Lipscomb’s communication department prepares its students to be successful professionals, which is evident in Jenny Barker, APR– a Lipscomb alum and public relations practitioner who headed up Gaylord Opryland’s post-flood public relations campaign.
On Monday, March 28, the communication department held its regular COMMA (Communications Majors and Minors Association) meeting with Lipscomb alum Jenny Barker as the guest speaker for the night.
Barker majored in public relations here at Lipscomb and was a part of the 2004 graduating class. She started her career at Atkinson Public Relations working in crisis management positions. Barker finally landed at Centennial Medical Center where she stayed comfortably as Director of Public Relations until a rare opportunity came her way. In October 2010 she got a call from Gaylord Opryland to assist them with PR in the aftermath of the May 2010 flood.
Barker saw this as a “once in a career opportunity” to work with a company in this type of crisis. At the COMMA meeting Barker gave detailed background information about the hotel during the flood and its resurgence.
“The biggest fear was that the hotel would lose power,” Barker said.
Hotel workers feared that the “miles of tunnels under the hotel that contained the IT and the power supply” would fill up with water and the main power source for the hotel would be lost.
Before power was lost, and before water even reached the building, the hotel decided to activate the Alert Pyramid for Gaylord Opryland, a plan set in place in case of some kind of evacuation emergency.
Hotel officials realized the severity of the situation and decided to evacuate its 1200 guests using Opryland Hotel buses. The designated evacuation location was McGavock High School, where hotel guests shared the crowded space with citizens of the community, who also flocked to the high school for shelter.
Gaylord employees, called Stars, went back and forth to the hotel with flashlights searching each room for people that may have been left behind. The Stars found many people hiding in their rooms, not wanting to leave the comfort of the hotel– which, at that point, had not been penetrated by the water.
All guests and employees eventually made it to the shelter. Part of Gaylord’s motto, Barker said, is “people first,” and getting food to all of the guests at this time was a priority. Hotel employees also worked hard to help guests figure out what they were going to do next.
“A virtual travel agency was set up to accommodate guests who were having trouble getting flights out of Nashville, and to help them get access to cars if they lost theirs in the flood,” Barker said.
Finally, the rain stopped.
Later, Colin Reed, the CEO and Chairman of Gaylord Hotels, observed the condition of the grounds and decided to hold a press conference. Reed stated that the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center was officially closed on May 3, 2010 until further notice.
After the press conference, hotel representatives walked journalists and reporters through the safe parts of the hotel to snap pictures of the damage and gather information about the restoration possibilities.
The Gaylord Opryland website has many videos of the new hotel features, interviews and all of the re-opening celebrations in its media room section online.
To start the clean-up process the hotel called in companies to bring large vacuum-like machines to pump the floodwater out of the hotel. At this time no one knew exactly how long it would take to reopen, or if reopening the hotel would even be an option.
The damage topped more than $50 million.
After thorough examination Gaylord Opryland decided they would undergo major construction and renovations while closed but would be able to reopen, giving themselves a six-month deadline to renovate and reopen.
Gaylord Opryland had to lay-off about half of their workforce, totaling about 1500 people. Gaylord Opryland continued to pay benefits for the people they let go, including free meals. Barker laughed as she explained how the Stars’ admittedly experienced the “flood 15,” similar to the freshman 15, because they actually gained weight from all the free food supplied.
When then hotel was preparing for the grand re-opening, they held rehiring functions and a lot of former employees returned.
“About 93 percent of the people who were working with the company on May 3 were back on November 16 and ready to work,” Barker said.
Once the hotel renovations became more about aesthetics and less about structure, people started getting excited again. The hotel commissioned an artist to create a massive sculpture to be displayed in the new hotel lobby that signified resurgence, which was a theme adopted throughout the renovation and rebuilding process.
Artwork in Gaylord Opryland Hotel Lobby. Photo Credit: Gaylord Opryland Hotel Website
The hotel finished its renovations on time and re-opened the hotel on Nov. 16, 2010. Gaylord hosted a charity concert featuring country artists Craig Morgan and Trace Adkins. All proceeds benefitted the Red Cross, Second Harvest and Hands on Nashville, three non-profits integral to the rebuilding of Nashville after the flood.
And Barker said that business at the hotel and convention center hasn’t slowed down at all.
“Business is back and better than ever,” Barker said.
As a way to communicate with the public, Barker maintains a Gaylord Opryland Facebook page which has pictures from before, during and after of the flood.
Barker says maintaining open communication with the public is an essential part of PR.
The one-year anniversary of the May flood is approaching, and Barker said Gaylord Opryland is inviting back the guests who were at the hotel during the flood. The guests are receiving a complementary two-night weekend stay and tickets to the Opry. The total number of guests evacuated during the floods and invited back for the reunion was 1200, and the hotel has already received over 1000 RSVPs.
Barker enjoys her profession because, in public relations “you never get bored, that’s for sure.”
Her advice to students was not to just send out resumes but, more importantly, obtain short, informational interviews and to build relationships. This is a cornerstone of public relations, as it helps students become more than “just words on a piece of paper.”
“Don’t be afraid to ask hard questions,” Barker said. “Strive for excellence. Think critically. If you’re working hard, you will get noticed.”
Professional organizations, like Nashville’s PRSA, are also helpful places to network, Barker told us.
Stay tuned for information on COMMA’s next meeting, where another professional in the field of communications will shed light on the ins and outs of the working world post-graduation.