This presentation describes MCUrgent, Morris County NJ's multi-jurisdicational digital communications network.

1. Emergency
Communications
Getting Prepared and
Making it Happen
Carol A Spencer
Digital & Social Media Manager
April 11, 2013

2. Emergency Communications
in the Social Space
•Why use social media
•Know your audience
•What should be posted
•Challenges along the way
•Plan. Plan. Plan.

3. WHY
use social
media

4. Why be in the social space
We’re social…
• 1 in 8 US married couples met via social media.
• If FB were a country, it would be the 3rd largest.
• Fastest growing segment on FB is women, 55 - 65
• Gen Y (17 to 34) & Gen X (35 to 45) have
abandoned email.
• 96% of Gen Y belong to a social network.
• Gen X and Gen Y are our families, workers,
commuters, taxpayers, voters…

5. Why be in the social space
We’re mobile…
• US mobile penetration: 110% (phones, tablets)
• There are more than 100M smartphone users in
the US, up 13% since October, 2011.
• Nearly 40M US mobile users access social sites
every day
• 74.6% of adults text message on their phones
• 87% of teens text message on their phones
• People just expect to get information online

6. The Expectation Gap
Everbridge Survey of 400 Public/Private Agencies
•
Communications planners recognize the value of
social media
•
58%, however, do not have it included in their communications plans
•
Primary reason: lack of authorization to do so
•
Secondary reason: lack of staff to implement
•
Critical situational information missing
by not using social media
•
84.5% question the reliability of
landlines for emergency communication
•
76.1% agree mobile is a critical element
Everbridge.com ~ January 2013

7. Emergency Communications
• Television: local jurisdictions don’t typically have
access; worthless without electricity
• Radio: Lack of local broadcast channels
• Reverse 9-1-1: Many have given up their landlines
and replaced with unlisted cell phones
• Websites: Outsourced? Local server? Need web
professional
• CRM Systems: Expensive, require registration
• Social Media: Doesn’t require electricity,
registration, anyone can post from anywhere

8. Social & Mobile are the Norm
Twitter
Microblog
Facebook
Network
LinkedIn
Network
Flickr
Still Photos
YouTube
Video
Pinterest
Online Pinboard
Google
Email, Apps
Vimeo
Video
Foursquare
Location app
Scribd
Documents
RSS Feed
Subscription
WordPress
Blog
SlideShare
Presentations
Skype
Phone, chat
Blogger
Blog

9. Social Media: Critical during emergencies
 Social media is the first place people go for information
during an emergency
 Messages are retrievable on any device
 Messages are retrievable when power is out
 Runs on non-local, redundant servers:
•
Twitter, Facebook, Google (Blogger, YouTube)
•
It stays up when your own website may be down
 People can message your jurisdiction via
Facebook comments or Twitter mentions
 You can post to social media from a phone.
(You cannot typically update a website from your phone.)

10. Social Media: Critical during emergencies
 It lets people know their government is working, reducing
feelings of isolation, which lead to fear and anxiety
 Reduces phone calls looking for information
 Increases public participation
 Information is sharable and spreads faster than possible
with any other communication channel
 People around the world can access the information.
Parents / children out of state stay informed.

11. Know your
AUDIENCE

12. Know your audience(s)
•Residents
•Disabled citizens
•Employers
•Employees-your agency
•Schools
•Non-profit agencies
•Volunteers
•Emergency response personnel
•Fellow government communicators

13. Speak to your audience(s)
•Residents: let them know where to get info
•Disabled citizens: find them, identify needs
•Employers: share official sources of info
•Agency employees: share workplace status
•Schools: know their channels
•Non-profit agencies: know available
resources
•Volunteers: know where/how they can help
•Emergency response personnel: get input
•Fellow government communicators: share

14. WHAT
should be
posted

15. About Emergency Posting
•Declared Emergencies
•Anything that disrupts movement
Closed / severely impacted roadways
Mass transit impacts
•Anything that impacts safety
Severe weather
Power outages
Rising rivers / flood potential
Impactful planned events
•Use visuals (photo / video) where possible
People scan, don’t read, online
Video that adds value

16. About Emergency Posting
•Use every channel possible
Social media adds to, not replaces, traditional
methods
Generational
 Seniors (68+): landlines, minimal cell, email
 Boomers (49 - 67): cell, email, social media
 Gen X (33 – 48): cell, social media
 Gen Y (18 – 32): cell, social media
•Monitor your media
Don’t feel you have to respond to every
comment
Answer questions. If you don’t know, let
them
know you’re researching.
•Remember: It’s a conversation, not a poster.

