by Gerald Baron: Crisis and emergency communication strategies
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The prediction from the co-founder of Narrative Science, in 15 years 90% of news stories will be written by computer. n this example from the Wired magazine article, a computer wrote this sports story before the Little League teams finished shaking hands:
Friona fell 10-8 to Boys Ranch in five innings on Monday at Friona despite racking up seven hits and eight runs. Friona was led by a flawless day at the dish by Hunter Sundre, who went 2-2 against Boys Ranch pitching. Sundre singled in the third inning and tripled in the fourth inning … Friona piled up the steals, swiping eight bags in all …
I joked several years ago with developers working on PIER that our job was to make PIOs unemployed. Hey! I was joking! But there is some seriousness to it. The need for emergency management professionals with strong communication skills has never been higher. But the need for traditional PIOs who stand there and talk to the media so the responders can do their work is rapidly disappearing. Emergency management software can be (and in one case I know of, is) being integrated with communication management technology. Imagine the process of capturing real time response information, verifying it, and distributing it to key audiences via multiple channels--all done by computer programming (algorithms in the more technical term). It is not difficult to imagine. Yes, a PIO will need to supervise and intervene when necessary. But what do you think the Captain of a 777 does? He or she does nothing except watch the airplane fly itself from gate to gate and is essentially only there to intervene if absolutely necessary, and for passenger peace of mind. (I'm sure I'll hear from Captains saying, "what do you mean we do nothing?") You get the point.
Barring some civilization-altering anti-technology revolution, technology will continue to evolve at accelerating levels. And one of the areas that is sure to evolve is the preparation and distribution of public information. What I wonder is if these automated PIOs I'm talking about do there job, what the heck do we need algorithm reporters for? Seems like Narrative Science should be going to the source, not the ones who rehash the information.
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It used to be, like yesterday, that when thinking about communicating with the public smartphones were a bit of an after thought. As in--Oh yeah, we have to make sure this works on a smartphone too. But we are quickly coming to the time, if we aren't here already, where smartphones are the first and primary tool to consider.
This new research by Pew makes it clear how important the smartphone is for users in connecting, getting instant information and doing work. 86% of smartphone users in the previous 30 days used their devices for "just-in-time" uses. These include coordinating a meeting, solving a problem, deciding to patronize a business such as a restaurant, looked up info to settle an argument they were in (I can relate to this one), look up a sports score, get traffic or transit info, and get help in an emergency situation. Remarkably, 19% of smartphone users used it for these emergency purposes.
In an emergency, is your info "just in time" type info? For those who are directly affected, absolutely. You need to think of your crisis and emergency information as just-in-time info which means that the smartphone will likely be the device most used to access it. Are your info releases smartphoned? If you use Twitter, yes they are. If not, maybe you should think about that. I still believe very strongly that your agency or company website, or crisis-specific sites, should be the primary place for your incident communications. But this means they had better be smartphone readable from beginning to end.
If you are building web sites, doing video, creating web apps, or any system to facilitate public communication. Now, not tomorrow, is the time to think smartphone first.
---Update
Here's more information on the growth of smartphone use from PR Daily. Included is some very good advice on how to write for smartphones. Upshot: simplify!
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Information approvals, political overlay of messages, “sanitizing” response information—these are among the biggest challenges for emergency communicators. That was brought home to me again yesterday talking with some communicators about how the local political authorities slowed the release of information by requiring consolidation and their approval. Worse, they “sanitized” it, putting a happier face on bad news which undermined trust in the department trying to get vital information out.
In thinking about this for crisis and emergency communication plans, and particularly for the plan template I’m working on, I concluded the problem is really found in the distinction between “information” and “messages.” We absolutely saw this in the Deepwater Horizon event where the Coast Guard pros working in the Joint Information Center wanted to get out event and response information, while the White House wanted to use the JIC to get political messages out, particularly “inoculation messages” that insured public outrage was directed at BP rather than the President. But this same process to lesser degrees seems to be at work in nearly every government response. Those responding need to get vital information to the public, those whose political careers may be on the line, want to do “messaging.”
