Arizona brings in Atlanta’s Inocon Group for crisis management plan

Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal
Jennifer Lee
June 23rd-29th, 2003

The Inocon Group, an Atlanta-based company specializing in risk assessment and crisis management, is working with the University of Arizona athletic department to assess the department's ability to respond to crisis situations.

Inocon will visit Arizona early next month, after which it will develop a crisis management plan for the department. The company will go back to campus later this summer to conduct simulation exercises for crisis situations."

Anything that has the ability to leave a negative mark on the image of the department is a topic that could be used in a simulation exercise," said Inocon CEO Dan Donovan."It's all about ensuring that the right people are getting the right information at the right time in order to make the right decision."

Arizona will be Inocon's first athletic department client. Inocon's services typically cost between $50,000 and $100,000, depending on the size and scope of the project, Donovan said. He would not say how much he is charging Arizona.

Inocon worked with the Sydney Olympics and late last year began working with the NCAA. In fact, earlier this year the group conducted a wartime simulation with the NCAA and its Division I basketball committee, of which Arizona AD Jim Livengood is a member.

The simulation, described by Livengood as realistic and thorough, ended up being useful practice for the group when it was faced with deciding whether to play its tournament as scheduled when war began in Iraq. It also resulted in Livengood contacting Donovan to assess the athletic department at Arizona.

"We want to learn to do a better job in any type of crisis," Livengood said. "I think, particularly during these times, we need to be more prepared instead of having to be reactionary.