Crisis Communication: – The Elizabeth Smart Case

Chris Thomas

Thursday, 17 Feb 2005 at 7:00 pm – Great Hall, Memorial Union

Chris Thomas is the owner of The Intrepid Group and has managed more than a dozen crises for organizations ranging from non profits to a large international corporation. His most high-profile work was for the Elizabeth Smart family. He began working as their official publicist shortly after Elizabeth was abducted in June of 2002. He organized protocol to establish order with a large and demanding group of journalists, managed numerous crises that threatened to impact the family and search for Elizabeth, helped lobby for passage of the National Amber Alert, developed and later executed a "Resolution Plan," and handled media following Elizabeth's rescue. Thomas, who logged more than 10,000 calls from the media during the 11 months he worked with the Smarts, completed more than 100 live and taped interview with media ranging from The New York Times and Newsweek to the Today Show, Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight.

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