PRacticing during War: Lessons and Challenges Working in UkraineWith Nina Bohush, PR Specialist at MacPaw, Mon. 10/23

Genevieve Krejci​

On October 23, PRSSA held a hybrid meeting with Nina Bohush. Bohush is a PR Specialist at MacPaw, a software company in Kyiv, Ukraine that develops apps for Apple products, specifically MacBooks.

During the meeting, Bohush shared her top tips on managing a crisis that she learned firsthand during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with how her company prepared its team and products and how other PR specialists helped the world know what was actually happening in Ukraine.

Her top lessons were:

• Lesson 1: Always have a plan and test it before the crisis hits
  
• Lesson 2: Your safety is your main priority
  
• Lesson 3: Support your team and ask for help
  
• Lesson 4: Use your knowledge and help where you can
  
• Lesson 5: Take care of your mental health
  
• Lesson 6: Do what you can. Every help and every donation matters
  
• Lesson 7: Unite efforts
  
• Lesson 8/Main Lesson: Don’t underestimate yourself. You can handle more than you think
  
• Lesson 9: Don’t take what you have for granted
  

Ways her company prepared its team included:

• Organizing a practical first-aid course for the team
  
• Equipping emergency backpacks with necessities (first aid kits, food, warm sleeping bags, etc.)
  
• Establishing alternative comms channels and procedures
  
• Launching a “hotline” where the team could get immediate support or information about the situation in the company
  
• Renting a co-working space in Ivano-Frankivsk (West of Ukraine) and part of the team moving there
  
• Providing financial support for every MacPaw specialist who needed it
  

Ways the company prepared itself and its products included:

• Organizing processes, programs and communication so that the Russian invasion would not affect the software operations
  
• Preparing the business to work fully autonomously or with minimum human support if needed
  
• Ensuring the stability of financial payments under any conditions
  
• Securely hosting all of its infrastructure and user data outside of Ukraine
  
• Preparing an official company statement to publish in case of invasion
  

PR specialists throughout Ukraine decided to unite within hours of the invasion. They understood the importance of the truth and that it was their duty to ensure the accurate dissemination of information about what was happening in Ukraine. They became the PR army. What started as a volunteer initiative is now an organization with over 300 volunteers. 

MacPaw also began the MacPaw Foundation to raise funds for humanitarian aid in Ukrainian war zones. Another campaign created by MacPaw was Bathtub Creative, a fictional agency that’s actually a relief effort. The initiative uses tubs to illustrate the reality of working conditions for Ukrainians across advertising, tech, PR and related industries. All proceeds went to the MacPaw Foundation to provide Ukrainians with hygiene products.

Bohush was amazed by the support from everyone worldwide, even though she didn’t want to believe the invasion would happen until the last second. The campaigns created by MacPaw and others in Ukraine have received global attention. Bohush credits a part of the success to the preparation her team worked hard on despite the circumstances they were put in.

“It’s human nature to hope for the best, but we must prepare for the worst,” Bohush said.