Emergency Management 2.0

USAF Web 2.0 Policy: The New Media Guide, & The Rules of Blogger Engagement Infographic

noreply@blogger.com (jtmcdc) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:37:00 +0000

To engage the blogger or not to engage, that is the question; Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, The slings and arrows of outrageous online perceptions, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by information sharing, end them.

This is exactly the question the US Air Force asked when trying to determine the extent to which they would reciprocate, validate, correct, or ignore any ongoing or emerging online conversation. Aye, that’s the rub.

Emergency Management 2.0 received it’s first comment recently which made me curious as to how organizations and government agencies incorporate the inevitable rabble-rousers, shock jocks, and general ne'er do wells that infiltrate or hijack a fledgling constructive conversation. So I began to do a little digging just to see what was out there, and I admit I was somewhat surprised that the best results were coming back about the US Air Force regarding their about-face on social media policy. This leap forward into the social media arena is led by Captain David Faggard, Chief of the Emerging Technologies Office at the Air Force Public Affairs Agency in the Pentagon. (Also runs the Air Force blog)

Captain Faggard's office is, "responsible for developing strategy, policy, and plans for an ever-changing communications landscape"; carrying out the mission to, "use current developing Web 2.0 applications as a way to actively engage conversations between Airmen and the general public". The lofty goal is to have every single Airman as a on-line communicator, all 330,000 of them. (David Scott - WebInkNow)

USAF Involvement in Social Media

The USAF has actively engaged themselves in social media in a number of ways other than the blog they maintain, such as:

The Blue Tube Channel on YouTube
Air Force Twitter Feed & Space Command Twitter Feed
Podcasts and Vodcasts via iTunes
News Widgets
Facebook Profile

Rules of Blogger Engagement Infographic

As my initial question was how organizations incorporate and address the inevitable fringe comments from either malcontents, from those with a valid issue. How do you differentiate, and to what to degree do you volunteer a response?

Naturally the Air Force has some great tags for individuals who fit into the various categories, as in "troll" or "rager" who represent the more mischievous and sometimes down right malicious members of the blogosphere. To the "misguided" and the "unhappy customer" who are more open to a mutually beneficial dialogue that will enable a common understanding.

The guidelines themselves are laid out clearly for Airmen to be able to establish a course of action and legitimize a response. Considerations are also given in order to keep the response relevant, valid and articulate.

This flowchart is that it can be easily transposed to other agencies who are looking to incorporate the potential of personnel communication with the public into their strategic communications plans. Without limiting the capacity to those who are directly involved in public information, affairs or relations; instead the greatest resource of the Air Force, it's Airmen, are free to share their story, experiences and struggles.

New Media and the Air Force

With the goal of having all Airmen enabled to be active communicators, the Air Force produced a very accessible and straight forward guide. To act as an aide in addressing the complex ethical, and security issues that arise from such an organization communicating horizontally, between Airmen and the public, media, or groups.

This [the guide] is not a comprehensive guide for conducting new media campaigns. It provides exposure to entry-level tools Airmen may use to communicate the Air Force story to broader audiences on the web. As new media is growing, Airmen should stay informed through blogs, independent learning, wikis and other such participatory Web 2.0 tools...

These developments come on the heels of the Air Force policy shift regarding emerging communications tools, and the recognition that traditional mainstream media has grown to include a much wider array of assets.

This guide changes the way the Air Force employs social media and Web 2.0 technology, and positions the Air Force well to communicate transparently with online audiences.

With this transparency comes a great deal of individual responsibility that must be instilled through a learning program that will aide Airmen with the subtleties of being communicators, who must find a balance between personal expression and agency policy. Especially in an organization such as the Air Force where security information like location, size and position of force, and proximity of personnel all can be snapped up in one unintentional photo of friends in the foreground.

It is up to the Public Affairs professionals at each level to teach and enforce Air Force new media policy, by training and educating every Airman on the proper use and techniques for engaging in new media. Security is critical and at the source.

With both the willingness and decisive nature which the Air Force is operating under, also factoring in the goals that they are training their sights on; it really leaves me incredulous on how corporate and government agencies can still function with the supposition that the media/public paradigm is not shifting, or that traditional protocols for public information have not been rendered moot.

