About Us
Lead Trainer & President
Karen Terrill
...is the President of Media Survival Group and a former television news anchor, producer, talk show host and an investigative and political reporter for ABC and NBC affiliates. She covered national political conventions as well as many natural disasters. She has worked as a Public Information Officer (PIO) in the California fire service for the past 20 years. She served as the Chief PIO for CAL FIRE and the Communications Officer for the State Fire Marshal. In other words, she has been on both sides of the microphone under the most challenging situations. She shares her "survival tips" with clients, especially other PIOs.
Media Survival Group specializes in PIO Team Training and Karen has vast experience in the team atmosphere of Joint Information Centers during California's disasters over the past two decades including major fires, earthquakes and floods. She has worked in close collaboration with her counterparts in cities, counties, other states and a variety of federal agencies. She has participated in and evaluated many emergency response drills pertaining to everything from terrorist attacks, to hazmat leaks, to chemical stockpile explosions.
Karen is an award-winning writer including multiple Gold Awards from the State Information Officers Council (SIOC), Crystal Awards from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) and she is a recipient of the SIOC Lifetime Achievement Award.
She has taught media relations and crisis communications workshops for many government agencies and private organizations. She teaches crisis communication for the California Specialized Training Institute (CSTI), and mass media for the University of California - Davis. She is past president of the International Television Association (ITVA) and has served on many boards and commissions as a volunteer. She is an active member of CAPIO, CESA, NIOA, SIOC and the Sacramento Press Club.
Dave Terrill
...is the CEO of Media Survival Group. He began his career as the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for one of California's largest fairs, while still earning his Journalism degree.
He is the winner of numerous awards for innovative management and creative presentation techniques. He created and produced a series of multi-day "traveling road shows" that trained and entertained hundreds of state employees and revolutionized outdoor event industry management and business practices. He served as CEO for two large scale public events and as management consultant to the State of California.
Dave later managed software development and hardware support teams. It was in this role that his love of technology was nourished and another geek was born!
In 1994, he founded ABC Internet and became a columnist, writing on humor and technology for a regional magazine and guest lecturing for the California Specialized Training Institute (CSTI) on "Using the Internet in a Crisis".
Meet the rest of "The Group."