At the crisis communication seminar at the Hamburg Media School, our communication experts Felix and Jakob left their role as consultants behind – and once again took on the role of lecturers. Over two days, they taught the participants from the media and communication industry the theory and practice of strategic crisis communication.

The first day of the seminar was all about imparting knowledge. In a lively exchange on the topics of crises, crisis management and crisis communication, there was room for questions, inquiries and experiences from the lecturers in real-life crisis situations. On the second day of the seminar, things got serious for the participants – and damn close to real life. After lunch together, an immersive live crisis simulation was on the agenda – carried out in our secure online simulation environment. In the seminar room, the participants' crisis communication team; in the next room, we had access to the backend of the simulation software.

The scenario: a group of hackers has stolen personal data from a bank and is now demanding a ransom.

The first challenge for the participants was to assign roles: who would take care of monitoring? Who would be responsible for the website? Who would take charge of communications? Once the responsibilities had been assigned, the simulation began. 90 minutes filled with social media posts, press and customer inquiries, and e-mails from IT and the CEO. And all of this came at minute intervals, controlled by us from the room next door based on what the crisis communication team communicated.

In the subsequent feedback session, the crisis was reflected upon: What went well? What didn't go so well? What should be considered in an emergency? This sometimes led to intensive discussions. But in the end, everyone agreed: the crisis simulation was an exciting experience! The crisis seminar was not only a complete success for our two ORCAs, but also an important learning experience for the participants.

We are already looking forward to the next time!