Post-deployment soul searching ...

I've been back for a couple of days from an operational deployment where I was asked to go and help coordinate emergency information regarding forest fires and threats to communities.

Now, nothing beats getting out of the office and getting to the real world. As a planner at the provincial level and helping to coordinate emergency information at the strategic level, it's very useful to go and get the feel of what's needed, what's practical at the local level. And I sure did!


My mandate was three-fold: 

1. coordinate comms/emergency information with provincial entities
2. provide assistance and advice to local officials if requested/needed
3. act as liaison between provincial authorities and local officials

A few generic lessons reveal themselves (and I don't want to get into too many specific details ... those will come in fulsome debriefs with all parties involved.) ... but I'm okay with general observations: 

• The primary quality of an effective liaison officer is the ability to listen, be humble, offer advice only when sought ... 
• Coordination is only possible when all parties involved see a benefit ...
• The use of social media in emergency management programs on the ground varies greatly between regions and the seat of government
• Social media monitoring is slowly being recognized as a necessity ... however, few organizations have the surge capability, the right policies and procedures, to operationalize the data gathered ... and to engage effectively with audiences.

It is however, heartening to see the realization of the importance of social networks during crises. Local officials certainly took their first step with putting media briefings on Youtube:

Yes, that is a good first step ... using SM as a crisis comms tool ... this one-way push of info can be effective and lead to broader two-way dialogue and engagement ... You got to start somewhere !


We tried to make as much multimedia materials available on Emergency Management Ontario's Facebook page. It worked ... visits and likes were way up!  So content does matter.


Further observations include: 

1. Many still see traditional media as the main audience, the key channel to get information to residents in an emergency 
2. crises/disasters represent fantastic opportunities to reiterate preparedness messages ... this was done masterfully in this case ...

Conclusion: i come back to my job with my enthusiasm for SMEM intact but a bit more balanced by the reality on the ground ... Those of us who are pioneers in the use of emerging technologies in emergency management must remember that current practices have worked well for decades now ... to change them wholesale might not be appropriate ... a gradual approach is necessary to convince senior executives of the benefits of SM for situational awareness, dispelling rumours and reputation management.

I can't end this without mentioning the absolutely fantastic work of fire crews ...on the ground and in the air ... in command posts and on the fire line ... who put everything they've got to protecting property and ensuring the safety of communities ... Innovation and dedication are key in those battles: 

The air ops are a veritable aerial ballet ... planes and helicopters dropping their load with extreme precision to douse or slow down the fires ... spectacular: 

Hats off to the men and women who do this... great stories to tell ! 

Hacking for good ... RHOK Toronto coming up

Here's a good cause .... putting your skills and enthusiasm to work and changing the world. A few dozen people will gather in Toronto for the fourth Toronto Random Hacks of Kindness (RHOK) event on June 1 and 2.

Yaser Alyounes explains what's at stake much more clearly than I ever could:

http://alyounes.net/wordpress/2012/05/20/open-call-for-participation-torontos-4th-random-hacks-of-kindness-event/

This kind of thing really "RHOKs" my world ... especially when talented and dedicated people tackle issues such as this one.

It never ceases to amaze me what people with the right tech can do ... all the good that can come out of ideas shared in an atmosphere that fosters collaboration, innovation and compassion.

Count me in !

Mission Possible ... holding an #smem congress

Your mission, should you chose to accept it .... is to promote the holding of the first #smem congress.

Now, I'm on a bit of a crusade. I've recently started thinking what it would be like to gather the top 100 people related to the #smem hashtag. (social media in emergency management). There is no limit to what could be achieved in promoting community resilience, effective disaster planning, efficient crisis communications and stimulate further citizen and volunteer involvement, if we could get all of them is a single locale for even just a day. The key: refining the use of social media, mobile technologies and the power of the crowd and the cloud as force multipliers for GOOD ... for safer and stronger cities, towns and countries ... 

I'm thinking we could have groups focusing on:

• social media in all pillars of EM ...from preparedness to recovery
• social media as situational enhancement and decision-making support tools
• crowdsourcing and crisis mapping
• social media, emergency information and crisis communications

That's just the tip of the SMEM iceberg really ... there are fantastic people out there who share great stories and practices on a daily basis. I'm thinking the synergies that could be gained by increasing the power of online networking with stronger human contacts resulting from a face-to-face, IRL (in real-life) meeting could be the start of a paradigm shift.

