"Melissa's keynote presentation was an excellent start to a quite successful event. Thanks for the superb kickoff."
– Ted Whiteside, Acting Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy NATO HQ
"In the Hospitality space every day has the potential to have high impact, costly issues or a potential brand destroying crisis happen. It is an environment based on high customer engagement platforms with many variables at play. Luckily for us someone like Melissa exists who can help guide us through these areas and provide real world applications and tools to help organizations be prepared. We were lucky enough to have Melissa present at our recent hotel leadership conference. Melissa spoke to hundreds of our hotel leaders who have to deal with being crisis ready every minute of every day. The value of the content she provided was directly geared to our unique environment and she kept audiences engaged and entertained while helping them learn valuable skills to take back. Anyone who wants to make sure their organization is INVINCIBLE needs to have her present and share examples and best practices for managing real-world issues and crises."
- Christian Kuhn, Vice President Marketing, All Suites Brands, Hilton
"We brought together our legal, PR, communications, digital and staff engagement teams for nearly two days. Melissa guided our topics in such an engaging way driving us to tap what we already knew and to discover what was lacking in our current process and guidelines. This training session brought us together in such an effective way that not one person regretted the commitment we made to learn. Thank you, Melissa, for bringing a complex topic to us in a way that encouraged debate, hands-on experience and helped us make decisions."
- Jan Walther, YMCA of the USA
"Melissa was well prepared, great on her feet, thoughtfully challenging, superbly engaging and displayed a depth of knowledge that gave her high credibility. Additionally, she made the session stimulating and fun. Her thought provoking presentation style spurred exceptional dialogue between the participants that attended our global crisis communications network meeting. Her insight and knowledge of the digital landscape opened our eyes to alternative communications approaches when dealing with a crisis."
- Jeff Martin, The Dow Chemical Company
"Melissa proved to be highly effective in helping Domtar modernize its crisis management plan in the age of social media. While the fundamentals of good crisis management remain the same, Melissa helped us internalize how social media accelerates the speed and scope of how information is shared and public impressions are formed. As a result, we are better prepared to leverage the benefits of social media in a crisis situation, while avoiding mistakes and minimizing risks. Melissa accomplished this with a critical review of our procedures and plans, a customized exercise that engaged our entire team, and a thoughtful assessment of areas for continued improvement."
- David B. Struhs, Vice President, Corporate Services
"We took Melissa’s visit to South Korea as an opportunity to discuss crisis communication with embassies with which we have close contact in Seoul. Crisis communication is of utmost importance in our environment, as tension between South and North Korea fluctuates on a weekly basis. Melissa was able to lead the discussion on various crisis communication strategies where she provided the benefits and the disadvantages of each. She introduced many of the diplomates to various new communication tools and strategies that could be implemented when communicating with our citizens in South Korea. Her command of the subject, as well as her presentation skills were phenomenal, and each embassy representative commented on the high value she brought to the discussion. Her presentation was a catalyst which enabled discussion on the creation and application of common communication strategies in crisis situations, by embassies in Seoul."
– Charles Longtin, Counsellor (Management) and Consul at Global Affairs Canada, South Korea
"Melissa Agnes accepted my invitation to present a webinar for the Public Relations Institute of Australia. Melissa was great: easy to work with; organized; passionate about her material – “Absolutely brilliant webinar, really useful and practical,” commented one attendee; and generous with her time and resources, freely inviting the audience to download her proprietary Issues Management Response Flow Chart. Not only, but the 12:00 noon webinar in Sydney meant that Melissa started her broadcast at 9:00pm in Montreal, with a terrible cough which she worked hard to suppress. A true professional!"
- Julian Kenny, Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA)
"I cannot speak highly enough about the quality of the presentation Melissa delivered and about the engagement it generated both on location and on social media. Melissa reminded us that best practices and a deep understanding of current realities can make a crisis work for you rather than against you. Her case studies and practical examples span across industries and got the room thinking and exchanging well beyond our physical location. IABC members in Ottawa, Toronto and Melbourne, Australia followed the event and interacted with us on social media. A must-attend training!”"
- Maria Constantinescu,President IABC/Montreal
"Melissa is energetic, insightful and fun! I loved her session. It was one of the best of the CPRS National Summit this year. And all the sessions were tremendous, so this is high praise, well deserved."
- Dr. Lydia Boyko, Conference Attendee
