FIR Interview: John “Pat” Philbin, former FEMA Communications Director - January 9, 2008

One of the bigger PR news stories of 2007 involved a press conference staged by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in October to address the California wildfires. FEMA’s External Affairs Director John “Pat” Philbin was slated to take a new position as Public Affairs Director for the Director of National Intelligence, but in the wake of the press conference controversy, that offer was withdrawn. In this wide-ranging interview, Philbin discusses the events that occurred leading up to, and the fallout from, the press conference, and offers advice for communicators who may find themselves in a similar position.

About our Conversation Partner

imagePat Philbin brought more than 20 years of experience in strategic communication, public affairs, organization management and business development within government organizations to his position at FEMA, which he began in June 2006. Before joining FEMA, Philbin worked for Anteon/General Dynamics Information Technology as a Technical Director where he served as a consultant in strategic communication to the Department of Defense’s Business Transformation Agency directing and assisting in communication efforts to Congress, the Government Accountability Office, and the general public. He also served as the Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Communications for a private security firm. 

Philbin served 21 years in the U.S. Coast Guard from which he retired as Chief of Public Affairs in 2004. He holds a Doctorate in Communication from the University of Maryland, a Master of Science in Public Relations from Syracuse University, and a Bachelor of Science in Government from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He also holds an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) and is a member of the Public Relations Society of America.

About our Guest Interviewer

Kami HuyseKami Watson Huyse, APR, principal of My PR Pro, an independent agency based in San Antonio, Texas, writes about public relations and communications. She has a background in crisis communication and reputation management, executing social media campaigns, conducting focus group research, and media relations. Kami has been working in public relations since 1994. She blogs at Communication Overtones.

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If you have comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, email us at fircomments@gmail.com; or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America) or +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe); or Skype: fircomments; or comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR; or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe intro music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by shel on 01/09 at 06:05 AM

  1. Actually, it’s the second guest interview—but great job, Kami!

    Posted by Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with "sketch")  on  01/09  at  04:16 PM

  2. You’re not a “guest,” Sallie; you’re a regular contributor! But true, Kami’s not the first interview other than Neville and me—a misstatement on my part.

    Posted by Shel Holtz  on  01/10  at  04:46 AM

  3. This is a very interesting interview. It started a bit slow as Mr. Phelan gives a very detailed account of his career.

    As we got into the heart of the interview I enjoyed the insights on what goes on behind the scenes at these Washington press conferences. Public service, especially at a high profile organization like FEMA, is no walk in the park.

    My initial thoughts are that emergency management press conferences should be run to a different standard than a standard entertainment or informational press conferences. In these FEMA conferences the information tends to be sensitive or critical and should be treated as such.

    At the very least prior to starting the event it is a good idea to make sure that expectations are set properly. A simple statement like, “There are no reporters present but we want to get this information out. We may also take questions from FEMA staff members,” could have gone a long way to eliminating the kerfluffle that erupted in the wake of this event.

    It is possible that the press conference could provide FEMA staffers an opportunity to get an update on the situation. So I don’t think their questions are a problem as long as the people are identified as staff members when asking their question.

    In general I think that the blogosphere needs to ease up and not automatically assume that our government is full of liars and cheaters. There are many very good people out there working hard to get things right and do things better under stressful circumstances.

    Posted by Rob Safuto  on  01/10  at  08:58 AM

  4. A key point for me, from a blogging perspective, is that you can’t take reports at face value and just run with them. We had this demonstrated to us again recently with the Washington Post’s RIAA piece.

    Posted by search engine optimization specialist  on  05/25  at  07:13 AM

  5. Great job Kami, this was very informative and I really enjoyed listening.  It’s very interesting finding out more about FEMA and how the incident went down, I’ve read several articles about the press conference, good stuff.

    Posted by Low Book Sales  on  11/25  at  08:50 AM

  6. A simple statement like, “There are no reporters present but we want to get this information out. We may also take questions from FEMA staff members,” could have gone a long way to eliminating the kerfluffle that erupted in the wake of this event. Anyways it was a great job.

    Posted by SEO  on  11/29  at  06:47 AM

  7. A key point for me, from a blogging perspective, is that you can’t take reports at face value and just run with them. We had this demonstrated to us again recently with the Washington Post’s RIAA piece.

    Posted by yahoo  on  12/14  at  10:00 AM

  8. Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed and informative article. It has given me a lot of inspiration and I look forward to more like this in the future.
    Jumping Castle

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  12/29  at  07:55 AM

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