So, I call on all of us ... to work our contacts ... make noise, so we can attract the attention and obtain the largess of a white knight ... a giant that could make this a reality ... There must be some benefits from behemoths such as Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, and others ... in sponsoring such a gathering ...

I think it'd be easy to form a working group with 5-6 people who could put a list of the top 100 together ...

So, it's mission POSSIBLE ... let's make #smem100 a reality.

Working with great people

I"m lucky that I get to work with great people ...day in, day out ... Frankly, it's one of the things that keeps me motivated to stay a civil servant and have the conviction that I'm contributing to make a difference.

Two projects have recently been completed by my colleagues and involve the prototypical use of social media as emergency preparedness and promotional tools. In this particular case, we're talking out doing things a bit different than the usual governmental stuff to make a good connection with audiences on Youtube.

I'll let you be the judge but I believe the two videos hit the mark ... The first one was produced in partnership with the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police to help highlight Police Week 2012. It's about the commitment of police officers to their community.

A very good video whose inspiration came from the "it gets better!" video done by officers of the SFPD.

The second video was inspired by the "Common Craft" style of telling stories simply and in a very visual fashion. It was produced for Emergency Preparedness Week 2012 which concluded today.  Again, very strong work by some of my colleagues to make this happen:

These two projects are a good illustration of the contribution of civil servants to community preparedness and to recognizing the work of those who keep us safe. Good job!

Mr. C. goes to Washington and Banff ....

In the last couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to share my enthusiasm about the use of social media in emergency management with various audiences ...

First, I had the privilege to be invited by a US government agency to go to Washington and talk about the operationalization of info gathered from social media monitoring. As my good friend Jim Garrow called it, the "secret squirrel" meeting, allowed SMEM proponents such as Jim and myself to talk about the benefits of using social networks, not only as communications tools but as situational awareness tools to support decision making.

Without revealing too much ...here are some key points from my presentation and discussion with government and think tank officials: 

• most organizations are moving into the SM realm by first using these tools as communications channels and for alerting 
• pioneers are recognizing the key role SM monitoring can have to ensure the creation of a more comprehensive operational picture 
• examples of crowdsourcing are all around us ... for public health in particular, ... trend is now moving towards also integrating info from the public and not just health professionals
• social convergence is not just about social networks (see below for more)
• in an era of diminishing resources, crowdsourced info during disasters, allows emergency managers to deploy these resources more strategically/efficiently
• key is to be able to first aggregate/collect the info ... then to curate/analyse it and then visualize it so I/C and EOC managers can use these additional sources of info to make decisions 
• this visualization aspect is growing in importance re: crisis mapping 
• there are challenges: resources, training and staffing are issues ... as is the question of finding the right spot for SM monitoring within the EOC and even NIMS/IMS/ICS
• latest frontier is about layering info ... marrying social media data with real-time imagery/mapping capabilities ... based on operational/validated crisis mapping criteria
• in the end ...it's about ensuring you know what you're looking for (search parameters) and then getting the right tools to analyse/curate/visualize data (Ushahidi/Swift river for example) and then having the human expertise to put the info into context and perspective as decision making support tools ...

All in all, it was indeed a privilege to be asked to contribute to the discussion in Washington.

That was last week, this week I went to Banff to take part in Disaster Forum 2012. I was asked to provide a keynote address on social media and emergency management. I used the occasion to talk more about social convergence ... here's a link to my Prezi. There were about 250 emergency managers, business continuity planners and government officials in the auditorium at the Banff Centre.

After my talk (which was well received ...) i did some thinking and came up with the following mental sticky notes:

1. never assume that your audience shares your enthusiasm for, or knowledge of, social media ... therefore ... keep things simple ... don't omit the basics
2. although the overwhelming majority of people have recognized the value of social networks during emergencies ... there are still many obstacles they face in their everyday work to use these new tools: lack of expertise, policy, resources ... 
3. offer good rationale ...based on benefits for situational awareness and the effectiveness of tools such as Twitter for alerting, when talking about smem
4. finally ... provide examples, case studies ... and generally material that relates to your audience .... 

I really relish these occasions to talk about smem. The few days in Banff were fantastic ... the conference organizers were extremely supportive and gracious to me and my wife ... the Banff Centre is a spectacular and perfect venue for this type of gathering ... 

