our Chief Executive, Gonidakis Kostantinos, the Legal Counsel, Stavropoulou Amalia, the Secretary, Staikopoulou Maria, the Hotel Manager, Margatina Kuriaki, our Restaurant Manager, Zioga Maria, the HR Manager, Andromachi Eustathiou, our Supplies Manager and Karakosta Maria Eleni, our PR Manager.
At the 21st of January after a couple of hours that the Libyan team gets to the IBIKON HOTEL, the managers of the hotel get a phone call from Mr. Anestis Zois, the security manager of the hotel, telling them that member of the team is feeling sick with stomach disorders and fever. The IBIKON team had a meeting immediately and did all the necessary checks in their supplies and staff in order to be sure that the sickness wasn’t created by their own fault. Of course the hotel doctor was with the patient this whole time, and was making sure, the patient had been through all the asked examinations to find out what the problem was.
In detail, after our discussion and with the guidance of what we learned through the Crisis Lab, we studied the Issues Matrix and eventually evaluated the crisis as of 2nd grade. Then, the first email arrived from the Media team that represented a newspaper named “The Transparent”, in which we were asked to give announcements about Mr Haftar’s group arrival at our hotel and the illness of one of our guests. Our final decision was to wait for the examinations’ results before taking action and give any further information to the media.
Wednesday, January 22nd
The Media
On Wednesday 22/01 till 11:00 we didn’t receive an answer from the Hotel Company and there was no further news or official statements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We judged that maybe something is hiding behind their silence and we thought that there maybe was a chance for some exclusive news.
Our reporter Eleni Vlachou contacted the Communications Department of the Hotel Company at 11:28 and spoke with the Communications agent Mrs. Eleni Georgiou. On the phone call our reporter asked her if they were informed about the reasons that we contacted them via e-mail at the first place, she answered that she was not able to answer due to security reasons. Our reporter mentioned the information about the issue but again she answered they are not eligible to share their passengers’ personal data.
The reporter pressed her a little bit so we could take a statement by telling her that we already got a confirmation from the Ministry officials. Mrs. Eleni Georgiou insisted that they didn’t have a contact with the Ministry so she can’t make any statements. Our reporter highlighted that the issue was related to public figures and the people would like to be informed. Then she asked about the emergency presence of the doctor in the Hotel, but Mrs. Georgiou answered that his presence wasn’t urgent as he was already a permanent doctor of the Hotel. The reporter thanked her and we left open the possibility of a new contact with her.
So after this we had some new data: The Hotel Company didn’t contradict the incident and the doctor is indeed a doctor of the hotel. But after all, we still questioned that there was no communication between the hotel and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The data we had till this point left us no margin for making any publication of the incident and we didn’t want our credibility to be in danger so we decided not to post. Our reporters team tries to be updated and informed, constantly searching for links or sources that could empower the clues that we had up to this moment. At 14:45 we were informed about a second sickness case of a Libyan official that is associated with stomach disorders.
Then straight away we had a meeting. We decided to send an e-mail to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 17:24 because we wanted to press them to make a statement after we had new data in our hands. Then we decided to press further both sides by publishing a short article in our website and by posts on our social media.
At 20:15 we received an answer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
So up to this moment what we knew was that 1) We have general statements from the Ministry and they possibly try to avoid the publication of the incident. 2) We know there was a second case of sickness but no official is making any statement about it.
In order to be ethical we tried to contact the Hotel Company one more time so we can host their opinion on our media.
After trying to contact them via phone call a lot of times, eventually at 20:00 one of our reporters had a 12 minute conversation with Mrs. Georgiou where she tried to press her for a official statement, highlighting that the issue is spreading and it will be nice for our readers to know what is actually going on. Nevertheless, Mrs. Georgiou persisted that the politics of the Hotel Company is to not share any personal data of their clients.
At our last meeting of the day at 22:00 we decided that given the answer that the Ministry gave us and the indirect admitting of them that there is a second case of sickness we should write an article about it. So our columnists write the article which was going to be published in the morning in the printed newspaper. At the same time our Social Media experts are making a promo of next day’s publications through our media.
The Ministry
A second member of the group had symptoms of food poisoning. The company needs to finalize their research and in the meantime the press is asking for answers from the company and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… At the same time, the hotel safety department start their research to determine whether this is a terrorist attack. The Ministry of Affairs… held an official press conference to give more information on the situation.