17. CHALLENGES
along the way

18. General Challenges
•
•
•
•
•
Going where no man has gone before.
The speed of government.
Too much noise. Too many products.
Bleeding edge: Is anyone using it?
Legal hurdles
– Terms of Service Agreements
– Credit Cards / Purchasing
– Policies:
• What others can say on your sites
• What you can say and how to say it on your own sites
• What your representatives can / should say on other sites
– Copyright Infringement
• Employees
–
–
–
–
Regulating workplace use
Job descriptions – extra pay?
Training: tools, terms, tone
Regulating outside use / first amendment

19. Organizational Challenges
1
• Budget Cycle and Lack of Resources
• Changing Organizational Culture
• Ensuring the Quality of Data
• Increasing Public Interest and Engagement
• Balancing Autonomy and Control
• Accountability and Responsibility
1
An Open Government Implementation Model: Moving to Increased Public Engagement
Gwanhoo Lee, Associate Professor, Kogod School of Business, The American University
Young Hoon Kwak, Associate Professor, School of Business, The George Washington University
IBM Center for The Business of Government (BusinessofGovernment.org); 2011

20. Technological Challenges
1
• Improving IT Infrastructure
• Enhancing Privacy and Information Security
• Integrating Tools and Applications
• Updating Policies and Rules
1
An Open Government Implementation Model: Moving to Increased Public Engagement
Gwanhoo Lee, Associate Professor, Kogod School of Business, The American University
Young Hoon Kwak, Associate Professor, School of Business, The George Washington University
IBM Center for The Business of Government (BusinessofGovernment.org); 2011

21. PLAN
Plan. Plan.

22. Plan. Plan. Plan.
•
Identify your audiences.
•
Design and build targeted social segments
before you need them.
•
Train personnel in advance, including
sufficient backup personnel.
•
Have a written communications plan.
•
Understand the emergency reporting
structure: ICS
•
Have policies adopted and posted.
•
Use non-emergency social media to practice
and get your voice.

23. In Summary
•Why use social media
Because citizens live in this space
•Know your audience
Be prepared to communicate with all
•What should be posted
Anything that will significantly and/or
negatively impact people’s lives.
•Challenges along the way
General, Organizational, Technical
Tackle what you can
•Plan. Plan. Plan.
Design, staff, training, voice, policies
Practice

24. Contact Information
Carol A. Spencer
Digital & Social Media Manager, Morris County
Website :
MorrisCountyNJ.gov
Email :
CSpencer@co.morris.nj.us or
CarolSpencerNJ@gmail.com
Facebook :
Facebook.com/MorrisCountyNJ
Facebook :
Facebook.com/MCUrgent
Twitter :
Twitter.com/MorrisCountyNJ
Twitter :
Twitter.com/MCUrgent (or MCUrgent.com)

25. Emergency
Communications
Getting Prepared and
Making it Happen
Carol A Spencer
Digital & Social Media Manager
April 11, 2013

26. M r i s Count y’ s Shar ed, M t i or
ul
j ur i sdi ct i onal
Em gency I nf or m i on Net wor k
er
at

27. What is MCUrgent
• An application that utilizes the power of social media to
share official emergency information during a multijurisdictional emergency.
• Led by Morris County’s Office of Emergency
Management, MCUrgent will ultimately include all 39
towns posting to a single Twitter feed and Facebook
page.
• Used only in multi-jurisdictional emergencies.
Individual town emergency notices go to
that town’s website, Twitter feed or
Facebook, G+ or LinkedIn page.

28. How Does MCUrgent Work
#MCParsip RT 46 WB between New Rd and Rt 202/Parsippany
Rd flooded. All lanes closed. 6:37 AM Mar 15 via Twitter
th
Twitter
(MCUrgent)
Facebook
Parsippany
(MCUrgent)
Morris Twp
Denville
Riverdale
Dover
Twitter
Towns create a post
using Hootsuite
(MorrisCountyNJ)
Facebook
(MorrisCountyNJ)
Twitter
(Town feed)
Facebook
(Town page)

29. What is MCUrgent
• An application that utilizes the power of social media to
share official emergency information during a multijurisdictional emergency.
• Led by Morris County’s Office of Emergency
Management, MCUrgent will ultimately include all 39
towns posting to a single Twitter feed and Facebook
page.
• Used only in multi-jurisdictional emergencies.
Individual town emergency notices go to
that town’s website, Twitter feed or
Facebook, G+ or LinkedIn page.

30. Twitter is the Basis for MCUrgent
• No login required to get messages
• Short, easily scanned messages link back to web pages
• Twitter widgets freely available; easy to put on web pages
• Twitter RSS feed can be pulled into many apps
• Twitter Fast Follow capability sends posts as txt messages
• Can post from desktop, laptop, tablet, iPhone, iPad, Android
phones, Blackberry phones.
• Often, text can get out when phone calls cannot.
• Use Hootsuite.com or similar dashboard to post to multiple
networks at once

31. Stats: Hurricane Irene 2011
Website(s)
•Homepage views
Irene
Typical
75,155 26,000
Blogger
•Irene & MorrisCountyNJ
36,991
2,400
Facebook
•MorrisCountyNJ
•MCUrgent
49,610
99,005
5,500
400
Twitter
•MorrisCountyNJ
•MCUrgent
169,292
20,448
18,000
0
450,337
52,300
TOTAL VIEWS

32. Stats: Hurricane Sandy 2012

33. Public Opinion

34. Emergency
Communications
Getting Prepared and
Making it Happen
Carol A Spencer
Digital & Social Media Manager
April 11, 2013