Update on strategic positioning for August 2022 | RadioEd, crisis communications, and The Bridge

In addition to the work itself, I find the most joy working with the individuals I get the opportunity to work with on the MarComm team. I’ve always appreciated the diversity of the work. Every day truly is different with the tactics ever-changing. As we prepare for the fall months ahead, I’m happy to share a second update for August about two of our tactics—RadioEd and The Bridge. Here’s a link to the earlier Strategic Positioning Update for August 2022, in case you missed it.

RadioEd is Coming Back!

After two successful seasons in 2020 and 2021 and a hiatus, I’m happy to share that in late September, the RadioEd team will kick off its third season, with episodes available wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. We have an exciting season planned, with engaging guests and newsworthy topics. Though the voices you’ll hear will sound different, with Emma Atkinson and Matt Meyer taking over hosting duties, we’ll maintain the familiar focus on the global impact of the University of Denver’s faculty, staff, and students. Alongside each episode, you’ll receive templates and an audiogram to enable you to easily cross-promote a guest’s appearance. Detailed show notes for each episode will be available if you’d prefer to do your own exploring. Amplification helps RadioEd reach a wider audience. If you enjoy an episode of the new season, make sure to leave a five-star review on your favorite podcasting platform.

Crisis Communications Update

We’ve been working hard over the summer to better prepare campus for a crisis. Shira Good and Mike Bunker completed the first draft of the Emergency Operations Plan & Aftercare Guide—a document that will help guide our process and response actions, not only in the first few seconds, minutes, and hours, but also the duration of the crisis, depending on the nature of that situation.

Earlier in the year, we established an incident command team structure—a team that will immediately form if a crisis should occur, taking care of everything from basic human needs (food, water, shelter) to executing intricate reunification plans, if the need arises. In the past few weeks, Shira and Mike conducted one-on-one training sessions with incident command team members, helping them understand the nuances of their role and how they may collaborate with others on the team. In the coming weeks, individuals and small groups will conduct mini tabletop drills and late in the fall, the entire Incident Management Team (IMT) will come together for a large-scale tabletop drill. These exercises will help participants become more comfortable with their responsibilities and better understand the tools and resources available to them.

The Bridge This Fall

While we continued publishing The Bridge throughout the summer, we are ramping up for a busy newsletter season this fall, and we are excited for The Bridge to become a must-read for faculty and staff, to build community as well as a sense of belonging and pride among our DU team. To reach that goal, we need you. We will be posting reminders in the Communicators' Roundtable Teams group every Tuesday about submitting your news and would like you to consider programs and departments within your colleges and units for our featured department and featured faculty and staff sections to get better acquainted with our fellow coworkers, colleagues, and campus partners.

While the pace and intensity of our work in MarComm never slows, neither does the fun and camaraderie—even when we are tackling incredibly difficult subjects. It is also important to note that the relationships we sustain with our campus partners are critical to our success. We could not do it without each of you (and we wouldn’t want to)! On behalf of our team, know that we are very appreciative of your partnership over the summer. As always, please feel free to reach out to me, Shira Good (Shira.Good@du.edu), or Johanna Blickenstaff (Johanna.Blickenstaff@du.edu) with any questions you might have regarding our communications, marketing, or strategic positioning efforts.