A panel of local communication professionals spoke to the public Tuesday about how they responded to the worst terrorist attack on United States soil at the Kellogg Center.

Public Relations Society of America held its largest monthly luncheon when experts were invited to speak about how they used crisis communication plans after Sept. 11.

The panel included speakers from Capital City Airport and the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Michelle Lantz, Public Relations Society of America president-elect, said the panelists were chosen because they best represented Lansing.

“These particular people represented all the sectors of Lansing,” she said. “They came out on top because they were first to respond (after Sept. 11).”

Many public relations professionals and students were in the crowd of about 90.

The society’s main goal was to tell public relations professionals about how important it is to have a crisis plan Lantz said.

“They were able to hear background stories that weren’t heard in the media,” she said.

Robert Kolt, spokesman for Capital City Airport, 4100 Capital City Blvd. in Lansing, spoke about how the airport handled its crisis plan. He said after a mandated federal law closed the airport for the first time in history, he dealt with problems the media may not have known about.

A carpet cutter, similar to what was used in the attacks, was found in a bathroom at the airport, Kolt said.

“This was somewhat unusual,” he said. “But we didn’t know the FBI said carpet cutters were found at airports all over the country.”

John Cauley, executive director of the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross, 1800 E. Grand River Ave. in Lansing, said didn’t have a communication committee with a crisis plan, but after the attacks tried to be as responsive as possible.

“When Sept. 11 hit, we did not go into a proactive mode,” he said. “We went into a reactive mode.”

One of the Red Cross’ first concerns was how to deal with the large number of local blood donations, Cauley said.

There is over a 10-day blood supply surplus he said. A three-day supply is normal.

“We don’t want to tell people not to give blood,” Cauley said. “But we need them to spread it out to create an ongoing blood supply.”

Jancy Quinn, communication junior and member of the student chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, said she got useful information from the luncheon.

“It was a good opportunity to network and mingle,” Quinn said. “It really made me aware of how businesses responded to Sept. 11.