Additional Resources

New Media and the Air Force:

The U.S. Air Force: Armed with Social Media - David Scott, "Web Ink Now"
U.S. Air Force: Blogger Rules of Engagement - Thomas Crampton, "Social Media Today"
The Air Force's Rules of Engagement for Blogging - Joey Devilla, "Global Nerdy"
Case Study: U.S. Air Force Social & Traditional PR - Dana Theus, "Member-to-Member"
Air Force makes changes to embrace Web 2.0 - Sam LaGrone, "Air Force Times"

Corporate Social & Blogging Policies

Enterprise: List of 40 Social Media Staff Guidelines - Laurel Papworth, "Social Network Strategy"
Do you need a Corporate Social Media Policy? - Janet Fouts, "Social Media Enabler"
Blogging Policy Examples - Charlene Li, "Groundswell"

New Media And Usaf

View more documents from jtmcdc.

Telecommuting and Pandemic Flu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:02:00 +0000

Various companies and countless municipalities are starting to allow telecommuting as a more accepted practice. The reasons companies are allowing this are as varied as the companies themselves. Some may allow expectant or new mothers some flexibility with working from home, while for others it is a decision to be more eco-friendly. In a recent article by the web site 'Government Technology', telework or telecommuting is seen as a potential way to prevent the spread of pandemic flu in government offices and at the same time still allow the government to function. Both California and Virginia are looking at ways to expand or increase the potential for using telecommuting in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak. Do you think this may be an effective strategy? What happens if a municipality does not have a policy like this in place and the emergency management office is infected?

PIO and Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:03:00 +0000

Is the Incident Command System (ICS) keeping up with changes in the way we communicate during an event?

The May 21, 2009 on-line edition of the New York Times has an article titled Tweeting Your Way to a Job. It describes a California winery's search for a "social media whiz." Someone who can help increase the wineries presence in the ever growing world of social media. The article lists some of the companies who are actively exploring this new field of communication. They include: Comcast, General Motors, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and Dunkin' Donuts.

The article primarily discusses the private sectors desire to increase sales and/or brand loyalty using this interactive media. However, it also includes an example directly related to the field of emergency management. The section of the article discussing how Southwest Airlines uses social media describes an incident where a tire blew out on one of their planes during landing. Southwest's "social media whiz" jumped into action not only notifying her bosses but also monitoring Twitter for any discussions of the event and responding to customer comments.

Is anyone aware of any Joint Information System operating with such efficiency or speed? A colleague of mine recently completed PIO training. When I asked him if his training covered any topics related to the use of social media in an event his response was: "A little bit." Specifically he said the presentation on social media centered around: "Here's whats out there." There were few, if any, take always on how to use this form of communication.

This is a concept that is not going away. We all know it is better to be ahead of the curve than behind. What are the best practices related to the use of social media in the field of emergency management? Who are the "social media whiz's" of emergency management. Let's ramp up the conversation.

Old Dogs and New Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (Billy) — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:45:00 +0000

What do you do when you've become a Saturday Night Live Sketch?

Mike Myers (of Austin Power's fame) portrayed a character on Saturday Night Live called "middle aged man." Myers character had "powers and knowledge far beyond younger men" such as the ability to understand compound interest, but like most superheros he also had his weakness. In the case of "middle aged man" it was the inability to keep up with the current trends of younger generations.

In my case, I've become "middle aged man." I'm the old dog who is struggling to learn new tricks. What's even more frustrating is that I'm right on the cusp. I fall right in that category of folks who know that technology exists, but I'm not always sure how (or in some cases why) I should use it.

My work in emergency management highlights the frustrations I experience in applying new technology.

In most cases, I know it's out there. I've either: read about it in an old fashion newspaper, read about it on my brand new Google reader account or heard about it from other professionals. In any event, my ability to adapt to the new technology and apply it in a meaningful in the work place is often hindered by my fundamental lack of understanding. Case in point: It took about four hours of explanation before I even dared to write this - what is it - a blog?

Being on the generational cusp of these advances has one distinct advantage. Even though I'm prone to approach its use from a highly skeptical point of view I'm still willing to at least try. I may not know how to exactly use a piece of technology, or how to use it effectively, but I'm still willing to at least try.

In addition to being willing to give it a try, I'm also not bashful about seeking out those who know more than I. I'm not at all bashful about getting a tutorial on the benefits of a wiki from someone two decades younger than me. Remember, as middle aged man I still possess powers far beyond my younger teachers. My greatest power in many of their eyes is the fact I don't have to ration my beer money.

