Jacksonites Professional Development Series (JPDS), has announced that it will be organizing a seminar focusing on how communication professionals can better respond to crisis in the social media and internet age where information spreads rapidly and widely with the potential to cause massive damage to an organization’s image.
This was contained in a press release by organisers and received by African Development Magazine (ADM), the statement read in parts that the discussion will be on crisis communication, points to paths for effective response in the internet age.
The seminar titled “Crisis Survival in Today’s Viral World: The Communications Conundrum” will be hosted on Zoom (https://bit.ly/jacksonitespdseries2 ) and will hold on November 10, 2021, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (GMT +), with hundreds of participants from the academia and communications industry expected to tune in to follow robust discussions led by an experienced speaker.
“The tendency for information to go viral is both an opportunity and a challenge for communication professionals and presentation from our widely experienced speaker will provide participants with the knowledge and skills to be able to anticipate, prepare, respond, and stave off crisis so as to reduce untold harm on clients,” said Chinedu Mba,
The Steering Committee Chair of Jacksonites Professional Development Series (JPDS), an initiative of the alumni of the University of Nigeria’s Department of Mass Communication, Obi Emekekwue. President of DelReeve Konsult Limited, which provides Africa-focused strategic communications and business advisory services, will lead discussions in the seminar.
Emekekwue will bring his extensive experience in corporate strategic communications, media, public relations, international civil service, and event management to the session to spark vital discussions around the topic.
“In today’s internet and social media-driven environment, the impact of a crisis can go viral within a very short time, greatly magnifying the damage; it is, therefore, important to communicate effectively in order to minimize negative consequences,” said Emekekwue,
Obi Emekekwue was recently the Director and Global Head of Communications and Events Management at the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
A 1982 graduate of the Department of Mass Communication of UNN, he holds a Master’s in International Relations and a postgraduate diploma in International Law and Diplomacy from St. John’s University, New York. He is also a graduate of the Executive Education programs of Harvard and IMD Business Schools.
Among other expected to join the event are; Marcel Mbamalu (Ph.D.), the Editor-in-Chief/Publisher of Prime Business Africa, an online newspaper platform poised to change the digital journalism space, will moderate the seminar.
Mbamalu holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Masters’s in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), and a doctorate degree in Journalism from UNN.
