Presented at Emergency Managers Association of Texas (EMAT) Symposium in March 2017, this presentation provides recommendations and information about putting together and implementing a digital communications plan for emergencies.

1. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Effective Whole Community
Digital Communications
Planning
Recommendations
from practitioners
who have actively
participated
in disseminating
information
during major disasters

2. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Our Disaster Background
Carol A. Spencer
• Mayor, Denville NJ 1996-1999
–Jan 6, 1996 Nor’easter. One of only
two snowstorms rated Extreme (5).
–Sept 17, 1999 Hurricane Floyd
• Digital & Social Media Manager
Morris County NJ, retired 2015
–Launched Twitter & FB in 2009
–Developed MCUrgent: a multi-
jurisdictional social media platform
–Managed all social media during
Hurricanes Irene & Sandy in the EOC
–Led Public Information participation
in a multi-state social media exercise
in October 2015
Rebecca J. Williams
• JoplinTornadoInfo on Facebook
–EF5 Tornado 5/22/2011
–Facebook & Twitter pages
–Early E-sponder
• Disaster Heroes, Chapter 4
–Suzanne Bernier
• Whitepaper: The Use of Social
Media For Disaster Recovery
–University of MO Extension
• Disaster Info Model
–Communication Plan Template
• #SMEM Consultant

3. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Today’s Topics
• The Plan: Nuts and Bolts
– Preparing a Digital Communication Plan
– Using Demographics to Determine Channels
– Policy Development
– Plan Elements
• Embracing the Whole Community Approach
– Interfacing with Private Sector Stakeholders
– Including Second Responders, Public Actors , E-sponders
• Marketing Your Plan
• Templates: Don’t reinvent the wheel
• Additional Thoughts

4. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
A Communications Paradigm Shift

5. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
The Impact of Age on Communication
• Digital Natives
– Ages 21 – 36 (Millenials)
– Never lived without technology
– Don’t read email (applies to Gen-X as well… up to age 52)
– They text, share photos & videos, and chat online
• Fastest Growing Demographics
– Age 55-64 on Twitter; Age 55+ on Facebook
• Smartphone users
– Ages 18-29: 100% own a cell phone; 92% own a smart phone
– Ages 30-49: 99% own a cell phone; 88% own a smart phone
– Ages 50-64: 97% own a cell phone; 74% own a smart phone
– Ages 65+: 80% own a cell phone; 42% own a smart phone
• 52% of US adult households do not have a landline

6. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
The Changed Nature of
Emergency Communication
The story will be told.
The question is:
who will tell the story?
“[Social media] is a significant force in public opinion
and the spread of information, and if it is ignored can
become a liability to your organization. The general
population now expects real time news with updates
throughout an event.”
The Impacts and Opportunities of Social Media on Mass Notification; Everbridge 2012

7. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
“We could have saved more lives.”

8. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Preparing A Digital Communication Plan
• Discuss, decide and document
– Where will information originate?
– Who may speak for your agency?
– How will you control channel creation?
– Which social channels will you use?
– What will be the process, the flow?
– What policies will you implement? What will they say?
– How will you engage visitors?
– How will you handle records retention?
– Do you need to address employee use as part of your plan?
– Will you post other than government information?
– How will you handle citizen publishers (e-sponders)?

9. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Demographics Determine Channels
• Determine your audience
– Residents, commuters, local employees, seniors, disabled,
tourists, college students, foreign speaking populations,
homeless, displaced residents, minors, vulnerable populations
– A sustainable community attempts to reach its entire
population
• Determine age groupings for these populations
• Determine primary communication methodologies
– Match each audience and age grouping to its primary and
secondary communication methods
• Rank needed communication methods and channels
– Cover all audiences with at least one channel. Have a backup.
– Live video is the “next big thing”. Use Facebook live, UStream
– Don’t forget traditional methods: paper, bullhorns, radio,
flyers at high-traffic areas, etc

10. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Policy Development
• Have Policies in Place Before Launch
– Adopt an internal policy to control social channel creation
– Adopt “Use” and “Commenting” policies
o Indicate your pages are not forums, but moderated discussions
o Monitor your social channels and handle violations
o 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
• Update Policies and Rules Frequently
– Inconsistency of application for Terms of Use with
government requirements (liability issues, state laws)
– Consistency and compliance with court decisions, legislative
changes, and federal gov’t requirements.
– Have a Governance Committee to do this.

11. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Digital Communication Plan Elements
• Governing Body Approval
• Authorities: foundational legal citations
• References: government policies that apply (HIPAA, etc)
• Purpose: to define and provide guidance
• Responsible Parties: people, organizations, contact info
• Governance Committee: town manager, PIOs, CIOs
• Physical Facility: should be located in the EOC
• Personnel: advanced trained employees and volunteers
• Process for an Anticipated Event: SOP and workflow
• Process for an Unanticipated Event: SOP and workflow
• Vulnerable Populations: identify and disseminate
• Policies: purchasing, TOU, channel creation, commenting

12. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Embracing the Whole Community Approach
• People feel invested, empowered in a community-based
effort.
• People want to help. The “whole community approach”
provides a structure where they can do so.
• Giving people something to do calms them during an event.
• FEMA recognizes and recommends the “whole community
approach”
– “We fully recognize that a government-centric approach to emergency
management is not enough to meet the challenges posed by a catastrophic
incident.”
– “When the community is engaged in an authentic dialogue, it becomes
empowered to identify its needs and the existing resources that may be used to
address them. ”
– “Engaging the whole community and empowering local action will better position
stakeholders to plan for and meet the actual needs of a community and strengthen
the local capacity to deal with the consequences of all threats and hazards.”
Source: http://www.fema.gov/whole-community

13. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Allow it. Embrace it. Plan for it.

14. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Interfacing with Private Sector Stakeholders
• Include, at a minimum:
– Chambers of Commerce
– Utility companies (public and private)
– Economic Development organizations
– Faith-based groups
– Local and national non-profit organizations
(Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc)
• Have links to their emergency channels in the plan
• Provide them with links to your channels
– Be sure to include other official government channels
– Remember: cooperation, not competition
• Think of in terms of creating an online Multi-Agency
Resource Center (MARC)

15. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Second Responders / Public Actors
• Second responders are members of the public who feel like
they have something to offer and want to help.
– They don’t know what to do and will, sometimes, do things that are
counter-productive to rescue and recovery efforts.
– Important to identify them in advance if possible
– Keep them engaged, focus their energies
– Ask them to support official government response efforts.
• Have a place for people to register before or during
– Ask for location, skills, equipment, all contact info so people can
be used where they’re needed
– Have a form / system to vet those offering to help in advance.
Example: Texas Disaster Volunteer Registry (Medical Reserve Corps)
– Don’t allocate individuals on your own.
– Announce volunteer opportunities on your sites / channels.

16. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
E-sponders
• E-sponders are citizens who set up websites or social
channels on their own
– This will happen if the local jurisdiction
doesn’t have and implement an
effective digital communications plan.
– Government will lose control of event
messaging.

17. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Managing E-sponders
• Monitor, monitor, monitor social media during an event
– Use a social media dashboard
– Set up keyword search or hashtag filtered streams
• Create a rumor control page or blog
– Create a blog, webpage, or website. Then post links to that…
much more effective because of the way people read social sites.
– State the rumor and the source channel
– State the factual information. Be sure all data is verified with
Incident Command personnel. Trustworthiness is critical.
– Be sure everything is dated.
– Don’t delete data, rather use strike-through text.
o Records retention laws. And, removing data leaves people wondering.
• Repeatedly post links to official government sources
– State that the source is an official government site / channel
– Verify all data for accuracy before posting
For example: open shelters, pet friendly shelters, road closures

18. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Templates: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
• Developed after experience
with Joplin Tornado
• Provides a defined
methodology for FEMA’s
Whole Community Approach
• Advance planning builds trust
among all entities
• Pre-planning helps to avoid
last minute hijacking of
response and recovery efforts
by otherwise well-meaning
citizens
Disaster Info Model
Template

19. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Disaster Info Model Summary
√ Develop a “Whole Community” Communications Plan
√ Determine the demographics for the targeted communications area
√ Write and adopt policies needed to implement the plan
√ Evaluate appropriate social channels, administrators, content
publishers, and monitors
√ Use a consistent, generic email address for channel registrations
√ Determine a work flow, including all stakeholders
√ Set up a multi-level, broad based organizational contact list
√ Build rapport and trust among public sector, private sector,
non-profit and volunteer leaders
√ Set up public social channels based on demographics
√ Set up private communication channels for group communication
√ Develop a Marketing Plan, including cross channel and cross sector
marketing
√ Become THE trusted source for information

20. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Market It
• Start out slow. Build momentum before an event.
• Consider
– Press releases, church bulletins, flyers
– Speaking engagements for local civic groups
– Local buy and sell newspapers or websites
– Local community social channels, apps like NextDoor
– Official government e-newsletters
– Facebook or Google advertising
– Cross-marketing with other Twitter, FB, Instagram or G+ channels
– Create a YouTube video about your plan
– Run a couple of Facebook live events focused on vulnerable
populations, where to find info, registering for alerts, etc.
• Get friends to write about your site(s) on social media
• Act as if you have thousands of followers even if you don’t
Add value and they will come!

21. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Exercise It
• ESF #15 or your Communication Annex:
Public Information including Social Media
– Must be exercised
– Should be part of the EOC
– Should have sufficient trained
personnel to operate 24 x 7.

22. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Some Additional Thoughts…
• Eliminate government silos. Citizens need information and assistance and
they don’t care which department provides it.
• Leverage the resources of regional councils of government for periodic
meetings and idea sharing
• Counties should take a leadership role
– List all municipalities with web and social media links on the county website
– Set up a county social channel to which all municipalities can post. Events
don’t end at municipal borders.
– Counties should urge consistency in social channel use; run training sessions
– Leverage their size to reduce the cost of any necessary software
• Use a list of preparedness messages; schedule posts
• Have a list of all possible charging station locations. Use a blog post or
webpage to publish those that are available.
• Consider CERT as an avenue to train communication volunteers.
• Run public classes like NOAA Weather-Spotter training. Live stream them.

23. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Why This Matters to Texans
Flood
Tornado
Fire

24. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Your Most Important Takeaway Today:
Your Neighbor’s Business Card
Network Network Network
Share Your Talents
www.LinkedIn.com/in/[username]
CarolSpencerTX
RebeccaJWilliams
#SMEM #TXWX
#SMEMChat (Friday, 11:30 CST)

25. 10th EMAT Symposium March 7, 2017
Contact Information
Carol A. Spencer
Stormzero, LLC
Cedar Creek, TX 78612
973-637-0483
Stormzero.com
carol@stormzero.com
Rebecca J. Williams
Disaster Info Team, LLC
Neosho, MO 64850
417-434-0379
DisasterInfoTeam.org
rebecca@stormzero.com
Disaster Info Team