So put me in the column of those willing to explore new ways to inject technological advances into the realm of emergency management. It used to be we congratulated ourselves on producing a slick preparedness manual for distribution to our public. A manual that in all likelihood went on a shelf or a drawer somewhere. Today the tools exist to create an electronic real-time, interactive preparedness manual that engages our public. Here's to technology. Let's see where it can take us. Just remember, it takes old dogs longer to learn your fancy new tricks.

Pandemic modeling in a virtual game environment.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:15:00 +0000

In 2005 a disease spread throughout every major populated area, decimating those populations and causing mass panic.

It all started simply enough, as these things usually do, with an individual or two coming from a remote part of the world. They were sick but thought nothing of it. Little did they know the deaths they would soon cause. People with medical training would rush in to try and treat the ailing populous but too little avail. The disease was no longer containable and then the world ended... and was restarted again. You see, these events did not happen to New York, Hong Kong, or London they happened to the players of the popular online role playing game World Of Warcraft.

Epidemiologists have been using mathematical models for a long time to predict what the effects of a pandemic would be. The outbreak of the disease "Corrupted Blood" in World Of Warcraft gave researchers the first glimpses as to what real people would do in a large scale simulated pandemic event.

Simulating real human responses is an almost impossible task but with the help of virtual game software it may be possible to create and analyze more accurately than ever before the effects of an infectious disease on a world wide scale.

Time, CNET, and the London Times have articles that go into greater depth.

WHO H1N1 Interactive Map

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:40:00 +0000

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released an interactive map which shows the cumulative spread of new influenza A(H1N1) cases as they were reported to WHO beginning 26 April 2009. The map shows daily information and updates daily. This map underscores the speed at which influenza can spread. The numbers used are laboratory confirmed cases and deaths.

An Interactive Earthquake Quiz from San Francisco Emergency Management

noreply@blogger.com (jtmcdc) — Sun, 17 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

The San Fransisco Department of Emergency Management produced a great interactive earthquake quiz on their preparedness information site 72hours.org. As an advocate of interactive and infographic educational resources, which are great for clarifying complex concepts/situations and tying together sometimes disparate information. The content provided through the 72hour and QuakeQuiz websites have a much higher chance of resonating with a greater audience. This is primarily due to the accessible nature and digestibility of the formats; not only increasing the likelihood that some one will spend 10 minutes investigating further, but also that the critical information needed in a time of danger will be recalled quickly.

The San Fransisco QuakeQuiz
It starts by displaying common locations that one may find themselves in the event of an earthquake.

Once a selection is made a question is asked, and the environment opens up to provide connected information.

The 72 hour website
The information content is displayed in the sidebar once the graphic of the category is selected. The menu bar also contains 3 general categories (Make a Plan, Build a Kit, and Get Involved) that will highlight subcategories in blue so as to provide a visual checklist. Hazard specific categories are also present to provide definitive information.

Microsoft Vine, a Social Aggregator for Emergencies

noreply@blogger.com (jtmcdc) — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:26:00 +0000

Microsoft heralds their new beta release of Vine, as a hyper-local messaging and alert system used to share information during a crisis. It will gather local news, public safety announcements with location information, reports and messages from friends and family. As a public service tool, its primary goal is to connect to a small group of people, reach them wherever they are, and determine what the conditions are like there. Vine achieves this by providing 3 main functions: send an alert, post a report, research news & safety information. Check out the Vine blog for the latest information

Vine is a mashup of 11 Microsoft services that is marketed as a complete package, and accessible to anyone no matter where they are engaged in the technological/Web 2.0 spectrum. Employing the philosophy that people rely on what they are accustomed to in an emergency, as seen increasingly in disasters where Twitter has been utilized in crisis communications between members of the public, the media, local & federal governments, NGO's, and non-profits.

However by allowing users to establish connections in Vine by methods they already use day-to-day, it hopes to enhance the Twitter 'bit' style information sharing with social networks, news reports, research ability, and locations awareness. In essence championing the already conceived capabilities of 'social aggregators' and further the cause with an emergency preparedness focus.

We just aim to take it one step further – to include all people using all the tools available. We want to include every person and allow them to participate through whatever technology they choose - email, text, voice, Instant Messaging, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or whatever people want to use next. 5/1/09

Brady Forrest from O'Reilly Radar outlined the capabilities behind the 3 enhancements listed above.

