Nicholson School Hosts Largest Conference Yet
ICRCC 2016 – Nicholson School of Communication
Conference co-chairs Dr. Tim Sellnow and Dr. Deanna Sellnow lead the closing panel, “The Future of Crisis & Risk Communication.”
(Orlando) – Nearly 150 crisis communication professionals and scholars from around the world converged at UCF as the Nicholson School of Communication hosted the 6th Annual International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference (ICRCC), March 7-9. And by all accounts, it was the largest attendance in the six years of the conference, and certainly filled with some of the most high profile scholars and professionals to attend the event.
This year’s theme – Bridging the Gaps – put the focus on having scholars and practitioners come together to develop better ways for scientists to communicate risk and for companies and governments to navigate crises.
Universities and government agencies from as far away as Africa, Australia and Sweden, as well as here in the United States, sent representatives to share ideas and experiences with one another. “This was a fantastic conference,” said Henrik Olinder, Senior Crisis Communication trainer from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency in Stockholm. “I had a great time trading ideas and thoughts with people from around the world. This really is a wonderful event, and Florida in March isn’t bad, either!”
Dr. Tim Sellnow and Dr. Deanna Sellnow, professors of strategic communication at the UCF Nicholson School of Communication and co-chairs of the 2016 ICRCC, welcomed the conference attendees.
“The whole point of this gathering is for us to keep moving forward and get better at communicating with the public,” said Tim Sellnow, Ph.D., conference co-chair and Professor of Strategic Communication at Nicholson School of Communication. “When you have people coming from all over the world to talk about the challenges that new media and social media present, you really get to see how academics and professionals come together to help each other.”
For the first time this year, the Nicholson School presented the ICRCC Excellence in Communication Award. The inaugural honoree was the men and women of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in recognition of their hard work, dedication and resilience as they have lived and worked through various successes, and tragedies, as part of the United States’ space program.
Accepting the award on behalf of KSC was Scott Thurston,’90, Chief of Technical Performance and Integration Division at KSC and a graduate of UCF’s Electrical Engineering program.
ICRC 2016 attendees enjoy lunch while listening to Dr. Phillip Tompkins, Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder, present “The Dialectic Between Risk and Participation During an Age of Increasing Complexity.”
ICRCC also honored graduate students, with two top paper awards: Wouter Jong (Netherlands) as the top International Student paper, and Jade Monroe (North Dakota State Univ.) for the top Domestic (US) paper. Both students presented their papers to the general conference and were recognized at Tuesday night’s awards ceremony along with the Kennedy Space Center.
The 2017 International Crisis & Risk Communication Conference has been set for March 13-15 in Orlando, Florida.