The power has been out in vast swaths of PEI this week because of an ice storm. We have been fine here in Charlottetown for the most part — our power has been out for no more than 5 hours in total — but in the central and western parts of the Island they have been dark and cold all week, and there are still 8,400 homes without power.
Maritime Electric, that provides electricity to the bulk of PEI, is obviously the focus of much of the attention here, and the public face of the company is Kim Griffin. She is doing a brilliant job, and anyone in the business of crisis management should take a page out of her book: she is honest, well-spoken, good at managing expectations, and, it would appear, able to exist without sleep.
Of course it’s the crews out in the field, both from Maritime Electric and from regional power companies lending a hand, who are bearing the brunt of the back-breaking work. But by being the straight-shooting spokesperson for the company Kim Griffin is doing them all proud. Please, give her a raise.
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Comments
A hearty here here to that.
A hearty here here to that. She has been absolutely brilliant - calm, reliable, empathic, truthful. She is an incredible asset to that company and anyone, anywhere who deals regularly with the media should take a page from her book.
The Guardian reported that
The Guardian reported that she was taking 100 calls an hour at one point — it’s one thing to be brilliant when you are in perfect conditions, to be able to handle that many calls and do the public side of it so well is quite an achievement.
This morning Fred O’Brien (no known relation) was very good too on the phone-in. Angus Orford (one of Kim’s predecessors) and Jim Lea (former president) were also excellent at this stuff. Fortus has done well with senior people for years and years.
I agree Peter - she never
I agree Peter - she never over sold and she was straight - she always started with hw the customers might be feeling - excellent - a model
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