Send An Alert - You can send a message to a pre-constructed group via its own email address and SMS keyword. All replies go to the group and the messages can later be found on the group's report.
Post A Report - You can also post to the report. This is structured info that can be shared It's also a way to share information. You can "Check In Safe and Well", "Report Upcoming Plans", "Report a Situation", or share "General Information". Each option is associated with a timestamp, a location, and provides different data fields (for example "Check In Safe and Well" has a toggle for "Okay"/"Not Okay"; "Report Upcoming Plans" includes a date range). Tammy said that this isn't blogging , however it seems like it will be very similar.
Research News and Safety Info - On Vine you can search for news and alerts in a geographic area. You you will be able to include GeoRSS feeds from around the web. It provides situational awareness in cases of emergencies.

The application itself is outlined on CNET news by Caroline McCarthy:

Here's how it works. You download a "dashboard" application, and then you log in with your Windows Live account. Its interface takes the form of a map, where geo-tagged notifications pop up if a news story or public safety announcement--sourced from 20,000 news sources as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)--happens in a specific location. (You can set preferences to only display stories from locations and areas of interest that you care about.)
Your contacts are also listed on the dashboard, where you can check out alerts that they've sent you or even just keep tabs on their Facebook status messages. "Alerts" pop up like instant messages (or text messages, as you can opt to get them on your cell phone). You can also "check in" to let your neighbors know you're at home safe if, say, there's a tornado on the rampage outside, or if you're out of town.

The Microsoft Vine site itself houses a demo video, information on the product, blog, and FAQ; and currently is taking requests for invitations to use the program.

Microsoft vine demo
by brunogarattoni

Further reading:

Mashable: "Microsoft Vine is Twitter for Emergencies"

Disaster Zone: Emergency Management in the Blogosphere: Micrsoft Vine--Social Media

All Things Digital: Digital Daily: "Microsoft Vine the Zune of Social Network"

CNET News: The Social. "Meet Vine, Microsoft's news superhero software"

Disaster Technology Presentation from the Where 2.0 Conference

noreply@blogger.com (jtmcdc) — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:35:00 +0000

A great video about Disaster technology and Geo-spatial data in such events, presented by Jesse Robbins and Mikel Maron at the Where 2.0 conference. Where they discuss a pattern for disaster technology innovation, using the example of their work during the response/recovery to Hurricane Katrina. Using Google Earth maps to solve problems in American Red Cross's (ARC) capability to navigate while various roadways were out, which caused communication problems between responders and their HQ. The result was Open Street Map (OSM) which is a mashup of of Google Maps, wiki, and GPS; ultimately creating the concept of collaborative mapping.

Found in a blog entry on O'Reilly Radar.

Social Media in Emergency Management Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (jtmcdc) — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Just to have as a resource, I added the presentation file to the blog so that its accessible to all. The website that I used for this is Scribd.com, and is a great tool to see what other presentations and documents are being made by your peers worldwide.

Social Media in Emergency Management Intro

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Arts & Architecture Research emergency management Local Government

Check back as I will add in all the notes and any additional thoughts for the presentation.

The CDC's use of Social Media to inform people about H1N1

noreply@blogger.com (jtmcdc) — Sun, 03 May 2009 03:08:00 +0000

With the emergence of the novel H1N1 strain, people displayed a true thirst for real time information in the development of the story. It was not that there was a lack of information, but rather there was an over abundance of sometimes conflicting reports and perspectives. At some points the noise produced in the conversation made it almost impossible to get a clear understanding of how one would identify and mitigate the risks of H1N1.

The CDC rose to the challenge quite effectively over the week, providing updated information concerning the spread, and educational information for those looking to understand the threat of the virus. Their strategy included implementing a number of social media tools to increase the reach of the information provided:

Website - They dedicated a page to H1N1 that displays updated information on current tactics, statistics, general information, tips, and guidance to individuals/groups.
Widgets - Produced a number of widgets jointly with HHS where users who had websites, profiles, or blogs, could add an icon to the owners page that would increase the reach of the information and direct questions back to official sources. These are available in both English and Spanish.
Video Channel - They both maintain videos on the CDC website but they also have a YouTube profile named CDCStreamingHealth where they posted information concerning identifying symptoms, anti-virals, immunizations, CDC response actions and goals. All video can be downloaded or shared.
Podcasts - These audio recordings cover many of the same topics as the videos, and provide educational information for adults and children about responsible hygiene. All podcasts can be downloaded or shared.
eCards -Keep your friends, family and coworkers informed. Send them tips for staying healthy and avoiding the flu by washing their hands.
RSS Feeds - Subscribe to RSS updates for ongoing news related to the 2009 H1N1 Flu outbreak. News and alerts will be delivered directly to your RSS reader.
Buttons - Add a button to your Web site. Let your Web site visitors know how to stop the spread of 2009 H1N1 Flu and where to get more information about 2009 H1N1 Flu.

