Analysis of the usage of social media by the community during the boulder fire from September 6-11, 2010. Provides insights and opportunities for governments and corporations to learn from community usage of social media and crisis preparedness.

1. “CommunityDuring Crisis” What Governments can learn from the Boulder Community’s usage of Social Media during the Boulder Fire. September 6-11, 2010 Photo Credit: Chris Hough shared this photo on Facebook from Ken Fricklas By TerySpataro Orange Insights, Chief Strategic Office

2. The Situation The Boulder Fourmile Fire is the worst firein the history of Colorado. Roughly 6,385-acres burned. It took 800 firefighters to get the fire under control. Over 200structures were affected by the fire, 169 homes lost Social Media played an important role in keeping the public informed and the community rational. The community was amazing and pulled together to help those in need. What follows demonstrates how the community used social media to mobilize and cope with the Fourmile Fire. This report based on observed information from #boulderfire Image Credit: Satellite Image of the fire via NASA/MODIS

3. #BoulderFire:Social Media Timeline Wednesday September 8 Thursday September 9 Friday September 10 Saturday September 11 Monday September 6 Tuesday September 7 Source: http://trendistic.com/boulderfire

4. #BoulderFire:Social Media Timeline Wednesday September 8 Thursday September 9 Friday September 10 Saturday September 11 Monday September 6 Tuesday September 7 11:34 am Sandra 11:33 am #boulderfire by Andrew 10:07 am  Source: http://trendistic.com/boulderfire Tuesday 9/7, first reported at 10:07am 11:33 am Andrew Hyde began using #boulderfire 11:34 am Sandra Fish began tweeting the fire dispatch reports

5. #BoulderFire:Social Media Timeline Wednesday September 8 Thursday September 9 Friday September 10 Saturday September 11 Monday September 6 Tuesday September 7 6:02 pm#boulderfire peaks 5:01 pm #boulderfire is trending 1:17 pm  Amanda Pingel’s map 11:34 am Sandra 11:33 am #boulderfire by Andrew 10:07 am  Source: http://trendistic.com/boulderfire 1:17pm Amanda Pingel created a collaborative Google mashup map 5:01pm #boulderfire is trending 6:02pm #boulderfire peaks

6. #BoulderFire:Social Media Timeline Wednesday September 8 Thursday September 9 Friday September 10 Saturday September 11 Monday September 6 Tuesday September 7 6:02 pm#boulderfire peaks 5:01 pm #boulderfire is trending 1:17 pm  Amanda Pingel’s map 11:34 am Sandra 11:33 am #boulderfire by Andrew 10:07 am  Source: http://trendistic.com/boulderfire EPIC Colorado synthesized information from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Boulder Office of Emergency Management, Project EPIC, Google collaborative maps Community banned together the remainder of the week Tweets were comprised of evacuation efforts, losses, displaced fire victims, and firemen who lost their homes

7. Total Exposure of Term#boulderfireUntil 9/11/10 Reached 985,099 people 2.9 million impressions Via 688 Twitterers Source: Visualization of the term #boulderfire until 9/11/10 http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/exposure-from-the-term-boulderfire

8. TweetReach for #boulderfireuntil 9/11/10 Tweet Types Exposure: 2,870,780 Impressions Each pie slice shows how many people saw how many tweets.

9. #BoulderFire: Thin Slice of Time Friday September 10 Wednesday September 8 Thursday September 9 Saturday September 11 Monday September 6 Tuesday September 7 6:02 pm#boulderfire peaks 5:01 pm #boulderfire is trending 1:27 pm Analyzed Sentiment Social Mentions #boulderfire 1:17 pm  Amanda Pingel’s map 11:34 am Sandra 11:33 am #boulderfire by Andrew 10:07 am  Source: http://trendistic.com/boulderfire NOTE: The time of this analysis started 9/10/10 1:27pm. Twitter only keeps tweets in search for 5 days. The fire continued to rage while the community continued to tweet information.

