Members of the media have spent their entire careers getting ready to interview you.

So, doesn't it make sense for you to spend just a few minutes learning why the media doesn’t cover your story or issue the way you want?  And when they do, why the story doesn’t look or read the way you think it should?

In today’s world of “gotcha” journalism, with tiny, digital cameras capable of sending hi-definition pictures to YouTube and CNN within minutes and reputational challenges amplified exponentially by Facebook and Twitter, “managing the media” is a necessary skill for communicators and executives alike. Learn about this skill set during the Crisis Communication and Issues Management presentation given by veteran crisis communications and media specialist Bruce Hennes on Thursday, Feb. 21. The lunch program, hosted by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Cleveland, will be at the historic Sarah Benedict House, 3751 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m., with the presentation beginning at noon.

This fast-paced talk by Bruce Hennes -- winner of IABC’s 2011 Communicator of the Year Award -- from Hennes Paynter Communications in Cleveland, will offer a highly-strategic approach to communicating during a wide variety of situations and offer methods for establishing and maintaining “control of the message,” enabling you to manage an issue, move your message forward, or mount a defense against a sudden press onslaught.

In this presentation, you will:

• Gain insight into what the media looks for in an interview
• Understand how and why the media’s objectives differ from the interviewee’s
• Understand how to better and more-effectively communicate to protect the organization’s image, brand and perception in the marketplace

About Bruce M. Hennes, Managing Partner of Hennes Paynter Communications

Hennes Paynter is one of the few agencies in the U.S. focused exclusively on crisis communications.  Serving corporations, government agencies, educational and healthcare institutions and nonprofits that are “on trial” in the Court of Public Opinion, Hennes Paynter Communications also offers media training and litigation communication support to their clients.

Hennes has over 35 years’ experience working in politics and public relations.  He now counts among his current and former clients such companies as Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, Akron General Health System, The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, KeyBank, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, NASA and Westfield Insurance, as well as many municipalities, school districts and law firms.

Hennes serves on the governing board of the Cleveland Leadership Center and The Business Emergency Planning Institute.  He is one of the founders of the FBI Citizens Academy Foundation of Cleveland.  He is also a Graduate Lecturer in Advanced Communications/Media Relations in the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University and he frequently speaks before bar and trade associations.  Hennes is also a member of the boards of The Press Club of Cleveland and he’s on the executive committee of The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and recipient of the bar association’s first-ever President’s Award.  Hennes received certification in Effective Communications from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and The Federal Emergency Management Agency.  President of Leadership Cleveland’s Class of 2008, Hennes is also of counsel to Levick Strategic Communications in Washington, DC. (Crisis Manager of the Year and Litigation Communications Firm of the Year by PRNews).

For the last three years in a row, Hennes Paynter Communications won the Gold Award from the Public Relations Society of America - Greater Cleveland Chapter for its crisis work. In 2009, Hennes Paynter won PRSA’s coveted “Best of Show” award for its work with another agency on the national peanut butter recall.  For more information, please go to www.crisiscommunications.com.