In the OnePage Crisis Communication Playbook (nearly completion) here is how I tried to create the distinction:
Information and Messages
The terms information and messages are often interchangeable, yet there are some important differences. Communication professionals and senior leaders may have very different ideas about the priority to be communicated in an incident: is it more important to communicate the information about the event, or is it more important to convey the important messages the organization wants received? As an example, emergency management professionals are typically much more focused on communicating the facts about an event and the response (information). But the political leaders they work for are most often far more focused on communicating key messages intended to demonstrate the concern and commitment of the leaders.
Both are very important. But, they are not the same and it is helpful for the Information Production Lead to have a clear understanding of the differences. Information is focused on facts, statements that can be determined to be true or false, such as: “We have confirmed that three people have been seriously injured are in the hospital.” A message example is typically not factual in the sense of being provable: “We are concerned about the public’s health and safety above all.” Messages are more human, convey emotion and communicate intention.
There is more in the manual on this, but you get the idea. I think creating this distinction may be helpful in a couple of regards.
Information Changes, Messages Not So Much
In almost any event, information changes frequently. The number of people deployed, the progress in recovering victims, the lights turned back on in the houses—all of this may change on almost a moment by moment basis. If you stick to the normal process of giving progress updates which have to go to the Mayor’s Office or White House for approval and “messaging”, then by the time you get it back, the information is no longer accurate. But, if you change it, you have to go back and get more approvals, which when you get will no longer be accurate. It’s hopeless. Messages on the other hand, don’t normally change much. They state intention, communicate objectives, demonstrate care. Certainly there are some major changes in messages as an event unfolds, but the changes are much less frequent and time can be taken to craft carefully and get all approvals.
Information Approvals Should be Different From Message Approvals
If you take this position, it should dramatically change the required approvals. The JIC Manager or PIO, (or Communication Lead as I more generically call the PIO), should be responsible for verifying the facts of the incident and response, and aside from major impact information items, should be free to provide updates without going through the political hoops. There are gray areas but these should be discussed in advance. If every update requires political approvals, I think the JIC should just go home because the needed information will be found elsewhere.
Information works best on social media, Messages work best in press releases
Twitter, the most important tool for communicating information, limits you to 140 characters. That’s just fine for frequent updates of vital information: “12 more oil coated birds are being treated.” “Water now available at XYZ intersection.” These tools don’t give you a lot of room for messaging. And those using it don’t often care that much about the messaging because they see whether or not you care through your actions, not words. So messaging works great for press conferences, press releases, even on Facebook more than Twitter. Certainly works great in having the head honchos do a YouTube video. Creating this distinction of information and messages and the channels used can also help to speed info and clarify where items belong.
All in all, Information is more important than Messages
While the political types may focus on word-smithing the messages, they often forget that trust is built through actions, not words. All the statement of intent and sanitizing the information will mean nothing if the victims do not see those good intentions played out in action. Information focuses on communicating the actions and it is in the effective communication of that action that trust is built. Personally, I believe that the response to an event is not going to be helped much by the political messaging. What will help is for people to see those political leaders deeply engaged in the actual response. Want to know what I mean? Look at the Mayor of Newark Corey Booker —not just his recent exploits in saving a neighbor, but in what he did in a big snowstorm.
Give this a try in your plans and in your discussions with the agency heads, political types and PIOs from the Mayor’s or County Exec’s office. And let me know what they say. Would love to hear if creating this distinction is helpful for you.
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Google just announced Google Drive, an online storage and work collaboration tools. This is one more in the ever-growing line-up of fancy web-based tools that can help make working remotely as a team much easier.
