Hurricane Irene's social media aftermath

I've probably bitten off more than I can chew but I'm working on an after action report on the use of social media, crowdsourcing and crisis mapping related to Hurricane Irene. Primarily, I'll be looking for any interface between official agencies and volunteer/citizen-driven initiatives.


I'll be working with a few people to gather data and examples and provide a basic analysis and humbly suggest some improvements. It's probably impossible to catch everything but we hope to get a pretty illustrative and meaningful cross-section of what was accomplished in the last week or so.


Here's a broad outline: 

The use of SM tools, crowdsourcing, crisis mapping and mobile technology by emergency management officials and other organizations. volunteers and citizens. We'll include:

• overview and purpose
• general observations
• geographic/jurisdiction specific info
• volunteer and citizen participation
• Adoption (or not) of crowdsourcing/volunteer efforts by official agencies
• recommendations for future coordination ... task assignments 
• invitation for comments

A few personal observations follow:

1. Hurricane Irene seemed to mark a turning point for the acceptance of social media by emergency management officials, certainly as an information tool. The use of key social networks was widespread. Combined with the alerts and notifications blasted across legacy media and other means, its was a pretty thorough blanketing of emergency information and preparedness messaging.  They even moved into the realm of crowdsourcing damage assessments.
2. I'm grateful social networks played such a key role because the coverage of legacy media (particularly from major TV networks) was for the most pathetic and alarmist (to my shame as a former reporter ....) I've seen in a long time ... with reporters often seemingly thinking that their "valiant" efforts to show the impact of the storm were the story ... and when New York City wasn't devastated, it became about the storm that wasn't ...well, Irene left her mark. The people of Vt, NC, NJ and other states are sure feeling her wrath ... Here's a piece by Gerald Baron on the media issue ...
3. There were lots of crowdsourcing and crisis mapping efforts underway. One key objective of our after action report will be to look at coordination efforts in that regard. Another aspect of our work will be to help assess the validity of these efforts and their usefulness. More on this topic in this blog post.

I think Hurricane Irene helped moved the yardstick in terms of integrating social media in emergency management program. The American Red Cross, pioneer in this field, seems to think so. 

Irene was no "dud". It was a deadly storm and its impact is going to be felt for a while longer. But we should learn all we can from the last few days ... I'm encouraged that the emergency management community seems more inclined to finally moved at the speed of its audiences and adopt the tools they use ... to communicate but also to gather vital information to assess the situation and allocate resources.

I believe this is an opinion that is validated by our after action report. We hope that you will share your experiences and comments with us.

More to follow in the next few days!

Of earthquakes, how we get our news and what it means for emergency managers and crisis communicators.

Oh Golly ... an earthquake on the East Coast! Who would have thunk it!

I have been planning to write this post for a few days now, today's event gave me the impetus I needed to actually get to it.

RT @twitter: Within a minute of today's #earthquake, there were more than 40,000 earthquake-related Tweets. #smem


That tweet actually says it all. Increasingly, we turn to social networks to find out what's going on when disaster strikes and to share what we've experienced. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Google+ offer very effective platforms to do just that. Today's earthquake is a case in point.

Today was not an isolated event. Legacy media, in particular newspapers and TV, are losing ground as the primary source of information for a great many people. Research shows that the Internet and social media are now key channels for accessing the news. Some key points:

First, people will go to whom they trust. With social media, they will interact with online friends and family because they know and trust them. Stories that will often be relayed from online sources. There's a lesson to be learned there about the value for organizations in establishing a solid, permanent online presence on all key social networks.

Second, most of us will also turn to pages where we can find all sorts of relevant info ... I do with my own Google Reader Account ... but there are very popular ones out there as well: Drudge, Huff Post and many others.

Third, legacy media are catching on and adapting in order to survive. The understand the great value of social networks as news gathering tools. They also fully realize the value of being present on the same platforms and use online tools to enhance their own storytelling as was done recently with the London/UK riots.

My friend Gerald Baron has written about this topic and the current trends impacting the news business.

My own view is that traditional TV networks will disappear (or morph online) and be replaced with specialized networks and hyper-local news programming and stations. This is already on the horizon in places like Philadelphia and New York.

What does all of this mean for emergency managers and crisis communicators? Well, now more than ever, we realize that we have moved from the era of "Why should I use social media in my program?" to the age of "How should I integrate social media in my plans?" ... That's a big step ...

