Hold the Fort

06/04/2020

The man in charge of the bureaucracy at Vancouver’s city hall knows about the controversy over the size of its communications department, in part because it comes up often.

04/07/2020

Have you been wanting to learn (more) about film editing and production using your phone, iPad or camera? Check out this FREE online course from the amazing Reel Youth team!

REMEMBER THIS - In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Reel Youth and Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia are offering a FREE online program to connect in this time of isolation and make a short film.

Open to all ages in BC and no fancy equipment needed.

Details and sign up: https://www.rememberthis.online/

04/07/2020

We don’t know about you, but it’s hard for us to believe that we’re going into Week 6 of life and work during a pandemic. It’s been both so short and soooo long.

Here’s some things for communications folks to be thinking about for this week: http://holdthefort.ca/2020/04/06/week-6-to-do-list/

04/04/2020

Here's the weekly check in for April 3! How did your week go?

Click through for this week's resource roundup, and a tune to help lighten the mood: the Ballad of Bonnie Henry by Phil Dwyer.

Weekly Check In – April 3 How’s everyone doing this week? You made it to Friday! Deep breaths. Keep going, you got this! Here’s our weekly resource round up. Got any good links to share? Post them in the comments! Resources COVID-19 and Media Relations: A Quick Guide for Nonprofit Communicator...

04/03/2020

Why and how you should be communicating about fundraising right now.

Fundraising in a crisis Fundraising?! What, now? Yes! Many of your donors want to help now and in the future. This is not the time to stop communicating with your donors and it is certainly a good time to be communicating about your organization’s program needs. Evangeline Caros, a Vancouver-based...

03/29/2020

Our weekly wrap up of resources, links, and things to make you smile. :-) If you're looking for something to do today, check out Andrea's online tabletop gaming convention!
Tune in today, March 29, from 11am-8pm PDT to https://twitch.tv/terminalcitycon
http://holdthefort.ca/2020/03/23/weekly-check-in-march-27/

Weekly Check In – March 27 Photo by Amelie & Niklas Ohlrogge on Unsplash Welcome to our weekly check in. Each week we’ll be sharing a round up of articles, webinars, resources, and other links that we found useful. You’ll be able to find all these links at a later date by going to our Resou...

03/27/2020

One of the worst impacts of the pandemic is job loss. Here are the Do's and Don'ts for managing layoff communications

Communicating layoffs Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash The loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs is one of the terrible effects of this pandemic, and communicating company layoffs is now a necessary and devastating reality for many communications staff. Making it even more difficult is the speed...

03/26/2020

In today's post, we explore the opportunities to create community in online spaces.

What are some ways you're engaging your audience online in light of social distancing?

Creating community in online spaces As we all turn to social separation (and lockdowns) to help slow the spread of COVID-19, we’re losing many traditional avenues to connect with our audience. But, it’s also giving us the unique opportunity to forge connections online, without a lot of the burea...

03/25/2020

Nigel Howard is one heck of a communications rockstar! Thanks Randy for the inspiration!

Nigel Howard is an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, and has been the man tasked with conveying the sometimes complicated details around new cases and the growing public health threat posed by COVID-19 through ASL.

03/24/2020

Are your messages reaching everyone? Today's blog post reminds us to use all the things to get our message out.

Use all the things Each one of us prefers to get information in a different way. In crisis communication try as much as possible to offer information using the four preferred communication styles: Visual – folks who prefer visual communication are concerned with how information looks. Construct wr...

03/24/2020

There are daily, if not hourly, government updates on business supports, isolation criteria, and pandemic data. It's hard to keep track of what's happening and when. We've been adding links to our Resources page on the Hold the Fort blog. Send us your resource faves at [email protected] (or post below) and we'll add them.
This source has a good breakdown of the latest federal and provincial (BC) financial aid packages to business

The B.C. government will be outlining the province's economic stimulus package to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 spread.

03/23/2020

Welcome to the Hold the Fort page with communications tips for trying times. Your week 4 to do list is here!

Week 4 To Do List Have finished or be close to finishing: a crisis communications response plan.an identified communications person or team who will manage messaging to your community(s). an identified organizational spokesperson (if it isn’t you) and/or responsible director who gives “official....