Recently, I wrote a blog post about how Middleboro, Massachusetts’ town government could use traditional and non-traditional media to communicate with residents and businesses. As Hurricane Irene (or, more technically speaking, Tropical Storm Irene) blew through town, I started to think about how the town could have used a variety of channels to communicate what was happening.
After we lost electricity on Sunday morning, my means of getting information changed. Television on my Android tablet was one option but what I really relied on was Twitter, Facebook and Google+. I was able to hook up with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (@MassEMA), Massachusetts Department of Transportation (@MassDOT) and even our Governor, Deval Patrick (@massgovernor). These Twitter streams, along with with Peter Wilson from WBZ (@peterwbz), kept me up-to-date on the path of hurricane and how my friends and family in the area were doing.
However, what was missing from all of this communication was news from my town. Getting through to Middleboro’s Gas & Electric department on the telephone was hit or miss and when you did finally reach someone, they had no answers. In natural disaster situations, hyperlocal information is generally the most important. It can answer questions like:
- What streets are impassable due to trees being down or flooding?
- What parts of town still have power?
- Are the shelters open? Where are they?
- What’s the current weather forecast for the town? When is the storm due to end?
- What’s open and closed the day after the storm?
Along with providing information, the town could have gathered information that would be useful to G&E and DPW crews as well as information that is useful to residents. Residents and businesses could have easily communicated with the town about trees, power lines or water blocking roads. Individuals could have shared real-time information about shelters or where to find gas or ice. Residents and the town could have collaborated to provide the most relevant information in real-time (or near real-time) fashion. By using a variety of social media tools, the community could have come together to share information – or just commiserate with their neighbors.
To be fair, I didn’t see a whole lot of communication brilliance coming from any city or town in the state but one Twitter stream that seemed to be trying was @NotifyBoston. This is the Twitter stream of Mayor Tom Menino’s Office of Constituent Engagement. It’s a terrible name for a government department but a fantastic concept. Their motto is simple:
Connecting residents to city services: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If a city the size of Boston can attempt to communicate with residents and the business community, then it should be a snap for a Middleboro.
In the end, thankfully, Hurricane Irene was only a tropical storm and the town came through it relatively unscathed. What if the reverse had been true, though? How would Middleboro have handled something larger than Irene? What’s the communication plan for the next emergency?
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Social Media @ Work from Red Sky Vision: There is disconnect between how immersed and digitally connected employees are outside of the workplace, and how their internal communications are being delivered. On the ground, employees are still posting printed communications on the water cooler when they can be engaged, led and informed via the latest digital channel.
Social Media @ Work from Red Sky Vision on Vimeo.
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Very good points. The EOC should have access to a twitter account so they can update the twitter, Facebook and Google + accounts. I will work on this.
That’s great, Steve! Bravo! But let me say just one thing here: “Whoa Nellie!”
It would be a bad idea to just go off and create those accounts without putting some thought and planning behind it. Middleboro’s EOC (Emergency Operations Center, for those not “in the know”) should absolutely have been providing updates on Facebook and Twitter during the past storm, but it should be in conjunction with a thought-out communication plan. There is planning that needs to go into that. For example:
1. Who at the EOC is going to be responsible for maintaining those accounts? The person needs to have good communication skills, the ability to interact with the public, the willingness to answer questions and provide information on a regular basis. The person(s) maintaining these accounts need to be savvy in communication and social media.
2. What kind of information are they going to be sending out? Are the EOC accounts going to be just during an emergency (i.e. a hurricane) or will they be used on a regular basis? What kind of information and interaction would they be providing during non-emergency periods (which is most of the time).
3. Where are they going to be getting their information? I would assume the town departments like G&E and DPW but you also need to bring in fire, police, health department, maybe even building inspector in case of structure collapses or that type of event.
Off the top of my head (haven’t had coffee yet), those are just three questions that need to be answered before charging forward. Also, for what it’s worth: Google+ does not yet allow organizations to be present there. Business/organization pages are coming, but they’re not here yet and Google isn’t allowing them.
Excellent that you’re presenting the idea to the EOC but be sure there’s planning and education behind that before letting them loose on social media and having them represent the town.