Your city just got named a host site, or a mutual aid request came through for a marathon, a rally, or one of this summer's larger public events, and someone just told you that you'll be working out of a Joint Information Center. You've seen the term in the emergency operations plan. You have never actually sat in one, and you are trying to figure out, quietly, what is about to be different about your job.
A lot of communicators are in exactly this position right now. Between a World Cup summer, marquee anniversary events, and the steady rise in large-scale gatherings that draw regional attention, more communicators are being pulled into joint response structures than at almost any point in recent memory, often with very little notice and even less preparation.