by Newsroom Ink Staff
The day before Hurricane Isaac made landfall, the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board executive leadership tracked down Newsroom Ink CEO Ed Lallo while he was vacationing with his wife Adrienne. Headed for Montreal, and within 30 miles of the Canadian border, Ewell Smith, Louisiana Seafood’s executive director, reached out to Newsroom Ink for help.
Monitoring the approaching storm from his offices along Lake Pontchartrain, Smith knew the board needed effective business communications to inform the state’s $2.4-billion seafood community about the hurricane – before, during and after it hit.
Launched when the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred in 2010, the board already had in place its Louisiana Seafood News site. While the newsroom provided much-needed communications during that crisis, the site had transitioned to non-crisis issues.
“Our crisis communications team felt that Isaac posed a big enough threat to the industry to fully reactivate the site,” Smith said.
Within 24 hours after the call to Newsroom Ink, the award winning newsroom went live just as the Category 1 hurricane made landfall. Initial stories reported on the Seafood Board’s preparedness, its strategies and actions to serve its constituents – fishermen, processors, restaurant owners and related businesses.
Soon after, Louisiana Seafood News served as a credible source for other media picking up stories about the storm’s impact, such as Fish Information & Services, a global seafood industry news site.
Wide-ranging coverage of this diverse industry, which employs one out of every 70 workers in Louisiana, continues every week. “The newsroom is a forum to address business and industry issues, highlight our expertise and tell our stories,” said Smith. “It gives us a greater voice and a place to be heard – loud and clear.”
“We were glad to once again be able to work with the Louisiana Seafood Board,” said Lallo. “Newsroom Ink will always be there when companies need us in a crisis.”