A change of tack for this post: geopolitics and EM

One of the areas that's always interested me (going back as far as university) is the impact of geo-strategic and geopolitics issues on emergency management and our communities. Bad things usually happen when I have too much time on my hands (Easter long weekend being a case in point) ... in this case, I put a list of my top 10 international and technology trends that could impact our world and very high-level macro emergency management.

1. China rises ...within a couple of decades (sooner ???), for the first time in history, the world's most populous nation is also going to boast the strongest economy and the mightiest armed forces. What then? What does this mean for prosperity in the Asia-Pacific? What about Taiwan? Will there be conflict over the Spratly Islands? or with Vietnam? Not everything is rosy though: 100 million migrant workers (young men with few prospects of marriage, rampant corruption and pollution, could all bring about the disintegration of the Chinese state and the end of the Communist Party. Who controls the nukes then? All of a sudden, these far away issues seem a bit more pressing in North America ...
2. Unemployed lumpen proletariat (look it up!) ... the idle youth of Europe. Now picture this: you're under 25 in Spain, or Greece, or Portugal ... unemployment rates among your peer reaches 50 per cent (that's just crazy) ... you have no future, your whole country is going to pieces, collapsing under public debt ... what does that mean? Radicalization is on the horizon, general dissatisfaction, violence, societal collapse even? A very scary scenario that could destabilize an entire continent ... If Europe's economy stagnates for a decade or more, what does this mean for our own, here in Canada and the US?
3. Thirsty populace ... dried up agricultural lands ... water scarcity. Water, old H2O. Is there anything else we take more for granted? Those of us who live near the Great Lakes see it as an unlimited resource. But what if? I've talked about this issue in a 2010 blog post. The fact is the problem is only getting worse. Wars will soon be fought over water and not just between countries ... but between villages, cities, regions and/or states. It's a trend being watched by some in emergency management. It will take lots of efforts and international collaboration to avoid the  worst.
4. Financial system collapse ... the whole house of cards comes crashing down. Many still believe that the crash that began in 2008 (which we're only beginning to recover from) was only the overture to a much wider collapse of the world economy. From Wall Street to the City, from the Burse to the Nikkei, the whole system is built on a weak psychological foundation. Banks and international financial institutions trade on instruments with varying degrees of real value. A guy like Gerald Celente has made his views well known about what this could mean for stability here and abroad. Seems like lots of work ahead for emergency managers:

5. Iran and the bomb ... what happens when the mullahs in Tehran become a nuclear power? Although our dependence on Middle East oil is less than what it used to be, any disruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz will have a big impact on the world economy ... particularly in China, Japan and other Asian countries. With Israel on the verge of an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, all sorts of scenarios become possible and they're all dismal. A further economic slowdown would have consequences on a global scale. A wider war in the Middle East would be catastrophic. With Hezbollah acting on the behalf of its Iranian parent, terror threats would abound throughout the western world. Are you prepared for multiple threats in your jurisdictions? Actual attacks? Mumbai-style perhaps? 

6. The amorphous threat of Al-Queda ... Osama is dead but his henchmen are still alive and kicking. Navy Seals kill Osama, the world rejoices (the same part that is ...) and the threat is gone right? Wrong. While it appears the leadership is once again hiding in caves in Afghanistan ... the threat has morphed. In Canada and elsewhere, the real worry is now the threat from radicalized so-called "lone wolf" individuals, often born here. Now, if an attack comes, how will you work with other jurisdictions to deal with its consequences? How do you disentangle the investigative, police/security and consequence management components of the response? 

7. In our inter-connected world, cyberthreats are existential ... our critical infrastructure, everything that gives us a truly modern world, is now at risk. More than likely, the indication of a cyber 9-11 will come when the power goes out, the internet slows to a crawl and other key services come to an end. Whether accidental or by design, the network of networks that provide us with modernism is our collective weak link. In fact, in the background, they're under attack every day. To add to our worries, authorities admit they can't keep up with hackers and potential terrorists. I wrote earlier this year about the potential threats to our systems. Every emergency manager should worry.