In 1999 when I created PIER, it was because there was a strong need for communicators to be able to work as a team even when they weren’t in the same room. We were credited in some academic papers of having created the concept of the virtual JIC. And while these highly specialized tools are still the most efficient means of team collaboration for communication (disclosure—I sold the company in 2009 and receive no compensation for PIER sales), there are many options available now that can facilitate teamwork in crisis and emergency communication.
I mentioned Google Drive as one new example. If you’ve used Dropbox (which I do) Drive provides similar (but cheaper) mass file storage but combines it with Google Docs so you can work collaboratively in real time. Google Docs by themselves have been a great way to work together to create and edit information. Word processing, spreadsheets and presentation tools are all available and easy tools for providing access to team members.
A few other tools I’ve found very useful:
Teamviewer is one I just started using for doing instant meetings. Combines web video, VOIP, desktop sharing with another or a group. Had some funkiness with locking up on one call, but generally works great and is free. I used join.me which is also slick but kept having problems with updates on it for my Mac, so if you are PC you’re probably OK with this one.
GotoMeeting and Webex, unlike the ones above, are far from free, but robust tools and to be recommended if you have lots of group meetings, webinars and video presentations.
Skype is a great tool for video sharing and sharing desktop (and great way to keep up with the grandkids too). As a dedicated Apple user, ichat, videochat and Facetime are great for video sharing but the others offer more work tools with them.
My favorite these days is basecamp. I’ve used this off and on over the past 8 years or so for project management and the new design is super—very pinterest like, very graphic. This is for project management but the ease of discussion, to-dos, adding documents, etc., makes it a great virtual JIC tool as well. Especially for more protracted events.
Why is online collaboration so important? Because speed of communication is everything these days and you simply don’t have time to get your whole team assembled and organized before you start communicating. The story will be gone before everyone is ready to start answering phones. But, to do the job right there are a lot of people who need to be involved. You may need lawyers, subject matter experts, or key members of your team who are out of the office or the country. Leaders may need to participate in approving messages. Setting up and using some of these important collaboration tools before a major event is very important for one the big one hits.
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It's easy to read about natural disasters, fires and even reputation crises and stand back objectively and analyze the good and the bad. But, almost all events like this are personal in that lives are often changed, damaged or even ended. I started by new video training series with a reminder of that regarding the terrible tragic pipeline event that got me into this business. But today's blog post by Chief Boyd also brings the message home to me.
I'm sending it your way for the valuable (once again) lessons learned directly from one of the most social media-savvy fire chiefs and Incident Commanders in the business. These lessons are critical. But also because this happened in my town, one of my best friend's boat is still on the bottom, the wreck of my dentists' boat was just pulled out today, and I know the parents of the two who lost their lives.
I'm grateful for the Chief and all the Bellingham fire fighters who worked so hard on this tragic event. But this makes me grateful to have a very small part in an industry of dedicated people who wake up every day knowing that today, maybe this day, they will have the opportunity to do something to protect, to save, to rescue. God bless each and every one of you.
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Aren't newspapers supposed to print news and citizens use Twitters that newspapers monitor so they can report the news? In a man bites dog turnaround, here a Tuscaloosa, AL newspaper won a Pulitzer prize for---tweeting!
If that doesn't tell you about the state of the news, I don't know what does. Pulitzer, for example, putting this kind of emphasis on instant news. And newspaper reporters getting on scene and tweeting their news rather than waiting to print it even on the news website.
But there is another vital gem in this story that goes to the heart of the main lesson these days for emergency management leaders: using twitter for situation awareness.Here's what the article says:
The News journalists arrived at many scenes of destruction even before emergency first-responders. The National Guard relied upon some of those tweets to decide where to deploy first, Lee said.
Whether it is official journalists or citizen journalists, more and more emergency responders know that the information conveyed through this and other social media channels is vital for effective response.
Congratulations Tuscaloosa News!