There are now plenty of case studies that show the benefit of social networks to reach many segments of your audience when disasters happen. Organizations need to be both broadcasters and "narrowcasters" ....

They need to become broadcasters by having a comprehensive (yet accessible via mobile devices) and updated website with interactive content, ready for re-use and broadcast. A key thing is to provide info quickly. I checked the USGS website within two minutes of today's earthquake and the info was already there. Well done! Another fantastic initiative is the crowdsourcing of earthquake info and data gathering put in motion by the Service. Truly an example.

This first step should be complemented by an established presence on social networks where agencies/organizations are continually engaging in conversations with key influencers and their audiences. By doing that, you become a trusted source and people will interact with you in a crisis, read/view/hear what YOU have to say rather than getting their info through the media or other less trustworthy sources. That's the big plus so when events occur, your organization will end up on a list such as this one.

So, the use of SM should be part of any communications planning twinned to response plans. Also, because impressions are made so quickly nowadays (within minutes), being ready means having people ready to respond to public and media inquiries.

In an age where reputations are made (or destroyed) in minutes, having the right person, with the proper training and messaging, speak/tweet on behalf of your organization is critical. A good post from Jim Garrow on that very topic. 

I'll say it again. Every single organization, every single emergency management program, should have a crisis communications plan focused on the five Ps. That's the only way to succeed in the age of social convergence. The fifth P deals with social network and technology platforms that need to be essential foundations of your planning as well.

I hope this makes sense!

Looking forward to your comments as always!

The UK riots, mobile technology and social media: some thoughts

As I write this post, I still have fresh memories of the movie "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" in my mind which I saw with the kids on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. One quick comment is that the rampaging morons in London, Birmingham and other English cities look a lot like the simian hordes in the movie.

A few observations come to mind in wake of the #londonriots (see that hashtag on Twitter):

1. the best coverage on such widespread events has shifted from legacy media to social media. There was a literal flood of tweets, facebook posts, flickr pix and YouTube videos in the last few days. With crisis mapping in particular, social media and mobile tech combined to give a pretty broad overview of all the "hot spots" ...something TV had a hard time to do .... In fact, legacy media has no choice but to climb on the SM bandwagon to stay relevant ...
2. The use of social media and mobile technology in such events (or large-scale disasters) is now prevalent and a growing consideration for EM practitioners and law enforcement. Twitter traffic exploded in the last few days in the UK. People now have a multitude of channels to turn to to share what they're experiencing (and yes, in many cases, to plan mayhem ....)... this presents both challenges and opportunities for police.
3. Social media and mobile tech play a big role in the aftermath (recovery and investigations) ... people turn to SM to mobilize communities (either to clean up ... to defend neighbourhoods (see above picture)  ... or trash them ...) since many of the idiots rioting are not camera-shy ... identifying them proves relatively easy and again, the web helps ....
4. These factors put additional and new pressure on legacy media (some who have chosen to actively help the police) and mobile technology providers (RIM is in a pickle over this ...) 
5. A distinction seems to be appearing between SMS and social media ... where BlackBerry Messenger was extensively (allegedly) used to mobilize mobs of rioters ... in a direct and targeted fashion ... whereas social networks were more widespread in reporting events (by witnesses) and mobilizing community response (cleanup or protection ...) Tactical vs Strategic ... is this a trend?
6. finally, social networks and mobile tech transcend communities and/or age groups. Their use is widespread and must be a key planning consideration for emergency managers and law enforcement officials. To simply blame the technology for helping spread discontent and turmoil is beside the point. SM and mobile tech now enjoy universal appeal and are here to stay ... for good ... or for bad ...

I'm sure the next few days will bring even more keen observations from all around ... What do you think?

Agility and Flexibility as core crisis communications practices

My good friend Gerald Baron has an excellent post about adapting to new technology or perishing. A must read for any crisis communicator and executive. To follow Gerald's military analogy, you need a quiver full of all sorts of arrows. As our audiences are diffused, so must be our ways to reach them. Key then, is the job of prioritizing levels of engagement. I say levels because you still need to engage with everyone ... but perhaps not to the same level.

Another reason why flexibility is essential is that sources of info have multiplied. Studies show that the first reaction of people in an incident or crisis will be to share with each other. This has an impact on news as Twitter becomes the world's key news wire for breaking stories.

More and more people get their news online and share through social networks immediately following the onset of an incident or crisis. We got a stark reminder of that in Oslo and Utoya last week.