8. Our NAFTA partner, a failed state? The Mexico narco war rages on and its aftermath are felt throughout the US and Canada. Many observers have already come to the conclusion that our Southern NAFTA partner is already well on the road to failed statehood. Whole swaths of Mexico are now outside the control of any government or law enforcement agency. The violence is not confined only to the Northern states of Mexico but already encroaches daily in many areas in the US. Mexican cartels have supplanted other criminal organizations in much of the US and Canada. How long before we can add long columns of narco war refugees coming out of Mexico to the daily hordes that cross illegally to try to find a better life? Are emergency management programs ready to deal with that not-too-distant possibility? 

9. The Titanic may have sunk ... but whole cities might one day drown ... the rise in sea levels and climate change. Debating the cause of climate change is useless. What's more important is preparing to deal with the consequences. Evidence is mounting that our weather patterns ARE changing and put at risk millions of people in North America, especially when storms hit the coastal areas. And the threat is not limited to the US or even Canada. Europe is facing this new reality as well. Stronger storm surges, more flooding on the coast and inland ... displaced populations ... lots more headaches for emergency planners in the Carolinas, New Jersey, Florida, Louisiana and many other states ... who by the way, all have to deal with budget cuts and diminishing resources.

10. THIS IS THE BIG ONE FOR ME ... an EMP event ... man-made (nuclear detonation in the high atmosphere over North America) or from a solar storm ... All of a sudden, NOTHING works ... no cars, no ATMs, no electronics, no power ... we're back to the 19th century ... our great-great-grandparents could have fared well ... their were resilient in a mostly agrarian society ... but we depend on supermarkets, just in time supplies and electricity ... take that away and we're soon losing the thin veneer of a civilized society and plunging into chaos and fights for survival. A real worry for many people.

Frankly, if that ever happens, that's when I just make my way home to my family ... no amount of planning would allow us to deal with this ... 

That's my top 10 list ... What's keeping you up at night ? 

New info requirements: time to change the IMS structure?

Over the last weekend, a few #smem practitioners (@chiefb2, @brianhumphrey, @cherylble, @sct_r, others) and I engaged in a bit of discussion on the real place of the PIO in the Incident Management Structure. 


I believe (along with others ... such as Frank Cowan) that information needs are as important as planning, logistics, operations and fin/admin. In other words, emergency info needs its own box in the IMS/ICS and should not just be a part of the command staff.


I want to also make the distinction that i'm not talking about Joint Information Centres (JICs) here but a stand alone major component of the incident management structure.


Here's some of the reasons that motivate my thinking:

1. social networks + mobile technologies have astronomically added to the complexity of communications needs during any incident. Social convergence puts information at the forefront of any response ... practically on a par with operations ...
2. Most incidents now involve a few, if not many, agencies ... each with their own comms channels, priorities and audiences ... each must have the resources in place to handle a multitude of info requests and provide continuous information/updates. Almost immediately, the single PIO becomes overwhelmed ... hence the need for a broader comms cell. And that's before we even start talking about the standing up of any JIC.
3. The absolute imperative of monitoring social networks creates the need for more resources and staff devoted to the PIO function ... why not build it into the structure itself? Correcting misinformation, dispelling rumours and identifying reputational threats are among key considerations here.
4. The PIO job is important enough to be taken away from under the umbrella of command. That would encourage the development of proper crisis communications plans  to accompany any response plan and which would include pre-approved messaging (bypassing the need for command to approve a tweet for example), the proper delegation of authority to get the communications response started and allow the incident commander to focus on coordination (although he/she would still be needed for the odd media briefing and the such ....)
5. Finally, if you're organization is ready for this step, the comms group could be the entryway for all sorts of data pulled from the public ... crowdsourced information that can be collated, analysed and shared with plans/ops/logistics, or presented for info purposes and even put on a map.

A benefit of such a change to the IMS structure would be a faster communications response. In the age of social convergence, speed is the key (see here for some tips). We know that our audience won't wait for us ... in a way they become their own broadcasters of emergency info and their own alert network. The question for us is: how best will we complement and add to these conversations?

In incidents such as the university shooting in Oakland and today's tornadoes in Texas, Twitter becomes the principal info channel but it can be time consuming and much too much for a single PIO to handle, Who's taking care of the other comms needs?

As in the rest of the IMS, the principles of adaptability and flexibility prevail and not all sub-boxes under the EI cell would necessarily need to be filled right away. It just seems to me that a recognized, shared structure would facilitate things and make the transition into a multi-agency JIC even easier ...

