I see Mike Byrne was at this event. He hosted a Social Media event in California earlier this week.
Sharing information is what it is all about. If you attend a conference, take notes, type them up and then blast them out to people. Thanks Tom for your work at sharing information!!
(A personal lesson learned: Type them up during the sessions themselves, in the hotel room at night, or on the plane. Once you get back to the office you will be captured by other issues.)
Use of Social Media (Web 2.0 Applications) in Homeland Security; Robert Dudgeon, San Francisco EM rob.dudgeon@sfgov.org ; Kristin Hogan, Circle Point [SF Bay contractor] k.hogan@circlepoint.com ; Mike Byrne, Oklahoma City; Mark Basnight, Charlotte Fire mbasnight@ci.charlotte.nc.us .
Speakers emphasized that previous communications models were a monologue - one way from government to people. Today, communications models are a dialogue - 2-way traffic between citizens and government. Speakers believed the new social media paradigm reaches a larger audience, insures a more meaningful dialogue, builds communities, and is an effective addition to, not a substitute for, public outreach. Basically, "what we communicate never changes; how we communicate is ever-changing." Previously, government used media to communicate to the citizens. Social media allows direct communications from government to citizens. SF has a DEM Facebook Page. SF's social media is managed by its PIO/JIC. Twitter and other forms of social media are short/concise. Many citizens receive the twitters and then redirect them to their own networks. Charlotte is a big proponent of social media and even uses it for Search & Rescue operations (e.g., looking for alzheimer walkaways). Tolerating a certain amount of risk in the process, but initiating communications as "the credible source", all speakers agreed that in today's world "we can no longer afford to communicate at the speed of government."