Social Networks

YouTube - As mentioned above, their channel is CDCStreamingHealth.
Facebook - A profile on one of the most popular social networking sites that provided a repository for all CDC related information, updates, and media.
MySpace - Is a collection of published and shared social media located on the CDC profile page, where MySpace users can friend them to have access to the resources and updates provided.
Daily Strength - This is an online support group and forum for those looking for others who face similar challenges.
Flickr -This is a profile link to their public health image library on the CDC website
Twitter -Three different accounts have been setup to disseminate different types of information to their followers. @CDCEmergency provides emergency status updates, @CDCFlu provides flu updates, and @cdc_ehealth provides interactive media news.

Monitoring H1N1 (Swine Flu) using Mashups

noreply@blogger.com (jtmcdc) — Sat, 02 May 2009 19:56:00 +0000

There been a numbers of mashups over the last week that have taken the emerging conversation about the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus and plotted it on Google Maps. This practice has been a increasing trend for many organizations and individuals covering various topics, in attempts to display complex incidents in a way that allows for easier comprehension.

This map (above image) was designed by Alessio Signori ni, a PhD Candidate in Computer Science at the University of Iowa. He uses the ongoing Twitter conversation to search for combination's of keywords in order to track the public perceptions of the novel strain of virus. The combinaton of keywords are used to filter out the noise produced from the unprecedented volume of Tweets which at various times during the week amounted to 3,800 - 6,000 mentions per minute.

This map (posted at GeoCommons by FortiusOne) displays a collection of different data sets displayed as layers. The data sets include such topics as areas that have been affected along with an interactive timeline, what certain countries around the world are doing to avoid the outbreak, number of air traffic passengers between the US and Mexico, and the diffusion of the disease via air traffic throughout the USA and Mexico.

Healthmap.org has been maintaining the "Global Disease Alert Map" since 2007, and pulls data from international news sources as well official medical sources eg. W.H.O. Since the site had been established prior to the H1N1 development, the sites map has been referenced by news agencies and blogs alike. Though the sites main focus was not solely the H1N1 virus, they updated the map due to the increased traffic volume being directed to their site to include a specific map covering the emerging strain. A twitter account was also setup to push out real-time updates of probable and confirmed cases worldwide.

There are also a number of interesting infographics produced by various news organizations that to display large amounts information in a way that be easily digestible. Psted below are links to both natioanally and internationally produced inforgaphics coverening the spread of H1N1.

This was produced by the UK Guardian to map out how far the contagion has spread.

This appeared in the Boston Globe, to displayed where confirmed cases are located.

Web 2.0 defined in Plain english

noreply@blogger.com (jtmcdc) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:24:00 +0000

This collection of videos was produced by commoncraft.com in order to break down complex concepts or systems, to arrange and display the information in a way that both explains the systems clearly but also provides general analogies to relate the capability to the real world. I added these in to accompany the Definitions of Web 2.0 terminology in the presentation.

CommonCraft have their own website, but they also maintain channels on other social video sharing websites such as YouTube and Vimeo.

Social Media in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

Twitter in Plain English

Twitter in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

Podcasting in Plain English

Podcasting in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

RSS in Plain English

Wikis in Plain English

Blogs in Plain English

Social Bookmarking in Plain English

Social Networking in Plain English

Online Photo Sharing in Plain Englsih

Google RSS Reader in Plain English

Google Docs in Plain English

Social Media is a dish best experienced first hand...

noreply@blogger.com (jtmcdc) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:41:00 +0000

Along with the Presentation provided, this blog is intended to act as a repository of reference materials and provide a centralized location for a collaborative effort to develop a COA Social Media strategy. If questions remain after the presentation, then the blog will also serve as a discussion forum where questions can be answered and tied to resources, in hopes that all can gain from collective learning. Ultimately, my aim is to engage you in this conversation in attempts to not only broaden our horizons in social/emergency communications but also enable you to discover the inherent value within creating, developing, and maintaining a collaborative project.

Without question, this attempt can only be viewed as unofficial exploration into the potential of leveraging the social media toolbox to emergency managements goals. And as it stands, the site will only represent a small portion of available resources, information, links, and dialogue; however should you choose to accompany me on this journey, the site will grow exponentially by your contributions, insights, questions and comments.

So check back frequently for updated and newly submitted information. On be informed instantly of any updates by subscribing to our RSS feed