Lansing-area media, governmental, emergency, and business organizations made steps Thursday to prepare for crisis management.

Community leaders met for a Crisis Communication Summit to plan for a joint response in the event of a terrorist attack at the Radisson Hotel, 111 N. Grand Ave. in Lansing. Nearly 70 local leaders attended the event in hopes of coordinating responses to the public.

“I think this had a very dramatic outcome,” said Patricia Reynolds, president of the Capital Region Community Foundation. “I think it was a very unique in terms of bringing together all of the diverse parts of the community.”

Those who spoke at the summit were Reynolds; Michael Kane, president and publisher of the Lansing State Journal; Lansing Mayor David Hollister; Tom Shaver, emergency management chief for the City of Lansing; Jim Hopson, a spokesman from General Motors; and Terry Denbow, MSU assistant vice president for university relations.

The summit was sponsored by the Lansing State Journal and the Capital Region Community Foundation.

“We learned a lot from each other,” Kane said. “I’m encouraged to hear how corporate and government agencies have better prepared because of Sept. 11.

“You learn a lot in the information sharing process.”

Kane said that follow-up to the event might be necessary, and he hopes to have a coordination plan in place within four to six months.

Denbow addressed the summit from the perspective of MSU.

“It was clear that people said you must speak with one voice,” Denbow said.

“You want to have the experts talking.”

Denbow said it is important for organizations to build credibility before an emergency, not during an emergency.

“Your credit is earned long before the emergency,” he said. “You can’t go in and establish credibility on site. It comes with you, or you don’t have it at all.”

Media relations professor Robert Kolt helped organize the summit, and said it set a tone for cooperation in the future.

“It went great,” said Kolt, who is chairman and chief executive officer of Kolt & Serkaian Communications Inc., 2853 Jolly Road in Okemos, which represents governmental organizations including the airport and community groups.

“It was a historic event because usually you don’t get all of these key players together to talk about communication in crisis or emergency.”

Kolt said the main goal was to coordinate messages to the public.

“With the media and channels of communication, today was an important link to those who want to give, and those who want to help,” he said.