An overview of the MCUrgent model for emergency communications in Morris County NJ. Inviting towns to be team members, Morris County residents and businesses benefit from having emergency notifications from towns and the county go through one stream.
Spring 2024 Issue Punitive and Productive Suffering
2013 MCUrgent: Getting the Word out with Social Media
1. MCUrgent
A Shared Emergency
Information Network
Getting the
word out with
social media
Carol A. Spencer @CarolSpencerNJ
Digital and Social Media Manager, Morris County NJ
September 27, 2013
2. What is MCUrgent?
• An application that utilizes the power of social
media to share official emergency information
during a multi-jurisdictional 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 page.
3. When putting out information…
Situation updates need to:
– be timely
– originate from the source
– be accessible even without power
– be available 24/7
– be device independent
– cross municipal boundaries
– be freely available
(no subscription or membership required)
– be accessed anywhere
5. Posts go to major social networks
#MCDover: Rte 46 EB and WB are open w
minor flooding. East Blackwell and most side
roads leading to Blackwell St are still closed.
Flooding 5:41 AM Oct 1st via HootSuite
9. 2010 Winter Storms: First test of MCUrgent
Getting started:
MCUrgent FB Post views
• 10/25/2010 - 11/26/2010
December storms:
MCUrgent FB Post views
• 11/25/2010 - 12/25/2010
8,941
ONE DAY
December 27, 2010
• MCUrgent Post views:
4,386
188
10. Hurricane Irene: 1 week
Websites
•Homepage views
Irene
Typical
75,155 26,000
Blogger
•OEM & MorrisCountyNJ
Facebook post views
•MorrisCountyNJ
•MCUrgent
36,991
2,400
49,610
99,005
5,500
400
Twitter message views*
•MorrisCountyNJ
•MCUrgent
169,292
20,448
18,000
0
450,337
52,300
TOTAL VIEWS
*Does not include Twitter ‘fast follow’ text messages to cell phones
13. MCUrgent at a glance
• What:
Emergency notifications from
participating towns & the county
• Info:
MorrisCountyNJ.gov/mcurgent/
socialmedia-mcurgent.asp
• Web:
MorrisCountyNJ.gov
MorrisOEM.org
• Social:
Twitter.com/MCUrgent
MCUrgent.org / .net / .com / .info
Facebook.com/MCUrgent
• Text:
text follow MCUrgent to 40404
14. Resources
• Slideshare.net/MorrisCountyNJ
– MCUrgent presentations
– “Building a Municipal Social Media Presence”
• Twitter, Facebook, Hootsuite
– “Emergency Communications:
Getting Prepared, Making it Happen”
15. MCUrgent
A Shared Emergency
Information Network
Getting the
word out with
social media
Carol A. Spencer
Digital and Social Media Manager, Morris County NJ
September 27, 2013