10. Sentiment#boulderfire Friday 9/10/10 1:27pm 100 Tweets containing the term: #boulderfire > positive sentiment rather than negative 35 out of 100 tweets were neutral The neutral tweets were most likely the result of retweeting straight information such as links and news reports User profile Adult Secondary education Both male and female

11. Social Mentions#boulderfire, Friday 9/10/10 1:30pm 421 mentions of #boulderfire The strength is found in the messages about the Boulder Fire being discussed #Boulderfire was mentioned every 31 seconds by 198 unique authors Within this timeframe, 102 topics were retweeted

12. Social Mentions#boulderfire Friday 9/10/10 1:30pm Brett Greene’s post: “Boulder Fire Stokes Community Through Social Media” in Huffington Post was trending high as a news link because it had the most relevance from a popular source and higher number of retweets. Tweet content was shifting to information such as housing, storage, meals, for evacuees, and fire containment news. Larry Oliver, Deb Kolaras, Gaiam, Tuckertown, Kendra Kellogg Throughout the community members continually tweeted: Sandra Fish, Suzan Bond, Aimee Giese, Kate Starbird, Laura Levy, Andrew Hyde, Deb Kolaras, Kia Ruiz and Jo White.

13. Amanda’s Community Map 1,826,905 views — 218 comments 85 ratings of 5 stars Map used different icons to illustrate fire areas, evacuation areas, emergency response, photos Comments provide help with sourcing the map information

14. EPIC Colorado Map Mapped from tweet reports The spreadsheet is extensive, providing data on time, fire information, tweet handle, offers and needs, shelters, road conditions, photos

15. Vision Link Map Displays information on the fire, real time tweets, flickr photos, traffic

16. What Can Government Emergency ManagementLearn From Social Media?

17. Insights & Opportunities Insights Opportunities Boulder Community coped with #boulderfire from a rational, proactive perspective Mobilized using different forms social media Twitter, Google Collaborative Maps, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Mobile Established a #hashtag and helpful parameters for tweeting information When a failure in communication arose, community quickly tweeted information about evacuation Maps provided information on fire, evacuations, support and resources Now that the fire is extinguished, the community is still providing information, comfort and support Federal, state and city governmentsneed to create a Social Media Crisis plan and should identify key community influencers Establish leader[s] in the community to help with social media communication Have ready & be using a Twitter account, Map, FB, and include mobile communication Find key influencers through their social media reach within the community Assign a social media community leader to establish relationships with key community influencers: universities, churches, local meeting places Create community-based parameters for tweeting emergency information Provide a system of notification using maps Use the system for natural disaster, crisis situations, food recalls, health warnings and epidemics Empower the community to be proactive and helpful in an emergency situation

18. Helpful Information:How to Help All Hazards blog has a larger list of Colorado Wildfire Resources in one place. The Boulder Daily Camera has a good list of How To Get Help and a page with the latest wildfire information. The Boulder Office of Emergency Management launched a comprehensive response page at http://boulderoem.com. Donations for Four Mile Canyon fire victims are being taken by calling either 211 or 866-760-6489. Goods, money and food are also being collected by Volunteer Connection: services@volunteerconnection.netor 303-413-7737. Source: Brett Greene Steve Lowtwait donated his great art skills to create a poster to raise money for the firefighters who lost their homes. Please buy one at: http://shop.campsteve.com/boulder/fire/

19. TerySpataro @tery Scientist in mind creative in heart Recognized industry leader for understanding digital behavior Over 15 years of digital research and strategy MBA in marketing, BFA in communication design My cat uses twitter @blakethecat Digital data is chaotic. I love making sense of the messiness!

20. “A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” ~ Henrik Ibsen Thank you! Orange Insights is a digital research and strategy firm co-founded by Amy Lieberman and Tery Spataro. @orange_views http://www.orangeinsights.com info@orangeinsights.com