Her Magazine is New Zealand’s only women’s business lifestyle magazine! Her Magazine highlights the achievements of successful and rising New Zealand businesswomen. Her Magazine encourages a healthy work/life balance.
Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/49418
Let's hear it from the boys Bob Parker has been chosen as Communicator of the Year by the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand. The award recognises a person who demonstrates excellent personal communication skills and espouses open and honest communications within their organisation. situation of those receiving the news shapes how and where the information is delivered. Is there a right way and a wrong way to do it, what insights do you have? There's always the best way to do it, What does receiving this award mean to you? It's an honour to be recognised by the people for whom communication is the essence of their livelihood. I feel humble to have been accorded this honour and am proud to accept it on behalf of a large team of dedicated people working in an extremely difficult situation. The credit goes to them. What was the toughest aspect of your role? Never feeling able to do enough to solve all the big issues facing people across our city. No matter what we do, there is always someone who needs help. What is your best advice to anyone who has to deliver tough news to the public? Honesty is paramount – there is no choice. The context must be set for people, and the information must be given honestly. It is very important to understand as much as you can, as the but that is shaped by the nature of the information you are delivering. Again, the best way of doing it means understanding the context of the information and the situation of those receiving it. It will inevitably shape the way the information can be successfully delivered. How did you find the media throughout the ordeal and what advice would you give regarding working with the media in New Zealand? In the early weeks following both the September and February earthquakes, I thought the media overall were very professional. They understood how vital it was that the information given was accurate and up-to-date. They understood the need for us to communicate with our citizens. The media was extremely supportive and played an important role following the quakes. We developed a solid working relationship and we needed the media as much as they needed us. What mediums did you find worked best for you, i.e. were you using Social Media? Were public meetings best? How do you get information to a mass market in times of pandemonium? What worked, what didn't? TV and radio provide an immediate connection. Initially there was no power to much of the city. Civil Defence and local volunteer fire brigades were absolutely vital at getting the information out to the public. We used everything we could to keep the citizens up-to-date. Within days we were holding public meetings across the city and we used mail-drops too. At the end of the day, we used a combination of everything to get the information out there as quickly as possible. What did you do to relax and de-stress during this time? We just kept our heads down and continued working. There was simply no time to relax. The best way to cope was to stay busy. It was impossible to relax because there was so much to do. Like everybody else, we just did what we had to do. What does the future hold for you over the next 12 months? And for Christchurch? Completing our work on the rebuild plan for the central city and beginning to see its implementation. We also need to complete the planning work for the suburban centres, ensuring their very important plans can be included in the rebuild. We need to keep working with central government to ensure the financial support is there to rebuild infrastructure. And naturally, we need to keep an eye on the budgets. I want to ensure we meet the commitments to our community. HER MAGAZINE | December/January 2012 | 81 Bob Parker Mayor of Christchurch