The Power of Information

The other night I was at a movie when for the first time in my movie-going life the fire alarm went off. The movie stopped. The lights went on and everyone had to evacuate the building immediately. We all did so in a quiet and orderly manner. In fact, as this was one of those multi-screen cinema houses, the quick evacuation of what I'm guessing were easily over one-thousand patrons was quite impressive. Once outside, the ushers directed us to move as far away from the building as possible despite the fact there were no visible signs of fire or impending danger. Soon afterward, two fire trucks arrived on the scene. For the most part, we in the crowd were subdued as we watched the firemen go about their business.

Time passed and other than the hustle and bustle we could see going on inside the large lobby of the building, nothing much else seemed to be happening. Over 45 minutes passed and there was still no word from any one inside the theater. What happened? Was everything ok? Would we be allowed to go back inside and see the rest of the movies? No one knew and we were not getting any help from those in the know. I stood outside in that cool summer night and thought about how vital information is at times like this and how important the role is of those who have it and are responsible for sharing it. At moments of this kind they are in a unique position of power when what they say and how they say it can really have a great deal of influence over many people in terms of what those people think and how they behave. In these instances, the communicator and his or her message are very powerful.

Finally, nearly an hour had passed when several of managers emerged to announce they were going to distribute free passes as the theater was being shut down for the remainder of the evening. No other information was shared. It was not till the next day when I learned that the whole thing was a false alarm. No damages. No inujuries. But the theater lost money that night and many people were inconveinenced. Obviously, it could have been a lot worse. Nevertheless, the lesson reinforced that night was how sharply vital communication is at times of impending crisis. In my own individual experiences and as a member of the general public I have seen numerous inistances when the responsibility of effective communication in these instances has been met well and not met well at all. It makes a big difference. It matters.