The Hotel
During the 2nd day of Crisis Simulation, the 22nd of January 2020, the Ibikon Hotel Communication Manager, @Eleni Georgiou received a phone call from @Eleni Vlachou, one of the reporters, who asked for further information about the case. Then, we had a meeting where we decided to send an email to the Communication Manager of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so as to take valid information about what the Media actually know about the case. Here is our mail;
“Dear Ms. Zisi,
We are writing to you regarding to a phone call we received from a reporter of Trsanparent Newspaper claiming that you have proceeded to statements related to Mr. Haftar’s and his task force’s arrival. From our side, none of these announcements are confirmed since there is still a chance of false information so that they could earn more information from an inner source.
We would please recommend that you confirm or not the validity of the reporter’s statement so as to avoid further misunderstandings.
Thanking you in advance.
Yours sincerely,
Eleni Georgiou
Communication Manager of IBIKON HOTEL”
After Ministry’s reply, suggesting that we avoid media statements, and knowing, according to the new email we received from our coordinator, that Ibikon Hotel is not responsible for the guests’ illness apart from the fact that another guest got sick on that day, we sent back the following email to show our willingness for cooperation with the Ministry;
“Dear Ms. Zisi,
Concerning the latest developments, we would like to reassure you about the researches and the checks of the food products, the food suppliers and the security system that have been conducted which have not shown anything worrying so far. Given our thorough checks and being strongly sure of the high quality of our products and services, we can assure you of our hotel’s integrity and our stuff, as well.
However, if any further research from your side is considered as necessary, it will be definitely more than welcome.
In addition, we would like to make our intentions known and confirm that we are not proceeding to further statement for the moment as we keep our devotion and loyalty to our hotel privacy policy by not revealing any personal information. We believe it would be more than important that we keep following a common path in cooperation with you so as to handle this situation effectively and preserve our guests’ safety.
We look forward to the examinations’ results as well as your estimation.
Yours sincerely,
Eleni Georgiou
Communication Manager of IBIKON HOTEL”
At the same time, media insisted on asking for declarations from our side through another phone call from Eleni Vlachou to the Hotel Communication Manager, while the Ministry replied to our mail confirming that we keep a common statement and position till we have anything new. We came to an agreement to that at our meeting that evening.
Thursday, January 23rd
The Media
At 11:00 as we still hadn’t received an answer from the officials we published the article at our website and we also posted it on our social media.
After the publications which we used to ask pressure we expected a reaction from the officials. Eventually, at 18:31 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a press release. We achieved our goal, which was the public statement of the officials in order to have a public debate with them. Immediately, we published the press release on all of our platforms.
So after the press release from the Ministry we have new data available:
1) They confirm that the issue is handled by a hotel’s doctor.
2) They don’t contradict the second case of sickness.
3) Through the press release there is an indirect attack on the media for “misleading” publications.
In the meantime we aimed to contact the Hotel Company again so we can have their opinion on the Ministry’s press release.
At 21:00 we had a meeting were we discussed, analyzed the information and we decided to act with posting one more publication pressing the officials to make things clear publicly. We were very careful on the diction of our article. We wanted to leave spikes and we promoted the article on our social media.
The Ministry
There were several publications from the press that talk about food poisoning of the group and even a potential terrorist attack.
The Hotel
During the 3rd day of Crisis Simulation, the 23rd of January 2020, we had to face another problem that occurred because of a publication of The Transparent newspaper mentioning our brand name. Then, we had a meeting ending up that we should press the newspaper to remove the article. Moreover, we thought we should communicate with the Ministry for once again and ask for their suggestions while letting them know about our next moves. So, this was our message;
“Dear Ms. Zisi,
According to the latest news and with reference to the publication that mentions our company name, we would like to inform you that we are planning to send an email to the newspaper where we will declare that in case that the article is not removed, since this mention is causing the depreciation of our company as well as it can harm our personnel, we will have to take legal proceedings because of non accurate and invalid information that form calumniation against our company.
We look forward to your estimation about the subject and to your reply whether you will proceed to an announcement so as to avoid the extension of the issue.
We would be grateful if you look into this matter as soon as possible so that we can keep up with the updates jointly.
Yours sincerely,
Eleni Georgiou
Communication Manager of IBIKON HOTEL”
After the correspondence with the Ministry and their agreement to our planning, we sent another email about the validation of the information the Ministry has given to media.