Media is adapting to this reality ... the outlets that don't disappear, like the late, late shows, slowly turn to test signal and snow ... So they adapt with a stronger web presence and a growing reliance on social networks. A real effective way to reach these outlets is through social media as they maximize their news gathering operations by relying on citizens and organizations themselves as news sources.

The future appears brighter for citizen-based journalism than it does for legacy media, certainly for TV news. In Canada, there are more people surfing online each week than eyeballs glued to a TV set. The future for broadcasters looks dim in the age of "narrowcast" ...

What does the future hold? In my humble opinion, we'll soon face a landscape with few "real" news organizations and a multitude of micro-bloggers, twitter-like feeds and the such. Welcome to instant news worldwide!

ARE YOU READY for what this means? ... the need to communicate IMMEDIATELY and OFTEN?

Lots of rewriting should be going on pretty soon across the land ...

Five failure points in emergency information and crisis communications response

Here's my top five failure points for crisis communications and emergency information:

1. Being unprepared: having no plan or ignoring your plan ... although sticking to an unworkable plan can also mean doom ... i like the old adage: "failure to plan = plan to fail" ... Having no procedures in place, no pre-approved messaging often means unorganized, ill-advised improvisation which leaves to a lack of strategic vision.
2. Weak leadership: weak leaders are indecisive ... push everything "upstairs", make no stand when they're facing a directive that is obviously misguided. Weak leaders don't grasp the "big picture" and ignore established principles of good crisis communications practices ... Worse, they focus on process rather than on people ...
3. Political or Senior Executive interference: micro-management leads to complacency, a lack of innovation and mediocrity. Micro-managers and political staffers get involved in operational details they shouldn't worry about and insists on an approvals process that handicap any hope for a successful communications response.
4. Lack of collaboration and outreach: ignoring key stakeholders means building a tall, empty silo. Shunning joint efforts, not maximizing your reach and not establishing solid relationships, in favour of a "go alone", "we have our own agenda" approach, leads to fragmented, uncoordinated emergency information which serves no audience well.
5. Lack of social media and web presence ... finally, we get to it ... a favourite "rant" of mine: you need to occupy the public space and move at the speed of your audiences. Social media and constant web updates allow you to do that. Putting obstacles in that process hurt your image. Having a stale website in a crisis shows incompetence or a blissful ignorance of your audience's needs. You need to stick to a posting schedule and have a constant stream of social media posts during a crisis to show you're active. 

In conclusion, operating under any of the five points above seriously hampers your response. Dealing with more than one is a critical wound ... having to suffer under more than two means you are irrelevant ... that is DEATH for crisis comms ....

An overview of the integration of social media into emergency management in Canada

Here's a link to a piece I put together at the request of Heather Blanchard from CrisisCommons and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars.

http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/59990957?access_key=key-inojmphmt627vn9bthi

Comments are welcome ...

On reaching out and expanding the use of SM in EM

SM in EM or SMEM ... Social Media in Emergency Management can be many things: a philosophy, a cause to champion, an online community (if you add the # in front = #smem), a starting point, an end point ... In truth, it's all those things. You can find out more at: www.sm4em.org If you visit the site, you'll see a blog post that give me the inspiration for this current entry.

The common element in all the people that have joined the #smem on Twitter and those who take part in our #smemchat on Fridays, is the belief that we call all better serve our clients, citizens, stakeholders by integrating social media into our emergency management practices/programs. While we all have a common vision, we don't necessarily agree on the best way to achieve ... and that's great!

There is always a danger that those ahead of the curve, to get isolated from the rest of their fellow EM practitioners. That silo approach is easy to understand: you congregate with people who share your ideas. However, we must endeavour to break down barrier by sharing and conversing with those who don't.

That will be the only way to expand SMEM beyond those who have adopted SM currently and move towards full acceptance (in doctrines such as IMS/NIMS, official guidelines and procedures). The debate should not be about what the #smem community is about or how the hashtag should be used.
The real conversation needs to be how we share our enthusiasm, knowledge base and lessons learned with the entire EM and first responder communities.

In my opinion, the key to the widespread adoption and use of SM in all pillars of EM (and into all functions of the EOC) is the promotion of the successes already achieved by those who've made it work: in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and more recently, in the US.

It comes down to this simple truth: we have to match the public. They are already reaching out to one another, creating crisis maps, exchanging data. Where are we in that equation as official organizations?
Or do we mine the fabulous data out there during a disaster? To help with the response and the recovery efforts?

