Tag Archives: #communications

“Verify twice, tweet once” is a mantra continually hammered home whenever quickly evolving, controversial or incredulous situations breaks on social media. But, an unsettling New York Times piece published yesterday reveals new challenges in “verifying twice”, and should be required ...

I’m stating it right up front: The recent introduction of Meerkat and Periscope will soon turn the world of #SMEM for emergency response professionals upside down. Let me explain. Last month I heard about Meerkat, a live streaming app that used ...

Well, it’s been two and a half weeks since I blogged on the new #SM kid in town, Meerkat. As the #SXSW conference started, the buzz over this new live streaming video tool evolved into a roar. It became the ...

In a few days the iconic South By Southwest (SXSW)  festival opens in Austin, Texas.  The future of music, film and computer technology is presented and explored, including new social media apps.  Twitter was introduced there in 2007 and Foursquare ...

WTH? I can’t believe what I just read. The Washington DC Fire Department, located in the heart of federal grant land, cant’ even communicate with other agencies during emergencies. Last month’s deadly Metro subway fire exposed big time problems with ...

“Volunteers bring risk that is hard to manage.” This recent tweet, made by someone with purported emergency management experience, was made in response to my asking the question about several tweets they posted discounting the concept of using volunteers for ...

This recent headline in my local newspaper caught my eye; “Whatcom County councilors like Facebook; public-records rules remain fuzzy” The piece briefly examines the use of Facebook by county elected officials, and the reasons why some use it and others ...

“Standardize hashtags”- Ugh, here we go again. Another call for standardizing the use of hashtags during crisis. A report by the United Nations was just released, “Hashtag Standards For Emergencies”. Patrick Meier’s recent blog post provides excellent summary and background information ...

I just got back from the Oregon Emergency Medical Services conference in Salem, where I talked about the use of social media for crisis communications. After the three presentations I asked one of the conference coordinators if he had heard ...

A videotaped interview of four government employees responsible for handling public information functions after the August 24, 2014 Napa, California earthquake reveals real challenges and inherent conflicts between quickly informing the public, fulfilling incident command responsibilities and ensuring the safety ...