“Dear Ms. Zisi,
We are sending this email concerning the validation of the information given to the Media, given our difficult position towards them while trying at the same time to protect Mr Haftar and his group. According to your confirmation, you proceeded to declarations and aiming to “appease” the Press, you affirmed the arrival of the group as well as Mr Tafir’s illness.
Eventually, due to this confirmation, there are publications that threaten our organization’s integrity but most importantly, the group’s safety.
We find it of major essence that you would make the accurate context of your announcements and confirmations clear to us so that we will be able to fully prepare our next movements.
We look forward to your reply before proceeding to any further actions.
Yours sincerely,
Eleni Georgiou
Communication Manager of IBIKON HOTEL
Friday, January 24th
The Media
On Friday in the morning at 10:50 we received an e-mail from the Hotel Company that is requesting us to abide and delete our article with the title “ Random facts or false decisions?”
We had a meeting and we decided there was no reason for us to act accordingly cause there was no spikes for their company. As it was scheduled at 11:00 we published the article “Questionable Answers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs” on the printed newspaper and our website.
At 14:28 we had new data that confirmed the data we had up to this point, but also gave us new information.
So the data from our sources concerned 1) the results from the checks in the Hotel’s restaurant. We now knew that the kitchen was clear and there was neither pathogenic organism found nor someone that worked in the kitchen was sick so the clients could be infected by him.2) There was also a check in the security systems and the security cameras and everything turned out fine. 3) Ηealth of both of the officials that got a sickness is now improving. 4) there are rumors spreading on the blogs that the sickness of the officials was a terrorist action.
We urgently called a meeting and we decided to post the new information on our social media. Nevertheless, the issue concerning who or what is responsible for the sickness of the officials is not completely clear yet.
At 17:00 we posted an article on our platforms that was questioning who was responsible for the sickness of the officials.
At 17:17 the Hotel Company sends us a second irrelevant e-mail warning as it was clear they didn’t observe our news feed. We are having a new meeting and after we all agree that there’s not anything wrong with our posts we’re calling the company out and ask them for a public statement. We send them an e-mail at 18:44. The mail:
To IBIKON Hotel Contact Department
Dear Mrs. Georgiou,
Your hints that we are damaging your hotel’s reputation are unfounded. The article you are talking about , contains only a simple reference to your business about a circumstance already publicized in the media and concerns your cooperation with the Foreign Ministry.
Your persistent attitude, citing your company’s policy of concealing information and keeping the public uninformed, it didn’t stop us from looking at sources that have confirmed our report. As confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were incidents of Libyan instability with symptoms of stomach upset.
These facts led you to a series of checks that you confirm in your email. So, with what evidence would we be accused of defamation? “The Transparent ‘“ as a reputable medium, faithful to journalism and the public, did not stop reporting. Because we respect citizens and their right to information. On the contrary, even after three days, your company has not released any public announcement about the incident.
If you didn’t hurry to accuse us of defamation you would have seen clearly that we first publicized the incident and again we first publicized the new data on the thorough and excellent control your organization carried out, which control has not revealed yet the truth about the cause that caused the symptoms.
Ιnstead of threatening us with lawsuits aimed at silencing the press and depriving consumers of the right to information, it would be fair to take action that will fully clarify the case. We have addressed you for statements many times and informed you that we will continue to investigate the case faithful to our work.
Any statement of yours, will always “have a place” on our media, as we defend pluralism.
Sincerely,
Vlahou Eleni, reporter of “The Transparent”.
They answer back at 21:25.
At 20:25 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues a Press Release which we immediately publish on all of our platforms. As the rumors for the terrorist action are spreading we decide to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs some more questions via e-mail. We send this e-mail at 23:03.
At 23:00 we publish the article “ Questionable actions”.
At 01:49 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues a new press release which we publish immediately on all of our media.
The Ministry
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after being in close contact with IBKON HOTEL, and after having received all the necessary results that prove there was no concerning reason, while the results from the competent authorities of the state did not find any pathogenic organisms in the ingredients that were used, or any possibility that the illness had been transmitted from a staff member, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a second Press release. The Ministry after having examined the research results as well as the footage from the security cameras in the hotel, denied both rumors referring to food poisoning and terrorist attack.
In between, while both members of the party had improved in matters of health, the rumors in the Press did not stop and there were more publications about the unfortunate event.