In the meantime, this new PIO prototype could perhaps come to our rescue while we struggle with the new realities.

Thoughts ? 

#smemto ... a great success and a step forward for SMEM

This blog's author moderating one of the session

Well it's over!  The Social Media in Emergency Management conference in Toronto attracted nearly 200 people from all over Canada to Toronto today (March 29).


The result of a great collaboration between the University of Toronto Emergency Management, Public Safety Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional services (my employer).


A great team effort resulted in a very successful day with strong content and lots of views exchanged. They key as always is providing value for attendees and our speakers did that in spades today. The interest was high enough that participants tweeted throughout the different sessions. So much so that the #smemto hashtag trended on Twitter in Canada at one point. Not bad for a little conference ...


fantonitoabout 7 hours ago
Amazing! "@smackenz: Wow! #smemto 1,100 tweets generated 2,487,984 impressions, reaching an audience of 180,433 followers today."


Some highlights of the #smemto conference for me include: 

• The joint presentation by Shayne Adamski (@shayneadamski) from FEMA and Chris Stelmarski (@ski) from DHS ... great presentation on the US experience from people willing to share, able to listen ... top notch guys and friendly ... thanks for making the trek North ... great to have you ....take aways
•     ensure organizational resilience in your SM program ... can't be the job of just one person
•     maintain strong content on your SM platform and other comms channels to be a destination of choice when a disaster occurs ...

Peter Sloly, deputy chief of the Toronto Police Service wowed the audience with a talk on the use of social media in policing and in our society. Articulate, passionate and engaging, @deputysloly made sure the lunch hour was lively. His words resonated well with the audience:

lance_valcour Lance Valcour

@DeputySloly : The most powerful tool on a police officer's belt: their smart phone! #SMEMTO

Another homerun by Deputy Sloly ...although he'd certainly prefer a football (soccer) analogy ... so a great bicycle kick then ...

Another great session was one I had the luck to moderate and which involved smem luminaries Kim Stephens (@kim26stephens) and Jim Garrow (@jgarrow) ... two of the most influential thinkers on SMEM from the US.

Jim talked about crisis comms weaved into a story involving the Rocky Horror Picture Show ... now that's a feat !  

Kim dived into her deep knowledge on the use of social media as recovery tools in Joplin and other disasters.  It was a joy to share the stage with them.

I'm very grateful that they both decided to visit Toronto for this conference and add to the excellent content and line up of speakers we had for #smemto. 

Great people with great minds ! 

There were other very interesting sessions on social media for first responders and interoperability for example: with the TPS delegation: Scott MIlls (@GraffitiBMXCop), Tim Burrows (@t_burrows) and Nathan Dayler (@PSUDayler). They were joined by Lance Valcour from Citig (@lance_valcour) and Doug Allport (from MASAS), in a session that went from the very tactical application of SM to the strategic use of SM and data mobility/transferability using MASAS and the need for operational/functional interoperability. 

In all a great day, in a great venue (thanks to David Black from the UofT) with great content ... there were many highlights not listed above ... I do feel a bit of personal satisfaction at having had a hand in this great step to promote the acceptance of social media in emergency management in Canada.

Looking forward to the second conference ... when ???

Presenting to police leaders on SMEM

I"ve just completed my presentation on the use of social media in emergencies and crisis comms at the SMILE (social media in law enforcement) conference in Vancouver.


Lots of positive feedback and request for more info ... so here we go. A few links below:


the presentation for SMILE: http://www.slideshare.net/patricecloutier/smile-presentation-12178351

tips on the use of SM in EM: 
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1c5eDldBbaRofaGSn9n9rabtxtT5UZElM50TIhPs1mBM/edit#slide=id.p

a fuller presentation on SMEM with videos: 
http://www.slideshare.net/patricecloutier/emergency-management-in-the-age-of-social-convergence

a presentation on crisis mapping and crowdsourcing
http://prezi.com/h9ub21cqmgs6/crowdsourcing-and-crisis-mapping/


Hope these help ...

My guiding principles to the use of social media

I've put together a presentation on the 10 key principles that guide how I approach and how I view the use of social media in crisis communications and emergency management. 


Hope you like it.


https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1c5eDldBbaRofaGSn9n9rabtxtT5UZElM50TIhPs1mBM/edit?pli=1#slide=id.p