Public Confidence in Professional Regulation: Earn It, Keep It Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Photo © Michael Haegele/Corbis © CLEAR 2012 Media and the regulator Sherri Haigh Real Estate Council of Ontario

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Surviving as a regulator Government agencies, regulators all under immense scrutiny Crisis and issues can be managed but not without the media

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Define yourself Create your brand Define who you are before someone else does

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 When things go wrong TSSA a delegated administrative authority Sunrise Propane Explosion Death, public scrutiny Dismal media response

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Sunrise Propane Explosion Headline: Propane company urges public not to rush to judgment “Out of an abundance of caution and a desire for the investigatory process to unfold free of speculation and misinformation, we will not be making any further public comments at this time”

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Consequence New oversight by Ministry Lack of trust by public Significant reputational damage

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Doing it right Maple Leaf Foods August 2008 to March confirmed deaths resulting from a Listeria outbreak President delivers unconditional apology on video “touted as best practise” Further press conferences, releases, backgrounder follow

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Doing it right Senior management made available to media Crisis plan in place. They were prepared

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 The Result Maintained market share Reputation in place Survival of company

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Social Media Why you must play in the sandbox or suffer the consequences “Quebec juice maker pays opponent’s legal fees after soap ruling gets Twitter in a lather” – National Post

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Why get involved Control the message Respond to issues Reach new audiences Engage directly with stakeholders Drive Traffic to your website Participate in public conversations

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Social Media Blunders

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Correcting the error

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Doing it right Social Media Policy Decide who tweets, how you tweet Security measures

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Value of Media Relations If you don’t have a communications department or Public Relations professional on staff – get one For both pro-active and re-active media, relationships are the key to success.

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Who is your face? Your organization must have a spokesperson with strong media skills In many cases, the media want to speak to the CEO or Registrar Media training is a must

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Plain language please Registrant, Council Member NO!!! Talk in language media and public understand Don’t quote the Act. Explain what it means and why anyone should care

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Today’s regulator Government and public expect transparency and accountability Flying low on the radar doesn’t work anymore What are you doing to create awareness of your organization Poll to measure awareness as a start?

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 What RECO is doing Print Ads in Go Train

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 What RECO is brand YouTube

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Consumer Trade Shows

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Twitter Sample response to Go Train Ads Goddard has 22,000 followers

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Results RECO seen as leader in regulation (asked to help other start-up regulatory bodies) Recognized by Ministry as an effective regulator Three International Regulator Awards (Communications and Investigations) Two International Association of Business Communicators Award

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Be prepared for the attention All employees aware of issues/outreach Staff ready to handle complaints Inquiry clerks have heads up to direct calls Information easily found on website

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 The Power of Words It’s about how you say it

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation Toronto, Ontario June 7, 2012 Getting in touch Sherri Haigh YouTube