The Hotel
During the 4th day of Crisis Simulation, on the 24th January 2020, we received a new mail from our coordinator regarding with the checks’ results proving that our Hotel had no responsibility for the group’s members’ condition. The Ministry from their side replied to our last mail confirming that Haftar’s arrival (with his group) and Tafir’s discomfort were the only information given to the media. So, after our team’s meeting, the following mail was sent to the reporter of The Transparent asking the withdrawal of their publication;
“Dear Ms. Vlachou,
I am sending this mail to express our organization’s request to remove the article in which our company name is mentioned. The related reportage leaves bad impressions about our company threatening our brand name but also harming in a way the people working in our company, since there is no evidence.
Consequently, I would please request your publication’s removal as soon as possible so as to avoid taking legal proceedings. We kindly expect your cooperation as well as I look forward to your reply.
Yours sincerely,
Eleni Georgiou
Communication Manager of IBIKON HOTEL”
Their reply expressed the rejection of our recommendations and another request for us to give information. At that point, we decided to send a new mail at the Ministry asking for proceeding to a new declaration from their side in order to protect our company’s name which had already been damaged.
“Dear Ms. Zisi,
The current conditions of the case are positive but our hotel’s fame has been essentially damaged. We are unfortunately informed by our Restaurant Manager that the number of our clients as well as of our guests is decreasing. That is obviously the result of various rumors about our restaurant that make of major importance that the case has to be clarified. We are also informed that specific blogs claim that the incident was not caused by food poisoning but terrorist attempt on the Libyan group. Those rumors continuously harm our company to a great extent and they definitely have to be disproved which should probably happen through your official announcement. We expect your cooperation for once again and we look forward to your reply.
Thanking you in advance,
Yours sincerely,
Eleni Georgiou
Communication Manager of IBIKON HOTEL”
In the meantime, another email had to be sent to the reporter of the newspaper in order to defend our company;
“Dear Ms. Vlachou,
We definitely respect your job and we are able to understand your position. However, in the article, there is clearly given the impression that our hotel is the one responsible for the possible food poisoning which is invalid information. As a consequence, our company’s name is damaged.
As far as our abstention from declarations is concerned, proceeding to official announcements that have to do with government’s safety issues are not within our domain but they could only come from governmental sectors. Apart from that, we are even not allowed to give any personal information of our guests since we strictly maintain the hotel’s privacy policy.
Unfortunately, if you do not comply with our last recommendation, we will be obliged, after the deadline given, to move to legal procedures.
Yours sincerely,
Eleni Georgiou
Communication Manager of IBIKON HOTEL”
The Ministry, on the other side, showing their support and replying to our previous mail, affirmed that they would give a 2nd press release.
Then, after another meeting, we agreed to the composition of a press release from our side, as well.
“IBIKON HOTEL
Press Release
Subject; Clarifications about publications that implicate IBIKON HOTEL with the latest incident of the Libyan officers’ illness
After the release of certain publications which have reported IBIKON HOTEL to be the place that host the Libyan officers, it is more than important to us, in order to protect the hotel’s prestige and reliability, to disprove any rumor that involves our hotel with the related incident. It is also essential to report that the preservation of our guests’ personal information has always been a strict and fundamental principle and is applied under any circumstances. The IBIKON HOTEL known for its high quality services and confidentiality, could not in any case confirm any of the rumors that could possibly set its guests’ safety in danger. We are proud to remind that IBIKON HOTEL has been many times distinguished for its high quality services and has also been recently checked by governmental officials that have confirmed that all the needed procedures and suitable conditions, according to the international models, are followed.”
Saturday, January 25th
The Media
On Saturday, during our morning meeting, we received a press release from the Ministry which we immediately published in all of our platforms.
Later we were informed that a Ministry’s deputation was visiting the unit at IBIKON HOTEL. Our reporters rushed there to get a hopefully illuminating statement. Two of them were correspondents for major foreign media, BBC and TRT.
We didn’t have much time so we asked each of them a two part question.
We attempted to get them address the fact that they were not ready for a crisis. We insisted on why they had the hotel’s doctor treat the patients, insinuating that they had not prepared for that matter. We also persistently asked them about their delay to confirm the second instance. Finally, we didn’t hesitate to request an answer whether they feared this incident would put a strain to the Hellenic- Turkish relations.
