PRSA Member Exclusive: S&T Live Crisis Tips From the Best of Silver Anvil Recipients

When Hurricane Ian made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast last Sept. 28, the Category 5 storm brought 155-mile-per-hour winds and a water surge that killed more than 150 people in the state and left millions more without electrical power.

The Florida Power & Light Company supplies electricity for 12 million people in the state. Working with rbb Communications in Miami, the company had more than 100 communicators “step up to assume a storm role and help our customers,” said Bryan Garner, Florida Power & Light’s senior director of marketing and communications.

Garner and Sandra Ericson, APR, executive vice president of rbb Communications, were the guests on July 12 on Strategies & Tactics Live, PRSA’s monthly livestream on LinkedIn with host John Elsasser, editor-in-chief of PRSA's award-winning publication, Strategies & Tactics.

For their communications campaign “A Sound Response to a Record-Setting Storm: FPL Gets the Lights Back On After Hurricane Ian,” Florida Power & Light and rbb Communications received PRSA’s 2023 Best of Silver Anvil Award.

After the session, which you can view here, Garner and Ericson joined Elsasser for a further conversation exclusively for PRSA members. In this video, the two discuss having a crisis-ready mentality and offer some practical advice for communicators.