Yorkshire PostFace of McCann family reveals secrets
SPEAKER: Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCann family, stands in front of a picture of Madeleine McCann at Leeds Town Hall yesterday as he speaks at Leeds Business Week. Picture: Simon Hulme.
Published Date:
03 June 2008
By Bernard Ginns Business Editor
The man who represents the family of missing girl Madeleine McCann gave a masterclass yesterday in crisis management.
Clarence Mitchell, the BBC journalist turned public relations expert, has been spokesman for Gerry and Kate McCann for the last year.
He was one of the star turns in the first day of the inaugural Leeds Business Week, which will feature more than 20 key events held across the city.
Organisers say the events are designed to inspire, educate, motivate and provide a key networking experience.
Speaking to an audience at the Town Hall, Mr Mitchell explained how to handle crisis situations and manage reputations while dealing with the attention of the world's news media.
Mr Mitchell underlined the importance of instant rebuttals when stories were wrong – a common occurrence in the reporting of Maddie's disappearance last May.
He said the wider McCann family had helped to keep the story in the public eye when the little girl first went missing and sent her photograph to newsdesks and posted it on websites.
It was important to maintain momentum in the campaign in the run-up to the first anniversary, he said, and he had to manage the demands of the Press pack of the tabloid and broadsheet journalists and photographers.
The talk by Mr Mitchell came after the official launch of Leeds Business Week at the Hilton Hotel in the city centre.
Tom Riordan, chief executive of regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, opened the event with Mike Firth, managing director of Regional International Business Conventions, Glenn King, director of Yorkshire Bank, and Deborah Green, chief executive of Marketing Leeds.
During the morning, a team of students took on some of the region's biggest corporate players in a battle of the boardroom – and won.
The postgraduate students from Trinity & All Saints College pitted their wits against chief executives in a nail-biting quiz.
The winning team of journalism students Esther Halligan, Rhiannon Cawthorne, Chris Normington and Dan Poprdan fought the early morning battle, taking on Chris Green, managing director of Johnston Press (Northern Division), Rick de Blaby, chief executive of MEPC, Mr King and Ms Green.
The winners emerged after six rounds of questions on business terminology, football, music and odd-one-out picture questions.
Ms Green said afterwards: "The quiz was a great, fun way to start the week, the students gave the chief execs a real challenge, and kept us all on our toes.
"Although this was a fun event, there are lots of serious business events taking place throughout the week, no matter what the size of your business. In particular, Wednesday's international financial services event presents Leeds businesses with a huge opportunity to meet and network with financiers from across the world."
Lord Levene, chairman of Lloyd's of London, will be joined by experts from the United States, Brazil, China and the European Union to discuss global financial markets and mid-market deals at the Crowne Plaza hotel tomorrow.
Marketing Leeds is spearheading the week, in association with RIBC, organisers of the Yorkshire International Business Convention and sponsors Yorkshire Bank.
Mr Riordan said: "The whole Business Week concept is about demonstrating what Leeds can offer as a key centre for business. The variety of this week's events give businesses from across the region the opportunity to learn more about all aspects of business, and we would encourage them to make the most of it."
Gill Hicks, who survived the July 7 bombings in London, appeared with Zulfi Hussain of Global Promise at an event challenging businesses to promote peace and understanding.