Both of them talked about an insignificant incident when it came to the two occurrences. The Ministry was abashed by the question about the doctor and simply mentioned their trust to the hotel confirming out belief about them not being prepared. Also, when it came to their stalling, they repeatedly stated that they needed some lab results before providing information. The hotel was sufficiently ready to answer since their legal representative was present. They once again talked about privacy and expressed absolute trust regarding their colleagues.
Their answers helped us reach some new conclusions and prepare Transparent’s web show. During the show, a rather heated discussion between the media, the Ministry and the hotel’s representatives led to the two militaries having contracted a virus beforehand. A simple answer to a topic that raised controversy and exaggerated rumors, only to prove that avoiding confrontation can damage a solid reputation.
The Ministry
In order to end the issue, both IBIKON HOTEL and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have answered every media’s question and they had to take a position in the frame of an informative emission.
In this Crisis Management Lab, we were given a case study and we were asked to be separated in three teams, which represented the ministry, the media, and the company. On the first day, every team received an e-mail from the teacher in which she was explaining the case study and the steps we had to follow in order to figure out the crisis.
We were in constant communication as teams, as we had to exchange information and respond to the issues each team would have. For example, the ministry would announce Press Releases in order to answer formally to the questions that media would express, and also would communicate constantly with the company in order to be updated on the process of the research that was conducted in the company. On the other hand, the media would publish articles in order to inform the citizens on the issue as well as to put pressure on both the ministry and the company that was involved.
The Ministry actually had to maintain its co-operation with the hotel and not put the blame on the company for the occurances happening. The Ministry team held responsibility for everything, as well as the necessary secrecy and made formal announcements only when valid information (the medical exam results) was obtained.
The Hotel
Finally, during the last day — the 5th — of the Crisis Simulation, on the 25th of January 2020, we were given new data about our guests’ health conditions and their recovery as well as about our certain discharge from any responsibility for the incident. Then, we met with some of the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since a TV panel was about to begin, so we discussed in order to follow a common path. So, after selecting two members of the Hotel team, the Communication Manager @Eleni Georgiou and our Legal Counsel , @Konstantinos Gonidakis, to represent our company, we experienced the conduction of a TV panel simulation and we generally managed to clarify the case.
In conclusion…
This great finale, reflected all of the effort and good cooperation from both academic professors and students within months. We have been lucky enough to have this opportunity to be part of a Crisis Simulation Training, which is the only one offered to university students between European Countries. This has put us in constant contact and cooperation between us. When the crisis broke out, we had to keep our temper and do our best to support our position with rational and strong arguments till the end. And this is what we actually did. After many hours of hard work, internal discussions and reflection, we came to important decisions.
Every step of this entire process of both Crisis Management course during this semester and the final Crisis Management Simulation, has been precious. Being part of it, felt completely realistic and affected us all the way.
It was an unpresented experience that will be unforgettable to all of us. It has been our first attempt to solve an extremely complex crisis, which will undoubtedly prove itself useful in the future.
What matters to us the most, out of this process in the end, is the value and power of strategy. Without an excellent plan of arguments, continuous cooperation, and of course the passion and will of each one of us, we wouldn’t have such a successful outcome.
We are feeling more than lucky to be part of this Crisis Simulation Training, open, prepared and ready than ever for the next crisis to come our way!
The Media
Fotis Angelis (Chief editor), Maria Hanioti (SM manager), Antzela Golikai (SM manager), Christina Panagakou (Journalist), Christiana Bramo (Journalist), Ελένη Πούλιου (Journalist), vlahou eleni (Reporter), Sofia Pavlidou (Journalist), Nickos Pan (Reporter)
The Ministry
Elina Zisi (Communication Representative), Elisavet Kyriazis (Coordinator), Meggy Mile (Assistant Secretary), Ηλέκτρα Ξανθοπουλου (Communication Representative), Eugenia Skouteri(Chief Executive) , Violetta Ioanna Makri(Chief Executive Assistant) , Evelina Karatziou (Coordinator), Kyriaki Kyriakoggona (Legal Counsel), Angelika Bega (Secretary)
The Hotel
Eleni Georgiou(Communication Manager), Lambrini Tsiligianni(Chief Executive), kostas gonidakis (Legal Counsel), Amalia Stavropoulou (Secretary), Maria Staikopoulou (Hotel Manager), Kelly Margatina(Restaurant Manager), maria zioga (HR Manager), Andromachi Efstathiou(Supplies Manager), Marilou Karakosta(PR Manager).