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In the new era of Internet-driven transparency, one clash point has been videotaping of police in action. The combination of ubiquitous cell phone cameras, activists with anti-police agendas, and police officers and leaders not comfortable with 24/7 exposure of their activities has led to many unfortunate incidences.
Jim Garrow blogged on this yesterday on The Face of the Matter but in case you missed that, here is the link to the gizmodo story for the seven rules of videotaping and recording police. This was written for guidance to those wishing to record police in action, but it provides a helpful perspective on what citizen rights are.
No doubt, a lot of departments and officers would just as soon we not have this kind of openness. But, this is the time of remarkable transparency. If you are in the oil business, or food business (see my blog on pink slime) or nuclear power industry or toy manufacturing, if you are doing things that cannot stand the light of day, change them. If you are and you are attacked and criticized, defend yourself. Same rules apply to police.
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I happened to stumble upon Nerve Center, Science/Discovery channels, documentary series on command centers of various kinds. This one was on DCF&EMS, the District of Columbia's Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Here's the link to the website which says you can watch the segment from the site, but I've tried to for the last couple of days and get an error message. At least you can probably find when the next airing of this hour long show on one of the nation's premiere response agencies.
I was interested because I had heard that this show included "PIO Pete" Piringer at work. Pete is the highly respected PIO for DCFEMS who was well known for his tweeting of fire responses. The very effective work of keeping media and citizens informed was disrupted by presumably some internal politics between police and fire and PIO Pete is now working for another city agency, Office of the Secretary of State of the Executive Office of the Mayor. I hope they are in a good position to use his outstanding skills and experience.
The Nerve Center program did indeed show PIO Pete at work, and while not nearly enough time spent on this, it certainly helped me get a better picture of life for a busy big-city fire department PIO. The segment on the train jumper and Pete's handling of that difficult situation was particularly interesting to me.
I haven't checked lately if the tweeting situation in DC has returned to some form of normal (I sure hope so) but I do know in New York City that the tweeter for FDNY is being recognized for her efforts. The "Shorty Awards," sort of an Oscar for Twitter, included a "Weather Channel #LifeSavingHero Award" was presented to FDNY tweeter Emily Rahimi. Their FDNY Facebook page with 78,000 likes and Twitter account with 26,154 followers, FDNY reaches over 100,000 through these channels. No doubt, New York reporters are on the list of followers meaning that FDNY through Rahimi's tweets has a virtually continuous and seamless engagement with all NY media.
Congratulations to Emily and PIO Pete for showing us the way.
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Everyone is a journalist now, with access in our pockets and purses to top-notch electronic news gathering equipment, and our channels that can blossom into audiences of multiple millions in minutes. But this process took another step forward with the announcement by AP of an agreement with Swedish live streaming startup Bambuser. Live streaming means that video shot from cell cameras (and in near future cameras on glasses--see last post) can be broadcast live, in real time. Also, of course, easily captured and edited.
The implications for major events should be obvious. The world will be able to see, hear and experience exactly what those nearest the event are sharing--and do that in real time. I quoted an article recently about the news cycle being three minutes now. What does live streaming video available from anyone do to the news cycle?
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Some in the PR community are having a good laugh at the expense of Philadelphia Councilmember Jim Kenney. Someone (probably on Twitter) took exception to him spending nearly $30,000 per year to have a social media firm do his tweeting for him. How did he defend it? He told philly.com:
“I, at 53 years old, do not have that facility. So I need consultant advice to communicate with a group of folks who are not necessarily in my age group.”
But Kenney has a PR guy working for him, so why isn't the PR guy doing the tweeting instead of a social media firm called ChatterBlast." The answer from Martin O'Rourke, the PR guy:
“I have no clue how to tweet; I still don't understand the mechanics of it. It's a thing of the future.”
A thing of the future? Hmm, I wonder if he heard of Pinterest yet.
Hint to Kenney (and all other elected officials not on Twitter: it's not that hard, and I'm 60.
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