Timothy Coombs is editor-in-chief for the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management and senior parter at the Center for Risk Communication. As an author, his works include the award-winning book Ongoing Crisis Communication. As a theorist and academician, his research and thinking has shaped modern crisis communications, winning multiple awards from professional organizations including the 2002 recipient of Jackson, Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Prize from the Public Relations Society of America and the 2013 Pathfinder Award from the Institute of Public Relations.

Tim and I spoke about crisis comms, and how it's changing in a world increasingly defined by groups actively seeking to escalate any situation into a societal or political crisis. We also spoke about academia: as a longtime professor, we talked about an academic sector that is too often disconnected from the real world of communications practitioners, and which is - at least in my opinion - in the throes of a full-on existential crisis.

Cynthia McCafferty is President and CEO of Hawthorne Strategy Group, a Chicago-based PR agency with a wide range of clients and a particular focus on non-profit work for public and para-public agencies. Before joining Hawthorne in 2015, Cynthia spent nearly two decades at FleishmanHillard International Communications in St. Louis, where she served as a senior vice president and senior partner.

Cynthia elevates communication programs for clients across sectors, applying her Solutions-focused mindset to organizations such as the Women’s Business Development Center, Chicago Dental Society, Choose Chicago and Washington University as well as national and global brands including McCormick Place, Organogenesis SAC Wireless, Evinrude and Red Bull. Cynthia began her career as a grassroots organizer for a statewide environmental organization before moving into lobbying and electoral politics—early experiences that sharpened her instincts for public sentiment, policy dynamics, and the fast‑moving nature of issues management.

We talked about politics and the intersection with PR, the realities of working with non-profits, the state of journalism in 2026, career management, and a bunch of other topics.

This is the second in a two-parter about public affairs. Hans Hack is a Senior Managing Director and the head of the Brussels office for the public affairs practice at FTI Consulting. Hans' background is in policy making and strategic advocacy and he supports clients facing challenges with governments, regulators and the wider stakeholder environment. Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Hans was the Dutch financial attaché to the EU. Previous to that role he was a coordinating policy officer at the Dutch Ministry of Finance. Hans has a background in financial services regulation and policy and has more than 15 years experience covering all sub-sectors of financial services: banking, capital markets, asset management, retail financial services, financial infrastructure, insurance and audit.

We talked about Brussels and the challenges of lawmaking and regulation, including contrasting the American and European approaches. We also talked about skills and career management for those looking to build a career in public affairs.