We're in an era of participatory EM by residents who won't be satisfied at just being victims or witnesses. People are changing our outlook on communications.

Every citizen with a cell phone (with GIS/GPS tech) is a potential source of data ... a mobile sensor ... an extra damage assessment tool ...

Realizing this phenomenon and using it to better our response ... to give ourselves a "community-based" situational awareness or operating picture ... (it's not a common operating picture anymore ... it's multiple, organic, cloud and crowd-based pictures ... a citizen-created mosaic ...) ... that's the key to a bright and relevant future for emergency management and crisis communicators.

That's the only way we'll be able to close the gap that is widening every day between the expectations of our audiences and our own technical/technological/procedural/policy capabilities. We don't fix that gap and we become irrelevant. As simple as that.

Latest case in point ... the brand new Google+ social network is already being used by citizens and volunteers as an emergency and crisis informatics tool. We saw extensive use of Google's offerings today for the Mumbai bombings.

Where are we?

I'd like to hear your answers. For a starting point to spur your reflection ... here's a link to an online webinar I conducted for Gerald Baron's PIERSystems Strategy Forum a couple of weeks ago.

Here's the link to the recording (audio and video) of the webinar, And the link to the slides.

I hope to hear from you!

Leading an online webinar on social media in emergencies

I had the privilege of leading an online seminar hosted by PIERSystems and my good friend Gerald Baron (@gbaron on Twitter) on the age of social convergence and what it means for emergency managers.

I'm happy to report that the feedback has been positive (big sigh of relief ! ) ...


Here's how you can access the webinar:
Presentation on Slide Share (includes video but not my narration)
Download Presentation slides from this site (just the slides)
Listen and view recording of the webinar including the slides (the whole thing ! )

I hope you like it and find it useful.

Leadership in Social Media in Emergency Management

It's been a while since my last post. Slightly busy at work and at home. But I did have some time to think.


One topic I've been pondering for a bit is leadership in the age of social media as it applies to emergency management. I consider myself lucky to play a small part in an online (Twitter) group where some of the leading thinkers in the applications of SM in EM congregate. 


Just follow the #smem on Twitter and their chat (#smemchat) on Fridays and you'll get to see who they are. Some of the fantastic work done has found a place to stay at : http://www.sm4em.org/.


So, what makes these fine folks effective leaders? 


A leader (in SMEM and otherwise), prods people along when they show reluctance to adopt news technology or embrace open thinking, convinces senior executives and elected officials on the value of SM, demonstrates it by showing ROI, but never preaches.


A SMEM leader works to build consensus within his/her organization and more broadly across many contacts in real life or online. A leader will also act when necessary to demonstrate the value of SM as alerting tools or as "force-multipliers" in broadening situational awareness (by integrating it in crisis mapping/crowdsourcing activities).


Basically a leader is an SMEM champion, in his/her respective agency but also with its stakeholders. A leader uses SM to its fullest degree as a continuous professional learning tool in all aspects of EM.


A leader does MORE: 

• Motivates and mentors
• Overcomes resistance to change though solid arguments and perseverance 
• Responds to the needs of his/her constituency to close the gap between public expectations and his/her agency's procedural or technical capabilities
• Establishes a long-term vision toward an integrated use of SM in EM (all pilars/all functions of the EOC) but also has the skills to manage the transition and the long trip down the road to a community-based operating picture.

When a leader has demonstrated all of those traits and is still asked to do MORE ... you know they have made a difference.

The role of social media in public alerting

Just posted my latest entry on PTSC-Online. It's all about the growing role of social networks in warning the public about impending emergencies.

Recent event in the United States have shown the value of Twitter as an emergency information and notification tool. Here's an excerpt of the post:

In many cases, that unofficial tool, volunteer/citizen-driven, is faster, more responsive and more accurate than warnings provided through official means. But does that mean that Twitter should be at the top of your notification process? What place should it occupy on your notification checklist? 

While not a perfect tool, I would venture that changing expectations among our audiences have made social networks, one of the first (if not the first) elements of your notification and alerting systems that should be activated. Is that a stretch? I don't believe so. An overreliance on traditional broadcasters can really limit the effectiveness and reach of your alerts when some stats indicate that as many as 40 per cent of the population doesn NOT watch TV, listen to the radio or read newspapers. They get their info online, primarily through social networks.

What do you think ?