PRSA Austin Blog

Don’t Be Eclipsed by Lack of Communication - April 2024

In less than a week, more than one million tourists will travel to Central Texas to witness a once-in-a-generation event: the total solar eclipse. Hundreds of thousands are planning to visit Austin and its surrounding communities. PRSA Austin has compiled some tips to help your organization or Communications team from being eclipsed into a total crisis.

Planning has been in the works for several years to align all the impacted cities, organizations, and state agencies. In recent months, we’ve seen thepayoff of these plans as they’ve been executed through social media, earned media placements, community outreach, and more.

Hopefully, your team has also been working towards a preparedness plan or pulled that disaster response plan off the shelf and used this event to put it into practice. Memories of Winter Storm Uri should have all Austinites ready for just about anything, but practice makes perfect planning! As the big day approaches, there’s still time to communicate and reinforce essential messages to your customers, employees, and impacted stakeholders.  

Let’s go through some of the important considerations before the big day.

• Has your team determined who your spokesperson will be if the need arises?
  • It may be important to establish a dedicated team for eclipse preparedness and response.
  • Does your team have call sheets with everyone’s numbers listed (especially in case of a power outage)?
  • And what are some of the topics they should be prepared to address that relate to “your business impact” and not the eclipse itself. (Below we list a list of official communications about the eclipse)
    • Don’t try to become an eclipse expert (unless of course, you are). Speak to your business and how the increase in tourism, traffic, or disruption in business impacts your organization specifically.

 2.         Prioritize employee safety and communications.

• Be sure your internal or employee communications team has communicated any change in schedules, resources, where to get eye protection if needed (if you are providing special glasses) or health resources.
• Educate employees on risks associated with looking directly at the sun through intranets, newsletters, etc.
• Has your team planned for the possible disruption in services such as water, internet, phone, or power? Plan to have backup generators, bottled water, etc. ready to go, especially if you are in the hospitality industry. If your organization requires staff to be in-office and they are unable to leave for a long period of time, don’t get caught without supplies to support them (snacks, water).
• Remind employees to charge up cell phones, laptops, etc. If possible, ask them to work from home and stay off the roads.
• If you are part of a national or global team, arrange for customer service calls to be diverted to other parts of the country for the day. Create backup teams. 

• Create scenarios in advance on when or what would require proactive media relations, a social media response, or even a blackout. Know in advance so your team is not scrambling.
• Be sure that any “scheduled” social is appropriate or if it needs to be canceled.
• If there is a need to communicate with the media due to a disruption or crisis that involves your business, have your spokesperson and media messages ready. It is critical that you respond quickly but accurately and consistently about the facts, especially when safety is an issue.

 4.         When it comes to official communications about the eclipse, we have listed who should be communicating about the eclipse itself and their roles. (This is not an exhaustive list). Again, your organization may or may not have a role in speaking about the eclipse itself and maybe shouldn’t. Consider if it makes sense for your brand to join the conversation. 

• City, County and State Governments
  • Office and service closures or altered hours, resident preparation strategies, roadside assistance, emergency, and non-emergency contact information, resource limitations or disruptions, special events, educational resources, viewing safety, protocols for outdoor workers in darkness

• Chambers of Commerce
  • Hospitality resources (hotels, restaurants, etc.), eclipse viewing events, viewing safety, other things to do and see while visiting, preparedness strategies for visitors 

• Transportation Agencies
  • Traffic conditions, traffic congestion, alternate routes, traffic safety, construction worker safety, protocols for working outside in the dark, work breaks during eclipse timeframes, eclipse viewing safety for employees 

• Hotels
  • Potential vacancies and rates, sister properties with vacancies (if full), special eclipse services or viewing events, resource or service limitations for guests, eclipse viewing safety 

• Nonprofits
  • Office and service closures, altered hours, reduced or rescheduled services, resource limitations or disruptions, alternate support sources, eclipse viewing safety, preparedness tips, eclipse viewing events, educational resources, emergency contact information 

• Airports, Airlines, Car Rental Companies
  • Traffic conditions around airports, longer than average TSA wait times, flight delays, resource or service limitations, employee safety protocols for working in the dark, eclipse viewing safety, flight availability, car availability, or reservation changes 

• Utilities
  • Energy conservation tips, energy conservation tips when solar power output is greatly reduced due to darker skies, power outages, repair status, field employee safety and protocols for working in the dark, employee eclipse viewing safety 

• Employers (Employee Communications role)
  • Office closures or work-from-home arrangements, delayed arrival or early closures, eclipse viewing events, eclipse viewing safety, safety protocols for employees working in the dark  

• Educational Institutions
  • School closures, late openings or early closures, protocols for students missing school, eclipse lesson plans (scientific, historical), student safety protocols, employee viewing safety, protocols for outdoor employees working in the dark, special staff events 

• Restaurants and Retailers
  • Closures or altered hours of operation, tips for staff on handling larger crowds, notices to customers about anticipated longer waits and potential product shortages, product purchase limits, policies for work absences on the eclipse day, process for on-call staff, drink or meal specials, special sales, eclipse events, eclipse viewing safety, protocols for staff working outside in the dark 

• Law Enforcement and Emergency Services
  • Contact for roadside assistance, emergency, and non-emergency contact information, set expectations of delayed response times 

• Healthcare Providers
  • Office closures or altered office hours, emergency and after-hours contact information 

• Media
  • Work with cities, counties and state agencies, law enforcement, emergency services and others to educate readers/viewers about eclipse viewing safety and set expectations about traffic, long waits, limited resources, and preparation strategies 

• Associations and Scientific Community
  • Eclipse viewing safety, viewing events, learning resources for students, technological resources for citizen science participation, optimal viewing times and locations, duration of totality 

What are the key messages that should be shared?

Key messages about the eclipse for visitors and residents alike tend to fall into three categories:

•  Preparation—Adding one million visitors to an area already home to 12 million residents will substantially stress our infrastructure and resources, especially in Austin, where infrastructure improvements have not kept up with rapid growth.  Preparation and planning are key. The surge of visitors can create operational disruptions, from closed roads, and delays in supplies being delivered, to even your storefront getting blocked by congested sidewalks. Be sure to plan for how you will communicate closures or if you are still open in multiple ways.
•  Patience--Visitors and residents are asked to be patient as they are out over the weekend and on eclipse day. Traffic congestion, long lines at stores, restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores running slow or out of staple items are just a few of the inconveniences that are likely to occur. Just remind everyone that it’s temporary, and things will soon return to normal.
•  Safety--Many misconceptions exist about what will happen during the eclipse, how to view it safely, and what equipment is best. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an excellent resource for preparation, safety precautions, and the science behind the event. There are also technological resources for citizen scientists to safely take eclipse images and share observations for wider research. 
• Law enforcement, emergency services, and healthcare providers can address more urgent safety matters. Look to these agencies to share information about response times, limiting calls to life-threatening emergencies, contact information for non-emergencies and drivers who require immediate assistance, healthcare office closures, and where to seek immediate medical assistance.

 Have a Crisis-FREE Total Eclipse!